Turning 35

My birthday has come and gone, my younger Sister brought me out for dinner and my Mum somehow ended up paying for it, so that was a nice gesture, but other than that, it was honestly just like any other day.

What's exciting about turning 35 however is I can now officially apply for a HDB Flat, I applied for the HFE a day after my birthday, and according to HDB, it could take up to a month to have the HFE approved.

It got approved the next day. Talk about efficiency. 

The next BTO Exercise is in July so I have a lot of time to weigh out my options, which I started doing right after I got the approved HFE.

I am contemplating between getting a SBF or a BTO.

The SBF option I am interested in is the Tengah estate because it's cheaper, I think the estate has a lot of potential for growth and more importantly, a lot of flats, so I think I will have a much higher chance to get a unit there, plus I have friends who will be staying there as well, so it would be nice to have people I can meet up once in a while for a meal when I start to feel too lonely in my own home. I MIGHT end up getting a cat to be my roommate, so who knows. The SBF will either be available immediately or within a year or two, depending on my balloting luck.

The BTO I am interested in is the one in Clementi, it will have a longer wait time and is estimated to be completed by 2019, which means I will almost be 40 Years Old by the time my house is ready. That being said, going the BTO route might make more sense for me at this time because as I was starting to do my finances, I realize even though I have enough funds in my CPF to get the flat now, I don't have enough cash on hand for the renovation works.

As an Interior Designer, it actually pains me to think about having to settle for a basic run of the mill renovation, a basic one that will require me to get a renovation loan to achieve and also wipe out almost all my savings, I'm poor as fuck because I have been putting so much money into my Insurance and Investments, more into the latter, which I will probably be able to get back in another decade and will have an estimated worth of between $60,000 - $70,000, which isn't too shabby, and I will thank my Insurance Agent then.

I may need to save at least another $20,000 within the next 4 years (if I manage to get the Clementi BTO), it is very doable since it's just a matter of putting $400 aside every month, but this means I won't be able to splurge on stuff anymore, like my year end Switzerland trip to visit my Sister because I am estimating that trip to cost at least $7,000 in total.

I might consider a short trip to Thailand or Vietnam if I have a travel itch to scratch, I don't want to deny myself the joy of travelling. 

I am really trying my best not to buy anything unnecessary, I was even contemplating whether I want to buy another tub of Cerave facial moisturizer because I am almost done, but then when I was on TikTok and saw the TikTok Livestream dropping the SkullPanda plushies that have consistently been out of stock, I snatched one without thinking twice. The plushie cost more than the Cerave facial moisturizer, what the fuck is up with my priorities? 

Speaking of PopMart, I recently also went to PopMart at Bugis Junction to get a Crybaby Blindbox and I managed to pull one of the Secret, which was very exciting, but not great for my spending habits because this type of luck will only get me back into the blind box craze again.

Saturday Burned

It's Saturday and I just got back from a Design Meeting with a client, the meeting did not go well and I just don't enjoy engaging with this couple.

I have not been able to click with either of them, the husband is constantly questioning my design decisions, he keeps telling me something feels off with the color scheme, or the combination of materials I have selected is not nice, and when I ask him for more feedback so I can understand his preferred aesthetics even more, he tells me...

"We need your help to propose the design for us, you help us propose."

... so you want me to propose a billion different options for you to consider and possibly shoot down instead of telling me exactly what you want, these kind of clients are one of the most time consuming clients to deal with.

This is the second Saturday in a row of mine they have burnt, my boss and I literally just met them last Saturday and that meeting was actually worst, I was literally scowling during that meeting because I was so irritated at how inefficient the whole design meeting was going, like I don't know what the fuck you want! 

I had presented to them a reference photo of a Kitchen I had found on Pinterest previously to use as a jumping off point for the theme of the home, they told me they liked it, so I followed the colour scheme of the reference photo, and the comments I get from the husband is...

"Something looks off. The colour don't match very well, it doesn't look like the reference photo."

... it's literally the same colour scheme and is literally on theme with the reference photo that they agreed to, but suddenly the colour don't match well.

For the meeting today, I was not looking forward to it because the clients are really dense, so that was bad enough, but right before the meeting ended, the husband suddenly requested for us to go to the tile shop together, this is after a 2 hours meeting, so I asked...

"You mean later?"

... because again, you have just burned our Saturday with a 2 hour meeting, we just want to call it a day and go home. I'm mentally exhausted because for a 2 hour meeting, we really should have tied down a lot of things, but it didn't feel like we did, and just felt like such an inefficient 2 hours for everyone.

He then said...

 "Yeah, since it's just nearby right?"

...and we couldn't tell him that we didn't want to go, this is one of those request where you don't really have the option to turn down because it is true, the tile shop is nearby and it would be better for us to just settle all the tiles by today, so my boss and I begrudgingly agreed to it.

This particular tile shop is in the midst of moving to their newer outlet, so they are taking the opportunity to clear a bunch of old tiles. In an attempt to try and cut down on the renovation cost, the clients only looked at the tiles that were on clearance, which severely limited their options, most of what were available were honestly either ugly or dated looking, and the ones that were passable were either low in stock or completely sold out, worst part for me as the Designer (3D Drafter) is that I can no longer find the digital print of the tiles online because they have been taken off from the shop's website, so I have no idea what I am going to have to do to implement the selected tiles into my 3D for the renders.

