HAPPY BDAE TO ME!!!

I'm officially 24 today yet I shall still insist on writing birthday as bdae!!!

I remember starting to blog sometime around my 19th birthday, so I've been fucking blogging for 5 years man!!

I'm a lao blogger!

Kelvin and Qingqing chose to fly over to Europe yesterday, but not before treating me (and the lucky sods who happen to be around) to dinner first!!

Then Benny treated for drinks afterwards (and the same lucky sods who happen to be around).

Eekean came over all the way to Loyang, on the pretense of wishing me a happy birthday, but in fact stole a whole lot of my dvds and gave me a packet of dubious Indian snacks in exchange. It tastes like Little India on a Sunday.

Actually she wanted to treat me to a Japanese buffet for lunch but I couldn't wake up in time!!

Serious progress with Ek's mom though!! I always thought she didn't really like me coz I was a chao ah lian in school last time (during sec school days la, when Ek was my impressionable classmate), but she bought me mangoes and two packets of nasi lemak!!

She must have somehow known I was kind enough to buy her daughter a 70% of a Nintendo DS lite on her last birthday (the generousity was to make up for 11 years of knowing Ek and never giving her any presents)!!

Mike's mom remembered my bdae too!!

My Momo, whom I was feeling a tad jealous and resentful towards because she bought my cousin a birthday cake (and did not buy any for me for the last n years - her excuse is that I never want to spend my birthday with her), msn-ed me to say she also ordered a cake for me!! I hope this is true.

Mike is bringing me out for expensive dinner tomorrow!

I put "It's my bdae but nobody cares" on my msn nick at around 1am (a tad anxious, but it was for my mother's benefit), so a few people also grudgingly messaged me to tell me happy birthday.

Even my eBay seller, whom I bought the Juicy Couture sidekick from, finally responded to my email and said he is shipping out the phone today!!!

Yes yes yes FINALLY I'LL GET MY HANDS ON YOU!

This baby takes USD $70 to unlock, but hey, all a price to pay for a phone that definitely nobody in Singapore has...

Mike sponsored the $500 phone and additionally blurted out he bought me a rainbow maker!!

Everybody does love!!

Right now I'm going into the living room to watch GTO on dvd, and maybe cook some instant noodles. MAN! I CRAVE FOR MAGGI GORENG!!!

Yes! GTO!!

THAT FUCKING AWESOME JAP SCHOOL TEACHER SHOW FROM A MILLION YEARS AGO!! I randomly found it in some JB dvd shop!!

Awesomeness. This day is awesome.

Random note 1: Juicy Couture is opening in Singapore soonish. About time too! I'll source out the PR company, and try to get them to sponsor me stuff!! Honestly man, Juicy! You can't get a bigger fan than me!! If you search "Juicy Couture Singapore" on google, my link actually pops up 4th. How mad is that?

Random note 2: Combination of Cellnique (who also sponsored me a shitload of products recently!!), Kawaii Tokyo and Cherlyn's facial is making my skin GLOW!! I have freaking pink cheeks naturally can!!

Random note 3: USD keeps dropping and SGD keeps shooting up like an obscene penis!! I greedily and impatiently await the day when USD and SGD goes dollar to dollar, then I'll have a wild time at Forever21.com and victoriassecret.com. WHOOPIE!!

I wanna be Kawaii!!!

Advertorial

Women supposedly start to age at 25 (and some more kiasu people say, 24).

It's disgusting! Suddenly, all around me, people my age are beginning to use words like "skincare" and "anti-aging", not to mention start discussing brands as well as ways and means to keep on looking 24 for as long as possible!!

Before this year, all I ever did for my skin was to wash it with Biore Men's facial cleanser (something I've been using since my teens, which I started because a number of ex-boyfriends used it and I liked the smell) and maybe occasionally slap some Cellnique on.

However, as wrinkles start to appear and pimple scars don't go away that fast anymore, I realised that's not really enough. Isn't it scary?

Besides, all my girlfriends are starting to do all sort of assorted things to their skin before they sleep: Cleanse, exfoliate, tone, serum, moisturize... wake up moisturise as well as put sunscreen... Go for facials... Squeeze blackheads... ETC!!!

IT'S LIKE IF YOU DON'T DO IT YOU WILL LOSE OUT TO ALL THESE GIRLS LOR!!

BUT!!! The problem is, there are SO MANY BRANDS ALL AROUND! Some people swear by certain brands, but it is near impossible to try everything and find the right stuff for you, isn't it?

Luckily for me, I get sponsored stuff!! :D

Now, you're possibly angrily shouting now, "How is that relevant to me?! You stupid hao lian bitch...!"

It is relevant because I try stuff out for you and tell if you it's good what!! HMPF!

So anyway, the brand in the spotlight today is called Kawaii Tokyo, a line of facial products all the way from Tokyo, Japan!

Personally, I have more faith in products that are made in Asian countries as I feel that they are more suited for Asian skin types.

I was very happy when I saw the packaging for Kawaii's products because the theme they are using seems to be all Princessy!! Their mascot, a girl called Ms Moe Kawai, has flying hair, long eyelashes and wears a tiara! My type of girl :D


These are the products they sent to me:

I love the packaging they came in but I already threw away some of the boxes.

