Fair Trade?

Dress 1. No button hole.

Last week I bought some clothes from a wholesale supplier from China. I browsed through their website and found quite a lot of pretty Korean / Japanese fashion dresses which you can buy at a very low price. Then I wondered, how come they sell it so cheap. As I read their "About Us" section, there they state "... mainly focus on international trading Japanese and Korean copy styles  producing and selling, most of styles are copied from latest fashion magazines: such as <Rayli>, <JJ>, <COCO>, <EF>, <Nonno> and some others professional latest fashion magazine website..." And so there goes the answer. After reading it, I didn't expect much on the quality of their dresses. I purchased 16 pcs, which costs total of SGD 155 (shipping cost included), not bad right? I received the goods 3 days after payment, that was fast. I was so excited and opened the package and tried them on. As expected, the quality is not that good, but anyway its cheap so its okay. Until I came across the 4 dresses with really poor quality. Please see the pictures so you can see for yourself. I contacted them and asked if I can get a refund. One of their customer service rudely replied, "...but you need to consider that we have provide those items with so low price, and what quality do you expect it to ?..."  He didn't even bother to ask first what is the issue I have. He himself admitted that they have poor quality, lol. I wasn't expecting much but what I expect is that I will be able to wear the clothes presentably. But how do you expect me to wear them? No button hole, lining too thin, and uneven arm hole. They told me that I have to return the dresses (which is by the way on my own expense) before they will refund. It will cost me $40 for the shipping cost, and the refund will be around that same amount too. In short, I will still get nothing. No win situation for me. 

Dress 2. The inside lining too thin, I can even see my hands

Dress 3. Arm hole too loose

Dress 3.2 Same design different color

Dress 3.3 Looks funny... :D

Oh, well. Lessons learned. I will never buy from them again. I realized that the amount I paid is almost the same as if I am buying at bargain stores, only that I can get to see the real thing before I decide to buy. I am not saying that you should not buy on those China wholesale clothing, all I want is fair trade. If they agree that my reject claim is valid, they should at least shoulder the return shipping cost or maybe offer me a 50% refund so that  I can have them repaired/tailored locally and no need to return it to them. 

See you soon Bintan!

Getting ready for my new adventure. I hope Mr. Sun won't be so shy on that day. A very much deserved break. Will be writing about it when I come back. Hope to get good pictures too. :)

They say Palawan is one of the most beautiful places in the Philippines. Sadly I haven't been there, but me and my boyfriend is planning to. So it's sad to hear that they are planning to have mining in Palawan. Can they just go and mine somewhere else? :( 


Please help save Palawan. You can show your support by signing up on the page:


http://no2mininginpalawan.com

Your 2 minutes will make a difference and can do something to save Palawan. :) 

Longchamp - How to spot the fake

Longchamp, one of the most simple yet expensive bag I have ever met. Almost 70% of the girls I see here in Singapore owns one. At first, I didn't like it that much until I saw the black Planetes. Then after that, I can't sleep thinking about it. For me, spending $200++ for it is just too much. But then, I guess I need to reward myself for being hardworking once in a while. ^_^ So the hunt is on. There are a lot of sellers in eBay offering Longchamp bags at a lower price compared to the mall. Most of them bought them in Paris where its is cheaper and they have them shipped here. The problem is, how will you know the one you are buying is authentic? You don't want to be buying a counterfeit right? So here are some tips for you. I suggest that you carefully examine before buying. Here, I used my very own Longchamp Planetes.

1. The materials and the trimming. The very first thing that you are going to do is to check the quality of the materials. An expensive bag comes with high quality materials. You may also want to check the quality of the trimmings. That is the most easiest to check.

2. The logo. The jockey logo is clearly embossed on the leather flap just above the snap button. Then check the snap button, it should clearly state "Longchamp 1948"

3. At the back portion of the leather flap, the words are also clearly embossed and are aligned. Words vary depending on the model you are buying. Check on the spelling as well, some of the fakes have it misspelled. 

4. The picture on the right is the back part of the leather flap. You would notice that the mark where the logo was embossed. Also check the snap button, it has the wording "Original PRYM 6/4B". The texture of the leather is very smooth and fine.

5. The zipper pull. You will clearly notice that the jockey logo is very detailed. The jockey and horse don't mix together as compared with the fakes. The round Longchamp zipper pulls comes in gold or pewter and it has YKK logo on the side of the pull.

6. The back of the button snap are reinforced with plastic disc, fake ones don't have it.

7. The tag. Original Longchamp has a plastic tag sewn at the side of the bag. Planetes are made from France / Tunisia (correct me if I am wrong), while other Le Pliage are made in China. You will also notice that the tag is very neatly sewn (remember tip 1). 

There you go girls. I think I already covered almost everything there is to know. But if there are more that I missed out, I will be glad to hear from you. Remember to be careful in buying your expensive bags. Don't let the cheap selling price deceive you. :)

Happy shopping! :)

Hopeless??