Thankfully, the tile selection was pretty quick, I just wanted it to end, so I didn't offer too many suggestion, not that I could anyway because again, limited selections available, the vision I had in my mind can't be executed with the tiles they had, although if I were to be honest, I think we have very different aesthetic sense, so it would be a pointless endeavor to force what I think would be nice on them, I still did my job and spoke up if the tiles they had selected were really really ugly, but if they were passable, I just told them to go with it, because the choices were so limited, it's going to be average at best.

We were done within an hour. My boss had initially told me he will need to leave within 30 minutes for another meeting, but he ended up staying all the way with us, which I was thankful for because he had to liaise with the sales person to help us reserve all the tiles right at that moment due to the limited quantities available.

Before we bid adieu to them, the wife asked if we should meet again next Saturday, my immediate thought in my mind is...

 "Fuck! No! You know we don't work on Saturdays, but you have already burnt 2 Saturdays of ours in a row, and now you want to make it 3?" 

... I do not appreciate clients who only start looking for Interior Designers at the last minute and then puts us on a time crunch. 

If you want to move into your new home by a certain date, you better start looking for, and actually engaging the services of an Interior Designer AT LEAST 3 -4  months before that date.

Literally just ask Google! 

To be meeting the same customer every week is intense, usually, I will meet every other week just so I can have at least 2 weeks in between to update my drawings, especially with the amount of projects I am currently dealing with at the moment, 2 weeks should be the bare minimum. 

Sigh.

We eventually decided to settle on a Monday with an online meeting instead, which I think will be even worst than meeting in person, so I am definitely not looking forward to that.

I so wish this clients would just drop us and look for someone else, but it's probably too late for them to do that unless we really fuck things up, like me engaging in some sort of verbal assault with them, plus the project is worth at least $100,000, so financially speaking, it doesn't make sense to do that just because the designer is uncomfortable with the clients. 

Aside from this big project, we also have another big one, for that one, I am a bit more hands-off, or at least I am trying to be a lot more hands-off and just let my boss handle it because the clients did say that they didn't need a designer onboard with their project, the husband for that project is pretty much doing all the drawings and layout plans. My boss just added me into it to help "tie up any loose ends" for the clients in terms of design choices, but I am honestly not needed at all.

As sorry as I feel for my boss, because of how overwhelmed he currently is with all the projects coming in, I really do not want to help with that particular project. I am also extremely overwhelmed myself as well with my current project load where I actually need to be involved in as a designer, my bandwidth is at it's maximum capacity, I just cannot deal with anymore new ones or ones that I am not necessarily required to be a part of, and this is something I have been hinting at my boss, so all the new enquiries have also been redirected away from me. 

When I see job ads online and they write...

"Relish working in a challenging environment." 

...this is what they mean I guess. Most companies would treat it as an opportunity for growth, but when you are overwhelmed with work, you are overwhelmed with work, growth can only happen when the workload is a lot, but it's still manageable, not overwhelming, that will allow the workers to grow by teaching them how to manage their time better, but if a company is overwhelming you with work, than that is different, if they do that and are not aware that they are doing that, it just shows that they are the ones who needs to growth and actually learn.

To be fair, my boss didn't write that in the job ad, also I have not gotten any pay increment since I joined the company almost 2 years ago, which I am personally not very pleased about, but it's a give and take situation since my boss is much much nicer than any other bosses I have ever worked under.

That being said, times like this just makes me want to look for a simple admin job. Don't have to think too much, clock in, clock out, stress free life, or work in a Government Sector where there will be stability and consistent pay increment. I would really like to work in the Government Sector, I just need to really look for one that is suitable with my current skill set and experience, one would assume HDB be the obvious choice since it seems to be co-related to Interior Design and Construction, but then all I see are openings for Estate Management, Data Scientist, Technical Product Manager, HR Manager, etc, which makes sense because the Interior Design aspect of it is for the homeowners to go look for on their own once they get the flat.

My search continues...

ILP Cancelled. Agent Soon To Be Cancelled As Well.

I have successfully cancelled my ILP through AIA directly and my agent also finally gotten back to me about an hour after I cancelled the policy. He wasn't aware I had already cancelled it so he was just following up on the message I had left him the day before, telling me he will cancel it for me, or at least I am assuming he doesn't.

I told him I had already cancelled it directly with AIA because I was a bit concerned that he wasn't responding to my text and he just told me he got "caught up" yesterday, that's why he couldn't get back to me.

I thought everything was settled, so I just left it at that because what is important is that I will be getting my $4,800 back. 

Today, he posted on his Instagram about an award he had won and in his written speech, I noticed that he also wrote this as the ending paragraph...

... pretty sure it's a subtle dig at me. I am not 100% sure, I did post it on my Insta-story after I unfollowed and removed my Insurance Agent from my follower list, to see if my friends also felt like it was a subtle dig at me.  

I wrote down the whole ILP situation, the cancellation process, the slower than usual respond rate from my agent after I requested to cancel and most of my friends who replied to my story felt like it was a dig at me and that it was also very unprofessional of my agent to have done that.

I originally wrote this long post lambasting him for it to let off some steam, but to hold a grudge just feels tiresome, so I am gonna delete it and try not to make this whole experience more negative than it already is by leaving  a post I had typed out in anger.

The plan to switch Agents is definitely still one I will definitely want to explore, but it won't be very easy because the agent who takes over my portfolio won't be able to get the commission from my existing policies, any commission that will be generated from my current policies will still go to my current agent, which sucks.

