the stuff in my shop seriously RAWKS. New dresses and bags in!!

Hey people, there is a new bag collection in the shop. Do pop by and take a peek!

Karen had recently been down to Singapore and she ran a very successful charity event raising funds for Singapore Red Cross. As a full time stay home mum, she managed to garner tremendous support in sponsorship, publicity, media coverage, and most importantly, donations to Singapore Red Cross. I have nothing but utmost respect and admiration for this lady. Of course, being the utmost shallow person that I am, it helps that she is very gorgeous.

And thus, I have to say that I am very VERY sorry that I could not make it for both her Doing the Karen Cheng event in Indochine and her birthday drinks at the Fashion Bar.

The truth is, I really wanted to go. I mean, I like the lady and she so very kindly extended the invitation to me, for which I felt very honored.

The truth is, and I am ashamed to admit it, is that I am rather anti social by nature. I don’t enjoy meeting people unless I have known them online and am interested to know them further. The dilemma is, I really wanted to meet Karen, but I really don’t like some of the people on that list, and I would not be able to stomach having to put on a PR front the whole night. Goodness knows I have had enough of that in the past.

I am not atas. It’s just the way I am now. Am happy to wrap myself up in a cocoon of family and a few select friends.

And running a business, especially one that is an online presence, prompts that little voice inside my head to say that I am being an absolute idiot by passing up such a fabulous opportunity to network and smooze.

And hence the conundrum of whoring oneself out for the sake of additional business revenue or being true to one own’s feelings and principles and losing out on the business front?

I was sharing this with Big last night. He is one, I feel, whom I can share my thoughts with unreservedly and who will not judge me in any way. I told him that I felt rather bad at passing up the opportunity to finally meet Karen, and that I felt rather “unshrewd” in a business sense. And of course, that conundrum of self vs business. And he, being the wise Yoda, that he is, offered good advice in a single liner. No, I shall not share the single liner. It’s exclusive.

And Karen, when we troop to Perth, will definitely invite you for dinner and drinks, and of course, to “do the Karen Cheng” with you in person.

And oh, even though I was not there in person, I support you in spirit and in action. I have donated to Red Cross in the capacity of your “Doing the Karen Cheng” event. :D 

That’s right!

And if I knew they were going to crop off my body chest down, I wouldn’t have bothered with the turtleneck.

But yes, it is indeed thrilling to be featured in a magazine that I have immense respect and liking for. I feel deeply honored, appreciative and touched.

So pardon me, if I have plastered the good news all over the place.

*PS: As a celebratory gesture and to thank my dear customers and friends for their support, the store is giving away an environmentally friendly recycled cotton tote with every purchase of two items. Have fun shopping!

Via Business Asiaone.

GETTING a three-month bonus at the end of the year may be a satisfying reward for most people.

Now imagine getting 80 months’ bonus. That means for that a year worked, you will get about seven years’ worth of pay in terms of bonus.

Mental orgasms.

Article via TK:

Shell’s profit soars to record $9 billion
Story Highlights
Shell’s profit soars 25 percent in the first quarter thanks to crude oil prices

Company’s average selling price for crude leapt 66 percent to $90 a barrel

Sales up 55 percent as net profit climbs to $9.08 billion, impressing analysts
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Royal Dutch Shell’s has reported a 25 percent rise in first-quarter earnings, crediting strong increases in energy prices.

Europe’s largest oil company said Tuesday its average selling price of crude oil leaped by 66 percent to over $90 per barrel from the first quarter a year ago.

That sent net profit soaring to a record $9.08 billion. Sales were up 55 percent to $114 billion.

Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer said in a statement the strong numbers were due to a “good operating performance, combined with increased oil and gas prices.”

Earnings from oil production rose 52 percent to $5.14 billion.

Analysts say the performance was impressive.

What can I say? The best industries to work in must be oil and gas, and banking and finance? I guess Shell’s employees may be pocketing minimum six months bonus this year. Oh, joy. Better to get a partake of what is screwed out of you, then to see the profits go straight to the corporation and government somewhere else, no?

Speaking of obscene, I think the current employer spends quite obscenely. Thousand dollar chairs, gourmet teas, coffees, cookies, chocolates, whatever for our “Bloomberg*” style pantry, lavish team lunches, dinners and drinks etc.

Obscene.

*The Bloomberg pantry is quite “famed” in the industry (some say, even outside the industry) to be styled in the manner of 7-Eleven. They are said to stock all manners of snacks, tidbits and drinks.

OK, so I made my life a whole lot more challenging and exciting now. Some updates:

1. Flying out of town today and back on Friday.
2. I accepted an offer with a private equities group and will be starting work on Monday. Couldn’t resist the offer made by the headhunter.. They freaking refused to take no for an answer and kept upping the offer. It was … freaky. More updates on that when I am back.
3. New stocks to be listed on Monday 28 April.
4. Photoshoots are DAMN tiring. I don’t envy a model’s life at all. Standing around and preening is tough work.
5. So essentially, I will be juggling a job, a business, the kids, the household and studies.

Sounds exciting and challenging, doesn’t it?

Ruok linked this article on nomads and I found it very interesting. I do it all the time but I did not even know the term was so fashionable known as being nomadic. I have my books, videos and music in my iphone. My documents are stored online. My business is online; the records, reports and correspondences are online. I am technophobic but now I am officially “nomadic”. What an irony.

Big had been headhunted to join another company in a senior management role. He will also be free to adapt the nomadic workstyle as part of his work freedom. How quaint.

In response to my soul searching, cowboy my good friend responds,

“Awwww shaddup woman. You need to go like bake a cake for mandy and keep your yap shut.

More knitting and less talkin is what you need.”

Idiot.

But suddenly I felt like baking, something that has strangely been therapeutic for me. And so I baked.

Blackcurrant and White Chocolate Cheesecake, which RN said was “f**king pretty“. LOL!

Hazelnut and Raspberry Pie (with a hint of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove)

Shelly was very kind to say that they can sell, but honestly 1. I think they are ugly and no where near Nigella standard. 2. I will go crazy if I have to do this all day. It takes the pleasure and relaxation out of the very act of baking.

But it was good for this afternoon. And as I was folding in the flour, I felt myself slip into a state of relaxation. It was so comfortable watching the flour blend seamlessly into the texture, the specks blending into the greater state of matter. It was good.

What was even better was that my mind was racing thereafter with ideas and plans for the business. I was invigorated, alive. I can feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I thought of the photo shoot for the magazine on Saturday, the promos I will be running for the business and the various new challenges I have charted up for myself.

It was good.

Recently there had been a lot of hoo ha in the local blogosphere about the drop of page rank due to Pay Per Post ads or other unknown reasons. I had never taken on PPP ads but strangely, my PR dropped from 3 to 2. Ah well.

Now that people are veering away from PPP ads for fear of further jeopardising their PR, I discovered Smorty is more selective in terms of advertisers and not on Google’s blacklist, which is a big plus point. So now you can get paid for blogging without being penalized in your page rank.

How it works is that after your site is approved after signing up, you get to view new opportunities for paid tasks. Once you accept a paid post, you simply read through the information provided and then you write an accurate and post of 150 words detailing the services offered at the site you visit–and you get paid for doing so.