New York New York Part 1

I am finally back from my New York trip and it was amazing, although the flight back was horrible and such a bad way to end such a great trip, but alas, I am already starting to miss New York and simply not looking forward to returning back to work.



Before the trip, I was actually really doubtful about being able to enjoy New York because it's a very crowded city, I just kept picturing Times Square, packed to the brimmed, with restaurants that have endless queues, and while it is true that Times Square is a busy place and there are queues that form outside quite a few restaurants,  what I had pictured in my head was just a small part of New York City.




Upon arrival, the first thing we did was hail for the cab, since my Sister was going to cover all the basic cost, I didn't have to pay for the cab from JFK Airport to Times Square.

 Interior of the Cab is pretty large, the ceilings were really high, but it could have use a bit of cleaning if I were to be honest.

The weather was amazing, it was like walking into an air-conditioned room at a nice 17 degrees. I really wanted to take a timelapse video, but it was tiring holding my hands up for so long. The ride was about 45 minutes.

So instead, I just took a bunch of random pictures along the way.

Drove across a few cemeteries along the way and man were there a so many graves, it was crazy how much land America has compared to Singapore, because back here, all of this graves would have been exhumed to make way for HDB buildings.


The driver claims he couldn't drop us off at our hotel because the road was blocked by some food festival, so we were dropped off pretty far away from the hotel and forced to walk for quite a distance, not a great start to the trip, lugging a luggage across the uneven pavement of New York.


I will admit, the first day of the trip was not good, I was not able to sleep on the plane and was on the verge of crashing as I went through the first day of itinerary, unfortunately because we could only check in at 3pm, we had a few hours to spare, so after dropping off our luggage at the hotel lobby, we took the subway to explore New York.

First area we headed to was Upper West Side, which is probably my favourite location in New York, out of all the places I was able to visit during my entire trip there, compared to Times Square, it was just so much quieter and just that little bit cleaner. The place still smells of piss and shit though, like a hint of it.

Got myself a Birthday Cake Shake from Milk Bar, one of the first F&B outlet I visited with my Sister, it was really really really thick, so the first sip was really hard, and it got rich really quickly, my Sis got the Cereal Milk softserve and if I can describe the flavour, it's just taste like Horlick Ice Cream, it's just straight up Horlick Ice Cream, I like Horlick so it was good.

And of course a Compost Cookie, definitely needed to get one of the Cookies from the Milk Bar. I was honestly a little underwhelmed with how the cookies turn out if I were to be completely honest, it didn't blow my mind as much as I thought it would. It was a good cookie, but a little overhyped, in fact, I think I can make a better one with my own Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookie recipe, just gotta replace the Pecans with Potato Chips, Pretzels and a bit of coffee granules.

 After Milk Bar, the next stop was suppose to be lunch, but my Sister kept asking me where I wanted to go because it was still a little early for lunch, so I proposed to drop by Levian Bakery since it looked like it was a walking distance away, plus she had a cup of Ice Cream and I had a cup of Shake, it would take a while to finish those items so why not just walk and finish it on the way.

The walk was pretty long and by that time, lunch time started creeping up, so I told my Sister that Levian Bakery probably sold some savory items for us to get as lunch, and she was agreeable to it. Unfortunately, they don't have a lot of selection of Savory goods, save for 2 small sandwiches on the counter that looked more like display items to fill up the space, so we opted out of it and instead got just the cookies, which is what Levian Bakery is famous for.

I got Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies and Oatmeal and Raisin, both of which I did not touch on the first day because of how sickening the shake from Milkbar made me feel.

Surprisingly, it remained really moist and soft even after 2 days, which was when I finally ate the cookies, sadly I could't finish the Oatmeal and Raisin because it was just a little too much for me. 

Once again, not really mind blowing, really over-hyped it in my head.

After the long walk between Milk Bar and Levian Bakery, we came across a small Pizza Shop and decided to get our lunch there. I got a simple Cheese Pizza, something light but substantial and it was honestly quite yummy. They were really generous with the cheese, and my favorite cheese is melted mozzarella on pizza, so I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch. After lunch we walked around a little more, visited the nearby Bloomingdale Outlet Mall, which was selling a lot of items that heavily discounted prices, and then headed back to our Hotel to check in.

The whole place just had this really chill and relaxing vibe that I just really love and I can't stress just how much I enjoyed the weather.


I made a very bad decision after checking in because instead of taking a short power nap like my sister did, I stayed up and played Legend of Zelda on my Switch until it was time for our next itinerary, which was a ghost tour around Greenwich Village.

Honestly can't remember the history behind this, I'm sure there is a scary story behind it but I was just too tired to listen to the tour guide.

This building on the other hand had no haunted history behind it, I just thought the contrast between the white brick walls and the tree looked really good. The actual haunted location is the building next to it which isn't in frame, which I never took a picture of because I was just bored and wanted the tour to be over.



The guide was talking about orbs appearing on photos and honestly speaking, when someone claims that orbs are "ghost", I just want to roll my eyes because most of the time if not always, the orbs are just light reflecting off the speck of dirt that is floating through the air. I just can't take anything orb related seriously, so when someone goes into detail about what the different color orb represents, all I see is the person desperately reaching for something that just isn't.



I had been awake for close to 42 hours at this point, so I was really really tired, but we still had to go for dinner, so we dropped by Katz Deli for their Pastrami on Rye, which is a must try for anyone visiting New York.



My eyes were blood shot at this point and I could sense people just looking at me like I was suffering from some of of drug withdrawal symptom. Sadly, Katz is probably the one place I should have but did not take any photos of the food or restaurant to post on my Instagram because I was so fucking tired, I just wanted to go back to the hotel and sleep. I will say that the sandwich is good, but not mind blowing, I had over-hyped it in my head way too much. The serving was pretty big though, so I shared one sandwich with my Sister and we were full.



Knocked out back at the Hotel, but surprisingly, didn't sleep long, I managed to wake up at around 6.00am the next day, had breakfast at Taco Bell, and the main event that day was the NBC Studio Tour at 30 Rockefeller Plaza

We visited a few studios including the set of Saturday Night Live, which was really interesting because the actual studio was really small and it's just cool to see how everything looks behind the scene, there was a strict no photo taking policy, so no photos there.