I am planning to use the month of March to gauge if my current agent will actually stick with his resolution to "let go of people who won't help themselves" because it will be my birthday month and he will usually send me a birthday greeting and a gift, if there is no well wishes from him, then I think it will be safe to say that I have been "let go" and it will also be time for me to let him go as well. 

The idiot buys the same Investment Linked Plan again...

Met my Insurance Agent yesterday and he managed to convince me to sign up for the very same policy called the AIA Pro Achiever 3.0 that I had to cancel last year.

It's an Investment Linked Policy (ILP) and those policies do not have a good rep on the internet because compared to regular investment routes, an ILP has very high management fees, and traditional ILPs are also laden with a lot of extra fees that are weaved into it that will actually generate a lot of commission for the Insurance Agents, which is why so many agents are pushing it to their clients and why so many people online who are aware of how it really works and also know how to invest on their own are so against it. 

My agent assured me during our meeting that what he is selling me is not the same as the one that scummy agents sell for the sake of their commission, but is supposedly one that only focuses on generating wealth for the client, like a proper investment plan.

So I got it because I figured I do need to invest my money to let it grow for my old age, since one of my Savings Plans was going to reach it's maturity, I will have one less policy to pay for, so why not just throw that amount that I would have set aside for that savings plan into this Investment Plan and then add a bit more to let it do it's job. I wasn't prepared last time, but I thought I will mentally prepare myself this time for how much I will be putting in.

He recommended me to put in at least $400 per month, which was like $50 less than last time, so I agreed....

...and he told me to put that much because the welcome bonuses are better in the amount is at least $400 per month, or $4,800 per year, anything lesser and it wouldn't really be ideal, sounds fine, so I agreed.

I didn't think too much after that and was feeling quite pleased with myself that I am actually doing something with my money, investing it and letting it grow, I have heard from my boss about how he has rich friends now who are just enjoying life because they had invested so much money in the past and are now reaping the rewards from it, so I was just imagining myself 20 to 30 years down the road, being able to withdraw all the money that has accumulated and patting myself on the back, but as the day went on, I kept thinking about the amount and I started getting more and more uncomfortable with the plan, something just didn't feel right, and it was the very same feeling that I felt when I first bought it last year, I was investing way too much.

I am not only paying $400 for that Investment Plan, I also have another Investment Plan that I am pretty much stuck with because surrendering that will have a penalty fee that isn't worth it, that Investment Plan is already sapping $250 every month.

Investment Plans aside, there is also the Insurance side, which I am paying a whopping $400 for per month, I honestly think I might have too much coverage as well because a good rule of thumb I have read online is that you should only set aside about 10% of your take home salary for Insurance, I am hoping to earn enough for $400 to be my 10%, but I am nowhere near that amount, which means I should be paying only about about $200 per month for my insurance coverage.

Once I calculated everything, I was actually forking out $1,100 per month on my policies with him, against a $2,800 salary, that is way too much. I calculated how much I will need for food and travel, that came up to about $1,300, which only leaves me with $400 for my personal savings and random splurges.

My plans to travel to Switzerland will have to be cancelled with that measly amount I am able to save every month, I can forget about planning any travel trips because majority of that money that could fund for any trips will have to go into the Investment Plan, an Investment Plan that I will not be able to touch until 10 Years later, and the rest will have to go into my Renovation Fund. 

When I read about the Investment Plans on Platforms like Reddit, the common consensus is almost unanimous, and that is to not take on that plan because the Management Fee is very expensive, using a Robo-Advisor like Endowus, you will be charged a Management Fee of 0.4% of what you have invested, but if you decide to invest with the Insurance Company, they will be charging you a Management Fee of  3.6%, that is 9 times more than Endowus. 

That means if I were to put in $4,800, the Insurance Company will take $172.80 as part of their Management Fee, ,and I am guessing part of that goes to my Agent, and here is another reason why so many people are against this Investment plan...

1. You will NOT be able to access the funds for the next 10 years, whatever you have invested will be locked away.

2.  If you are unable to continue the investment because of some lifestyle changes, say you have a baby and need to redirect that money to take care of that baby or if you get fired from a job and have no income to spare, choosing to surrender the investment policy before the 10 year mark will not entitle you to whatever has been accumulated,  instead, you will only get a portion of it the more premature the surrender...

This chart is conveniently left out from the online brochure that is introducing this Investment Policyy.

... Full Surrender Charge Rate is essentially the penalty you will have to pay if you choose to end it prematurely, so let's say I suddenly have some lifestyle change on my second year and I decide I want to back out, so I surrender the policy.

 100% Surrender Charge Rate.

The Insurance Company will cancel the Policy and then charge you for 100% of the amount you have invested, in short, you get fuck all. 

You will essentially have to pay some form of penalty if you decide to pull out early, you won't have control of the investment as well, so if by sheer bad luck, the shares that the agent got for you ends up nose diving like no one's business, you won't be able to do shit, you can't surrender the policy because you will end up having to pay the penalty, but if you continue pumping in money, you will also end up losing the money, it's a lose lose situation.

This is how Insurance works, so it shouldn't be any surprise that they also implement this in their Investment Policies.

If I were to put $4,800 with Endowus on the other hand, I am charged only $19.20 for my Management Fee, and I have constant access to my funds at anytime.

1. I can choose not to top up if I am ever tight on cash.

2. I can choose to pull out if I ever decide not to continue the investment at anytime.

I have so much more freedom to do what I want to do with MY MONEY and am able to do what I feel right with it, honestly, if I am investing with Endowus, I will probably not touch the funds unless I can see my money grow elsewhere at a much faster rate, which it did when I let the money generate interest in my UOB One account. I ended up getting like a few hundred dollars over a span of a few months, which was great.