I heart Japanese products because some much efforts is
always put into the aethestics and quality!




Even comes with a totally Kawaii mirror! :D

Exciting!

The whole Kawaii range seems to have a common theme, which is something they call "Brighten-up".

Brightening is also sometimes called whitening, although, from what I know, whitening is a misconception. Products which claim to whiten actually get rid of dead skin etc and bring out a glow in our skin, making it brighter, healthier, and less dull!

It's very important to have "bright" skin, otherwise you'll just walk around looking like a corpse.

Every other female in the world seem to want to have fairer skin though, except for me, coz I like to look tan! Not the dull sort of tan --- like glowy Victoria's Secret models sort of tan!

I wonder if the "whitening" elements of Kawaii worked on me though, coz I noticed that although I got equally tan on the face and body in Langkawi, my face is now like much fairer than my body. -_- Maybe you can give their products a try if you want to get fair.


Prior to writing this, I already saw some magazines (Female, I think) review Kawaii's products, and it seems like the star product is Kawaii's sunscreen.

However, as I don't really go out in the day often (except when I go tanning), I can't say I have really experienced the effectiveness of their sunscreen... More about the sunscreen later.

The product I really like is the Brighten-up Wash Champagne Holiday!!


I am going to cam-whore with my favourite facial wash for a bit. By a bit, I mean... A lot.


(Just cut my fringe coz I got bored of my hair)

Let me think:
How many poses can one come up with with a tube of facial wash?




A lot apparently!






Ahem. As you can see I really like it. Hahaha!!!

Kawaii's facial wash comes in Champagne Holiday as well as Nature Break.

I like Champagne Holiday more coz it smells (to me la...) like roses (which I am very partial to) and it leaves a very nice lingering scent even after washing off! I have a xiang face!

Nature break is nice too! I'm having difficulty describing a smell but it just gives a very refreshing feeling while washing, and brings to mind... woods and cleanliness? Like you can almost feel birds chirruping around you as you wash your face. Hahaha!

The texture of the thick creamy wash has a pearly tint to it, and it's very rich and foamy so using just a small amount is enough!

After washing, my face doesn't feel overtly dry, and seems to become softer to the touch.


AND I WASH!!!

A dollop on fingers



Lather



Lather


Pose!

Have you ever seen someone so gleefully washing their face before?

I know la! I'm supposed to use make-up remover on my make-up first, but this is purely for photography purposes!


Their other products:

Brighten-up Wrinkle Solution - for the delicate eye area!

Yes, I know I'm supposed to put it on my eye area not my cheek.



Squirted a little out for you guys to see the texture.

Wrinkles around the eyes!!! So have to put eye cream before going to bed.

It also reduces puffy eyes as well as dark eye rings.

Kawaii's eye creams come in Daily Defense as well as Overnight Repair.

Daily Defence is specially for reducing photoaged wrinkles in the eye area, and Overnight Repair is for reducing puffy eyebags... like I get after overnight mahjong!

The eye creams are non-sticky, smooth, and contains whitening elements too. I like that it's non-sticky, which I generally find rare in eye creams. How the hell can you sleep with sticky stuff on your face?!


As any vain enough girl can tell you, harmful UV rays are the main culprit that causes aging to happen. As such, UV protection is very important!

Brighten-up UV blocker DAYTIME RESCUE - SPF 28/PA++

This contains:

• Brightening: Vitamin C derivatives
• Natural Moisturizing Factor: Wild Thyme extract
• Anti-aging: Star fruit, Bilberry, Shell Ginger extracts
• Astringent: Prune extract
• Anti-inflammation: Licorice extract

A little squirt on the face


Non-sticky and water resistant


Undetectable once blended in

Daytime Rescue is more for daily usage, but if you are going swimming or doing any outdoor sports that lets you face the strong sun for a long time, the Sun Survivor should be a better choice.

Brighten-up UV Blocker SUN SURVIVOR- SPF 50/PA++

This contains:

• Brightening: Vitamin C Derivatives, Alpha Arbutin
• Anti-aging: Vitamin A, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3
• Natural Moisturising Factor: Olive Squalane, Hyaluronic Acid
• Astringent: Witch Hazel Extract
• Anti-inflammation: Platinum Nano-Colloid, Licorice Extract

Remember to always reapply after perspiring!


Last but not least, Kawaii gave me Brighten-up Gels!


All-in-One Step Skincare

Comes in two scents!

I like Citrus Paradise coz it smells (not too strongly) like mandarin oranges. :D

What is this? Believe it or not, it's like a magic gel that combines toner, moisturiser, firming essense, brightening essense, as well as make-up base!

Before you diss off products that are 5-in-1, I'd have to say that this actually works pretty well! It kept my face from being dry and my complexion dewy (I was given the products to try for 3 weeks) and I noticed that my face got less oily too!

This contains:

• Vitamin C Deriatives + Vitamin E
• Hyaluronic Acid (moisturizing component to invigorate collagen activity)
• Marine Collagen (for dewiness and resilience)
• Olive Squalane (channels oxygen to skin)

It is also alcohol and animal-based ingredient free!