If you are running out of hope, I am very happy to tell you that hope is free and is for everyone. Let me share with you one of my devotions from Joyce Meyer: Promises for your every day life. 




What Are You Hoping for?

I have a question for you: What are you hoping for? What are you expecting in life? Are you looking for something good to happen or are you expecting to be disappointed?

So many people are feeling hopeless these days. However, Jesus did not die for us to be hopeless. He died so that we could be full of hope.

The devil wants to steal your hope and he will lie to you. He'll tell you that nothing good can happen in your life or that the things you care about won't last. If you're struggling with a difficult situation, he'll tell you it will never end. But you have to stay full of hope and remember that the devil is a liar. God can change everything!

Our Father is good, and He has good plans for your life. If you will maintain your hope, especially in the midst of troubled and uncertain times, He has promised you "double for your trouble". So refuse to give up hope. Start expecting God to do something, something good! 

Prayer Starter: Lord, my hope is in You. Satan is a liar and I will not listen to him and lose hope. I expect You to do good things in my life.

Tea anyone?

I am not a tea drinker. I hate it's smell and the taste. Tea are for old people. 


That's what I used to say. But I have been reading and hearing that tea is good for the tummy, and is good if you want to lose weight. So now I am on my day 4 on drinking tea. So far so good. I put on creamer and sugar to taste. I don't know for how long will I be doing this. Haha. Go healthy! ^_^

My Favorite Place

Photo taken by me. :)

My favorite place in Singapore, the Esplanade roof terrace. From here you can see the beautiful Marina Bay Sands, Theatre by the Bay, Singapore Flyer, Merlion, One Fullerton and many more. The perfect place to just sit down and relax. I forgot to mention, no need to pay anything to enjoy the wonderful scenery. :)

My Roti Prata Experience

If you know me long enough, you will know that I really don’t like trying out food that is stranger to my tongue. This is one of the things I need to change since living in a foreign country gives me a real hard time looking for familiar food, which is by the way Filipino food (true pinay at heart). Anyway, I have tried some of the famous local food here and I will try to share them one by one. The first one will be the Roti Prata.

What is Roti Prata?

According to Wikipedia…

Roti prata is a fried flour-based pancake that is cooked over a flat grill. It is usually served with a vegetable or meat based curry and is sold all over Singapore in food centres. Prata is also commonly cooked (upon request) with cheese, onion, banana, red bean, chocolate, mushroom or egg. It is listed at number 45 on World's 50 most delicious foods readers' poll compiled by CNN Go in 2011.^[1]

Wow, number 45 huh. I didn’t know this. Thanks Wikipedia. For more info you may want to check the below link:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roti_prata

I am a great fan of cheese, so as expected I tried the Cheese Prata. If you do not like the curry for a dip, you may try it with sugar. I love it! And I can say that indeed it is one of the most delicious foods in the world. Two thumbs and a happy tummy up! :)

What is your Prata? at Food Republic Wisma Atria

This is how they cook it

Choose your Prata! :)

My name is Calai. Read on if you want to know more about me.

Bags. My first love. As early as high school I already have this love for bags. Being a student, I do not have enough money to buy one.
What I usually do is I make my own. Yes, I know how to sew. My mom love bags too, I think I got it from her. So everytime I go home to visit her,
she would always ask for my bag. Haha. 


Dogs. I have a very pretty and lovable dog named Mikki. I know her name sounds more like a mouse, but she's a dog. She is a black dachshund, 7 human years old.
She is very adorable and friendly, anyone can just steal her effortlessly. 


Beach. Summer is one of my most awaited time of the year aside from my birthday and of course Christmas. Summer time = beach time. As I can remember, 
me and my friend Mai used to go to the beach every summer, only the two of us. I can remember her telling me that if someone asks, we will tell that we are with our 
parents and we are sisters. Haha. Tapang!


Sunset. My favorite among God's creation. Very beautiful, very serene. Nuff said. 


Travelling. One of the things I like to do, it's just that I do not have enough resources to spend. Lol. I dream of traveling around the world, but before that I want to
go around the beautiful places of my beloved country, the Philippines. I don't want to be tagged as "dayuhan sa sariling bansa". I hate to see the look on my foreigner friends
whenever they ask me if I have been to Bohol, Palawan etc, and I say "Uhm, no...". You know what I mean right? 


Food. Now i suddenly felt hungry. Hhhmm, barbeque, isaw, siomai, sisig, squidballs, pandesal, sinigang. kare kare, lechon kawali, tocino. Oh my, too many to write.
If you noticed, almost all are Filipino food. I'm a Filipino at heart and taste. 


Here are more additional info about me. 
I brush my hair at most 3 times a day, but mostly only after I hit the shower.
Hates butterflies, they scare the heck out of me.
OC, specially when it comes to excel formats.
You can't make me buy expensive shoes, but I can spend few thousands on bags. =P
Trying hard photographer. I like taking photos, but I am not a pro. Just for memories sake, yeah?!


Uhm, I think this should be all. I'm just me. :)