I have reached out to my agent since to share with him my decision to cancel the plan for a second time and even listed my reasons why I wanted to cancel it, he told me it wouldn't be ideal to cancel it because I don't really have any proper investment plan with him and that it would be good to continue with the policy for when I retire.

I reiterated that I am simply not comfortable with the amount I am putting in and even told him how much I would be left with monthly if I actually continued with the policy, he then offers me a suggestion to lower the amount to just $200 per month instead of cancelling the entire policy, which I was a bit uncomfortable with because I want to cancel the policy. I told him I would rather put that money in a Robo-Advisor than continue the Investment Link Policy, he then told me he will arrange for a Zoom call to help me with it, which I was really confused by.

A Zoom Call to do what? Help me cancel the policy or help me invest using the RoboAdvisor? The latter has nothing to do with him at all and the last time he cancelled my policy, I didn't have to do any Zoom Call at all, so I asked him why I need to do a Zoom Call to cancel the plan and he just leaves me on read.

That was at 11.35am.

At 4.30pm,  I send him a follow up message a to remind him to help me cancel the policy, told him I was appreciative of his intentions behind offering me the policy again, but that I am just not comfortable continuing with it. 

He reads the message half an hour later and doesn't acknowledge it. It's now almost 9pm and he still hasn't acknowledged my message, he just left me on read.

My brother and I share the same advisor, so I did ask my brother if our agent had recommended him the ILP before, he told me he hasn't, which I think is proof that my agent probably just sees me as a gullible idiot who will buy anything he recommends, and I was a gullible idiot until last year when he did this shit to me, it just pisses me off that I actually fell for it again this year.

Anyways, I took an advice from a friend and have decided to just attempt to cancel the plan through AIA directly via their virtual agent tomorrow. This will definitely leave a really bad taste in my mouth if I end up actually having to cancel it on my own. I am honestly quite pissed off that my agent decided to just go radio silent on me after I questioned him about why we needed a Zoom meeting to cancel the plan, but I think after this, he will probably not want to call me out for lunch anymore to discuss my policies, would be really awkward for you to pretend you care about my well being when the shit that you have doing (or not doing) proves otherwise. 

iPad Pro Lives!

My old iPad Pro has resurrected! 

The last time it had died due to water damage, thanks to my Owala bottle, which I have stopped using because of how bulky it is. I only got it in the bigger size for my Reservist, but now that I no longer have to do 6 hour Guard Duty shifts anymore unless I ever decide to retire in the future and just pass my time becoming a security guard somewhere, which will be many many many years later, there really isn't a need for me to have such a big bottle, so I have just abandoned that iPad murderer.

I digress

I could have thrown the iPad away because it had pretty much just become a very expensive tray the day after it got wet, but I was feeling sentimental since it had been my very first iPad, and it even has my name engraved on it, so I kept it as a memento. A part of me was hoping that the water will eventually dry up and the iPad will suddenly work again some day, so I have tried taking it out and powering it up every once in a while to see if it would, and it always just stayed dead, but earlier this week, I decided to dig it out again to see if it would work, it actually showed the no battery sign on the screen. 

That was when I knew my hopes had come true because it actually started working again! 

I immediately went to plug it into a charger and it was able to charge it to full battery, and it managed to boot up successfully!  

There are still some visible water damage mark on a small part of the screen but it has significantly reduced compared to how it had been previously...

...which was like this...

I am quite amazed that it actually came back to life, I had hope for it but I never really expected it to do that.

I'm not sure how long it will actually work for, so I am a bit fearful that this could be a sudden surge of energy, like the iPad is trying to say a proper goodbye to me before it dies a permanent death, so I am feeling very apprehensive.

I had shared this good news with Yan and her husband, whom I shall call Shawn, a few days ago during our CNY Company dinner, my boss had invited all of us, including Yan and Ruby, both of whom were victims of the company lay-offs last year, to catch up and give them red packets because my boss does feel bad about having to let them go so I guess this is his way of  "apologizing" I suppose.

When Yan heard about the news of my iPad, she asked if I was interested to sell it, since I technically have 2 iPads in possession, the other being my iPad Air that had been purchased to replace the iPad Pro when it "died". I didn't think it through properly and told Yan I don't mind selling it to her if she wants it, and that I am planning to let it go for $500, since it isn't in the best condition, she then told me her maximum budget was only $300, and that it was totally fine if I can't drop it that low for her, to which I went...

"Okay lah, since I won't be using it anyway, I can just sell it to you for $300."

....Yan and her husband were very happy because it was an amazing deal. 

When I got home and was packing the iPad to pass it to Shawn the following day in the office, that was when I started to realize it was way too good of a deal, like the kind of deal only an idiot buyer would pass up and the kind of deal only an idiot seller would make, in this case, there can only be 1 idiot, and that was me, the dumb fuck who didn't think it through before agreeing to the price.

I still have the original iPad Packaging and pretty much everything else in it, aside from the iPad had been unused, the charger and the USB cable is brand new, like still wrapped in the original packaging new, and I am going to just let all this go for $300? I am a fucking fool, and I was also letting the Apple Pencil go together with the iPad Pro. 

