Working hard & TFL's on CLEO!

Be warned, this is not going to be a coherent post. I'm just so tired everyday...

 So Tian Fen Lan did not get to launch in the month of March at all. 

That's a bummer because I do have so many pretty designs coming in. 

Spent donkey hours looking at all the colour charts, till my eyes see stars and I wish that the world is monochrome.

Can't wait to flood TFL website with gorgeous bags!

Customers have left comments on my Formspring, TFL's twitter and more commonly, emails that they are anticipating the next collection. 

One customer even said she had been resisting the malls to get her new bag because she wanted to see what's up on TFL first. 

This is like a dream come true for any blogshop owner. It shows that along the way, your blogshop has become a small part of what makes them happy. How nice to be able to make girls happy! =))

Happiness! My senior in Bizad has a habit of saying this whenever something makes him happy. Happiness! =D

Even with no launch, I was still working at least 8-10 hours every day. 我有在做工！

Replying mails, invoicing, packing parcels, sending some to PO, sourcing for new designs, liaising with my suppliers, repacking the stock around the house so that the house looks tidier, scruntising colour charts, reassessing sample designs, writing lengthy emails to my web designer with amendments to the site draft & logo, pondering about how & where I wish to bring TFL this year and basically just allowing 80-90% of my life to be consumed by work.
Reminder: to live a more balanced life in 2011.

Things did move slower and I pretty much savour life at a slightly less hectic pace. 

Somestimes work can get so rushed that I don't seem to have the luxury of mental space to enjoy doing TFL.

But I'm still hoping that the bags will come raining in soon!

If I have more financial strength, hope I can stock up on the inventory so that it can last me through this post-CNY period and I can still do launches while the factories rest.
Bags are so expensive to manufacture. The cost price is at least 50% more!
Storage space and cost management are always 2 factors giving me headache.

I'm so looking forward to Tian Fen Lan's new website!!

My designer has just sent me a 3rd draft, which looks more promising.

My weekend nights are going to be burnt. I wish I can take a shorter time to make important decisions like these, but I get too worried that I will miss out something.

I hope my customers will like the site and enjoy faster processing time too.

Think my site look so backward sometimes. -_-

I have no idea how other busy blogshop owners can handle invoicing & verifying payments manually, when their items sell out so fast.
I'm already dying from the current workload...

I didn't want to do anymore backorders for the Taiwan bags since last Dec.

Things can get very messy and stressful, chasing for the bags to arrive on time and sometimes backorders get cancelled abruptly by the supplier after a 1.5 month wait. 

Not easy at all to send such emails to the BO customers, without incurring their wrath sometimes. 

But requests started building up and since there is no launch right now, I do have a bit of capacity to handle the BOs, so do place your orders soon if your coveted item is available for BO. 

I might not be able to anymore of it once the new collection arrives. =)

2011 has started out to be very promising so far. 

Been able to keep in line with only launching TFL-manufactured items so far.

No, it's not definite that I will only be selling self-manufactured items but I do hope that they will make up at least 80% of the products sold as they are really of better quality!

Had a interview done with Shin Min, though I don't know when the article will be out.

Another unexpected surprise was Tian Fen Lan being featured on CLEO 2011 April issue!

Last time when I read about other blogshops being featured or their owners being interviewed on newspapers & magazines, I wondered if Tian Fen Lan would ever has her chance.

It is really a blessing within the short span of 2 months, these opportunities came knocking on the door.
感恩，感恩再感恩！
謝謝你們看得起添芬藍！

It was through CLEO that I learnt of this flower, gerbera, their signature symbol!

Been so long since I read fashion magazines and because of CLEO, the Husband got me one and he was the one who was flipping through the pages looking for mention of Tian Fen Lan. =D

 I thought it might be an item that was featured but boy, I was so thrilled when it turned out to be a dedicated space on one of the pages. 

How lucky & grateful Tian Fen Lan is to CLEO!

A customer told me about it when she said she knew of TFL through CLEO and I was just tweeting this the other day:

Nothing is possible if no customer believes in Tian Fen Lan. =)

I will still be building castles in the air.

With such a promising start, I'm so looking forward to what else is in store for Tian Fen Lan this year!

I have a vibe that it's going to be a very fulfilling year (actually because I consulted my geomancer, hehe)

Thank you to the supporters of my bag blogshop!

