Attended a marketing seminar at St Regis

Few weeks ago, I attended a free half-day marketing seminar at St Regis alone. It was a very classy hotel and I guess it must be quite expensive to hold a seminar there. I was surprised to see a comfortable-looking cushioned bench in its lift and hand cream and rolled cotton towels in the restroom. The seminar room looked really spacious with its high ceiling and tall mirrors. Instead of the usual mentos sweets or individually packed mints, they prepared a black box of mini mints for each of the guests.

The seminar started with a presentation on some marketing processes (I tried to copy some notes, but didn't manage to complete my copying as the speaker was too fast). There was a teabreak session and the mini tarts tasted really good... After the teabreak, there was a Q & A session and the speakers commented that we marketing people should go out more often to meet customers and hear from them personally, instead of just relying on data. Data is just data, which is meaningless, unless one could translate it into insights from the information found. The speakers also said that we need to understand customers' experiences to discover ways to improve our product and services.

That reminds me of the "survey" Yi did to find ways to improve her shop "Pet Street". Today, we visited Yi's new pet supplies shop on the third floor of Sun Plaza. It was a really neat shop with many types of pet food and snacks. Yi was really generous and treated us to Pasta Mania. The new mutton spaghetti tasted a bit weird, and I had to add a lot of cheese powder to get rid of the weird taste. All the best to Yi and may her business prosper! I will definitely add your shop website link on my blog when it's ready!

I heard from Xin how London Weight Management pressured her and her friend to sign a package when she accompanied her friend to the trial. (Xin is an average-sized lady who don't have much excessive fats on her, and yet they told her that she needs to lose weight.) The consultant was really persistent and she only allowed them to leave the room after they both signed up for a package. Her experience sounded quite similar to my experience at New York Skin Solution, and these two companies are under the same parent company. I find it really unethical for their consultant to pressure people to sign up for a package on the spot. They should give up after a few rejections and allow consumers to go back to consider, and not repeatedly exaggerate on the problem areas to close the deal.

I won't go for facial trial again...

I went to Vivocity's New York Skin Solution for a facial trial and before I had the trial, I undergone a skin consultation, which turns out to be an aggressive selling session. I told the consultant that I would like to consider before taking any package and also due to budget constraint, I told her that I couldn't sign up for anything above $1k. At first, I felt like leaving the place without the trial, but she kept asking me to wait so that she could check with her superiors for better discounts. She went out to "check" several times, and I really felt like leaving the place. After the one hour plus "consultation", I signed up for the $700 (before GST) for 10 intensive treatment sessions despite the consultant persistently promoting the expensive collagen treatment package. During the trial treatment, which she insisted to be the collagen treatment, she persuaded me to come back to the Vivocity's outlet for the first few sessions despite me having told her that it was inconvenient for me (I have informed her that I want my future sessions to be at Jurong Point's branch when I signed). I don't like their facilities as there is limited privacy. The beds are so near one another and I could hear others' conversation so clearly, which makes me so uncomfortable.

After the trial treatment, her colleague, who was serving the customer next to my bed, joined in the selling session and commented how the intensive treatments that I have signed for are not good enough for my skin as they are just application of masks. I was really fed up - if those intensive treatments are not good enough, then why promote them to me in the first place? Now that I have signed, I could not request for refund and could only top-up for the collagen treatment. At first, she wanted me to top up to $1K plus for just 5 sessions of collagen treatment, but I told her how I really couldn't afford such luxury. She gave me a look of disbelief and started to question me on how much I earn and why I couldn't afford it. She even asked why her Malaysian customer could sign for the $3K package and I couldn't. I have never seen such bad service. After telling her just how much commitments I already have and how skin isn't my priority, she unwillingly lowered the price to $800 (before GST) for 5 sessions of collagen treatment. After she left the room and my card was swiped for the additional $107, my consultant told me that since I'm paying for the sessions at a lower price, the masks they would be using may not be as good as those used in the trial due to the cost and there may be redness after the session. I was so disappointed. When I returned home, I did a search online and found that they already have quite a few complaints reported to CASE. I hope they don't sell me anything again during the 5 sessions (their aggressive selling stressed me), or I think I may get mad and write in to the newspapers' forum sessions. I am going to request for the transfer of outlet again on my next session.

So people, don't ever go there for facial trials unless you have already decided to set aside a huge sum of money for your facial treatments. I really regret going there and wished that I had just left the consultation room without the trial. I bet there are other places offering cheaper collagen treatments with better facilities and service.

Visited IMDEX Asia 2009

Before the Changi Naval Base tour at the Expo's IMDEX Asia 2009 exhibition with my colleagues...It was an exhibition with many visitors in their white sailor uniform as the focus was on marine military. We registered ourselves for the warship tour and waited 30 minutes for the next shuttle bus leaving Expo as the bus was full.

At the Changi Naval Base's warship tour...before we started exploring the warship. Due to security reasons, we have to take two shuttle buses before we could enter. It was really hot; we were sweating and trying to shade our eyes with whatever brochures we have from the exhibition. Luckily, the air-conditioners in the ships were on full blast, so I managed to cool down at some point. We wanted to visit the largest warship, but it was closed due to maintenance.

It is really not easy to work on board. The steps are very steep and the sleeping quarters are not very spacious...The lowest deck (I think it is their equipment and machine storage place) was really warm and stuffy. The people working on board the warships really deserve our respect.

The Southern Ridges Walk

It was so difficult to wake up early on a Sunday morning... I thought I would be late but luckily I wasn't. Lan and I reached the Harbourfront mrt at 8.40am and I had ample time to finish my doughnut breakfast before the walk. There wasn't much people at the gathering point at 9am, so we waited for more people to come before taking group photos. The weather was a bit hot during the wait...