Aside from the lower than average selling price, a bigger reason why I didn't want to sell it was because after holding the iPad Pro in my hands again, I just realize how much more comfortable it is to use compared to my 13" iPad Air, the iPad Pro, despite being the previous generation model, is also just a much better iPad in every sense, the camera is better, the screen is smoother, it's so much lighter and less clunky. The 13" is only viable if I wanted to use it as a laptop replacement, otherwise it is way too big.

I ended up rescinding my offer to Yan and Shawn and had to apologize to him. I  told him I couldn't bear to let it go for $300 and that I was contemplating to use it as my main iPad again and retire my iPad Air. I also causally told him that our boss had offered to buy the iPad Air off from from me. His reaction looked fine when I told him about it, but a few minutes later, Yan messages me and informed me that she was aware I am no longer interested to sell the tablet to her anymore, assured me that it is fine if I plan to sell it to someone for a higher price, but that she is upset at my boss for counter-offering to buy the iPad from me. 

I got a bit confused because it doesn't make sense for her to be upset that my boss offered to buy my iPad Air from me, that was until I realize  Yan the completely misunderstood my reason for taking back the offer.

What Yan thought had happened ...

1. I offered Yan and Shawn my iPad Pro for $300

2. My boss counter-offered me for it.

3. I decided to sell it to my boss instead of Yan and Shawn.

What actually happened...

1. I offered Yan and Shawn my iPad Pro for $300

2. I decided I didn't want to sell it anymore for personal reasons.

3. I told my boss during lunch about the iPad Pro offer to Yan and Shawn and how I was planning to take back that offer because the selling price was too low and also because I might want to use it as my main iPad again.

4. My boss ask me about my current iPad Air and told me he can buy it off of me if I was planning to use my iPad Pro again. It wasn't an official offer, so we didn't really discuss a price.

Yan already has a bad impression of my boss after he terminated her last year, so I really didn't want to tarnish the image of him in her mind and had to quickly clarify the whole situation. I can sense that she was still a bit upset about it despite her telling me it was alright, and I could see from Shawn's expression during the company meeting that day that he was also not very happy about it, so I feel bad about the whole thing, but I know I myself would be feeling a lot worst if I actually sold them the iPad. 

Anyways, I now have 2 iPads and have since returned to using the iPad Pro as my main iPad, the iPad Air has been retired back to it's original box along with the new Apple Pencil. It was definitely a mistake to have gotten the 13" back then, it was great when I first got it because the screen was so big, but it is such an inconvenient size to be carrying around, especially when I bring it for site visits and need to take notes on it. The bigger size also makes it feel like it's going to topple anytime when I prop it up to watch my shows, especially during my last flight to Taipei, but that might also just be an issue with the case.

To be using my 11" again just feels so much more natural to me, the size and weight is perfect, the partially damaged screen is a bit of an eyesore that I may consider replacing one day and I also think the battery has been slightly compromised by the water damage because it isn't really lasting as long as I think it should. If this 11" really dies again, I might consider just getting another 11" iPad instead of going back to the 13", so I am definitely thinking of selling the iPad Air away soon.

Random PopMart update...

 

I managed to snatch this ugly Labubu today during the TikTok Livestream on Friday. I really don't like the colour, but I am trying to start this tradition of collecting all these Limited Edition Labubu, just for the sake of it.

I did also try to snatch the big one because FOMO...

...but this one was way too difficult to grab, it was getting wiped out within seconds of getting released, that being said, I am happy I didn't manage to snatch it because I really have no space in my room for a large Labubu, and it's like $110, I don't need to be spending that kind of money on this. 

I do however want to get a brown Zimomo...

... but this one has only been released very randomly once on the TikTok Livestream like 2 weeks ago and has never appeared again. 

Obviously it got wiped out almost immediately. 

I also think I may be buying another full set of figurines from PopMart soon because recently, there has been leaks of a new SkullPanda series called The Mirage.

No photos, just the names of all the different figurines. It looks to be a set of 9 instead of the usual 12, I am hoping it is a set of figurines and not some random collection of candles or what not because the last time this leaker leaked the new Labubu series 2 weeks before it was officially announced on PopMart...

... they listed it as Labubu V.3, which I had thought would be a new line of plushie blind boxes, which got me really excited. 

It was then revealed that this new collection will only have 2 Plushies, one is the Plushie Pendant, which I snagged on the Livestream, and the other is the larger one, which I am happy to have not been able to snatch, the other items that have the "King" "Queen" "Rook" "Bishop" "Knight" "Pawn" and "Bond" labels aren't plushies, they are....

... a candle collection, thus my hopes that the Skullpanda one won't be candles...

... and fridge magnets.

... the disappointment was real, but my wallet is very grateful for the immediate death my interest in these collection faced upon realizing they are not what I thought they were, if they had made a full plushie collection out of the Labubu designs based on the design from the Fridge Magnets, and made the "Pawn" a secret because it is Tycoco, otherwise no one would want it because let's be honest, that one ain't cute unless it becomes a secret. I think it would have been a hit. But honestly, anything that is a Plushie, especially the vinyl faced ones, are always an immediate hit.

The only "Plushies" that I think will not do well in the SEA Market if they ever make a Plushie version of it is Peach Riot...

....this series struggles to sell out when they are release as the new collection of the week on the Livestream, I personally find them to be really generic and boring looking, and I think majority of the PopMart collectors in SEA probably feels the same way about it, that's why it's not super popular. That being said, I do believe this series is pretty popular among the Caucasian demographic... I think, because it has to be popular with them, otherwise PopMart wouldn't be constantly releasing new collections with the lack of demand it is getting in SEA.

