Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Today is a bit of a surprise... it's like u're getting all these prezzies & it's not even your birthday!!First thing in the morning, the postie came & gave me the parcel mom & bak sent over a week ago... and all these whitening moisturisers that I was telling mom about sprang out of the box stuffed with newspapers!! hehee... The way the Oz Quarantine repacked the parcel is atrocious!! I collect stamps & they actually taped over all the new stamps that my dad specifically included for this parcel!! ~sigh~ oh well...
Last nite mom mentioned the guy from the invite & favour shop had already called to enquire after the designs... and I haven't even started on it... Today, while scouring my entire graphic collection & after all the internet surfing for inspirational designs - of cos, I make the designs myself, I just use the designs on the internet for a start to get me inspired!! - I finally decided that I'm letting the design for the invite remain as it is & the guest favour boxes will have the same designs from the invite... it's so much easier for everyone... especially me.... cos while I was surfing, I realised the graphic collection had included more & nicer orchid graphics... and I'm more interested in them.... Means I can do more web background designs!! I was in Orchid Heaven!!
I've already had like 7 designs going along when my very creative Indon ex-housemate came online!! Haven't seen him online for the longest time ever, and today he decided to get online just before he goes for lunch!! harharhar... well, there's another 10mins before he comes back to the office for another short chat. Yeah, he's the one I bought my Mitsubishi Colt from... which Kris had done up nicely & now sold off... cos he needed to get me that Toyota Corona...
Oh, speaking of cars... here's a pix of his new car...
Monday, April 24, 2006
Kris sold off his Landrover Discovery.Yeah... last Friday, he took the day off to get his cracked windscreen changed for free (it was in his warranty). Oh, why cracked? Well, it was already cracked slightly when he first bought it 16months ago. But we helped his friend, Les, from the country Meckering to tow his car back to Perth to get a new engine fitted... and that cracked the windscreen from top to bottom!!
Anyway, right after we picked up the car, we went to this caryard called DVG on Albany Hwy in Maddington. Never had we experienced such bad attitude from car salespeople before!! SHEESH!!
And the car was old & extremely used & stuff were missing from the body and they were selling it for $14,999. The dashboard was all broken & chattering throughout the test drive!! Kris actually had to press on it while he was driving!!! And there was something terribly wrong with the transmission & when u revved it up, it lurched & jerked!! Anyway, they had such a terrible deal & they didn't even want our money... Sooooo.... it's ok... cos we actually found a better place!!
Cannington Auto Wholesale on Albany Hwy in Cannington has one of the best services around!! And their cars are even better!! We got an imported 7-seater 1994 Mitsubishi Delica & we're the first in australia to use it!! It was only used for 52,000km & the interior still smelt like a new car... while the other car at DVG already had like 196,000km!! And we bought our 'new' car with all accessories attached plus some for $10K after trading in the Landrover!! We paid for it & drove home with it... leaving our beloved Discovery behind... it was quite emotional cos I loved that car!!
C'est la vie... everyone had to move on... Kris & I just hope that the next person who gets hold of Discovery will take really good care of it as we had done for the past 16 months... ~sniff sniff~
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
So, the bitch of a travel agency didn't live up to its promises... yet again... and mom went to the Small Claims Tribunal... and seeked the full amount for both the flytix. Luckily we're not asking extra compensation for grievances caused!! And of course, after this case goes... it'll be on the newsletter for CASE and sent out to all CASE members & I guess I'll personally get my mom to send them out to all her friends... That'll teach them!! Who knows how many Filipino maids who hang around that shopping mall every weekend had been conned by Mandarin World Holidays Pte Ltd?!! Sheesh!!So, I'm just waiting for mom's call... for the good news...
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Yaaaawwwwnnnnzzzz... I just got up.... The long weekend is still here & I just got back from my overnight stay at Ezra's...On Saturday morning, Kris & I went grocery shopping around 9+am & there were barely any parking spaces left!! And at some shops, there were still heaps of chockies left unsold!! Anywayz, we were out of there in a jiffy with $130 of purchases (grocery prices had skyrocketed with petrol prices!!!).
While packing all the stuff away, the girls called to say they're still at Ezra's & preparing for the night. I made Kris' lunch & cleaned up whatever... And waited for my ride.
We reached Cicerello's at Freo around 2pm for lunch & had a perfect seat (even though not in the sun) overlooking the ampitheatre where some Easter buskers were performing. Quite enjoyable... Roann's order was forgotten & 3 girls went hungry for quite a bit while Ezra & I tucked into our Seafood Trays... Next time, I'm gonna have the Seafood Chowder!! All that oil made me a tad sick that arvo!!
We then drove to E-shed market & spent some time checking out the art & of course, we bought some dried fruits & chockies, munchies & chocolate coated marshmallows & fruits, etc etc... I was actually looking forward to having a night-fishing outing... but we ditched that idea... ~sigh~ maybe another time...