I know! My hands are so wrinkly under the Macro glare of my camera!

After being spread out, the gel feels very pleasantly cold on my skin. It also sort of seeps into the skin pretty fast too, so that after a while, the effect is that the gel is not sticky and very smooth!

It's also not oily and feels watery.

I AM A KAWAII GIRL!!

Interested?? Wanna give it a try? Maybe you can get Kawaii products for free! Click here to go get Kawaii's special promotion for my readers, and you are one easy step away from a chance to win a Kawaii product!!

For more information, please check out Kawaii's website here. :)


p/s: Yes I have strawberry nails! Not watermelon! And I painted it myself!! :D

p/p/s: I do have very hairy arms! I don't think it's ugly and I cannot be bothered about those stupid hairs, so stop the multitude of similar comments about my arm hairs!

Obligatory blog entry

Sorry for the disappearance!

Not been very inspired to blog lately, and I feel exhausted coz I just finished another long advertorial... I hope the company will approve it soon so you guys can see it!

Anyway, new episodes on Clicknetwork are up!!

**********************

XIAXUE'S GUIDE TO LIFE

The iPhone follow-up

Something to piss Mac fans off more. I do not endorse the message at the end! It was added in against my will. Hmpf!

The Sex Shop

Ever wondered how it's like inside a sex shop? Maybe you can take a practice visit with me first before going inside...

CHICK VS DICK

The Baby-sitting Challenge

Who will fare better when left alone with a baby? Find out and vote!


The Psychic Challenge

Paul and Kaykay guess embarrassing facts about strangers. See who gets more right!

********************

Did some of you see me on Channel U's news?

(interviewed in my "Princess Room")

Anyway, if you wanna watch the little snippet, the article's here - and see the obscure little red box sitting beside the title? You can click on that to watch the video.

Can anyone who can somehow save the video please send it to me?? Thanks a million!!!!!!

MELBOURNE

I have just returned from 3 days in Melbourne. Had a great...and exhausting time. Visited lots of galleries and walked miles. I think I've left my feet in Melbourne!

But, I am excited because I have had some work accepted for 2 upcoming exhibitons and prizes. Both are at Brunswick Street Gallery http://www.bsgart.com.au/ 322 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne. The first exhibition/prize is 'Works On Paper' opening Friday 25th April [until 8 May]. The second exhibition/prize is 'Small Works' opening 6th June [until 19 June].

I really liked Melbourne. I have only ever visited 3 times before and for very short periods of time. People were very friendly and welcoming. I must have visited 20 galleries and all of them except maybe one or two had really interesting exhibitions. And as I walked and walked passing shops I thought of my daughter in Brazil. She'd love the shopping...so many wonderful clothes and shoe shops.

The work on paper above was painted at the same time as the work in my previous post. I am continuing to be intrigued by the Spiral Dynamics theory by Don Beck [also mentioned in the previous post]. The idea of the future revisiting the past...and even aspects of the past which may not have previously been considered important is fascinating.

I am formulating some thoughts about the popularity of images of animals in current art trends. I saw quite a few animal works in Melbourne and have noticed the trend in Sydney and in Brisbane. Plus in the art magazines. Do images of animals provide a sense of security in stressful times? Do they indicate a need for unconditional love? I am interested in looking at animal totems to see if somehow artists who create these images are tapping into ancient ritualistic vibrations. I have to be harsh and suggest some of the work I've seen is just tapping into a popular trend for opportunistic reasons.

In The Ebb and Flow Gouache on paper 30 x 22 cm

Bintan Resorts SUCK - Worst holiday ever

As you people know I've been complaining about my shitty Bintan trip. Honestly man! That place is a nightmare! So yes, to prevent other people from having similar shitty experiences, I'm going to blog about it, despite the risk of being sued!!

I'm sure there is some clause to protect me though coz I am speaking the truth!!


Here's the typical person's impression of it:


- Relaxing, tropical beach resort away from Singapore
- Cheap and good massages available ala Thailand
- Beautiful sea
- Everything charged in Rupiah, which after money-changing will be like nothing at all! Hahaha!


Actually what it is:

- Beach resort chockful of Singaporeans and stupid Angmohs, so it's almost like being in Sentosa.
- Massages cost more than it does in Singapore, and about 10 times Thailand's price.
- Sea only mediocre - put it on par, if not worse, than Sentosa's. If Langkawi's beach that I went to is a 8/10, Bintan's is a 3/10.
- Everything charged in... EITHER US DOLLARS OR SING DOLLARS. It's almost like being back in Singapore except the service staff can't speak English.


It's fucking farce!

THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO WILL LIKE THE PLACE ARE STUPID WHITE PEOPLE WITH TOO MUCH MONEY I TELL YOU!! * (more on that point later)

Initially, Mike wanted to bring me to Bali for our two-year anniversary, and after my insistence he told me that the trip, which requires a plane flight, will cost him at least $1k, which was a little too extravagant for a weekend getaway, I feel.