I ordered a Pink Drink from Starbucks after the tour at the Starbucks in the building just out of fun, the drink took a very long time to make because there were so many people ordering their drinks at the Starbucks, the place was just really pack, but the drink it self was actually really nice.




After the tour, my sister wanted to get Sliders from White Castle, and the closest one was in Harlem.

So we went to Harlem.



The White Castle outlet just looked really depressing, there was no background music playing in the store at all, it just felt like a very sad place to work in, so I was definitely not interested to stay there any longer.

-insert picture of White Castle Sliders, oh I did not take any pictures because I stupid-

We headed back to Central Park via a bus and had our meal on a nearby bench facing the pond, the weather was a little warmer than the first day, but it was still nice and cooling, my sister underestimated the sliders because we ended up eating only 70% of what we ordered before waving the white flag, the sliders were great though, really like the buns, really light and fluffy, flavor wise, it tasted exactly the same as a McDonad's cheeseburger.






After lunch, headed back to the hotel for a quick rest, then headed out for dinner...

We visited a pretty expensive steakhouse, was told to dress up so I wore button shirt, but upon arrival, I could see a handful just wearing T-Shirt and Jeans, I  was not in a good mood that evening because of reasons, so I only took picture of the appetizer they gave us, but the lamb shank was good, a little too much but good, the meat was really soft and tender, and it didn't really have the a strong gamey taste, the ambiance wasn't great though, the place was crowded, the seats were all so close to one another, it was really noisy and I just couldn't wait to get out of there, service from one particular server was pretty bad as well but that concluded the second day.






On the third day, we headed to the 9/11 Memorial Site after a quick breakfast at Chick-Fil-a...

I order a Hash Bowl and it was good, this is my type of breakfast, unfortunately not very popular in Singapore.


Headed to the Memorial and this was the first thing that greeted me when I exited the train station.

This could have honestly passed off as a Singapore scenery until.....

...you start introducing all the Brownstones into the shot and that is when it becomes apparent that is it America again, amazing view of the skyscrapers.

The visit to the memorial was a pretty sombre experience, seeing the names of all the victims who died during the attack on the plates that went around the perimeter of where the towers once stood. Everyone there was pretty respectful, I didn't really see anyone taking selfies of themselves, they were all just admiring the memorial really respectfully.


We lingered there for about 15 minutes and then made our way to the Staten Island, the goal was to see the Statue of Liberty during the ferry ride.

The ferry is pretty big, I was initially afraid that the massive crowd at the boarding area would make it difficult to find seats, but as one can see from the picture, there is clearly more than enough seats available.

It was all about the amazing Skyline during the first part of the trip, many were taking pictures of themselves with the view as a backdrop and it truly is a gorgeous view to behold. I have only seen this view in TV Shows and movies, so to see it in person is just amazing.



And after a few minutes, she started to come into view....

...and she was really small, and I am not just talking about the size that is caused by the distance between her and the ferry, I honestly thought the Statue of Liberty would be this towering behemoth and for a minute, I thought what I was looking at was some sort of replica and that the real one was probably deeper in Staten Island, but nope, she was the real deal.

It was a really really small sight and everyone on the ferry were just clustering at the edge of the ferry taking photo of the Statue, I took a few shots, didn't actually go and see the Statue close up because it's just too crowded and also I don't see a reason why,  viewing it from afar on the ferry is enough, although the Staten Island trip was suppose to be a quick back and forth, we ended up staying a little longer on Staten Island after we found out that there were a bunch of Outlet Malls there.

 I only manage to get one shirt there because the fit was just all wrong, it was also crazy sunny that day but I didn't actually sweat despite seating under the intense heat, it was really odd but also nice to not be soaked in sweat, my face did get super oily though, which is really gross.



We had to rush back after the shopping because the main event of the entire trip was happening on the third day, and that was to watch the live taping of the Stephen Colbert Show, so we actually skipped lunch and joined the queue at about 2.45pm. The weather that day was not air-con like, it was pretty warm and the very first day I decided to forgo my sweater.

There were 2 queues, first was the priority queue, and the second was the general tickets queue, I was in the general tickets queue with my sister and people in this queue aren't confirmed to get in.

Thankfully, after 2 hours of waiting, we were finally tagged with the wristband and confirmed.

It was such a great experience to see the live show, watch the guest being interviewed live and seeing how professional it looks on TV, it was amazing to be able to see things from a different perspective. I personally think it was worth it to see a celebrity like Stephen Colbert in person as a tourist from Singapore in New York City.


Unfortunately, the guy who was sitting beside me during the live tapping was this dude with really broad shoulders, so every time we got up to clap for the guest, he would just brush into me and it was extremely unpleasant, a great experience that was only slightly partially ruined by a broad shoulder.

Got some merchandise after the show ended because of course we have to.


This was the episode I was apart of, contributing my applause and what not, and it was pretty cool to see how everything happens live and how crazy efficient all the workers were, got to see guest leaving the stage once their portion was over and just parts that are not aired on TV or uploaded on Youtube.

....after the show, we had ramen at a nearby ramen shop, wasn't very memorable, and then I got cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery....

This was probably at about 8.00 pm and the sky is still pretty bright, which kept screwing with me because it was just so misleading. It only gets dark at about 8.30 pm in New York, so I do tend to loose track of time.

Green Frosting, Red Velvet and Hummingbird Cupcakes. Oddly enough, they taste and smell like the cupcakes I would make at home, so I am not sure if I am a good baker or if Magnolia Bakery just isn't all that amazing. My standards for my own baking is pretty high, so I am highly critical of my own baking.

Fourth day is free and easy, I got a break from my Sister and she got a break from me, we had Dunkin Donuts for breakfast together first, and I was just blown away by how good the coffee was, it didn't leave any bitter aftertaste, the drink just felt really really clean, I kept expressing my shock at how much I love the coffee to my sister and decided that I will get a packet of their coffee beans before we got back to Singapore.



This free and easy day was what really made me fall in love with New York, taking the train and blending in with the New Yorkers alone just felt great, the weather was amazing, it was like permanently air-conditioned, I headed to possibly my favorite part of New York, the Upper West Side and visited Milk Bar

Got my hands on a cup of Cereal Milk Latte and a few more cookies to try out.

My attempts at taking picture of the coffee in my hand while walking. My stupid phone keeps doing this thing where it tries to auto sharpen every photo, so photos take are taken while moving ends up becoming completely fucked.

