4 hours sleep only!!

Ayo, weyo so little sleep? And summore today going to take family picture at the studio. They better put the makeup gau gau and photoshop to hide my panda eyes leh!

Ok, laundryamah occasionally takes back some stuff to wash one, like small small contracts la, just to get some pocket money and also for the sake of R & D with my various chemicals. So this time, me got back this stupid contract to wash some hideous looking polyester cloth. Yes they come in rolls of at least 50 yards and we have to unroll and then after the wash have to untangle it! The untangling job is the worst and I think my arms just grew bigger because of this! Well I have been leaving this job to my worker and of course he's been quite slow and always complaining, "It's not that easy you know...." so me also fed up la and the customer also very irritating, always asking us to finish the job faster cos they have to finish sewing those hideous looking shirts for CNY! Ok, may post the picture of the cloth when I have time.

Anyway, since my worker couldn't cope with the load, I passed on the last batch to my customer to help out. This customer is actually a centre for people with learning disabilities and they actually have a laundry washing towels for 2 hotels in town. I thought they could do with the extra business and they had a bigger and more efficient machine than mine in the store. Dim chi...after 2 days, they couldn't even finish half of the load I gave them! Ayo...ok ok..remember their workers have learning diabilities, so they were only used to fold towels! So otoke? Bring back and do myself la! What time was that? 5.30 pm already, so have to do myself the whole night la since worker have to go home ma! But of all days, yesterday have to go to relative's pre-wedding party so only came back at 11pm to start the washing.

But I must say, with only 1 pair of hands, I managed to do more load than my worker plus help from my maid! You see la, actually it's always better to do things myself one, but then again cannot la...die lor if everyday like that! Slept at 2 am but didn't really have a good one also as my mind was thinking of the remaining load...so woke up at 6 am to continue! Now waiting for a load to finish while writing this! See this amah, so tired also die die must blog! Sei moh??

Milan Part 2

MILAN Day I

View from the plane on the way to Milan

Got my bag quite fast. Strange setting of the airport that I didn’t get to shop around Duty Free at Malpensa Airport (Will tell you later why cos at the time I wrote this I didn't know why but now I know). I don’t remember the airport as such from the last time I was here 5 years ago…They do not allow any liquids or creams on transit flights..I was like huh? Sharp objects I can understand la, but liquids like water oso cannot! Apamaciam? Scared of chemical bomb is it??

So once I came out, I saw the booth for shuttle buses to the city. There were no specific buses to hotels so I took the shuttle bus to Central Station costing Euro 5.00. Quite a good deal. According to the girl at the desk, the bus was a better choice than the train. (Will tell you why later also!!)

Upon arrival at the station, there were no tourist assistance and I have no idea where was Ibis Hotel, which I booked last minute. Asked the bus driver, he told me it was walking distance, like go straight and turn left..wah..so vague..I dare not walk lor..what if I walk on and on and can’t find it! Asked another person but he couldn’t tell me where it was. Finally I took a cab and sure enough the bus driver was right..but me not sure ma..anyway the cab cost Euro 5.00 (5 minute ride only versus 1 hour ride in the bus)

As expected the hotel was kinda crappy but ok la..very basic and small. The door didn’t close properly and they sent one young technician to fix it. I could hear him tsk tsk a few times, obviously he couldn’t fix the problem and had to call the more senior technician. Finally they fixed it.
Quickly showered after that and ventured out to the Duomo where the Piazza Duomo is.


Wow, it was quite a sight as I walked out of the Metro subway station. It was so beautiful but unfortunately the front part of the Cathedral was being refurbished. Sorry la, me photography skills so bad..that’s about all I got!





Right next to the Duomo Piazza, was the Gallaria Vittorio Emanuele II where all my FAVE shops are….it was sooooo beautiful! I was like wahh..wahh..wahh..it was like Queen Victoria Building in Sydney but many many times more beautiful! See the McDonalds in there? It's called McCafe! hahaha..


My aim was to buy my LV bag today but after looking through the various models the sales guy (very cute guy summore!)showed me, I was like blur blur liddat! Ayo..can’t decide la! Thank goodness it’s not the right season to shop as it’s fall/winter stuff in all the shops.




But there’s still something to buy from Zara! It was like 3 floors, separate from Zara men (I think also 2 - 3 floors on its own) and one floor for bambino (children) clothes.