So I suggested to him that we go to Bintan, which was only a 40 min ferry ride away, and therefore can save on the plane tickets.

My decision was so wrong.

Nonetheless, ferry tickets and the hotel were booked for almost $800, and I joyously told everyone about it.

To my horror, Gillian and Eekean (Wong) both told me that Bintan's not a good destination at all, and that stupid Eekean even insisted that I change my destination to Batam instead where, I quote her, "There is a freaking shopping centre twice the size of Vivo City!!!".

I told the excitable Wong that I cannot change my destination as I am leaving tomorrow, but I don't think she heard me and continued her persuasion by saying how awesome Batam is compared to Bintan.

I had an ominous foreboding, but Gillian said it's good to have no expectations, so I won't be disappointed.

I had a thoroughly shitty time there**, and to add insult to injury, when I came back Mike saw on his credit card bill that an extra US$327.08 was charged, by the hotel, to his account!!

WTF???! This prompted me to write a complain letter to Angsana Resort, the place we stayed in:

Complain Email

from: Wendy Cheng
to: pr@angsana.com,
bintan@angsana.com,
corporate@angsana.com,
reservations@angsana.com,

date: Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 4:19 AM

subject: Fraudulent charge of USD $327.08 and Complain Letter

Hi there,

My boyfriend and I recently went to Angsana Resorts to celebrate our 2 year anniversary. However, that appears to be a giant mistake as our stay there was terribly unpleasant.

Not only was everything extremely overpriced, we found that the main purpose of our holiday - the beach, was filled with NUMEROUS tar glops that not only stained and ruined my expensive swimwear and sandals, it was also filled with sand flies, and what I found biting me, leaving a pea-sized amount of blood on my skin: Jungle mosquitoes!

Tar balls like these found in abundance all over the beach.

[Digressing, sandfly bites are no joke!! The bite are larger than mosquito bites, and I've heard that the scars DON'T GO AWAY FOR MONTHS! It's totally not worth it to ruin your legs in the long run for a day at the beach!!

AND I TELL YOU, THE MOSQUITO THAT BIT ME WAS SCARY! I seriously thought it was a large fly, and in the semi-darkness I was afraid so I just swept it away. This left a streak of blood on both my sweeping hand and bitten arm, and I screamed for the waiter, who calmly informed me it's not a sandfly but a "jungle mosquito".

Another one bit Mike later and left, as I mentioned, a pea-sized amount of blood on his arm.]


Your massages are stated for either 90 mins and 60 mins. Yet, as your staff informed me after my delibration for the service I wanted, a 60 min massage is actually a 30 min massage, and the other 30 mins is filled with what you people called "Calming Down Time", which apparently involves me paying $25 to sit down and sip a cup of tea. NO THANK YOU.

If it's a 30 min massage, why write 60, unless you are trying to cheat people?


Your brochures are filled with romantic pictures of people dining on seemingly secluded rocks and within floaty chiffon white sheets on the beach.

Calls to your staff confirmed that a meal there would cost around USD$300 (+20% extra) for two people, meaning it will be S$255.60 for each person to dine there for the night.

Needless to say, that amount is ridiculously high as even in Singapore you can get fine-dining for $150.

When asked why it is so expensive, your staff was speechless. When I asked what the food menu involved, your staff supplied helpfully: "Asian Fusion". When asked what "Asian Fusion" exactly involves, they were unable to reply me.

Later, I found out that the rocks/chiffon sheets were MOST DEFINITELY not as secluded as the brochures made them out to be, but situated very near to the Pan Tai Grill, where there were many other people dining.

That, on your part is definitely FALSE ADVERTISING. I pity whichever sucker paid so much for a supposedly romantic dinner where it is not only NOT private, but doubtlessly, filled with biting Sand flies and gigantic mosquitoes.


We then chose to dine at the Pan Tai restaurant, where we spent almost 50 bucks per person eating a "satay buffet", where the most expensive thing served was a minced up chunk of beef on a stick. Sure... there were prawns you say? Yet these prawns were so tiny, they had to be called... baby scrimp. To top it off, the food was not nice at all, and one had to keep fending off mosquitoes and flies throughout the meal.


At the end of our very unhappy trip, we realised that Angsana tried to bill us an extra US$2 for some charity (Green imperative fund or some other rubbish) and we were almost tricked into signing for that but luckily for me, I checked the bill first.

WHAT IS THIS? I did not say I wanted to donate that $1, and not only were we charged once, we were charged TWICE!


I don't mind donating money, but ANGSANA HAS NO RIGHTS TO DECIDE FOR ME WHAT I WANT TO PAY.


When I asked the staff what this rubbish charge is, your staff looked at me and said it is not compulsory and I don't have to pay it. Then why is it in my bill?

When I confirmed that I do not want to donate, your staff gave me a clear look of disdain, as if I am scrooging on a mere $2 that's for charity.


I came to my holiday to enjoy myself, not to be judged by your staff. And it's not that I don't want to donate; it is that Angsana has shown itself to not be trustworthy, so I am not paying an extra cent more than I have to.


Perhaps you think me stingy --- to go on holiday is to indulge. But spending is one thing, and throwing money away on unworthy purchases is another. None of the things in Angsana are priced honestly (hidden charges etc) or reasonably.