Sipping on a cold cup of coffee and taking a stroll down Upper West Side just felt great, something I never find myself doing back in Singapore because the weather is just way too hot, it's just what a perfect lazy afternoon felt like, walking outside instead of being cooped up in an aircon room surfing the internet

Before heading back to the hotel, I got a sandwich from a Deli close by after some light shopping at the Bloomingdale's Outlet Store, then headed back to the hotel and ate my sandwich at the Hotel Lobby.

Just a random view of Times Square I took that day.

It was such a simple day, and it's what I like, just exploring familiar places and not doing all the touristy stuff,  I headed to Times Square to walk around a little, visited the M&M store, then headed back to the hotel to rest before meeting with my Sister to have dinner together at an Oyster Bar

  

Ordered a Parmesan Truffles Mac & Cheese because what is Mac & Cheese without any Truffle oil nowadays.

And a few smaller dishes to try, I got fish tacos, my sister for a small lobster roll, and we each had a small cup of clam chowder. Of course we also ordered Oysters but I didn't take a picture of said Oyster Bowl because I am an idiot. Despite the servings being small, it was surprisingly filling, the Mac & Cheese really did it's job of feeling our stomachs.



After which I visited a shop that sells raw cookie dough called DO, actually went to the wrong store but luckily I was sharp enough to notice there was something off about the store, 2 other tourist who were there unfortunately didn't catch on though.

Not a huge fan of raw cookie dough, I much prefer them baked, the taste of raw flour is kinda gross. I only managed to eat about 70% of it and had to throw the other 30% out.


Fifth day is also free and easy, we had Shake Shack for breakfast....

...no long queues like the one in Singapore, but the food there is crazy expensive for a fast food joint, I really like the burger and the shake though, so maybe I might eat it again when the queues have died down in Singapore, although I am not sure how long Shake Shack can last in Singapore with the crazy price point once the initial hype dies down.

Got a cup of coffee from Dunkin Donuts after the amazing one I had for breakfast the previous day, sadly it wasn't as great, this coffee was bitter, it left a sour after taste in my mouth and I also ordered the wrong drink, originally planned to get the Blueberry Crisp Latte, but ended up ordering Caramel Latte instead.

My sister went on to explore Brooklyn after breakfast and I headed to Baked By Melissa after a quick rest back at the Hotel.

The cupcakes by Melissa were super petite, but the sizes were great for eating a bunch of different flavours in one sitting, I only got 6 cupcakes though, kinda regret not going back and getting more flavours to try.

The cupcakes by Melissa were super petite, but the sizes were great for eating a bunch of different flavours in one sitting,

Got a huge sandwich for lunch at a nearby cafe, didn't really like the sandwich very much so didn't finish it, but it was a great to show just small the cupcake is, the sandwich was also pretty huge.




Met my sister for Dinner at The Red Lobster...

The food wasn't all that great, the serving was quite small, everything was over salted and the service was just really slow.

This was the last day at our first hotel, The Ameritania, in New York, so I took some last photos of Times Square before we left, also took a view the hotel offered.


The Ameritania is probably my favorite location out of all the other hotels we stayed in. After this, we headed to Washington the very next day via Amtrak, which is a 3 hour ride from NYC.

Cancer High Horrible Flight on Qatar Airways

For my flight back from New York to Singapore, the trip is split into 2 flights, a 12 hours flight from NY to Doha, and then a 7 hours flight from Doha to Singapore.


The flight from Singapore to New York was great, everything went smoothly and I don't have anything to complaint about, but unfortunately, the trip back had quite a huge problem, or more specifically, the 12 hour flight from NY to Doha, the plane ride was such a horrible experience and I just wanted to blog about the whole ordeal while it is still fresh in my mind.



So for my flight I am on, I was seated on the left side of the plane at the outer seat, which is the seat next to the aisle, and then beside me at the window seat and the middle seat are 2 random passengers. According to the flight data online, the middle seat was suppose to be empty and I was honestly pretty happy with the arrangement, the Indian lady who was occupying the window seat seemed rather pleasant, she had placed her small handbag in the middle seat and once the plane took off, I was planning to utilize the floor of the middle seat, so she take the seat and I take the floor,  a fair share, with everything unofficially settled between us, I was expecting the journey to be relatively smooth



Unfortunately, about 2 minutes after I had sat down, some scrawny guy walks over to my sit and starts reaching out for his bag above my overhead compartment, he was digging through his items when he finally took the bag down and I noticed he had taken out some pills to ingest from a few prescription drug bottles.

He looked really skinny and unhealthy, so I just assumed he was taking pills for his illnesses or maybe to help him sleep, but anyways, after he took his pills, he starts inching his body towards me and points to the middle sit, and that was when I realize that he was trying to get into his seat, which was a huge bummer.



This was when things started to take a turn, before the drugs kicked in, he was relatively normal, he called the flight attendant over and requested for some snacks to munch on, claiming that he was a cancer patient and needed as much sugar as possible, to which the flight attendant was very understanding and went to grab him a snack, he then ask the Indian lady how long the flight would be and exclaims multiple times that he was really really tired, so he got comfortable, put on his hoody, wrapped the travel pillow around his legs, wore an eye mask, propped his knees up, wraps himself in his own blanket, reclines the chair all the way back and just completely knocks out almost instantly.

Like this, but completely wrapped up and just impossible to get through

It didn't take long for the sight of the wrapped up passenger blocking the seat to worry the Indian lady and upon realizing just how difficult it would be to get out if she needed to use the toilet during the 12 hour flight, the Indian lady calls for the flight attendant and requested to have a change of seat, the flight attendant looked around the plane and within a few minutes, got back to the Indian lady and told her her new seat number. 

The Indian Lady packs up all her belongings and politely ask Scrawny to let her through, multiple times, but he was not responding to her request at all, the flight attendant then came by to get him to make way, but he was just not responding as well, it was only when she physically nudge the guy did he finally go...

"Yeah yeah, I'm moving, I'm moving."

... in a very tired but clearly annoyed tone, the Indian lady was extremely uncomfortable at this point and all she wanted to do was get out, but Scrawny was taking forever to move, literally moving at the speed of a sloth.