The Marang Trail was a bit hard to walk...there were many steps and I had not climbed so many steps since years. I was panting hard, but managed to get to the top with Lan's encouragement. It was drizzling when we reached the top, but the drizzle stopped as we walked towards the Henderson Waves. The breeze was so nice on the Henderson Waves (Lan and me had such messy hair in the above photo), but the breeze only lasted for a while.


See the PSA building? It was our ending point...The sky was so dark and Lan was worried that it may rain before we reach there. Thus, we hesitated on whether to proceed to the Forest Walk or U-turn back to the Marang Trail. At second thought, I encouraged Lan to continue the walk with me as I probably won't visit this place again. Luckily, the weather was good as we continued our walk.


Resting cum picture taking time...

The Henderson Waves have got nice curves right?


See the carvings? We are 74.14m above sea level at the Henderson Waves...

This is the end of the Henderson Waves and supposedly the start of the Hilltop/Forest Walk...though I didn't see any sign mentioning Hilltop Walk.

On the Forest Walk! The metal bridge is really sturdy and easy to walk, and it goes round and round. I only realized how high I was when Lan told me to look down. It was a bit scary to see through those holes of the metal as you could see the top of the trees and how far the ground is from the bridge.


We completed our walk at the Alexandra Arch, hooray! Lan and I visited the HortPark to freshen up before sharing cab with Dorothy to Jurong Point for lunch. Some of my colleagues were really enthusiastic walkers and continued their walk to the Kent Ridge Park via the HortPark. I strongly recommend this walk for those who like nature and exercise!

West Coast Plaza

I tried to use my new GPS system to get to the renovated West Coast Plaza...I found that it is a bit difficult to drive fast using the GPS as I was afraid to miss any turns. I was honked at twice, as I was not on the left lane when I was supposed to make a left turn. The two cars who honked at me refused to let me cut lane even though my signal was on for more than 3 seconds...they just simply speed up and honked at me. Till today I have never honked at anyone yet, even though I've seen many cars that abruptly cut into my lane. I wonder why people are so impatient, especially towards drivers under probation.

My family and I ate at the Paradise Inn for the first time. The queue was so long and there were so many customers that we felt neglected. We waited so long for our fish head and it didn't taste as good as we expected. The other dishes were just average too and there were irritating houseflies flying around. The bill came up to $105! Not really worth the money... The new West Coast Plaza looked a bit empty, in term of crowd and shops. The large game arcades that we liked to go to were no longer there. Haiz.

It's Fri again~

Oh I am so full. The Fish and Chips that I ate at 8pm plus still haven't digest yet...the thick flour of the Fish and Chips was so disgusting that I regret eating it. Haiz. I think I have been eating too much lately.

The last few nights were full of activities (quite rare for someone like me who loves to be infront of the computer or TV)...

Tues night: I had dinner with a lady whom I met at BBDC on my test date and she invited me to her church. However, my parents don't really like the idea of me visiting a church so I rejected her. I think I won't feel easy too, as my family practised Taoism. I like being a Free-thinker (self-declared) as there is no restriction to how god should be like and I could believe in whatever I want.

Wed night: I went to play in water with my colleagues at the Jurong West Sports and Recreation Centre's Aqua park . It was quite a last minute plan as we wanted to avoid the crowd and I suddenly remember that this is an exam week where most students are at home studying. It was the first time the four of us visited that place. I had wanted to try the water slide, but it was closed at 7pm (by the time we walked there, it was exactly 7pm!). We had played in the lazy pool and normal pool before two of us decided to try the exciting-looking slide. It was a decision that needed lots of courage for non-swimmers...but I always like things that look fun. The lazy pool has quite strong waves and it was funny to see my colleagues getting swept by the waves, haha. Dorothy, you need to go faster next time, try to put on contact lens lah. The Jacuzzi pool was pretty relaxing, but the force of the water was so strong that my back felt painful and was a bit reddish after the "water massage". It was quite fun to go there with my colleagues (New finding - Qiuwen is quite sexy in her swimming suit!). I also found that I'm not the slowest in bathing! Haha. So, I could actually be quite fast if my mind don't go blank during bathing (which happens every morning).

Last night my colleagues and I sang KTV until 10.30pm. My colleagues tried to sing a popular Hokkien song but in the end, no one sang as we were distracted by some topic to chat on. Next time you all must sing that I-ask-heaven song ok? So far I have never heard any friend sing Hokkien songs in KTV.

This Sunday, Lan and I would be going to the South Ridge walk organized by my company's Sports and Recreation club. I signed up due to curiosity of how it would be like to be on the Henderson Wave. Hopefully I won't regret halfway during the walk...as I don't really like hiking type of exercise. I remember that I was so sick of hiking during the last Taiwan trip...Please let us have nice weather that day.

Just an update...

My eyes are ok and I'm wearing my contact lens again, yeah. The eye doctor finds no problem with my eyes except that they are too dry due to the long period of time I wore my contact lens. What a false alarm and there goes my half day leave. Jurong Medical Centre is really big, but I felt that it is a bit empty. The rates are pretty reasonable even without a polyclinic referral. I managed to redeem my free 3-mths supply of contact lens from the Optometrist (which I won from a lucky draw contest and where my 1st redemption failed due to the supposedly "eye problem").

I tried Zhou's Kitchen lunch buffet for the first time today - A treat from my mummy. There were a lot of diners and the food was gone in minutes. The chefs must be working really hard to try to replenish those dishes. One of the aunties was really kiasu and kept lying on my back to push me towards the front, so that she could try to grab whatever that was available. It was disgusting to feel her breasts on my back, yucks. However, there was little space for me to move, as there were people infront. Some people were also trying to cut queue. I think it would be better to eat there on a less crowded day.