A bigger horror awaited us when we reached back home.

Upon checking his credit card transactions, my boyfriend realised that ANGSANA FRAUDULENTLY CHARGED US AN UNKNOWN $327.08 USD for goodness knows what!! Another Angsana-initiated donation to the Green Imperative Fund perhaps?!!


Now, this is a serious issue. We have already paid Asiatravel.com for our room charges, and as seen in the attached jpeg file, the fees very clearly stated we paid $567 including our ferry fees.

We most certainly did NO SPA, NO MASSAGES and NO DINNER ON RANDOM ROCKS, and the most expensive thing we did with Angsana was the Pan Tai Grill - which was paid with cash on the spot.

WHERE DID THIS FEE POP UP FROM?

We already called Bank of America to not let this transaction clear. It is currently still pending.

On your end, please do whatever you should to undo this mistake that caused us much trouble (including several long, expensive phone calls to the US). My boyfriend's name is Michael XXXXX, and we went there last Friday and stayed till Sunday at Room 311 (which coincidentally had ants all over the basin as well as a partially ruined showerhead).

Angsana owes us an explanation and apology, a retracted wrongful billing, as well as compensation for the calls. It is unfortunate that I cannot demand a refund for my entire trip, but sadly to say, even if I could, even the money cannot buy back the horrid time I had there.


If Angsana does not cancel the deceitful charge of US$327.08, I will not let the matter rest and will bring this up to CASE as well as consult my lawyers for further action.


All in all, my experience with Angsana has given me the impression that Angsana goes all out to screw and cheat their customers, and not, like most good companies, strive to provide a service for their clients (and at the same time make us feel that the price we paid is totally justified).



p/s: Perhaps you didn't recognise from the email or the name, but I own xiaxue.blogspot.com, the most popularly read blog in Singapore. My readership is about 20,000 per day. I plan to blog about this entire experience, as well as Angsana's response to my email. I assure you that the blog post will float up every-single-time someone tries to google and see if Bintan/Angsana is a good place to go for a holiday. Which I will clearly communicate that it is a loud NO.





I await impatiently your response,

Wendy


ATTACHED:

The next day, I received this:

Dear Ms. Cheng,

Greeting from Bintan Island!

We refer to your email dated on 9 April 2008 regarding your unpleasant experience at Angsana Resort & Spa Bintan.

Kindly be informed that we are looking into your feedbacks and shall keep you informed of the outcome.

Thank you for your feedback and your kind understanding.


Regards,
Yohanna Natasaputra
Executive Secretary
Angsana Resort & Spa Bintan

Grr! Patronising!


I decided I was still infuriated and replied this:

Hi,


Further to my previous email sent yesterday, I've attached, as proof, photos taken of the ruined footwear and apparel that was caused by the tar pollution that's in abundance all over the beach that's beside Angsana.

There is no sign or warning of this anywhere to be seen to let customers know what they are getting themselves into before they take a frolic at the beach.

In fact, I quote this from your website:

Angsana Resort & Spa Bintan

On the shores of paradise

Nestled on the beautiful white sands of Tanjong Said Bay and overlooking the South China Sea, Angsana Bintan in Indonesia is a heavenly retreat just 45 minutes away from Singapore via high-speed catamaran.

Unfortunately, the sands of the Tanjong Said bay is neither beautiful nor white.

It is, in fact, a dirty grey and speckled with clearly visible globs of tar and little pieces of rubbish.


Here's the cost of the ruined apparel:

1) Aztec Rose Bikini: $99

2) Converse shorts: $40

3) White female slippers: $12.50

4) White male havaiana slippers: $26



I know supposedly tar can be removed using oil or kerosene, but I've tried and it does not work. Besides, why should I try to remove it? It is not my problem that beach you promised to be white and beautiful is not what it claims to be. If there is a warning that tar on the beach will ruin my clothes, then I won't go there at all.

I don't know why is taking you people so long to give me a less than patronising "acknowledgement" reply.


I want to know ASAP that that USD$327.08 will NOT be charged. If it does, I am definitely going to write to all my media contacts, including all those from major newspapers, and they might just do up an article that's titled, "Bintan Resorts - fun or farce?". Sounds catchy, yeah?



Wendy



ATTACHED:

After this, I received a reply:

from Yohanna Natasaputra
to xiaxue@gmail.com,
date Thu, Apr 10, 2008 at 6:13 PM
subject Letter from Angsana Bintan



Dear Ms. Cheng,

Greeting from Bintan Island!

Please find letter from Mr. Ridwan Heriyadi, our Executive Assistant Manager, in regards to your feedback which you have shared with us as attached.

Thank you.

Regards,
Yohanna Natasaputra
Executive Secretary
Angsana Resort & Spa Bintan

ATTACHED:

Is it just me or does the letter sound extremely condescending? Little snide remarks about my ignorance about common practice in hotel bookings... That little fucker! I don't expect him to be apologetic but don't give a load of stupid excuses!! Swipe people's cards don't need to inform them for what one meh?!