No exaggeration, actually moving slower than this sloth

Simply attempting to remove his neck pillow took a full 30 seconds, and during the 30 seconds, he would stop for a good 5 seconds in between, with his finger around the pillow strings, like he was taking multi micro naps, his movement was so slow it was fucking nuts how out of it he was. The entire time, the Indian Lady was just stuck in this awkward half in half out position and me and the flight attendant are just standing at the aisle, waiting for Scrawny to make way, and when Scrawny finally makes sufficient space, the Indian Lady quickly darts out, thanking me as she made her way to her new seat, with this huge sense of relief in her tone.

I was honestly quite happy when the Indian Lady left, because that meant I would get an additional half a seat worth of space, and if Scrawny were to be knocked out for the entire ride, then that would be even better because that would mean he won't be getting up to go to the toilet through me.

Scrawny slowly moves to the window seat and starts wrapping himself in his blanket, and for the entire duration before take off, he was pretty much in the same sleeping position, he would adjust his body a little but never made any huge movements, so I carried on with my movie watching and the plane takes off.

Everything was fine UNTIL Scrawny started to act really really weird, he would get up, pull down the tray table in front of him, and then bang his head against the back of the seat in front of him, which of course made the passenger in front turn around in confusion, after which he would put the food tray up by literally slamming it against the seat, which had a larger impact than his head bang, and the entire time, he was just completely out of it, and he wouldn't only do it to his tray table, he did it to the Indian lady's tray table as well, the one who was lucky enough to get a new seat before all the crazy started happening.

He attempted to switch sleeping positions multiple times during the flight as well, and instead of splitting the empty seat with me 50/50, he actually spreads himself out on both seats, going so far as to encroach my arm rest space by LIFTING UP my armrest, and then laying down, completely nonchalant about the fact that he was actually taking up a portion of my seating area.

Initially, I thought since he has claimed that he is a cancer patient, I should be more understanding and just let him encroach into my space a little if that makes him more comfortable, but as the minutes ticked by, it just became more and more unbearable because he would constantly switch between sleeping in the fetal position, which affected my space, and the sitting position, which affected the passengers who were seated in front of him due to the fact that he would ALWAYS pull down the food tray, knock his head against the back of the seat in front of him, and then slam the tray back up again, ALWAYS, ALWAYS DOING THE SAME THING, I actually felt really bad for the people sitting in front of him. 

Every time I tried to reach out to him to get him to stop encroaching into my space, it doesn't register, it was like I was speaking to a wall, and every time the passengers who were seated in front of him turn back and talk to him, possibly to reason with him to stop doing what he was doing, he would also just be completely out of it and not register anything that was said to him.

That was when I realized that this guy wasn't acting like a cancer patient, this guy was just straight up STONED out of his fucking mind.

When meals were served, he kept asking for extra food,and then requesting for extra snacks to munch on during the flight, and he was so messy with the food, spilling the rice all over the floor, dumping chips on the ground, at one point, he actually tore open his pillow, took out the cotton inside and started rubbing it against his mouth, and then took the headphones provided by the airline and just broke the ear piece off for no fucking reason, which completely freaked me out because he was in a complete daze and I thought he was going to take the sharp part and shiv me 

The flight is 12 fucking hours long, while I was looking at the time slowly ticked by, it just become more and more apparent that this was not a behavior I can endure for 12 hours, the minutes started to drag on and eventually by the third or fourth hour, I just couldn't take it anymore, so I went to one of the flight attendant at the back of the flight and requested a change of seat, explaining to them the situation and also brought up the issues the passengers in front of me were having, with their seats behind kicked by Scrawny and at one point, having a blanket thrown at them.

Thankfully, the flight attendants were able to get me a new seat and I got to get out of the hell hole, unfortunately for the passengers in front of Scrawny, they actually endured 12 hours of his bullshit, which just completely amazed me, my Sis, who was sitting across the aisle from me did tell me that at one point, one of the front passenger did get up and shouted at the guy, but because he was fucking high, it did not register, I can only imagine how frustrating it must have been.

Anyways, the new seat I was assigned to wasn't great as well, better than sitting next to Scrawny, but by no means was it a good seat, in fact, it was actually below average, the guy who was seated in front of me had his chair reclined all the way during the entire trip, and because he was a pretty large guy, the seat was reclined even more from his weight, and the guy I was seated beside was also relatively large, so I didn't really have a lot of space to move about horizontally and his right shoulder would nudge me if I sat back completely.

Oh, and nearing the end of the flight, this random old dude suddenly came up to me and ells me...

"You are in my seat."

... which was really confusing because I have been seating here for the past few hours and suddenly you are telling me this is your seat? And then it didn't help because the guy next to me also says to me...

"This is his seat." *points to the old dude* "He is my father, you need to go back to your original seat."

.... which was just confusing as fuck, I mean there is a fucking reason why I switched seats, you don't just suddenly tell me to get back to my own seat after I have been seating beside you for the past 6 to 8 hours, like what the fuck?

And they aren't even asking me nicely, it was almost instructional, so I went on to clarify with the Dad and he proceeds to explain to me that his luggage is in the overhead compartment of where I am seated, and he wanted to be able to access it quickly after landing, not apologetic about the inconvenience he is causing me at all.  

I mean start your fucking request with that and I would have been more than happy to return your seat back to you. I get that it is your seat that you purchased, but you moved up and someone else is in your old seat now, so it is no longer your seat, it is mine now and you should be asking me for permission to give you your old seat back.

And here is the deal, there is a reason why I decided to change seat mid-flight, because something obviously went horribly wrong with my original seat, if you want me to switch seats with you, then tell me where your current seat is so I can move to your current seat and not back to my original seat I requested to move away from.

This Father and Son is really just dumb as fuck, it's no wonder they are related, sharing the same gene pool of stupidity.

First I had to deal with crazy, then I had to deal with stupid.

But anyway, as I was making my way over to my new seat, which is my third seat of the flight, I had to walk across my original seat and I saw Scrawny just sprawled across all 3 seats, I did see him walk past my new seat a few times to the back of the plane, probably requesting for more munchies and every time, it's just so fucking obvious that he is just straight up STONED. 

Overall,  horrible flight, but thankfully, the transfer flight after was so much better.

A Lack of Faith

I thought I would have been able to clinch a new project today but things didn't really go the way I had originally planned.



My New York trip is happening in about 2 weeks time and for the past 2 months, I have been telling myself that I do not want to clinch a new project because I didn't want to have any work related calls interrupt my trip, with the different timezone I will be in and everything, it's going to be a nightmare to deal with.