Oh forgot to mention that people here like to smoke so much, it’s like everywhere, requested for non smoking room so sort of expected the whole floor is like smoke free la but but but…as I type this also I can smell smoke! The windows are shut ok…but still can smell! YUCKS!

Tried the Italian gelati ice cream, it was very yummy but a tad too sweet. Then I asked a polizia senore (policeman) for the directions to a supermarket to buy my water and breakfast. Everything is written in Italian so I had to like guess la..Most of the mineral water are frizzy so I had to search high and low for a Naturale...and when I opened and had my first mouthful..damn! It was frizzy too! Shiaks! More to come.....

Lost on the Road

Fuiyoh! Has anyone been to Sg Buloh lately?? I don't remember when I last went to that part of the world and today I had to go visit a long lost customer whom we had abandoned for errmm...like 2 years or more?? Anyway, they called regarding a problem to their machine, and I realised that it's high time I visit them as I've not been there before. They were serviced by my sales executive who left our company.

My technician went straight from his house and I was supposed to meet up with him there. I went along LDP and without realising I turned into the direction of Kepong instead of Sg Buloh! Shiaks! It's such a long way to the 1st U-turn available! On top of that there were like a million orange signs which I think it's about the MRR2, and it's like so confusing lor.

Then the route towards Sg Buloh is another horrors of horrors, the roads are partially closed here and there and it's like dirt road on certain parts and there were orange and white blocks along the way! Do you realise that these orange and white road blocks are like a permanent features on the roads in Klang Valley??

Then my nightmare begins as the further I went, the more I don't recognise that place! It's like, errrr..since when these shops and flats appear ah? Hey, what happened to the flyover which I used to use to go to that authentic Thai Restaurant ah? Hey what happened to the turn off to the famous 'Bak Kut Teh'? Warao..panic maximum ledi! Called Oscar's Mom and she told me this, "Aiya that flyover long time no more ledi la..." Sei mo??

Then I just simply turned left at one junction without knowing where that leads to...and then I saw the 'Bak Kut Teh' place and thought I was in the right direction. Then I called my technician and told him that I passed the army camp (the landmark that was given to me) and then a Shell petrol station. He told me I'm on the right route and asked me to look out for a Caltex and Petronas station. I saw a Caltex but didn't see a Petronas wor! I just went on and on...and somehow it doesn't feel right and I called him again. I turned back and stopped at the Caltex I saw and realised there were a lot of Petronas tankers next to it, it was like some mini depot or something. So I called him to verify and he said he will come out to meet me. Then he called to say he's at the Caltex but I don't see him! That's when I realised that we are talking about a different Caltex station altogether!! Oh no!!!!!!!!! Then we agreed to meet at the Shell station but again it was the wrong one! Double oh no!!!!

Then I knew for sure I'm at the wrong road! So I drove back to where I came from and then YES, I saw the Shell station and there he was, waiting! Oh gosh! It's like so ngam ngam the pattern was like army camp, then Shell, then Caltex and finally Petronas! What a coincidence and confusing time for me! Major stress for the day!!!

Fair not Not??

I was having this conversation with Oscar's mom just now. It's about our industry. I don't know why people always regard launderers as the lowest of lowest, like "dei dai lai" (dirt on the ground). Why can't people realise that a launderer is a PROFESSIONAL also! We also go thru extensive training and machines and chemicals we use (or rather I distribute) are imported from Europe and USA, and go thru extensive research and development are of state of the art technology also u know! Why am I saying this all of a sudden? Well let me give you a scenario.

We have fixed basic prices on cleaning charges irregardless of the cost of the garment. For example, a customer brings in a G2000 suit (cost about RM400-RM500) and another brings in a HUGO BOSS (RM1500-RM2000) suit and both are charged RM12.00 - RM15.00 per suit. Is that fair or not? For the RM12-15 the launderer is at risk washing the garment and most probably the Hugo owner would have given this statement, "Eh this is very expensive ah..be careful so you don't spoil ah!" Well, for that statement itself wouldn't it be fair that the launderer charge more for cleaning that so-called expensive garment since extra care has to be taken into consideration? But if the launderer charges more, what would the reaction of the Hugo owner be?

Hugo-Oh ok, charge la..but you do a good job ah... (you think got this kind of people still alive on this earth ah?)