Update :

I came across this on the official PopMart Shopee page...

 

It's a Mui-Chan figurine for $109.90! 

GROSS! It's so fucking ugly!

2 people actually paid $109.90 for this ugly abomination of a doll from PopMart! This looks like the kind of shit I would find in those old school heartland mall that sells cheap toys from China that looks like shit and goes for $10...

....and comes in this type of packaging.

That Mui Chan is officially the ugliest looking PopMart figurine I have ever seen, the fact that it is going for $109.90 feels almost criminal. 

CNY and Skincare stuff

CNY has come and gone, and with every passing year, celebrations like this just starts to feel less festive because our family no longer has the tradition of meeting up with the extended family anymore for our reunion dinner, it's the same for Christmas as well.

Now that my Sister and Brother are living on their own, it feels like a gathering of sorts, and we have a new addition to the family this year, my baby Nephew, the first and hopefully not the last of the next generation. Super adorable but I am a bit awkward around him because I don't really know what to do with babies, this will only get worst when he grows up so good luck to me ever becoming his favorite Uncle, I honestly think that honour will go my my Sister-in-Law's brother.

 But anyways.

My CNY break is all the way until Tuesday, so I still have 1 more day off from work, I don't really want to go back to work, even though I have nothing to do at home.

I need to plan another trip soon! I am planning for a trip to Switzerland maybe in October  but that is still way too long. Life is really boring now and I need something that I can look forward to in the immediate future! Maybe a short and quick trip to either Vietnam or Bali is in order for the month of April - May period because I also need to visit a different country, I get really self conscious about how others will view me if I keep visiting the same countries on my Instagram stories.

On to another random topic...

 After my perfume and PopMart phase, I think I am now beginning to enter a new phase. 

Skincare.

Reason being my appearance is now catching up with my actual age, especially in photographs, and my goal right now is to try and delay the eventual facial sag as much as possible. But to be honest, this skincare phase might not last as long as my Perfume and PopMart phase, just because it's a bit more complicated and getting the wrong type of skincare could potentially fuck my skin up, whereas getting a foul smelling perfume and ugly PopMart figurines will just fuck up my savings even more than it already has.

TikTok has been pushing a lot of skincare related videos to me in my FYP and I have been getting a lot of Medicube related ads and videos, which I am not sure if it is a viable brand because of how aggressive the marketing is, the company definitely paid a lot for their campaigns because those "reviews' of their product don't really feel like they are coming from genuine users of the products, it feels like the content creators that I come across were all paid to say those shit, especially when there is a "yellow basket" attached to the video for us viewers to buy the products they are showing.

Some of these content creators are really blatant with how bias they are, they will talk about how the product will give you "glass skin", which is essentially this plump and shiny skin that a lot of Koreans would like to achieve for their skin, proceed to apply the brand's serum all over their face, and then say...

"Look at how shiny my skin looks."

... ummm....no shit sherlock, you just slathered a ton of serum on your face, of course it's going to look shiny, you can also achieve the same result by dunking your face in a vet of vegetable oil. 

That being said, I might give Medicube a try to see how if the product actually works because I do no need something for my day routine.

Talking about routine...

...I have been using the VT Reedle Shot from VT Cosmetics, which was viral in Korea last year, for my nightly routine and I felt a bit more open to trying it because it was getting wiped out from the stores in Korea during it's viral period, which meant the Koreans were actually using it, but then again, I got all this information from TikTok so it might have just been another marketing campaign.

It works as an exfoliator, so I am hoping it can help exfoliate my textured skin, which is really bad, especially under natural lighting.

I have been using the product for about a week now and initially, I would wake up with my skin looking really smooth, but then after a while, I wasn't sure if it was because of the product or just a result of morning puffiness, day to day however, I honestly can't see much difference, my skin texture is still pretty bad. I have also bought the Collagen Mask as a package deal...

 ...applied that mask daily for like 4 days straight when I first got it because it claimed to be a daily mask and the whole point of putting on the mask is to introduce collagen into my skin, came across a video online from a dermatologist who shared that collagen cannot actually penetrate your skin because the cells are quite large, and the only way to properly introduce collagen into your body is through either oral consumption, which I have checked online and are NOT cheap, or the collagen has to be hydrolyzed collagen, which is essentially collagen that has been broken down into smaller fragments so it can penetrate the skin, but apparently when it gets broken down, it just isn't as effective anymore, so there is that. Collagen facial products aren't really all that useful and my face mask is really just a glorified moisturizer.  

One thing I didn't really disliked about the mask is how it leaves my face feeling really tacky after I was done with it, I thought that is the "moisturizing" part, but it doesn't seem to absorb into the skin, so it gets really uncomfortable, especially because it is a night time routine and I have to sleep with that sticky sensation on my face after.

Come to learn later I was suppose to tap and press all the serum that is on my face into my face after I peel off the mask in order to help it absorb into my skin, my face did feel less tacky after that, but I am not sure if it is because my skin actually absorbed it or if I had just removed all the serum from all that tapping and rubbing, I then apply moisturizer over it to "lock in" all the serum goodness that my skin has absorb and my face just becomes really sticky all over again.

The mask and moisturizer after combo feels really gross, so I might actually stop masking because I have since gotten 2 blind pimple, which I think is a result of applying the collagen mask. 