My reply:

Dear Mr Ridwan,


1) I did not see any letter or signage regarding the tar. I did, however, see the warning about sand flies, I give you that.

However, it doesn't matter. I feel cheated, because your website advertised highly photoshopped (or cleverly photographed with appropriate lighting) photos of the supposedly white and beautiful beach, which is why I went to Bintan in the first place. Compared to places like Bali, Langkawi, or Phuket, the beach pales - dramatically - in comparison.

False advertising is despicable.


2) My boyfriend's credit card from requested from him by your staff, and we thought she merely took it to verify our bookings.

She made ZERO mention about a security deposit or anything of that sort. How do you expect that not to startle us when we see the account on our bills?

At the end of our trip, nobody told us that this transaction has been canceled. Whenever this happens in other hotels that I've stayed in, they would assure us the transaction did not go through, or tear up the receipt in front of us.

This negligence on your hotel's part caused us much trouble.



3) I HAVE NO INTEREST IN WHAT YOUR GREEN FUND DOES. Whether it saves dying turtles or not is not my business. I'm not interested in participating in it, and I don't wish to see it included in my bill. My clueless boyfriend almost paid up, thinking it's compulsory, and you make your guest face unnecessarily embarrassment should they "opt-out", because they appear stingy.

Why should I have to face this embarrassment? If I wish to donate money, I'd donate on my own accord to my own charity of choice.

If YOUR hotel wishes to donate money, then please... do it without involving your guests, since, doubtlessly, you guys must be ranking in the billions.


4) Thank you for your offer, and I recognize it as an effort to make up for our tragic holiday, but my boyfriend and I have no wish to go back to Bintan, ever again.



I thank you for your time, and will include your reply in my blog entry about my holiday, unless you, too, wish to "opt out" of that.


Wendy

**************************

Clever little line at the end hor!!! Hahaha!!

Anyway, there was no reply from Angsana after this.

But I haven't even finished complaining about my Bintan trip!

Something terribly horrific happened at the beach... :( I had my bag with me, a little clear tote with my camera, phone and wallet in it.

I was prancing in the shallow sea with it, and I put the bag on a high rock that was on the beach so I can freely go deeper into the sea.

2 moments later, a particularly strong wave crashed onto the rock - I know! I'm so stupid! - and the bag was completely filled with the nabeh sea water!!!

It took me a few moments to realise that electronics and water do not go together, and then I completely freaked out.

My phone kept spasming (vibrating, but seemingly, at that moment, it was drowning and struggling with it's last breath) and eventually died. My camera had no reaction - just won't turn one, its diamantes looking stupid on a piece of metal that won't work.

Tragic or what?! So yes, I lost both my phone and camera there, which explains why there aren't any photos! This is not Bintan's fault, but I guess it does add to my dislike for the place...

Another shitty thing about Bintan is the goddamn food prices!!

Eating anything in the hotel is bloody expensive (as explained above), and if you don't want to eat in the hotel, you have to take a cab out to other places, and cabs there are bloody dangerous!!! (Coz dishonest cabbies might rob and harm tourists)

Mike and I decided to eat at a place called the Kelong Restaurant, which was not as mad expensive as our resort's food. It's inside another resort (Nirwana Gardens) and it takes a 20 bus ride to reach there. Kelong Restaurant arranges free shuttle to fetch customers from any of the resorts in Bintan.

Angsana kindly agreed to arrange for the shuttle to bring us there, and told us to come down to the hotel lobby at 6.30pm. (Actually their service is not bad)

We reached at 6.25pm.

Mike and I waited until 6.45 - the hotel staff told us the bus is on its way from Kelong Restaurant, and will arrive soon.

At 7pm, I was mightily irritated, hungry, and have been tortured past my anger endurance!!!

I started to shout my frustration at the hotel staff, and they called Kelong Restaurant, only to be told by KR that the shuttle is not coming anymore!!!!!!


INFURIATING NOT YOU TELL ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FUCKING ANGRY LA!

These bloody people have no sense of responsibility at all!!!

I was goddamn hungry and I wanted to give these people my money but they don't even want to take it! And I was super pissed off coz I had no bloody alternative because if I don't eat at this Kelong restaurant, I have to eat at the resort which costs at least $30 a meal?!?!

How I craved Singapore, where things were all systematic and capitalism made it such that there will always, always, dependably, be other choices for you if wish (with the exception of TV boardcasting stations) and you can take safe taxis everywhere!

KR's people told the hotel staff (after the staff told them how angry I appeared) that they will send the shuttle and it will reach within 15 minutes.

We had no choice but to wait. I had a good mind to go back to the room and just skip dinner, but Mike was hungry.

In the end, the shuttle came at 7.30pm! Lao niang waited 1 whole hour for them! I won't even bloody wait for Zac Efron for so long ok!! Who they think they are!!! Very pissed off lor!!!

When I reached there I started scolding the supervisor but he can't speak English well and didn't seem to understand half of what I was saying. -_-

He just kept making excuses and saying something about the bus and miscommunication - REASONS WHICH DON'T CONCERN ME!!