OR

Hugo-What? Like dat oso want to charge more ah, how can? In fact hor, your normal charge already expensive wor, last time hor, I wash ah RM8 only wor!

eh..what happened to the composed nature about how expensive his suit is ah? And then hor, considering that it's an expensive suit, if anything is wrong with it, I'm sure Hugo owner will demand for compensation. Like for the miserable RM12-15 charge to wash the garment, how do you expect the launderer to compensate a RM1500 suit leh???

In fact most launderers have a clause printed on the back of their docket stating that compensation is only 10 times the cost of the wash. But usually will the consumer settle the case for RM120 for a damaged HUGO suit??

Posting Greeting Cards

Wah today new discovery at Pos Malaysia. We send greeting cards for the 2 major festive seasons every year and only today I found out about the standard and requirements. Last year we sent it at RM0.45 so this year I decided to check out the cost since we changed to a smaller and hence lighter card.

Me - How much postage is required for this Hari Raya Card?

Postgirl - 50 sen.

Me - Huh? Wah so expensive one?? Why leh?

Postgirl - Oh because you used stick on a label for the address and you stamped the sender address at the wrong place. So this is considered non-standard.

Me - Huh?!!?

Postgirl - You should stamp the sender's address on top left corner of envelope and not use the stick on labels for standard cost at 30 sen only.

Me - Wah, that's 20 sen savings and times by 100 cards it's like RM20.00 savings leh!

(Eh to Laundryamah's small business, every sen counts leh!)

So folks, remember, when sending greeting cards, make sure follow the standard requirements if not end up paying more for nothing! The labels also cost a bomb too but then I was fortunate to have someone very nice who donated a few boxes to me last time...hehehe..

Cannot work with family

It's so hard to work with family. Can't quit each other ma. But then, how to work with one who constantly give you headache wan...Ayo, solly ah,,only Oscar's mommy can understand my situation.

The fact is he keeps repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Why la? He's supposed to be the smartest in the family, his knowledge in our industry is top notch therefore he's the type where we classify as IQ high but EQ low to the pits leh..In fact his general knowledge also very "geng" (good) like why the bla bla salmon swim upstream to mate and lay eggs he also know lor..He potrays himself as so "clever" that his in-laws call him for the littlest thing like, get the locksmith to open the drawer and why astro no picture suddenly..etc etc...Die or not?

Whenever I complain about him to my friends, they will say this, "Aiya him again...what's new, he always kek u wan la...aiya change subject la.." Sei mo?? (Die or not?) So poor Oscar's mommy has to be my punching bag! Solly ah..but thanks for being a great punching bag lor...muaks muaks!!

Stress at Work

Ok, WARNING this is going to be long! What does Laundryamah do for a living? Well I sell laundry equipment and all sorts of detergent & chemicals to laundries from Dobi shops and also some hotels. Wah no joke man, I have to wash all sorts of dirty laundry leh, sometimes taifu (undergarments) oso got! (hahaha..only for demos and when customers have problem only I go and wash la...)Don't play play ah..I can kautim (remove) all sorts of stains one ah..even colour run can remove! Ah..terror or not??

Anyway, my problem now is big customers like hotels or bigger commercial laundries who use very big machines like 10 times the size of your household machine. Really la, if given a choice I would rather just sell to smaller dobi shops; enuf to eat, sleep and feed my shopping can oredi lor. Less headache. Why bigger customers cannot handle? Too much red tape and when anything goes wrong we will have to go through so many layers and have a million letters to write some more. As if I will earn more from them? NO lor..the same.

Well e.g., we just got into trouble with this hotel. We took back a part from their machine for repair but part of that thing was stolen from our us like right under our nose! This besi buruk (Metal recylcing) business really encouraging thefts oso lor. Waliau, the worse part is we didn't even realise it was stolen until we were ready to get ready to assemble the parts back. Die or not?

Anyway, I don't think I can get into details here, but one thing led to another, and all working against us lor. Really once suey, suey all the way man so customer very angry with us la. Shot us one terror warning letter really scared the "L" out of me lor. Made me toss and turn like a roti canai (pancake) on my bed last nite.

I was trying all morning to call the manager but couldn't even get her at all. I plan to see her next week lor, err..show face and really minta ampun (apologise)and also felt bad that we didn't go and see them earlier. Why? They are located about 3 hrs from KL ma so took for granted la. No more next time, aroso??

So, the moral of the story, do not make any mistakes, once you done wrong once, they forget all the times when we have done good. Once you make a blunder, do not try to avoid and prolong the agony. Honesty is the best policy and always APOLOGISE first!