Even though that was what I told myself, I still accepted new customer leads from my company with the hopes that I might be able to get one or two new projects that will only start after I am back from my trip, to act as my safety net and actually keep me busy when I am am back from the trip.



A lot of the customer leads I got were a waste of time, which isn't surprising, a shit load of them were not responsive when I attempted to reach out to them, and the ones who responded back would tell me that they are either too busy to meet or are overseas, so most of the leads I got just ended up being useless, which is pretty worrying because my company actually pays a web portal for those low quality leads and they don't come cheap.



But I did meet up with a few of them and one particular couple which I shall refer to as Jenny and Jonny had huge potential.



When I first met Jenny and Jonny, I didn't really have a good impression of the latter because during the entire consultation, he was sulking at the side after complaining to me about how he had to park so far away to reach my showroom, not realizing there was a shopping mall literally right across the road he could have parked at, Jenny on the other hand was pretty calm despite the long walk she had to take with her husband, so she shared with me what she wanted to do with her space and her requirements were pretty extensive because she wanted to do a lot of carpentry work to fully utilize the space in the house, so I listened and then once the session was over, prepared a quote within the week and send it off to Jenny.



I really wasn't expecting to hear back from them again after because I just didn't like Jonny's attitude during the first meeting, I am going to be working with them for at least 2 months should they decide to engage me and if that is the kind of attitude I am going to be getting from Jonny, then good riddance, but surprisingly, Jenny actually reached out to me 2 weeks later and requested to meet up again to run through the quotation, sharing with me that she had some changes she wanted to make. I was pretty free during this period, so I agreed to the meeting and also prepared a Sketch Up drawing to show them how the space would look with the layout I was proposing.




During the second meet up, everything was so much smoother, Jonny was so much calmer and actually really friendly, and the mood was just so much lighter, the consultation went really smoothly, but Jenny had a lot of new requirements that I wasn't really keen on doing, because her new requirements required me to get in touch with suppliers that were notorious for being difficult to deal with, so after the consultation, I honestly started to lose interest in the project really quickly, that being said, at that point, I still wouldn't mind taking on their project because the concern I had with suppliers I had to get in touch with was nothing compared to my lack of projects on hand.




So I updated the quotation and then send it to Jenny once again, I wasn't trying to scare them away and just prepared the quotation accordingly, not really overcharging them for anything. I knew my prices were slightly above average, but it's really not up to my control, my contractors just aren't cheap and since I didn't really mind taking on the project, I just charged them as per normal, if they wanted to come to me, then that is a project to add to my list, but if not, then fine, I will refocus on getting more clients once I am back from my trip.




2 weeks after the second consultation, Jenny reaches out to me again and starts asking me a lot of technical questions about certain products that I have personally never used before and it was really difficult to answer her questions but I somehow manage to explain with common sense and she then asks me if I can give her a discount to the overall quote if she decided to go with me.




When a client starts talking about discount, that's when I know they have pretty much decided to pick me, since I was dry on projects, literally had nothing left, I was very open to offering her a discount.



The original quotation amounted to about $27,700, and I was contemplating to give her a discount of either $200 or $500, to round down the figure and make it look nicer. I remember when I was texting her, I was also watching a Youtube video, multitasking but failing terribly because after I hit send on the discounted amount, I realized I completely fucked up the amount.



Instead of telling Jenny that I was willing to lower the figure to $27,500, I mistyped and told her I was willing to lower the figure to $25,000, which is a fucking huge difference of $2,500, that's close to a 10% discount, which is a really really generous amount.



Upon realizing my fuck up, I quickly told Jenny that I had mistyped and shared with her the intended amount, to which she just went...

'WHAT?"

... and when she started to express her shock, that also made me second guess my discount and I kept thinking that I must have originally intended to give her that 10% discount, it must have been it, so I took back what I said about the typo and told her the 10% discount was my original intention, whilst still really confused whether or not that was truly my intention, and then she replied...

"That sounds better."

... it took me a full day to realize that the 10% discount was not my original intention because I am a fucking idiot, and when I realized that, I just lost interest in the project, I will still make a profit, but not enough to make the renovation worth it.

If I took back the discount, I know she will run to another Interior Designer, but if I accepted the project with a lower commission rate, then she will probably choose to engage me, and seeing how I have already completed all the projects I had on hand, a part of me just wanted to clinch a new deal just to stay busy. 

So Jenny reached out to me earlier this week and requested for us to meet again, telling me she wants to quickly confirm everything, to pick all the laminates and get everything settled, and from the way she was sharing all this with me, I knew she had already made her decision and was going to engage me.

We met today with her husband Jonny at my showroom and I was honestly ready to close a deal with them, I had printed out all the quotation and floorplan for them to bring home once they sign the contract and then as we were running through the final layout and all the design details, Jonny said something to me that just made me back out from letting them sign a contract with me...

" Actually to be very honest with you, I feel a bit worried passing my project to you. "

... and he proceeds to take out a pamphlet from another Interior Design firm and run through their portfolio with me, telling me how lacking my company's project was compared to the other Interior Design firm, literally finding flaws in one my company's project photos Jenny had saved on her phone and sharing them with me, telling me how my company's portfolio was really lacking the WOW factor both of them were looking for and then telling me how the other company's completed project just looked so much better.

It just turned me off completely and I just told the both of them that I wasn't going to let them sign a contract with me today, that I don't want them to confirm their engagement with me today because I was just EXTREMELY uncomfortable about the entire arrangement, which then also lead to my next question, why didn't they just go straight to the other Interior Design firm if they are going to be shoving their portfolio down my throat whilst taking a shit at my company's portfolio, and the reason was simple...

"They are not cheap."

... to which the husband told me that he wouldn't mind paying more if I could achieve the same feel as the other interior design firm, and then the wife interjects and calls him out on his bullshit, which I just found hilarious, proclaiming...

"If you don't mind paying, then you wouldn't be seating here right now!"

... she was laughing while saying it, but it also made me realize that I was their second option, I mean I knew I was their second option the moment the husband took out the other company's portfolio booklet, but hearing Jenny say that to her husband out loud and realizing that not just him, but that his wife as well would rather be seating in the office of the other Interior Design firm if it weren't for the price, that just made me feel disgustingly inferior as a designer, being aware that my own projects are not amazing is one thing, but to have a client indirectly validate that feeling is completely different.

