Thanks Lazada & Maybelline!

After my last post, I sent an email to Lazada reporting that their merchant was selling fake cosmetics. Then I also emailed Maybelline Indonesia just to inform them of my case so they are aware their fake products distributed online. I didn't expect any reply or anything, just so they know.

September 15, I suddenly received an email from Maybelline Indonesia (MI). They requested for pictures and info on price. I replied and gave them the link of my post.

September 17, received another email from MI telling me that they have cooperated with Lazada on this matter. To make sure the originality of their products sold at Lazada. I checked Lazada and didn't see the merchant that sold me the fake cosmetics anymore. That was good. Even though Lazada didn't reply to my email, I was still glad that they make an action.

September 17 at night, I received an email from Lazada that they are sending 2 original Maybelline mascara as per my last order as replacement for the fake ones.

September 21, I finally received my mascaras, hooray!!

Lazada's Customer Service also called me and apologized to me for experiencing something unpleasant while shopping with them.

More than for the replacements, I'm happier that Lazada & Maybelline actually did something to ensure that no more people have the same experience like I did. They responded to my email, kicked out the merchant, and eventually sent me  what I ordered. This, is what's called customer satisfaction.

So, thanks Lazada and Maybelline! Keep up the good work and wishing you a more successful business in the future.

Beware of Fake Cosmetics Online

I never had problem ordering Korean cosmetics through this site. As I have mentioned in previous post, I prefer to buy those online for the price since it's quite similar with the originals compared to Indonesian prices.

2 weeks ago I ran out of my Maybelline Mascara. Too lazy to go to the mall to purchase one (and kept forgetting to get one when I went to the mall), I decided to buy through a local online store, Lazada. I never had a problem with this market place before. I pre-ordered my Samsung Galaxy S5 here, I purchased the office's fridge, microwave, vacuum cleaner and many more here. Everything was fine, everything arrived in perfect condition. Until I decided to order my mascara here. I was greedy, there were 2 sellers but I chose the cheaper one (pretty much 50% off the original price in the stores).

The moment I opened my package I knew something was off. A lot of things were off, actually. First off, the packaging looked cheap and the print was smudged. When turned the cap, the inside part got loose and I got sticky ink-like liquid smeared my fingers from the brush like mozzarella cheese. At lunch time, I went to a pharmacy downstairs to buy lozenges and was surprised to see the same mascara on sale when I was never sold there before. So I purchased one (again) and compared it the one I purchased online just to satisfy my curiosity that I was indeed got deceived and received a fake mascara. You can click on the picture to see it in bigger size. Left is the original, Right is the (suspected) fake.

First: The Color of the Printing.

The color is already different. And this is only the front part.

The printing is available on both sides and voila, the fake one has different wordings on the the other side! If you pay attention, the original also has the production date, code and etc printed on the plastic with black ink while the fake one doesn't have it.

Second: Another difference in printing.

See the difference on the description that it contains collagen? Which one is more convincing to you?

Third: The brush and the liquid.

This is the difference that really set me off. Not only that the brush is different, if you enlarge the picture you'll see that the fake one on the right has a very sticky liquid on the brushes!

It took me less than 5 minutes to actually  convinced myself that yes, I was deceived.

Lesson learned. Next time, I'll make sure to get my as off my seat to actually go to a real store to purchase this. And maybe other affordable cosmetics.

We're connected... NOT!

When someone asked me: "Are you dependent on your mobile and SNS?", it's really hard for me to reply confidently "No." Cause to be honest, I might be dependent on it in one way or another. Outside my will.

If I could, I'd like to spend a day without data connection. Just phone calls and text message (SMS). And I'd love not to take a look at my Instagram, or Facebook, or Twitter. But high chance that I'd miss something very important. We are all so well connected but not really. Or not at all.

I still keep my Facebook active because I have so many friends from all over the world, it's really nice to be able to see how the others are doing and exchanging messages, pictures and encouraging messages once in a while. To also share how are we doing to others as well. Though lately I was forced to un-friend those whose posts were not so encouraging or made me want to punch them in the face. Good thing that FB now also has unfollowing menu so I don't have to see their posts in my timeline but I could still be in contact if needed.

There were times when I didn't check on my FB regularly. Results? I missed a friend giving birth, I didn't know when someone passed away, and I missed an event with an FB event invitation. I mean, we were chatting just a few days ago and they didn't bother to send me a message that someone passed away just because "Oh, I posted it in FB. You didn't see?" >_<

My cousin created my twitter account for me in my phone while I wasn't watching. I asked her why. She said so she could be in touch me. I was like: "But we can always send messages or chat through our mobiles?" She laughed and said everyone has it now. OK, fine. I don't regret it now, I have more followers than following anyway. And without having to turn on the TV I can still find out what's happening around the world by following some big news station. Still, I don't get people who complains just about everything in a few posts all the time. Which ended up with my unfollowing of course.

