A Homemaker’s Diary

*This post is written for rebuild.org*

Earlier this year I have attended a course for entrepreneurs. I’ve learned quite a lot in term of where to look for loans for start-up business, the expansion option and all the regulations when it comes to government matters. But there is no such thing as loans for SOHO business owner. They want to make sure that I at least rent a shop lot unit and run my business from the shop in order to qualify me for any business loans offered by the government.

I think in my case what I could do in order to get more capital for my craft business is to apply for personal loan. Of course once I tied myself to another financial commitment like that it will be another burden to think of day and night. Not to mention that I will have mortgage loan to think as well in another year or two as we are planning to buy this house that we have been living in, but hopefully that will be settled by Hubby.

For those who have taken mortgage loans with higher interest rate before, perhaps it’s best if you look around for refinance option. I’ve been thinking of doing that for my existing car loan but till now I still couldn’t find the best rate.

Wouldn’t it be nice if money could grow on tree..or my father is a super rich man who can give me loan without paying a single cent back..heh!

I woke up today with a phone call. Seeing the number I thought it must be one of the telemarketers who want to sell insurance or holiday package. But it turned to be a potential client who works with Citigroup.

He would like to order guest favors for his (I assumed) wedding in December. This is what I suggested to him – mengkuang cone in apple green.

The only setback was when I requested him to bank in 50% deposit, he was like very sceptical stating some thing like I will run away with the money if he banks in RM300, bla bla..I told him that I will email the invoice or if he really can’t trust me, he can come over to my place to see the samples.

Oh, come on! I’ve been doing this online business for 3 years now. My clients were from UK, Australia, Brunei and Sarawak. You can’t expect me to meet every one of my online clients just to be sure that they can trust me to complete the task for them. If you can’t trust an online seller then you should go to the nearest local craft stores and find what you like, pay and take the ready made items home. You don’t come (call) to me and ask to customize 200pcs of wedding favors for your event and expect me to trust that you’ll take the completed items in 1 month time without paying any deposit.

I already placed the orders to the mengkuang supplier since I know it will take around 2-3 weeks for them to dye the mengkuang leaves, dry them in such rainy season like now, and later weave the leaves into mats, cut them into pieces and courier the mengkuang to me. Once I get the mengkuang pieces, I will start doing all the ribbons and organza to decorate the cones. All these works are really a labor of art.

I hope more people will realize that I don’t sell bulk items imported from China or Indonesia, which are all ready in packaging. I took my time and creativity to come out with something special for your wedding so the least that you can do is to appreciate the hard work I put into it. If I really hard up for your money and planning to run away with your deposit of RM300, I wouldn’t be doing this craft business, I rather go and work an executive job like what I used to do.

Sometimes it makes me think that if it is not for my passion and love for all these crafts work, I don’t know why I should put up with a difficult client like this..huhu!

Since next week I don’t have any plan to go anywhere, I’m thinking of going to KL major attractions such as Taman Orkid and Butterfly Park or take some pictures at the Eye of Malaysia. I doubt Hubby would agree to take a ride on the Eye of Malaysia, so taking pictures of it as a background will be enough. Of course you can’t compare the Eye of Malaysia to the famous London Eye.

The London Eye is the world’s highest observation wheel giving a view of over 55 of London’s famous landmarks from any of its 32 sealed passenger capsules in a 30-minute Ferris wheel ride. Since opening in March 2000 the British Airways London Eye has become an iconic landmark and a symbol of modern Britain.

Anyway, if I ever get the chance to visit London (which I don’t know when), I hope I would be able to afford a stay in any of the hotels in London. You see, I have checked the accommodation rates and the cheapest would be around GBP40-50 per night which is quite pricey when converting to my currency (the conversion will be around x 7 )..huhu!

With London ranks as one of the most expensive cities in the world, alongside Tokyo and Moscow, its cheap hotels are not always cheap by our standard. Furthermore, it is also ranked 4th in the world in number of billionaires (United States Dollars) residing in the city. Thanks to info on Wikipedia, I’m getting more acquainted with the demographics of London, heh!

But then again, who knows if somehow I strike a fortune, I would be able to stay in 5-star London hotels for weeks..who wants to come along? wink!!

As much as I wanted to go to the akad nikah ceremony on Saturday, I was too tired to wake up very early in the morning (the akad nikah started around 11:30am) and endured the 2-hour drive to Melaka. So in the end, I did not go to the ceremony..heh!

But my friend who was the make up artist for the day already sent me a photo of the bride, so at least I can imagine how beautiful she looked on the wedding day.

Maybe later once the official photographer for the event has finished developing all the wedding pictures, I can take a look and maybe get a few copies for my business portfolio. I hope the bride will get the digital copy of all the pictures since I am so lazy to scan the hard copies.

Anyway, this is one pahar of gold and cream bunga stokin I made for the wedding. This picture was taken before I packed the bunga pahar into a box before I delivered to the bride last Monday. I’m not sure how it looked like at the mini pelamin during the real event but my friend who was there said the bunga telur were really nice..hehe!

It has been raining everyday sometimes from early morning till noon, or if not from noon till late evening. Luckily I don’t have to go to work outside of my home, otherwise I will be having wet shoes, sandal whatever..huhu!

If there is one thing that I don’t really like about rain, it is the wetness around my feet. You can’t expect not to walk in the rain, even when I park my car in the basement, the heavy rain will make the pathway very slippery and wet, yucks! Perhaps if I work in military or police force which make it compulsory for me to wear Bates boots or shoes like the one shown on the left, I won’t be complaining this much.

You see these high quality Rocky Boots are flash and water-resistant footwear. The one shown on the right – Rocky Men’s S2V Berry Compliant can actually withstand fire hazards and the rigors of sea-to-land warfare. After all it’s a pair of boots made for combat..heh! The Aegis Microbe Shield® inside the boots will help prevent bacteria and fungus growth that cause rot and foot discomfort.

Oh, the women Durashocks High Gloss Uniform Oxford # 742 comes with the Bates DuraShocks® comfort technology system which uses patented compression pads in the forefoot and heel to absorb shock and keep you on your feet in comfort. Who cares if I look like a police officer, as long as I am comfortable and don’t have to endure having wet shoes and aching heels in the rain..hehe!

Plus from the website, it seems that they offer great customer service and competitive pricing as well. Pity that I’m not in the US to enjoy the free shipping..huh!