During the run through of the 3D, both Jonny and Jenny were pretty vocal about how they felt my design was lacking and that the colour scheme wasn't what they were looking for, which was extremely demoralizing,  so I requested for examples of styles they like and colour schemes that they feel would have that WOW factor, Jonny of course then took out the Holy Bible of Interior Design that is the other company's portfolio and showed me examples.

Here is the deal, the other Design Firm has a better portfolio than my company because they have better photos, but their projects aren't amazing, it's honestly very average when I actually compare them to the projects of design firms I actually  like and follow on Instagram.

I could not understand the appeal of the design Jonny actually showed me and am in fact still at a loss as to what he wants, he kept telling me he loves the contrast and when I shared with him my idea of contrasting colours and materials, he was totally against it, and the contrast he actually showed me was a contrast I personally do not like, which is white against dark walnut.

I just do not find this colour scheme appealing at all, some may find it gorgeous, I personally hate this match up because it just feels really dated to me. If it is a predominately white space with a bit of dark walnut acting as a accent colour...

....then it would look amazing.

And this is one of the many problems I have with Jonny and Jenny, what I find appealing and what they find appealing is completely different, we do not have the same taste and I can't offer any proper design advice because of it.

Jenny also wanted to purchase a lot of items online, and I was really all for it, less stuff for my carpenters to do means less defects for them to spot, but then she was so worried that the colors wouldn't match and ended up asking me to do custom pieces for her, of chairs with hidden compartments and tables with varying depth, which will definitely cost a bomb to customize,  

I was initially really open to running their project, but after this last meet up, all that has disappeared, I am sure they still plan to engage me for my services because they are agreeable to meeting me again next week, but knowing that I am second fiddle to their preferred designer just feels insulting to me, to know that in their head, there will always be this thought that they have engaged someone inferior, that there is clearly someone else they would have preferred to hire if they got the money to, it just doesn't sit right with me at all.

With my other clients, when they engage me, I have never once felt like I was their second option, I always feel like when they engage me, it's because they like me, even if I am not the cheapest or offer the best design. There is always this certainty in their decision, that their choice to engage me trumps their preference towards all the other designers they have met, once in a while my other clients will bring up pricing differences, and that is fine because I take that as a compliment sometimes, that despite being more expensive, they don't mind forking out the extra money to work with me, but to bring up the other Interior Designers they have met and tell me how amazing they are and then indirectly telling me they would rather work with them if they had the money because my design is inferior compared to theirs, that is a little insulting.

I still have my pride as an Interior Designer and this is honestly really frustrating to deal with, because Jonny and Jenny are clearly focusing on design but aren't willing to pay for it, so now they have skittered to me hoping I can achieve the same look for them at a lower price point.

Factory Trip

Went on a company field trip today to a supplier's factory that I didn't really want to attend but was told it was compulsory, got lost on the way there and realized I had dropped off one bus stop early, so ended up walking a good 10 minutes under the intense afternoon sun to the correct location.


The factory is located in an industrial area, so there aren't any direct bus in, it also isn't shaded very well which made the extra walking I had to do so much more worst.


Upon my arrival at the factory, I soon realize that not the term "compulsory" was being used very very loosely because not even 50% of my colleagues actually showed up and because I was so hot and bothered after the walk over, I was barely paying attention to the tour once it actually stared, which also ended before I knew it, the whole walk though barely lasted 15 minutes, I spend pretty much the entirety of the tour standing in front of one of those industrial fans to cool down, so whatever the guide was saying was completely drowned out by the whirring sound made by the giant fan blades.



Everyone there was then ushered back to the office area of the factory, treated to a buffet style lunch and then dismissed. I was originally told by my manager that the trip will last about 3 hours, but I reach and left the place in less than an hour.



I only realize that I had learn nothing of great importance, or even remember anything about the tour now that I am actually thinking about it. If it weren't for the free lunch that was provided, I honestly think that the trip to the factory today was a huge waste of time, then again I also have nothing much to do now that all my projects have ended so it's only a matter of where I would have wasted my time today, at home or in the factory.



Speaking of wasting time at home, I recently also got my hand on a Nintendo Switch, bought Mario Kart 8 as a first game, but then decided to buy a second one on the eStore called Hollow Knight, which I currently have a love hate relationship with. It's fun but it's also difficult, so as much I enjoy the game, I am also getting equally frustrated, it's one of those games that makes me want to throw the controller on the ground, except I can't because the controller is attached to the main console and giving in to that anger and doing that would be a very very stupid move.



The New York trip is drawing closer as well and I am not really feeling all that excited about it after I sat down and really thought about it, my Sister wants a day to herself, so she is forcing me to plan a day for me to explore the city by myself and I started drawing a blank on what I wanted to do there.



I know I want to visit a few of the famous bakeries there, but I am already expecting those places to be crowded, and I don't do well in crowds, whenever I see anyplace I want to go to packed to the brim with people, I always find myself walking the other way and I am very scared that that will happen in New York, where I will just subconsciously walk away from the stores because of how crowded they are.


Really should have through this trip through before I agreed to it, the cookies and pies from milkbar better be worth the trip.

Entitled + Know It All

It has been a while since I have met a client I did not like because I have not been meeting any new clients lately, in order to make sure that my New York trip will not be interrupted by work, I have requested my HR to stop giving me any new customer leads for now, the goal is to finish all the projects I have on hand now and only get new leads after I am back from my trip, or at most, get new projects before my trip that will only start renovation works in June.

The New York trip is too expensive for it be to be ruined by a client, I already hate it when they message me while I am at home, I can only  imagine how much worst it will feel when I am halfway around the globe and am unable to be present physically at the job site to really assess the situation because a lot of times, my clients tend to exaggerate the issues by taking really close up shots of the problem area and making it look worst than it really is.

Well, not too long ago, my boss hired a few new faces for the in-house team and among them is a new HR Personnel, she isn't aware of my request, so she actually directed some leads to me, being kinda bored at that time, I decided to just accept those leads and see what happens. If the customer plans to start his renovation during my New York trip, then I will just not put too much effort into the proposals and turn down their project, but if they plan to start their renovation only in June, then good for me, that means I will have be able to keep myself busy with work when I am back from New York.