I really should have stopped using it when the blind pimples started appearing, but I had assumed it was just my body detoxifying itself with the new products I am slapping on my face, well, the fact that the blind pimple got redder after masking should have been a very obvious indicator that it was doing the opposite of detoxifying. 

I actually had trouble getting a proper sleep after doing the mask + moisturizer routine last night because of how oily and tacky my face felt, so I kept tossing and turning in bed last night, and when I finally feel asleep, I was awoken again all of a sudden, and this is not skin care related anymore, but I was suddenly awoken with random Malay voices in my room. 

As someone who doesn't speak Malay, I had no idea what the voices were saying, but I kept hearing the words "Mati" a lot, which means "die" in Malay, so I got up because these voices were loud, I checked my phone and it was 3am, 3am is also known as the witching hour, that is the timing when paranormal activity is at it's peak according to folkore, so I was freaking the fuck out.  It also doesn't help that I had recently mounted a mirror on the wall that faces my bed, which isn't really good feng shui so that was just adding on to the paranoia.

The mirror is shit, got it from Shopee, it arrived with the sides broken and the reflection is warped, but I am too lazy to return to so I just kept it and gave the store a 1 star review. It still works, it's just not great at doing it's job.

Anyways, I really couldn't ignore the voices because they were really clear, I could hear my Dad coming out from his room to use the toilet outside, so that gave me the courage to also get up to find out where the sound was coming from, if anything happens, at least I can scream out loud and my Dad will be able to come in to do whatever he can do.

So I could tell the voices were originating from my study table, and as I walked over, I realized it was coming from my iPad, as I was fiddling through the tablet, I really didn't know which app was causing the sound because there wasn't any apps that were running in the foreground. At one point, I thought the Malay voices were mocking me because I couldn't turn it off, it was fucking freaky. 

I fiddled around for a bit and finally realize it was my TikTok app, the fucking app auto connected me to a random Livesteam of a group of  Malay streamers playing some FPS game, and the Livestream wasn't even on the front page when I opened the app, it was playing in the background of the app, which was why I couldn't find the source of the sound in the beginning. 

So the stream was playing in the background of the app and the app was playing in the background of my iPad.

It was playing in the background of the background.... at 3AM IN THE FUCKING MORNING!

What the actual fuck TikTok?  

I was so paranoid after that I had to turn of my side table lamp and couldn't fall asleep until an hour later.

Stupid app.

I had actually watched the TikTok Livestream before going to bed and when it ended, I guess I didn't actually properly exit the app, so it just stayed on the "Livestream has ended" page in the background until it decided to reconnect itself to a another random Livestream, the only thing I don't get is why they would reconnect to another Livestream a whole 7 hours later, and reconnect while my iPad is in sleep mode.

The whole thing doesn't make sense, but I will be making sure to fully close the app on my iPad before I sleep tonight... I will also not be putting on the facemask anymore.

CNY Break, New Bed and more PopMart shit.

One of the perks of working in the renovation industry is that I get to enjoy a longer than usual CNY break. 

Most people will have 2 days off as per the MOM official public holiday dates for CNY, but those in the renovation industry get to have a whole week off cos all the sub-cons and their workers will usually take this time to go back to Malaysia, where majority of them are from, to take a well deserved break.

My boss arranged for everyone to have a meal together before the long CNY break yesterday at a restaurant near the office. I didn't get a bonus this time round like I had the last time because the business didn't do very well last year, but he still made sure to give a generous red packet to everyone, so I got $1000, a bit lesser than last year as well, but it's still a $1000, that's still crazy generous and I am very very grateful.

We were able to end work a bit earlier as well, so I left at 4.30pm. I haven't really had much to do at work recently as well, I actually spend Monday binge reading Solo Levelling for the entire 9 hours in the office, I felt really really bad about it but I literally had no work to do. 

I think the market is getting better, it's just I really didn't have anything to do this week at work because most of the clients are either overseas or preparing to go overseas, so there wasn't really any chance for us to move forward with any of the projects.

Anyways...

I also got myself a new bedframe from IKEA. 

FLEKKE

This cost me $500, but I knew I wanted to get a new bedframe because my previous one from HipVan, which was a fabric bedframe, had started to become a bit gross, and one of the wooden slates broke so it was time. 

The fabric had started to discolour because a portion of it was against the window, so the Sun had caused the colour to fade, and fabric bedframes in general are just harder to maintain because it is fabric, there was so much lint accumulating everywhere and I couldn't clean it properly with a wet wipe because the fabric it will just absorb all the moisture, and the loose fibers from the wet wipe will also get caught onto the bedframe itself and then it just ends up contributing to the lint count. I really liked it when I first got it because it had been my very first fabric bed frame, it looked so soft and was quite comfortable to lean back on if I wanted to sit upright on my bed, but the high maintenance, which in turn has led me to just not bother to maintain it all,  has made me really dislike it. First and last time I will be getting a Fabric bedframe.

But back to this IKEA Bedframe. 

I bought it last week online and it has been delivered today, but I made the big mistake of not opting for the on-site installation, thinking it would be easy to just set it up myself.

It wasn't! 

I was working on it alone for like 90% of the setting up, my little sister helped me with the last 10% when she came back home, but holy crap, it took 5 freaking hours to set the whole thing up! 

We don't have an electric drill at home, so I had to use a good ole screwdriver and there was a lot of screws I had to not just simply tighten, but had to actually use force so the screw will actually puncture into the wood. 