Instagram? This is one SNS that I kept trying to avoid so much until last year. I mean, I already posts my pictures in FB why would I need an account to post pictures only? But then when I ask a friend that I want to see her daughter's picture and why she posts one in FB, I got this as a reply: "Oh, I posted her pictures in Instagram. You can follow me there." That is one. Then I want to order some cakes that my friend bought, I asked her where can I order since the cakery didn't have a store. Again, "They only have instagram. Here, you can follow this." I was so frustrated that I finally created an account and just like everyone else, I posted some useless stuff like my Stitch collection and food that I ate... just because :p 

 my screen :)

People are getting impersonal. We think that we're connected enough through SNS but not really. You think you know how someone's doing by reading their status or looking at the pictures they posted, but not really. Those are the reasons why I prefer to send messages through text / chat application if I have their mobile numbers; whether it's wishing a happy birthday or convey my condolences. Many times, I received more than just a thanks. I really got to find out how they were doing and sometimes not as good as they seemed to be in SNS.

And how about chat apps? This also frustrates me much!! When there was only SMS, people tend to write short messages, trying to include as many info as possible in 1 message. In chat rooms? It goes like this:

Hey

   How are you?

      Busy?

         Oh yeah

            I forgot

               She called 

One word one line. People, it's damn annoying.

And then I got tired of sending sms back and forth to a cousin. I asked him if he has any chat apps installed? He said yeah, he got LINE. I sent him a long message through LINE and he only read it like 5 hours later and replied with "Sorry, I don't use it much and hardly read it." So why the heck did you tell me to send you messages there??!?!?!

I have 3 chat apps in my phone: Whatsapp (basically to connect with almost everyone, business included), Kakao Talk (to connect with my Korean friends) and LINE (to connect with some Japanese & Indonesian friends -- who just like the cute stickers, tbh LOL). Then another cousin added me in all chat apps. One day she messaged me through Whatsapp, another day through LINE and many times when I tried to message her I had no idea where to send cause sometimes she uses one chat app and the other tomorrow. I just had to send to all 3 and see where she replied from. What's even funnier, we used to connect through Blackberry Messenger (BBM), but last year I kinda threw my BB out the car window accidentally and broke the LCD. So I switched to android and now both my mobiles are androids. No more BB.

Some people I know were still using Blackberry only so I had no choice then but to install BBM app in my android. But then that cousin-who-added-me-in-all-chatapps asked me to add her in my BBM. And she's using android. I was like: "Why do you need me to add you there? You're using android and so do I. You added me in all 3 chat apps." She laughed and said "Oh, just because. So I have you in all apps." Didn't. Make. Sense. To. Me. At. All.

I also feel sad that in the rare moments that I get to see my friends in one table, everyone just can't seem to not checking their mobiles instead of sitting and looking at me in the eye while conversing. I feel neglected. Oh yes, I also put my mobiles on the table and check the messages that come in once in a while. If it needs to be replied right away, I would. But most of the times, I ignore the unimportant messages and reply when I got home. I hardly check my SNS unless I need to show something that I saw or read in there to the other party in the table.

I really wish that next time I see my friends and family, we all can set aside our mobiles and really talk. We will laugh together from a funny story we tell each other, we will cry together over each other's heartbreak, and I will be able to see you in the eye and see that I matter to you, that you really care. That's when we're really connected.

Count On You

So tonight I tried to make Kimbab. And failed miserably.

First try: Too much rice, too much filling, find it hard to roll perfectly and the fillings leaked out of the rolls.

Dad came to the kitchen and looked at my sad-looking-failed of a kimbab roll.

Dad: "What is that?"

Me: "Supposed to be Kimbab. But I failed."

Dad: "Oh, but I came because it smells nice."

*in my head* Sesame oil makes everythi g smells good, believe me!

Dad: "So what you gonna do with it?"

Me: "Eat it anyway! I dont want to waste food!" *eat a piece and winced, it taste like... rice with kim/nori and a carrot*

Dad laughed and walked back to watch TV.

Second try: Better looking, much smaller and at least the roll was not breaking in the middle.

I cut it out in a few pieces and brought it to Dad.

Me: "Would you try it?" *expecting him just to eat a piece*

Dad laughed again and put a piece in his mouth.

Dad: "Oh, it's edible!"

Me: *sad looking* "I guess so... *walked back to the kitchen to clean up.

5 minutes later he came to the kitchen and showed me an empty plate.