A few days ago, the new HR gave me a lead and the customer had originally requested to meet during an event that my company will be having next week, in his message to my HR, he requested for the designer, which is me, to get in touch with him so he can share his renovation enquiry with me ,hoping that then at least I will have some sort of proposal for him to see during the event. I messaged him probably an hour after I receive the request from my HR and he responded pretty quickly.

His request was pretty vague, all he told me was he wanted to renovate his whole house, shift his kitchen entrance, do up a new space for his kids, and that was literally it, I have no idea where he wants to shift his kitchen entrance to, I have no idea how big of a space he wants to create for his kids, so I told him I will just come up with a proposal that will cover the basics that he will definitely need, so things like Kitchen Cabinet and Wardrobes, because he has a very very tight budget and it doesn't make sense to propose things that he won't need or present him with ideas that are purely for aesthetic purposes, it is very clear from his meager budget that he is not someone who is going to pay for design.

He wasn't very receptive to the idea of getting a cookie cutter proposal from me, so he requested for us to meet up first in person first for me to really understand what he wanted to do exactly. I was pretty free and had nothing much to do these days anyways, so I agreed and we met yesterday.

Well, it rained like a bitch yesterday evening, I only had about half an hour before I was planning to head out when the rain started, and as it started getting closer to the meeting time, I was really hoping the weather would get better, or at least stay the way it is because even though it was raining, it wasn't really too heavy, it's the type that people would still be willing to brave, but then my client suddenly messages me and tells me he wants to postpone the meeting back by half an hour, literally as I got up from my chair at home and was about to head out, he told me his side was raining really heavily so he wanted to head home for a quick shower and dry up first before meeting me, I wasn't too keen on that idea because the rain was going from bad to worst, but he is the customer, so I agreed to his request begrudgingly and was hoping that some miracle would happen and the rain will get better.




It didn't.

By the time I had to leave, the rain got worst, it was extremely bad, the rain was so heavy that I could barely make out the building that was across from my home, I really wanted to cancel the appointment because of how heavy the rain was but I couldn't because that's just not really professional.



Well, the current shoes that I wear on a daily basis has pretty much gone to shit over the past few months, I guess there is a hole under the shoe, so every time I walk on a wet surface, if there is a little puddle on said surface, it will seep through the soles of my shoes and my feet will get wet almost immediately, that is when there isn't rain, but because it was raining like a fucking bitch yesterday, the short trip I had to make from my house to the bus stop completely drenched my shoes, every step I took was so uncomfortable because my soles were completely soaked and there was this splotching sensation between my feet and the sole of my shoe that felt like I was really marinating it for maximum stench.

The bus ride and the train ride was an ordeal because of how uncomfortable and wet my feet were, I tried to minimize any movement in the feet area and when I actually had to walk, I would just curse at my client for arranging the meeting.



By the time I reach the meeting place, it was around 7pm, my client told me he wanted to meet at McDonalds and I knew it was going to be packed, so I was really not expecting to find any seats and true enough, when I walked into the place, it was completely full, every table was taken, there were long queues forming at the counters and in my head, I was just wondering what the fuck my client was thinking proposing, meeting at McDonalds' during peak hour.




I didn't really bother trying to get seats because I didn't want to hover around a table and wait for people to finish up and leave, my client should be doing this because he was the one who requested the meet up and he was the one who decided on the location and the timing, the whole reason he wanted to meet where he requested was because he lived close by, so he owes me that much to look for a table first. I did a quick walk through of McDonald, then made my way out and just sat at one of the waiting areas outside and messaged my client telling him there wasn't any available seating, thinking he might change the venue to a less crowded area, but he messages me back within a few seconds and tells me he is already inside, that he has already found a seat and is waiting for me.




Apparently I missed him when I did my breeze walk through the fast food outlet because he was literally 2 tables away from the entrance. I quickly introduced myself to him and he didn't really seem all that impressed, so I took out the floor plan he had emailed me and as I was about to start the consultation with him in the crowded restaurant, he goes....

"Oh, so you didn't prepare anything?"

... I was a little confused by what he meant "didn't prepare anything", so I just looked at him for clarification on what he meant because I did print out the floorplan that I had to clean up with Photoshop and scale to size with Illustrator, so I'm pretty sure I  did "something" or at least did enough for a first time consultation session, and he goes...

" I thought you would have prepared some sort of proposal to run through with me."

... and it was the way he said it that just pissed me the off, that hint of disappoint he had in his voice like I have been inadequate, the courtesy smile I always put on when I meet a new client just completely disappeared from my face. When he said that to me, I got really pissed off, I braved the fucking rain to meet you at a location that is convenient for you, my bag is wet, my shoes are soaked, and you have the fucking gull to expect so much more than you, a NON-PAYING CUSTOMER, deserves, the fucking entitlement, what fucking rights do you have to be disappointed that I did not arrange a proposal in advance, this is a FREE service, manage your fucking expectations.




I was really controlling myself to not sound angry when I explained to him that the whole point of this meeting we were having today is to get his requirements, I mean the whole fucking point of HIM requesting to meet in advance is for me to get his requirements first, if he was expecting me to prepare a proposal for him before we even meet, then we could have done that during the event, but HE didn't want a cookie cutter proposal, he wanted a proposal that met his requirements,  and I can't prepare a proposal for him if I don't have his renovation requirements.



I mean what the fuck was he expecting, for me to put in 1000% effort into a proposal for a random client who has not even given me a single cent? Being a non-paying customer aside, he has set aside a budget that is impossible to work with, the automatic reaction a lot of designers will probably have would be to just ignore his enquiry, so the fact that I even bother to reach out to you is already a favor and be fucking grateful that I went as far as agreeing to meet in person.




He was not impressed when I explained to him why I didn't have a proposal and the first half of the consultation was pretty painful for me because he was questioning everything I was proposing to him with this fucking know it all attitude, asking me question like....

1. What kind of wood does my carpenter use.

2. Why my price is so expensive.

3. Why is the carpentry so expensive when they are only using wood.

... and when I share with him what I know, he tries to insert what he knows about the product, as if trying to usurp me or impress me with his knowledge, like I am suppose to go...

'WHAT? HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT? THAT IS SOMETHING ONLY PEOPLE WORKING IN THE INDUSTRY KNOWS! HOLY FUCK YOUR EXTENSIVE KNOWLEDGE IN ALL THIS IS MAKING ME HARD, I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABIES, FUCK ME NOW!"

....shut the fuck up!