This bedframe came with pre-drilled holes, but they were not threaded holes, that meant that I had to physically exert enough force for the screws to actually go through, using a manual screw driver.

The damn bed is extendable, which meant I had to pretty much set up 2 separate bedframes, and it also comes with 2 drawers, so this was a complicated process compared to a regular bedframe, I was naive in thinking that this was going to be a simple and quick activity that I could do on a Saturday afternoon, the mattress slats were a fucking bitch to install because I had to manually screw the screws into the pre-drilled, non-threaded holes for each individual slats for like half of the bed because thankfully, the other half didn't require me to drill as much.

I got a new bedframe and saved some money by installing it myself, but at the cost of my wrist because it is now extremely sore and so are the balls of my palms because I had been using that part  to exert force to push the screws into the pre-drilled holes, now my grip also feels really weak because of it. It feels like carpel tunnel syndrome.

NOT WORTH THE TROUBLE! 

I should have just paid the $100 fee and got their guys to install it for me. This self-installation should only be attempted if you have a power drill, otherwise, it is not worth the aches and sores. 

My whole room now also smells like IKEA now because of the new bedframe. I don't mind the smell when I am at IKEA, but I am not in IKEA, and it is so strong, especially in such a small room. Usually when you smell something long enough, you will eventually get nose blind to it, but not the smell of the IKEA furniture, it's just constantly there, up in my nose. I wish some of my perfumes could have this type of longevity.

Anyways, random update on PopMart stuff...

I recently got a full set of blind box figurines from the PopMart TikTok Shop...

CHAKA, Light Sprites

I really like all the figurines from this series, so it made sense to get the full set then to get them individually, I have learned my lesson from the SkullPanda Sound Series, if you will be happy getting any one of the figurines from the blind box, then just get the whole damn set because it will be cheaper than buying the opened boxes in the reseller market.

I had gotten 1 blind box from this series prior to getting this full set, as a tester to see if I would actually like it or not, so I have a duplicate because of that,  which I did not open, but I am also missing one figurine from this series because...

I got the secret....

I GOT THE SECRET! 

It's a 1 in 144 chance and I got it, well, my chances were higher since I actually got the full set, so my full set had a  1/12 chance of having a secret in it, and it did!

So happy when I saw taller than usual flame as I opened the box, this dopamine rush of getting a secret last a lot longer, so I am still feeling very happy when I think about this, also because I really like this collection, so to be able to get a secret is like chef's kiss. 

Sadly, the figurine is too high and can't fit into the display case, this and the other one beside it, which sucks because the collection would have looked really nice in the case. Alas, I cannot accept the fact that 2 out of 12 of my figurines can't fit, so I took them all out of the case and migrated them to another one...

... this arrangement is not too bad, I can make the secret the center piece and actually still have space left for the remaining design on the bottom left, which I have gotten on Shopee for 170% of the original price because it was one of the more popular figurine in the series, but I really have no choice, I mean I have the freaking secret, I need the full set!

The duplicate that I ended up getting was the very last box I opened, so it was an exhilarating disappointment when I realize I was going to be missing 1 figurine from the collection. How lucky would I have been had the last box been the one I was missing, that would be crazy, I would have used up all my luck for the year if that had been the case.

So much for my New Years resolution of not wasting money on PopMart, but I had already broken that resolution during my Taiwan trip when I got those Skullpanda figurines, oh well. At least I actually like all this figurines from Chaka, and I got the Secret too, so it's worth it!

$200 worth of damage if I were to also include the missing one that I bought at a mark up. So happy to get a FULL collection! 

Something else I have noticed when I tune in to the PopMart TikTok Livestream recently is that the Labubu craze is slowly but surely dying down. I have watched 2 different host, on 2 separate occasions, releasing the Labubu V1 as a surprise drop and it didn't get wiped out immediately by the viewers, in fact, it stayed available for like a minute, no one is snatching them anymore.

The resellers are finally gone... for the early versions of these Labubus at least.

As someone who is part reseller and part collector, but mainly a collector now, I think I will still continue getting the Limited Edition Labubus, just for my own personal collection, since I will be keeping them in the box, it will act as a nice display for my shelf.

Labubu Wings of Fortune

I recently managed to get my hands on this one, it was finally released on the Livestream after so freaking long.  I had originally planned to snatch it on the release day back in October, but the Livestream had some issue like 2 hours into the stream, so the stream just ended for the day, which was fucking irritating because the host was slowly releasing all the least popular items first and saving this one for last, but then everything crashed and everyone who was waiting for it ended up being unable to get their hands on it.

They didn't announce when they will re-do the Livestream for this release because they don't update their Social Media about it, so it just remained unavailable for the longest time until they finally released it on the official PopMart website, unfortunately, it was a "purchase with purchase" kind of deal...

 ..so I will have to first spend $31.90 before I was allowed to buy the Labubu. 

To see myself spending a total of $70 in a single receipt for PopMart when I only want to get the $39.90 item? No thanks!

The PopMart website also has a much longer delivery time, the first and last time I got something from there, it took them 2 weeks before it finally arrived at my door, I have no idea why but it was stuck in a sorting center for a whole week, whereas with TikTok, it gets delivered within a week. So I am not going to be getting anything from the website unless I have no choice.

But anyways, I have gotten that Labubu from the stream, so if they are still working during CNY, hopefully I can get it by next week and add it to my collection. 

The next Limited Edition one will also be released soon...

... I'm not sure how I feel about it though. I will probably still try and snatch it though because I am a sucker for following trends blindly.