Dad: "I finish them all!" *grin* "Not so bad, still chewable for me." *says a man who wears fake teeth*

I couldnt stop grinning. I knew it tasted like crap, but he ate it anyway *cry*

Thanks Dad!! I know I can always count on you even in trying out my crappy food!!

Promise I'll make you a decent looking and still edible Kimbab next time.

Love love love!!! ❤❤❤

Starting Over

Many people kind of raised their eyebrows in knowing my latest interest in baking and cooking. I couldn't blame them. I guess only people who are really close to me and know me for a long time could understand this new obsession.

I'm okay with question such as "Hey, what starts this obsession?" or "Why, just realize that you're a woman now?" but the question that I dislike the most is "Preparing yourself to get married?". Heck, what's getting married and cooking / baking got to do with each other? I have a friend who can't cook sh*t but her husband is one of the best cook I've ever known! Do they have a problem? No. Does the husband complain? No. So why should people complains on behalf of unable-to-cook-wives of the world? SMH.

And just FYI, my Mom couldn't cook when she married my Father but she learned. Still, my Dad used to make the best fish-balls I've ever tasted! No msg, no flour, just with his bare-hands. Darn, I wish he can still do that, but alas, it needs power to make fish-balls, believe me, I saw him made them when I was little LOL And sometimes he still cooks for himself even now.

People are also surprised when they find out that I like crafting. Nah... not that kind of crafting that I can make money of but I do like working with my hands, thread and needles. I used to make my own Christmas cards for friends, sew my own pouch (by hand, since we never had a sewing machine at home), make my own picture diary with stickers and such. But they're so time consuming that I just can't do it anymore.

Back to cooking and baking. There is a good reason why I never show a lot of interest on it before. My Mom. She's a good baker to be honest and through the years she became a good cook for us. I was always curious and wanted to learn from her, but I never got the chance too. She said I was a nuisance in the kitchen. She said she hated me hovering over her while she was cooking and baking. The simple snacks I could make from flour and cassava, I learned from my maid who was patient enough to buy the ingredients and taught me when my mom wasn't home. And whatever I made, my mom never wanted to taste even once. So I made it, I ate it.

As I grew up, I never had the confidence to put my hands on recipes or even going near the stove except for boiling water or cooking instant noodles. I felt like whatever I made was going to be a disaster compared to my Mom's. Same as my way of dressing. Until the day my Mom died, I could never dress up myself with my own style nor could I walk out of the house without her approving of my clothing. What she bought or thought look nice, I had to wear, no questions asked. Only after she passed away I gradually changed my whole wardrobe and started dressing according to my own style and liking. At the age of 32.

After she died and no one to cook at home, I started buying recipe books, cooking pasta for my friends who were visiting, even looked into the fridge and mixed stuff that's left in it. Sometimes they're bad (but I still finished them anyway LOL), sometimes they're okay (my Dad didn't mind to eat them) and sometimes they're good (that my friends requested me to cook for them again). But I finally learned that "Hey, I can do this! I'm not that bad!" The more I tried, the more I realized that "Yes, cooking is great, especially when people can actually eat what I cook!" I don't have an oven at home, so I haven't started with baking, but I will very soon, once I got enough money to buy a nice oven :)

I'm starting over.

A month ago, I tried my hands on some no-bake-cake recipes. The Nuttela-cheesecake was okay but the Marshmallow-oreo was a disaster LOL But that didn't stop me from trying. Last Saturday I tried to make my very first mini donuts and my Aunt happened to visit while I was frying them. She said it tasted wonderful! Maybe she was trying to make me feel good hahaha but I didn't mind. She ate 5 of them (or maybe more?) and said the most wonderful thing I've always wished I could hear from my mom: "Would you like me to teach you Grandma's pudding recipe?" It's one of my mom's specialty inherited from my Grandma. I never tasted any good chocolate pudding as the one I always ate when my Mom and Grandma were alive. I'm excited.

I'm starting over.

I'm going to take baking course. I'm going to schedule a pudding-making lesson from my Aunt. I'm going to try more recipes. And I'm going to dye my hair Plum again.

I'm starting over. And it's never too late to start over.

I don't feel bitter anymore about my mom's attitude toward my kitchen interest. If she let me learned from her, maybe I won't be this excited again. Maybe I won't have the drive to try something new. Maybe I won't discover new joys in life in such simple actions as learning to make pudding. But mothers, please let your daughters or sons learn from you. It might be a disaster in the kitchen, you might feel annoyed. But believe me, it will be something that your children treasures when they grow up. Teach them with patience, show them what you can do. And one day they can proudly say: "Hey, my Mom taught me this! How cool is that?"

Lastly, I've posted this in Facebook, but again, please ignore the strangely shaped donuts. Apparently it wasn't easy to create a round-and-full donuts with just two spoons even though you've watched the tutorial in youtube a hundred times!