Let's shop the world, one bag at a time!! 

Can't buy so many at one go, as there are people in other parts of the world who need our help too. (-_^)v

Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu

害怕

我害怕被人批評。

尤其被說到一無是處時。

長年累月建立起的自信心和自豪感被那三言兩語徹底地摧毀了。

無名火燃燒時，

我想‘招兵買馬’，找出支持我﹑相信我的人 ，

聼一些我想聼的話。

甚至想挖出十萬個理由來頂撞對方，

就爲了證明我是對的，我是聰明的，我是有遠見的。

而對方是完完全全錯的。

我想躲。

我想逃。
我不願相信他的話。 

但理智敲醒了我，對方的言論並非無理啊！

原來真正打敗我的不是那番聼似殘酷的坦白言語。

而是我的傲慢。

是我輸給了我自己。

想到最後，我驚覺我也怕沒人鐵釘斷鉄地告訴我弱點在哪里。

沒人肯在我面前做壞人。

沒人提拔我。
吾非完美，怎能無過。 

活到這年紀，還想以完美騙誰啊？

我不要只聼奉承的話。

我不願只聼甜言密語。

我不要活在童話的幻想世界裏。 
。
。
。
。
。
。

原來，我更害怕的是沒人批評。

Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu

無常

 I can't read such news on the papers. 

Before reading the news, just looking at the photos is enough to send me into tears. 

I had to turn my head away when the Husband was showing me Youtube videos of the disasters, before I made an embarrassment of myself.

He can't quite understand why I cry so easily at such scenes. Men... -__-

Credits: http://blog.omy.sg/shinmin/

By the time I'm done reading, the newspaper would have quite a number of 'tear puddle spots'

Much to the Husband's dismay. 

He had not had the chance to read the news yet. 

I had experienced earthquakes in both Japan & Taiwan.

But the most serious case was in a Taipei hotel.

I woke up to the sound of the hangers rattling violently in the wardrobe, the desk lamp threatening to fall off the edge and I felt I was sitting in a roller coaster.

I couldn't determine the horizon line. Everything was topsy turvy. 

It felt so unreal.

It was winter and my mind was whizzing through whether to call other colleagues, what coat I should grab, and my loved ones. 

The earth-shaking experience lasted 15 minutes. 

I didn't call anyone. 

Didn't run to the lobby in my PJs. 

Didn't know quite what to do but fell back asleep with a pounding heart, all curled up and feeling very out-of-the-world.

Call me silly but ever since such experiences, I never go to sleep without wearing my 護牌.

In fact, the only time I am without it will be when I am taking my shower.

Did you know that being an airline crew is considered a highly dangerous job?

I didn't know that either till my insurance agent told me.

At a time when 911, Sars and terrorist attacks were happening during my flying days, I don't know when it might be my turn to go.

At the waiting room/on the coach before every flight, I would call my Husband. 

I would get angry & upset if he didn't answer my call, leave a just-as-upset voice mail and hope he would get to hear it soon.

It is a must that I call him before I fly off everytime, be it from Singapore or overseas. 

I don't know if that might be my last call. 

And, I'm not the only one who has such a practice.

Sometimes I feel I should call my mum, but relations between my mum & I then were sorta strained.

 Calling my dad seemed weird too. -__-

  Some numbers on the Japan earthquake, from CNN and ABC:

• 8: Number of feet the coast of Japan moved eastward.
• 4: Number of inches the Earth's axis shifted.
• 160: Number of aftershocks in the first 24 hours, most of them with a magnitude of at least 5.0.
• 59 feet: How much tectonic plates slipped.
• 6 miles (9.7km) : How far inland some of the tsunami waves reached.

I'm still trying to believe that an earthquake actually happened in NZ Christchurch.
I've been there countless times and it has always been so peaceful & scenic.
Oh gosh.
It must be so horrible & terrifying to have your life terminated so abruptly & violently.
They didn't even get to make their last call to anyone.
So much, left unsaid.
Startling to realise that we are so incapacitated in the eyes of Mother Nature.

Credits: Reuters

In 2007, when the Husband's grandmother & his family dog of 10 years passed away within days of each other, his family printed (助印) & distributed 500 pieces of CDs, with Buddhist songs in them.
They dedicated the merits of the CD printing & distribution to the grandmother's & the dog's safe ascension to the Pureland.
I kept some of the CDs and actively aka 'thick-skin-ly' distributed them to like-minded people that I met, so that full merits （功德圓滿） can be accumulated for the deceased.