On the way back to Ezra's we drove up to Wireless Hill behind Garden City & caught a breathtaking view of Perth & the Swan River. There were quite a number of people having a barbie there, but we're just happy taking silly pictures at the lookouts.
Back at Ezra's, we had a great time with the mini Korean barbie, some of Roann's dad's chicken corn & egg soup, chicken parmesan spag, etc etc etc... Once again, we made too much food. But at least Ezra's mom, brother & aunty were there & Roann's siblings Rhovy & Michael came... & Michael's gf Lotta was there too...
We had some nice boutique ice-cream after watching a Singapore horror movie, The Maid & then went on to watch 'Sepet' - a Malaysian romance between a local Muslim Malay girl & a typical Chinese boy.
After playing cards & loser having to answer truth (without the dare) questions, the girls fell asleep one after the other, only to realise we only napped for less than 2hrs...
We sat around the lounge chatting with Ezra's brother, while her mom got up & did gardening... Finished up the leftover meats & pasta... and I had some ice-creams... yummmzzzz... Kris came around 9.45am to pick me up... of course, I didn't shower... hehehe... he just asked me to get out of my jammy pants into my jeans & we left after I washed up a bit & brushed my teeth (I HAVE to brush my teeth!!)...
Kris brought me to this caryard & showed the 4wd 7-seater he wanted to get, and it wasn't too bad... A bit scratched - the previous owner must have had lotsa little kids!! A bit worn out... but otherwise perfect for us.
Then, I got home, unpacked & fell asleep... hehehe... And I just got up, washed up & here I am... Ok... now have to go pray & prepare dinner...
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Of all my life & experience with travel agents & flying, never had I ever thought I would encounter a nightmare such as this! So, read on... so that u won't ever be tricked, swindled, cheated by this company!!Name of Company: Mandarin World Holidays Pte Ltd
Location: Lucky Plaza, Singapore
What happened?
1. no muslim food on departure from sgp for my dad
2. no muslim food on departure from perth for me
3. upon departing from perth, less than 1/3rd of the plane was booked (when May informed my parents that there were only 9 seats left on that flight & suggested for them to get the tickets from her instead of me getting them from Perth!! And horrified, my mom paid S$1,320 for my ticket when I could have gotten them from Perth at S$700+)
4. May intentionally gave my parents an excursion ticket (meaning that dates can only be changed without charge due to death of a next-of-kin) when we had asked for an open ticket departing from Sgp for me & she confirmed with me over the phone conversation to Perth as well as to my parents who were seated in front of her that she would give us an open ticket.
5. May even informed me that if I'm not going back on 20th March, I would have to call her 48 hours before to change to a later date. (She later said that the ticket we bought from her wasn't an open ticket - which my parents later retorted with, "Then why tell us to call you 48hours before to change the date of her departure?!" YEAH!! Good one, mom!!)
6. I called 72hrs before 20th March to extend my flight, and May scolded me for calling her too late, that I should have called 7 days in advance instead. And grudgingly told me she'll put me on the waiting list but no guarantees. She called me back the next day & forced me to stick to 20th March, by citing that there's no more seats. I stuck to my decision, after all I'm the customer!!
7. 40 hours before my flight, she passed the buck to another colleague, namely Rafiq, to handle & after much heated debate, he confirmed the seat for me.
8. on the day of departure, i went to the airport & was told I had to pay for a 1-way ticket cos it wasn't paid yet. After revealing my situation, Qantas suggested we discuss with the agency & even would back us up in any lawsuits.
9. when confronted, May tried to blame Rafiq (the colleague) for the miscommunication. And mind u, this case is not about miscommunication, it's about INTENT!! And all the evidences proved INTENTION, as u'll see.
10. later, May said it was my fault that I purposely didn't heed her advise to go back on 20th March since all flights were full - HELLO... it was supposed to be an open ticket & I AM THE CUSTOMER!!
11. we told her that qantas confirmed with us that should the tix had been an open one, i would have been able to take any seats on any flights as long as there's one seat available... and get this, the flight wasn't full at all!! There were heaps of seats available... And I even had a free seat next to me!! And I was able to change seats at the last minute.
12. after the 2nd confrontation by my parents, May said that they'll try to contact Qantas to see if they can get the charge for the void ticket back. And this was just a ploy to get my parents off their back while they think of another trick!! My parents would be going back to their shop over & over again daily till they get what they had been promised. And if they still won't do it, we'll tell them what Qantas had informed us - that since it's not Qantas fault, but that of Mandarin World, Qantas will not assist Mandarin World with the payout. The onus is on Mandarin World. If Mandarin World doesn't deliver, the case will be a lawsuit.
So, people... pass the word around... DO NOT GO TO MANDARIN WORLD HOLIDAYS PTE LTD AT LUCKY PLAZA!!