One conversation that we had revolved around the quartz table top, and it went like this...

Him : So what Quartz brand do you use?

Me : I will be using XX Brand.

Him : Ah I see, okay, as long as it is not YY Brand, and how much do you charge for it?

Me : It starts at $130 per foot run

Him : What? Shouldn't it be $100 per foot run?

Me : No?! Where did you get that number from? 

Him : I just thought it should be $100 per foot run

Me: No, if you go to the shop and purchase it directly from the supplier, it is going to set you back $150 per foot run, I am selling you at a lower rate!

... and then he keeps quiet, so I tried to confront him and ask him where he got the price from and he just kept telling me he "thought" it was suppose to be cheaper.



You thought, you thought, it's fucking idiots like this who start going on online forums and sharing their "thoughts" that makes things difficult for us Interior Designer, bloody misinformed individuals passing off assumptions as truth and scaring other homeowners into thinking that every Interior Designer out there is out to cheat their money.



Oh, and early on during the consultation, I did actually show him a rough space planning proposal for his bedroom which I thought was not bad, the layout of the bedroom was really weird because the walls were at different angles, so it took me a good hour to come up with the space planning when I was at home looking at his floorplan, and well, he thought it was not impressive and then wanted me to come up with a new one on the spot for him.



That is why I did not prepare a full proposal for him in the first place, what took me an hour to come up with for his bedroom gets rejected not even a minute after it was presented to him, so why the fuck should I waste my time.




After the consultation, we had a small chat and he shared with me that he has visited a few firms, shared those experiences with me and the more I hear him talk, the more I don't want to take on his project because he just sounded really unpleasant to work with.




I will be meeting him again during the event, unfortunately, and I am hoping he will remain unimpressed with my proposal, I am expecting the renovation cost alone to be enough to scare him away because it is more than double of his original budget and really, my goal at the end of the day is simply to NOT take on his project.



I find it funny how he has this mentality that I really want his project, that I am going have to really impress him if I want him to pick me to run the renovation for him when the truth is just the opposite, my goal is to be so unimpressive that he crosses me off the list, OR to impress him so much that he picks me, but then for me to turn him down because...



BITCH, I DON'T WANT TO TAKE YOUR FUCKING PROJECT!

CNY Stuff and the Eventual Return of Stress.

The CNY break has been pretty uneventful.


Compared to the earlier CNY celebrations I had as a kid, I no longer do a lot of house visitations anymore as an adult, I guess now that I am a lot older, it just isn't very nice to drop by a distant relative's place and then expect them to give me a red packet, I could have gotten away with that as a kid, but as a socially awkward adult, it's just really tasteless to go to a house just to get money.



I do still see my direct relatives, but I barely exchange words with any of my cousins because everyone is just really awkward around each other, greeting each other "Happy New Year" is as far as the conversations will go. My cousins are also starting to bring their girlfriends and boyfriends along to the family gathering and it was really awkward when they started introducing their other half to me like I am someone important who should be introduced. I know the introductions are out of courtesy, but it still feels really odd to me, that and the fact that I am almost a decade older than all of them but am still single makes it worst.



I really do not care about getting in a relationship, I never have. The only reason I would want to get into a relationship is to appease the people around me so they will stop asking me questions about when I am getting a girlfriend.


But I digress.


Overall, the food was great, the red packets were great, but the socializing aspect of it was kind of a buzzkill for the entire gathering and I am just going to accept the fact that it is really my fault because I am just really really bad at socializing with my cousins that I see only once a year.



Now that my break is almost over, I can't help but feel stressed out about the upcoming projects that will start right after. The projects that I have are quite different from the ones I have done in the past, that's why I am a little worried about how they will go. I can already foresee all the potential problems that will happen, that's why I am not feeling great about them at all.




I'm always anticipating that stage during the renovation when my clients will make a 180 and become really unbearable, it's definitely not a good thing to be constantly expecting them to get upset during the renovation because I just don't think it is normal, but the sad truth is almost all the clients I had worked with did eventually reach a stage during the renovation when they just start to express their disappointment with a lot of things because a lot of times, they have this extremely unrealistic expectation of everything being perfect, of all the works done by my contractors to be faultless, that no hairline scratch marks should be expected on anything, that no walls should have even the slightest streak of uneven paint marks, that Santa Clause is real and unicorns fart rainbows.




One time, I tried to manage of potential client's expectation by sharing with her what could possibly go wrong and she ended up getting super paranoid about everything, she wanted to engage me because we had a good chemistry , but at that point, I have already created this paranoid nut-bag out of her. so I eventually rejected her request to engage me and we didn't end on a good note, I pretty much ignored her final text because she tried to guilt trip me for turning her down.




Not sure how my post CNY projects will fare, feeling really pessimistic about them at this point, FML.


1. The first project I have an issue with because I have never done a project like it before, there are a lot of moving parts in the project that I have never personally experienced before and the clients will be staying in the place during the renovation, which makes it worst. They also need the house to be completed by a certain date because they have an overseas trip planned straight after the renovation is done, and the deadline is one of many factors that worries me. I have never been great at keeping to the schedule, a lot of my projects end up taking a lot more time to complete and I am worried that this will face the same problem.



2. The second project is actually pretty straightforward, but my clients are first time homeowners and from the many consultations I have had with them, they are extremely excited about their new home and their excitement is reminiscent of the very first couple I worked with. My first clients were so excited with their new space that when it came to the actual renovation, they were nitpicking every single thing, it was insane, looking back, I am just so happy that I am done with the project, that being said, I actually really like them, I just did not like working with them. I have a feeling I won't enjoy working with this couple as well.



3. The third project is like a charity case, I feel like I don't even have the luxury of worrying how little I can earn because I am not sure if I will be earning anything at all, on the contrary, I might actually be helping my company make a loss from the project. Always a first time for everything, this project may in fact very well get me fired.




Well,  I only have about a week left of complete freedom, it was a nice few months of freedom, but by this time next week, I shall be returning back to my daily scheduled stress induced lifestyle and probably have more stuff to blog about, might even go back to contemplating about quitting again.




The thing about me quitting is, it will happen eventually, I just don't know when yet. It is better to be employed and earning a little than to be unemployed and not earning at all. I have settled for way too many jobs in the past and those never ever last, so when I finally choose to quit, I want to make sure I have found the right job that I won't resign from mere weeks or even days later before doing so.