I wish I can do something like that for the victims. But I don't have the financial strength. =(
So here's a feeble attempt to share this mantra song on this little space of mine:

This is one of the beautiful songs inside the CD. It is my personal favourite of all the versions that I have heard.
More surprisingly, the owner of such a sweet voice is a Singaporean, who had sung many other Buddhist songs.
Many who have heard it like it.
I hope you like it enough to hear it through.
If you are a Buddhist like me, I hope you like it even more enough and understand the significance behind it to sing/chant the mantra in the song for the victims, dedicating the merits to them.

阿彌陀佛往生咒

南無阿彌多婆夜
哆他伽多夜
哆地夜他
阿彌利都婆毗
阿彌利哆　悉耽婆毗
阿彌利哆　毗迦蘭帝
阿彌利哆　毗迦蘭多
伽彌膩　伽伽那　枳多迦利　娑婆訶

祈願迴向 ： 阿彌陀佛慈悲哀憐攝受， 受難亡魂消除恐懼，往生西方極樂世界。

It doesn't matter what race/religion/language/nationality we are.

As long as we wish/do good for those in need.

Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu

My fast-food lunch

 I don't get to eat properly with my work dictating having to reply emails by a certain time, go PO by 5pm and balancing with housework e.g. hanging washed laundry when the sun's out and cleaning the floor before the Husband is home.

So lunch is either a forgotten affair or a makeshift meal.

I love Post Cereals!

   

Before we move into our own home, I worried about not being able to cook for my husband. 

I tried learning from my Mum-in-law, whom I stayed with for the first 3 years of my marriage.

She ran a economical rice stall with my father-in-law years ago and like my dad, she can cook an amazing array of dishes. 

Remember me writing before that it's common for her to whip up 10-13 dishes single-handedly for a festive occasion? o_O

But I was not an avid cook/student. Mum-in-law comforted me by saying that I would naturally pick up the skills once I was on my own. 

Sounds unbelievable.

More on my lunch:

I love Korean instant noodles especially Nong Shim's Shin! They do not give me MSG attacks. =)

 THIS is already considered lucky for me! Something warm to line the tummy, with egg & veggies.

I don't like it plain. Feel so 'msg'.

I recently discovered that getting one box of dou miao (around S$1.50) is very worthwhile.

They last me for about 3 cups of big bowl instant noodles and cook faster in the hot water, compared to the usual 1 packet of xiao bai cai. =D

If time is on my side or when that day is a non-posting day, I like doing something fanciful for myself with whatever scraps & bits of food that I can put together and try my best to have what I think is a balanced meal.

That said, I think sometimes I'm just playing a fool with my food though. Hahaha!

My favourite roast chicken!

I have a soft spot for Cold Storage's honey roast chicken. Been having it since I was a teenager when my mum used to buy it for me.

After parcel posting, sometimes I will drop by Cold Storage. If I'm late enough, I get to buy the roast chicken at half price, which is less than S$5!

Do you know one fresh chicken, uncooked, cost about S$8 at the wet market?

You probably won't, unless you are a housewife like me. =DD

So even if I buy the roast chicken at its normal price of S$7+, it's still SOOO worth the $$$.

The pasta in the photo is Barilla's spaghettini No. 3, with Barilla pasta sauce. I love their pasta & sauces! They taste like what we eat at restaurants!

I didn't know such a pasta item exist till my colleague, a very capable working mum, introduced it to me. She said it cooked much faster than the usual spaghetti and being thinner, it is less time-consuming to chew it.

Only mothers can think like that. =D

Roast chicken part 2

I will have the roast chicken over 2 days, 1 half for each meal. 

 So I would have gotten the Cold Storage staff to cut the chicken into quarters (they use a pair of scissors) for easy reheating, saving me time at home.

The chicken can last very well in the fridge. 

The longest I ever kept it was for 3 days before I had the time to consume it. It still tastes good! =D

But the Husband often says I have a lousy sense for detecting food that has gone bad. Hehehe.

Usually on the 2nd day, I would be too lazy to cook pasta again that I would just have the chicken with ketchup. Yums. =)

I often have a lot of fruits in my fridge, after every 初一十五. 