When I asked, "How are you going to compensate for my waiting?!" he just kept saying sorry and didn't get the hint at all... double -_-

The meal wasn't bad but still, a seafood meal at JB is about 1/3 of the price we paid. It cost almost $60 for just two of us!!!


In summation, Bintan sucks as a holiday destination, and Langkawi, Bali, Phuket, etc etc... All are better choices!!

The nerve of them to charge so much for stuff still appalls me!!! (Angsana's massage prices. Keep in mind there is 30 mins of "calming down time" included) Can you imagine how bloody little the Indonesian workers must be earning and how much is taken by the hotel? It's disgusting.


I AM NEVER GOING BACK THERE AGAIN!!



* Yes, about stupid white people. They spoil everything for us (smarter people), I tell you! Coming over from countries where the weather is cold, grey, and has absolutely no beach nearby, their idea of paradise is a sunshine-filled beach resort, and they will pay with their arm, leg and newborn for it.

So what if a massage costs USD 90 for 1 hour of pressing by an Indonesian minion who is hired for close to nothing? It's inconsequential because in their country, masseuses are few and far between! I feel so sorry for them, because if they were to take a trip to Phuket/Langkawi instead, they would have had a much better time...


** I don't mean to sound unappreciative because Mike paid good money to make me happy. On the contrary, I feel very very loved because he put in a lot of effort into organising this! Whatever happened there was not his fault and in fact, I guess I only have myself to blame because I chose Bintan over Bali... Oh well. But still, thanks baby!!

RECALIBRATION

Recalibration is a great word. It has re-entered my vocabularly recently and I am so grateful that is has. I've used it in nearly everything I have written over the last couple of weeks. And, I have done a lot of writing! I've written submissions for special exhibition spaces, artists' statements for my work as a whole and for particular works I've entered into competitions. And, I was asked by HECATE to write a review of Irena Sibley's new book Self Portrait of the Artist's Wife. So, for those of you who don't know, HECATE is an 'interdisciplinary journal of women's liberation, edited by Carole Ferrier now in its 33rd year. It is published by Hecate Press, in association with the WGCSC Centre, in the School of EMSAH at the University of Queensland. AWBR: Australian Womens' Book Review following its alliance with Hecate, has now reached its 19th year of publication of reviews, by women, of new publications by women mainly in Australia and the pacific region.' It will be published online soon, so you can read my review then!

And, here I am again ...writing.

I have done some new work on paper and I am wanting to expand on the ideas I have explored both on paper and canvas.

Dr. Don Beck’s and Christopher Cowen’s theory of Spiral Dynamics* has recently come to my attention. This complex theory sheds light on some of the questions I ask myself and like any good theory it stimulates more questions. Memetics is a pivotal element of the theory. The spiral, which I have previously used, resonates with me because its energy flows up and down and across oscillating with potential. I like the idea that the spiral is not static and can reverberate forwards and backwards. My interest in shared history [which I have previously written about on this BLOG] leads me to think about how our future has aspects which propel us back to the past...like a continual reverberation...hopefully picking up only the positive apsects! A recalibration action!


* Beck Don & Cowen C, Spiral Dynamics-Mastering Values, Leadership, and Change Blackwell Publishing, USA, UK, Australia, 2006. www.spiraldynamics.net

Backwards And Forwards In Time Gouache on paper 30 x 21 cm

Apple users hate me

Is it a bad week for me or what? After my shitty Bintan trip (which I have yet to blog about), I have the weirdest virus ever...

It took me about 1.5 weeks of wispy coughing to get to a full-blown cough and then now I'm down with a flu, sore throat, as well as fever... as icing on my lovely cake!

I thought most flus are over within 3 days? That's normal for me, anyway...

(I also realised that the big Os are only half as intense when you are sick. Double whammy!)

Anyway, I'm too damn drowsy to blog a good one, so I'd leave you guys with some photos from KK's bdae party (yes KK, Kaykay, and Qihua are the same people, I just like to call her different names depending on my mood - which is "lazy" right now, so that's KK for you).

And also, some of you might have noticed that Gizmodo and Fake Steve, both very popular internet sites, picked up on my iPhone review, completely misconstruing what I said and taking my spoof phone review, very, very seriously.

Well, maybe the site owners themselves didn't, but the users surely did!


I laughed my ass off as I read comments like:

that was hilarious, wow. It just proves iPhones are for smart people.

You know what dude? YOU EXACTLY PROVED MY POINT. I don't like Apple users because they TYPICALLY:

1) Think they are smarter than everyone else

2) Think they are cooler than everyone else

3) Most importantly, think they are more ENLIGHTENED than everyone else, and have a raging innate need to tell people what to do: Which is to use bloody Mac products.


Of course, there are also the typical Mac fanboys who are too stupid to argue logically, so they instead display their rage by saying I am ugly, a completely bimbo, stupid hair/eyelashes/make up/neighing voice etc.


:)


How's that relevant to anything? You mean, if it were a middle-aged professor saying the exact same things, does it make the content any better?


Nonetheless, Gillian found these gems of comments:

• You guys are a bunch of uptight bastards. Anyone too arrogant/fanboyish to appreciate that this was SUPPOSED to be a tongue-in-cheek look at the iPhone obviously need their IQ checked. Stop taking it so fucking seriously



• The reviewer, while ditsy, represents a normal non-techie who happens to write a blog and has a tiny amount of knowledge on the gadget-verse. That was both clear and apparent in her review which she pre-stated was going to be biased because like many, she feels Mac fans generally have their head up their ass. (the comments on this video further back-up this point).



• It's ridiculous the lengths that some of you will take to defend your premium priced purchases - chill. It's just one person's review.

Anyway, following this little internet wave, clicknetwork decided to be opportunistic and print some t-shirts for people who agree with me that Mac fanatics have their heads up their asses (and think it's the best place to be).

Click here to buy some of these apparels!!

A few points to defend myself (even though I was completely not serious about the review):

1. It IS near impossible to put my finger straight and still use the iPhone with long nails, because the nail will scratch the precocious phone. And as I said, if I put it straight, the surface area touching the screen is so huge it won't select anything accurately.



2. There is an Apple screen behind me because I shot the clip at Munkysuperstar's office, where, being film people, they use Apple products. I secretly dislike them. I was farting at the screen the entire time... You might see some green smoke at 1:07.



3. Why, one of the biggest features of the iPhone is the music function. How many of us bring earphones out everyday? That being said, iPhone users are therefore likely to play and "share" their so-called music taste with people they meet. Yes, on that damn speaker.
   
   I've been a victim of this already (Tim and his tragic love songs), and yes, it is UNDENIABLY ANNOYING. (Not so much you Tim, since you and I generally like the same sort of music. Don't cry!!) But you can imagine if you are trapped on a long bus ride with some (insert music genre you hate) fanatic who slowly "introduces" you to his awesome music...

Did I say I'd blog a short one??

Anyway, frivolous photos:

I love how our freshly dyed hair colour clashes. Vibrant photos are awesome!!

I know you all love Kaykay and think that she is gorgeous, but I believe one more time I see a "KAYKAY IS SO BEAUTIFUL!" or "Gimme KK's number please!" comment I'm going to implode into little bits of fluff.

I'm deleting all such comments because it is stupid to keep repeating stuff that has been said a million times, unless... it is praise for me. Which I enjoy reading over a cup of tea.

If enough idiots post such comments, I shall threaten to never post her photos again! YES! I will mosaic her face (and boobs, if within photo) out! Her beauty shall be slightly within your grasp, but never attained! Such is my cruelty.

(Chao KK return me my chio dress!)

In case you ignorant Americans don't already know, my IQ is proven by Mensa to be higher than 148.
That means, statistically speaking, I am smarter than 98% of the idiots who say I am dumb. :)

p/s: Omg I am not done blogging! I thought I'd leave with a cool little quote but instead ruined it myself by wanting to type more. I'm feeling better! I think the medicine Mike force-fed me is working.

Anyway, speaking of IQ, I've wanted to share this little snippet I've read about before in a story book called The Curious Incident Of The Dog In the Night-time.

I'm not sure if there are people who are here for frivolous pictures but are also interested in IQ questions, but here goes...

The book talked about a puzzle called The Monty Hall Problem.

The question goes like this:

Suppose you're on a game show, and you're given the choice of three doors: Behind one door is a car; behind the others, goats.

You pick a door, say No. 1, and the host, who knows what's behind the doors, opens another door, say No. 3, which has a goat.

He then says to you, "Do you want to pick door No. 2 instead?" Is it to your advantage to switch your choice?


(Digressing, why a goat? That's a disgustingly smelly animal to put behind a door... I guess that's so that nobody wants a goat rather than a car. Except maybe Aberforth Dumbledore... )

What's your answer?

I am sure that almost 100% of us will intuitively say it does not matter because the chances are 50/50, right?

Well, I did anyway!

So, the book continues to explain, to my astonishment, that WE SHOULD SWITCH, because switching gives you a 2/3 chance of getting a car, VS a 1/3 chance if you don't switch.

The person with the highest IQ (currently), Marilyn vos Savant, had to endure long letters of insults sent to her because she was presented this problem in a magazine and said she endorsed the switching.

I put down the book and sat thinking for around half an hour before I could finally understand what she said.


The problem is much more comprehensive if viewed this way, according to Savant:

Say there are 1,000 doors (with 999 goats and a car inside). You pick Door 1, and the host, who knows where the car is, opens 998 other doors revealing goats, leaving only your door (Door 1) and remarkably enough, Door 888 (Chinese host in my scenario) closed. DO YOU SWITCH?

OF COURSE YOU DO! Your initial chance of getting a car is 0.001%, and the chances that the car is in Door 888 is 99.99%!

When I finally figured it out, I thought myself very clever and presented Mike with the same problem. He was super adamant that the chances are 50/50, so we took 3 toothpicks and broke one shorter and did a reenactment of the problem, where Mike picked toothpicks from my hands.

It turns out, switching really does give you the shorter toothpick 66% of the time! Go try!

Don't believe? Read more.

Interesting isn't it? Food for thought.

Now, I go sleep.


p/s: I'm not trying to act smart, I really found this interesting.