Have to remind myself to eat it before they go into the bin AGAIN.

So the routine would be:

1) cook the pasta in hot water

2) pop the roast bird in my trusty toaster oven for about 15 mins, 

3) towards the last 7-10 mins, put in a small bowl of pasta sauce in the oven, with the chicken still inside

4) Slice the orange while waiting

5) When all is done, pour the sauce on the drained pasta and put Heinz ketchup on the side for the chicken.

This process takes me less than 20 minutes.

Mini baked potato on the side!

If I have even more time, I will add in a baked potato. I adore soft baked potatoes that have a texture like mashed potatoes! <3<3<3

This potato was only as small as the heart of my palm. It was bought originally to cook chicken curry but I had some leftovers.

Technically I didn't bake it. I boil the potato in hot water for about 20 minutes and when it's soft enough, I will place it in a bowl & lay a slice of cheese on top. The cheese will hug itself around the potato, as the heat from the potato melts it and looks even yummi-licious!

When I don't have any roast chicken in the fridge, I will open up a can of luncheon meat and add a semi-hard boiled egg. Uncooked yolks are loveeeee!

The pasta here was mixed with the tomato pesto too. Looked a bit oily (because of the olive oil in the pesto) so I actually dabbed it with tissue beforehand.

Juicy rock melon!

I love California handrolls! Sushi is bought from the sushi counter at Cold Storage the night before.
I rarely make effort to buy the food needed for next day lunch, as I don't like to waste food, knowing that I won't have the time to finish it. Most of the time, it's on impulse. =D

The little bow-tie pasta is from Barilla too. I realised I was out of the usual pasta sauce then, racksacked my pantry and mixed in sundried tomato pesto as a subsitute. 

On my 'plainer' days, it will be luncheon meat with melted cheese if I happen to have bread at home.

I don't buy sliced bread, as I can't finish the whole loaf before it expires but the Husband will sneak it in to force me to have lunch.

Sometimes, I have to throw away the whole bottle of milk as it had already expired by the time I wish to have it. =((

I can't take in too much cheese at one go, so it would be half a slice on each piece of bread.

I purchase food with reduced fat & no trans fat whenever possible, and this cheese from NTUC housebrand met both requirements!

Recently, the Husband discovered at NTUC a Singapore brand of luncheon meat that has no trans fat. 

It costs S$4 per can! I have yet to try it but it looked & smelt good the other day, when I was slicing it. The meat was very tender when I cut it too though I wonder what they put into it to make it so.

I will convert to it permanently despite the price, if it tastes alright.

If I do not have the time to eat anything at home, there was a period of time I will get this after posting:

Usually, without mayo but sometimes I forgot to tell the staff.

But recently, my after-posting snack has changed to Subway Egg Mayo sandwich. There isn't a lot of mayo in the egg mixture and I like that! =D

Lately, I fancy the idea of having Caesar salad at home. 

So for the past 1 month, I faithfully buy the mini Romaine lettuce from Cold Storage everytime I ran out of it at home. It doesn't look the same as those I have at cafes. I wonder where I should get those leaves. 

In the meantime, this will suffice.

No, it doesn't come like this.

The box will comprise 2 balls of romaine lettuce, that can last me for 3 bowls of Caesar salad.

I like those from Cold Storage. At the NTUC here, I can only find butterhead, which decompose very fast and does not taste as sweet as the lettuce from Cold Storage.

With the help of these: 

If you haven't tried the cheddar cheese cudes, you absolutely should! It's totally to-die-for!

+ cherry tomatoes

+ honey baked ham

and I will have this:

Tadah!

Not exactly the kind of Caesar salad that it should be. But I do like it very much. It's my happy food for now! =D

Here's one more happy picture:

Gardenia (Sunshine's not as soft) hamburger buns, with tomatoes, cheese, fried egg & luncheon meat!

That's the problem when I opened up a can of luncheon meat.

I have to think of ways to finish it.

 I also must say I love my trusty toaster oven. 

It is useful to heat up baked beans too. ^__^

I don't have a microwave oven, if you are wondering. I don't like the idea of it.

The above are very rare occurances. Most of the time, I am more likely to be just having this:

Oh well, it's nice to recap my culinary experiments for lunch!
Next time, I will share with you more on my dinner! =D

Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu