What is my New Year's Resolution 2021?

The most scary and difficult year 2020 will be coming to an end this month. The deadly pandemic of Covid19 virus will continue into the year 2021. This deadly virus has changed the whole world and affected almost everyone directly or indirectly from all races of different countries. Many richest and wealthy class people have been affected when this virus robbed their lives and wealth to zero.

I have not been spared either but I am rather fortunate that things somehow fell into place nicely for me. It was like the heavens had diverted my paths towards brokering antique furniture and selling bereavement products since 2018. That was quite sometime before fingers started pointing at Wuhan for spreading the virus. Honestly, I am very sure that the virus did not originate from Wuhan but rather it was discovered from there. So I was earning pocket money from elsewhere when my boss started slowly down and ceased paying the staff salaries since July 2018! That was insane but my willpower and determination pushed me to keep persevering  and go against all odds. 

I never imagined in my entire life that I would someday be visiting all the big and small cemeteries in Klang Valley besides all the columbarium and high class funeral parlours on weekly or daily basis. Last weekend, I sat outside the Nirvana's sales office in Shah Alam while waiting for my downline to finish selling to his customers. There were nice polished marble stools and tables amidst the landscaped garden. I decided to take some photos to share as every piece tells me a story about life. The above photo is like the path that I partake in my journey of life. I had no idea what lies ahead but I am truly grateful for all the experience that shaped me up. I would say that I am most grateful to both my parents for bringing me up well with the best education that would safely provide me a roof over my head and food on the table. 

This statue of the couple depicts me clearly. I have come along in my life with so much ups and downs, yet my wife stood beside me to encourage me, through the darkest days. I am happiest and contented with my life that I met my wife who showed me the way to live in a meaningful way. I started to appreciate whatever I have today as many people out there have nothing.

This crying lady reminds me of my late mother. I have witnessed her crying many times during my growing up years. She was a tough cookie and intelligent lady. She was so smart academically that she passed her entrance exam at the young age of 15 years to be enrolled into the prestigious Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok to study Dentistry. She came from a very privileged family because her father was a very feared Chief Police Officer in Thailand where he had many servants and bodyguards to serve the entire family. My mother cried many times when she discovered that her greedy and selfish sister took all her money from their family's joint bank accounts to dabble into her own business ventures. My mother was in a dilemma as she had to provide for my siblings who were all studying in Canada and Australia. The feud of 2 sisters ended when my late father encouraged my mother to forgive her sister who was dying of cancer in later years. My mother flew to Bangkok alone and visited her ailing sister who cried buckets of tears at her death bed. She gave my mother a precious gold ring with a huge emerald stone as big as my thumb as a parting gift.

This family statues being huddled together reminds me of my late father being comforted by my siblings during my mother's funeral. It was a sad moment when you have lost a parent. The worst part was my father was suffering from the most advanced dementia where his memory loss made him a frustrated man. He could not recognize anyone except me alone because he could call my name. He did not recognize my siblings, his relatives, friends and even his caregiver. He did not even remember himself and the reasons he was still alive. I would say dementia is one of the most difficult sickness to endure. 

This statue looks like a Saint holding a baby. This is probably to comfort young parents who lost their babies that heavenly angels will accompany them till eternity.

My New Year's Resolution for 2021 is to stay safe, work harder and continue to do charity to make online donations to the animal shelters besides other people in need.

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Bromance In The Gymnasium

I still hit my regular gym near home, several times a week. It is always therapeutic alone to do some light workout often to burn some fats, calories and stress. Remember that STRESS KILLS and is the Number 1 Killer for heart disease and cancer as well.

So, I was there again last night after an eventful day at the cemetery in Semenyih. It was a very isolated burial case which I am still thinking whether it is advisable to share for knowledge.

While I was doing some seated exercise at the machine in the gym, there was this group of playful friends who always huddled and exercised together. Then, this young guy was doing his 'back leg curls' machine exercise which would greatly strengthen our back legs.

Suddenly, his playful friend came along and decide to join in to make a sandwich cake!

Whoa!! They both went on and on doing the back leg curls with so many cameras flashing at them. What a bromance exercise, I thought. SOP? What SOP?

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Is Antibiotics harmful?

My doctor friend shared a shocking revelation about antibiotics. I was quite disturbed on looking at his explanation with the supporting graphics on his Facebook page. I really believe that antibiotics have harmed my body over the years. So I am sharing it here to create some awareness.

What the medical experts say:

Taking antibiotics for colds and other viral illnesses doesn't work — and it can create bacteria that are harder to kill. Taking antibiotics too often or for the wrong reasons can change bacteria so much that antibiotics don't work against them. This is called bacterial resistance or antibiotic resistance.

This has happened to me:

I was a very sickly child during my young days around 7-10 years with endless of cough, colds, fever and influenza. I used to suffer from this "100 Days Cough" syndrome like a curse. My mum never gave up taking me to see my regular doctor at the hospital. I was being fed with overdosed antibiotics all my years. When I grew up, I even knew how to buy maximum strength antibiotics over the counters especially in United States. I thought antibiotics are very good & important.

Nobody ever educated me about the needs to consume probiotics to heal my gut bacteria back into balance. As a result, I suffered so much serious eczema problems, migraines, IBS, gut bleeding issues and bloating that caused sleeping problems! I sure sound like a sick dog.

Thank goodness, I have been taking costly probiotics everyday to fix my gut issues now. I will not simply trust doctors again.

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House Of Pok @ 1-Utama Shopping Mall

As you know, I am not a regular food blogger. I am also lousy at writing food because my tongue does not know how to describe the tastes precisely and what ingredients are inside. Somehow I must share about this place I have been eating very often because it is near home besides the cheap set lunches. Most importantly is the dishes tasted good, yummy, sedap and heavens. That's how I described my meals and you will not get much captions in my photos. Enjoy reading.

Welcome to join me at House Of Pok. A non halal restaurant that attracts many customers in the otherwise quiet shopping mall. I am a regular here with my wife together with my nephew and niece.

The interior has some touches of China.

We always ordered 2 set lunches and shared the dishes with our rice.

When we ordered 3 set meals, we could share 6 yummy dishes like a banquet! Oh yes, I bought that Tote Bag for my wife's recent birthday because I was attracted to the shocking pink strap which is so unusual colour to me. It is not available at Pavilion's boutique. My wife's bags are always big and heavy with A-Z items inside. She will never want to carry a LV or Burberry bag, so I might tell her it's a fake one next year. Sssh!

 Look at the banner! Look at the bill. 

Burp!

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Do You Trust Your Spouse 100%?

PART 2

Oh well, my PART 1 story unexpectedly drew so much readership from near and as far as Russia. Someone sent me an email from India to hurry up with PART 2. His email with urgency sounds hilarious to me as he wanted to hear my closure. This post has similar title except it's on a reverse.

So....on that wee hour morning of 21st April 2019, I had checked into the KLIA2 airport with my luggage and many presents for all my Korean buddies & their families. It was many bottles of designer perfumes like Prada, Christian Dior, Calvin Klein and a bottle of Chivas Regal liquor which was a limited edition. All the perfumes were bought cheaply from the Warehouse Sale, so it didn't burn my wallet at all. Oh yeah, I also bought them 3-in-1 Roasted Coffee from Super Brand which they loved to heavens for its thick & fragrant aroma. Please remember that many China and Korean tourists buy lots of instant coffee from Malaysia, so you can give them as gifts anytime.

When I hugged my wife good bye and wished her a safe hiking trip to the Himalayan Mountains, I promptly carried my cabin's backpack and walked into the Boarding area to get my passport stamped. After all the clearance, I sat down outside the Boarding Gate Q4 to wait for my plane to fly to Seoul. I texted my wife again to show her my Boarding Gate selfie photos. I often still behaved like a teenager sometimes and forgot my age.

So this was my last photo sent from inside the plane before it took off from Kuala Lumpur. My wife still replied me happily and reminded me to enjoy my whole trip with all my best buddies in Korea. She was replying from inside the airport taxi which was driving her home along with her luggage, hiking backpack, boots and winter jacket. Hey!!! She did not take the connecting airport train to KLIA 1 but hailed a taxi right away to go back home! Walau eh!!

So fast forward to her shocking text when I was in Busan. I could barely swallow my saliva and texted her with my numbed fingers to question her about the sudden twist of fate. She apologized that she could not bring herself to tell me that she had to cancel her trip and forgo all the return airfare plus other paid expenses. She knew that she needed a lot of quality time to plan and get the final touches to see her education centre's opening. Invitations had been sent out and it was very important that her center needed to impress several VIP visitors since she is a consultant to the Ministry of Education. She has a certain reputation and status to uphold in that circle.

She explained that she knew me too well as a wife. If she had told me before hand that she was not flying to Nepal, I would also just waste and skip the trip to Korea to help her. I would easily burn the ticket without second thoughts and qualms at my own accord. She added further that if she had told me the truths when I landed at Seoul's Incheon airport, I would definitely book the next available flight home to help her with no expense spared, just like how I paid a bomb for our SQ flights about 3 days before our departure to London. So my wife thought over carefully and decided that I should only hear the truths on the 4th day when I have accustomed myself in Korea after eating overdosed of Kim Chi pickles to ferment my blood and veins. My wife won!

When my Korean buddies heard my wife's story, they just raised eyebrows and dropped their jaws in disbelief. Of course, they burst out laughing with me and we continued to enjoy every little moment we had left.

I told my wife several times that I needed to give her an Oscar Award Trophy for the Best Actress role in real life drama. I kept thinking back the few days before my departure to Korea where I had no least inkling that she was not flying to Nepal, yet she still confidently carried her passport, luggage and all the barang-barangs! Whoa!!!! This is a real pelakun hebat la. I will always love my wife to the moon and beyond because she truly cared for my happiness and feelings. I could never act like her or even hide my worries. I am too transparent! Haha!

Do you trust your partner???

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Does Your Spouse Trust You 100%?

Of late, I started asking a few close contacts this question. They all gave me the most shocking looks for so daringly to pose such questions for both of them to ponder about their trusts for each other. Somehow I could detect and smell something fishy with either spouse with my silly question. The facial guilts with reddish hot flush looks could not escape my radar. Aha!! This is something that every couple would probably have thought over at least once, twice or more. All my siblings ended up in unexpected divorces and the 3rd parties were to be blamed. Where had all the marriage vows and trusts gone to? The global weather would change yearly and so would all humans. Nothing is permanent in life and even romantic feelings could wither and fade off like the fallen leaves of the Autumn trees. 

Now I myself have something to share personally. Get your coffee ready and stay calm okay. This incident happened in the May last year. Do you remember that I made a trip to South Korea to have a reunion with my college friends in US? Oh well, you can click HERE to read if you have not.

My wife had long planned for her hiking trip with her gang of hikers to climb and trek their way up to the Annapurna Base Camp somewhere in the Himalayan Mountains. She had to fly to Nepal to meet the gang of hikers who had previously trekked up together to Lombok's Mount Rinjani in Indonesia. My IRONMAN classmate was the Captain for all their hiking expeditions where everyone truly enjoyed. My wife was busy packing for that hiking trip and we went shopping several times to make sure that she was well equipped with the best shoes, backpack and minus 0-degrees winter jackets.

My wife knew that I have not met up with my best Korean buddies after we had parted ways in Pennsylvania many years ago. So she persuaded me to visit them in Seoul during her absence. Initially I refused to go as we were in the midst of planning for the opening of her Education Centre in June. I was still handling the renovations all alone by myself as she could not smell dusts, glue and plaint from the renovation as it would trigger her asthma attacks. Somehow, she assured me that the renovations would have completed just before her hiking trip to the Himalayas. So I should go!

My Korean buddies were all excited and overjoyed about my sudden visit. There was a countdown and endless texting to welcome me to South Korea. Finally, my heart felt so light and so happy to be able to meet up with the craziest bunch of friends who introduced me to authentic Korean cuisine and the drunken nights of Soju drinks. We also had so many Winter snow fights around North America besides going skiing at the Seven Springs Mountains in Pennsylvania. So much precious memories. My thoughtful wife knew exactly how much I looked forward to the trip to Seoul.

So, I decided to book my Air Asia's flight to Seoul on the same morning as my wife's departure to Nepal. We both carried all our jackets and dragged our luggage to the waiting GRAB car at 4.00am. 

My departure flight to Seoul was 6.45am from KLIA2 while my wife's flight to Kathmandu was at 9.50am by Malindo Air which departed from KLIA1. Once I boarded the terminal upon checking in my luggage, my dear wife took the KLIA train to proceed to KLIA1 which is just a short distance away. I texted my wife good bye when I had settled down at my seat inside the plane. She would take a nap at KLIA1 as she had over 2 hours time to kill.

My long flight from KL to Seoul's Incheon Airport was over 5 hours. I paid the premium price to purchase the front row seats for a 6 footer to enjoy maximum comfort. That was also the "Quiet Zone" section which needed extra top up and it gave me a blissful flight all the way to Seoul. My head and mind had drifted to Korea instantly.

My best friend was waiting eagerly for me as I made my way out like a K-Pop celebrity from the Arrival Hall inside Incheon Airport. He fetched me to have tea and dropped me off at my hotel in Itaewon.

The above photo was taken outside the National Museum of Korea.

My Korean buddy took very good care of me throughout my stay. We had all the best food with the best drinks. His wife who is the President of a Korean bank had insisted that he must give me the best VIP treatment throughout. I guess she was eternally grateful that I offered his whole family the free shelter to stay with me in KL during the height of the nuclear war threat between North and South Korea. 

I was thinking of my wife day and night during my stay in Seoul. I delayed coming to Korea for years as I wanted my wife to come along with me to meet all my buddies and their families. I anxiously checked my Captain friend's facebook to see any updates as my wife had already arrived Kathmandu. I guessed that she had problems to get a local special SIM card which was supposed to be able to use along the parts of the Himalayan Mountain trails. Somehow I was not worried about my wife's arrival and safety as my Captain classmate would be on hand to receive them and keep their big group together safely. I also texted him to ask about my wife's arrival and well being but there was no reply. Looking at their hiking itinerary, their group had departed from Kathmandu right away and headed up to the base camp near the Everest.

This photo was taken at Busan's famous Haeundae Beach.

Meanwhile, I had the jolly time around Seoul with my Korean friend to catch up all the long lost years. My friend had made plans and drove me all the way to Busan to meet my room mate who shared room with me in our US apartment. This guy is the architect whose filthy rich father owned buildings and many apartments around Korea. I was shocked to hear that he had divorced his first wife who sought custody of their only daughter. This room mate had remarried and has a son with the 2nd wife. The side gossip I heard was he had to divorce the first wife as she could not give him a son! I could not believe my ears as it looked like the typical Korean TV soap dramas where the chaebol families would favour sons. This is so unfair.

On my 4th night in Korea, I was staying at the biggest spa hotel in Busan with my best friend. That night I was so happy to receive a whatsap text from my wife at last. I knew she was safe and had reached the Annapurna Base Camp after non stop hiking in the thick snow for days. She was even more happy to hear that I had a good time with my Korean friends. The reunion was worthwhile for my whole trip with no expenses spared staying at all the best hotels. I still had few more days in Korea and had to proceed to stay at the old Prime Minister's house in Andong before heading back to Seoul for a few more days. I still had to meet up with another friend who is the descendants of The Great King Sejong who ruled Shilla (Old Korea) during the Ming Dynasty. I have nicknamed him the last Prince of Korea. My wife and I were texting each other back and forth. Suddenly I was speechless.

Finally my wife's text message read: 

"I am still at home in KL"

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Why big insects appear at funeral wakes?

I visited the NV Shah Alam's Memorial site last weekend with my downline. We went there to check the columbarium niche of a customer. His mother had a strange dream that her name in "Red Colour" at her future resting place has been removed. She shares the double niche space with her deceased husband who passed away earlier this year. On checking, we found that her name still remains as "Red Colour" which depicts her status as still alive. My thought ran wild about the possibilities of her strange dream which I better not elaborate here. You might even guess correctly what's in my mind too.

We promptly left the memorial place in my downline's car. Suddenly, he shrieked out loudly because there was a dragon fly. It just appeared from nowhere, hovering right in between us. The dragon fly perched itself on my downline's drinking bottle as the car made its way into the highway. I jokingly said that it could be the customer's late father that followed us as acknowledgement of his presence, our visit and maybe confirmed my wild thoughts too. I simply said "Hi" to the dragon fly (late father of the customer) out of respect, just in case it was really him. Minutes later, we could not find the dragon fly anymore inside the car. The windows were not opened but it just disappeared into thin air. Unbelievable!

My downline reminded me that I should post about another true incident of mine which happened 5 years ago. I got home and started to google some facts and thoughts of others regarding big insects that often appeared at funeral wakes or outside the porch of the house for many days.

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PART 1

This true story happened 5 years ago. My classmate Evan passed away suddenly at home from heart attack. He was the boss of an industrial factory somewhere in Kajang. That fateful day, he was having his lunch break from office and promptly went back to his home at Country Heights nearby. Evan had his usual lunch at the dining area and retired to the living room to have his usual cat nap. He laid down on his favourite deck chair and closed his eyes to rest. A few hours later, his school going son realized that his father was still sleeping around 4pm. It seemed unusually long for a nap. He walked up to the deck chair and tried to wake his father up. His body was stiff, cold and motionless. His son was shocked and alerted all the family members. The news of his passing shocked all the school mates in various chat groups. Evan was my very old friend from primary school days but we were not the best of friends. 

I made arrangements with my best and closest friend SC from school to pay our respects. On hearing that his body would be brought to the funeral parlour at the Kwong Tong Chinese Cemetery, I had little goosebumps. I had a few scary experiences, driving my car which had to pass the tombs at the Chinese cemetery during late nights. We were there to attend someone's funeral wake and it was so eerie as my car's headlights flashed across the width of the cemetery road which made ghastly shadows appearing endlessly. So I told SC that we must go there in brought daylight to pay our respects to Evan. 

We both made appointment to meet at the open air carpark outside the funeral parlour at 12 noon on 27 June 2015. My friend SC arrived earlier than me and stood outside his car to look around at the many different parlours that were clustered together in a row. I arrived within minutes and joined SC to ponder which parlour housed our friend's coffin. Several parlours were being occupied that day for different funerals and we needed to walk pass each one to locate our friend's funeral location. We stood beside his car and still wondered aimlessly which parlour we had to visit. The bright sun was scorching hot which made me perspire profusely.

Suddenly, we heard a buzzing sound from the skies and a loud thud! We both saw a big green thing that landed onto my friend's front hood cover of the car. It was a very huge grasshopper and we were immediately squirmed with crazy goosebumps from head to toe. We both knew instantly that grasshoppers are often being associated with spirits and souls that use these insects as their taxi to bring them to places. We stared at the grasshopper and wondered if that was Evan's spirit riding the insect? 

The next minute, that grasshopper flew off and headed towards the row of funeral parlours. We promptly started walking our way to the parlours. After passing 3 different parlour sections of different funerals, we were stunned to see the same big grasshopper again. It was perching on a table and faced our directions. On looking closely, the table was placed right outside Evan's funeral parlour. My hair stood upright from head to toe. I was so cold and numbed.

We both greeted Evan's tearful sons and introduced ourselves. They acknowledged and gestured us to the altar in front of the coffin. That unbelievable grasshopper hopped itself from the table towards the altar. It stood right beside the urn of joss sticks.  SC and I glanced at each other while trying to hold back our shocked facial expressions. We bowed 3 times in front of Evan's photo with a tinge of sadness that he died too young and sudden. Both his sons were still at secondary school.

We proceeded to walk over to view Evan's body inside the casket. Whooaa!!! The grasshopper flew over from the altar and landed on the glass of the casket. I almost died of shock and utter disbelief. This insect had followed us from the car park until the casket. You might think that I am nuts and making up unbelievable stories. I swear that this grasshopper appeared and followed us all the way.

Later we both sat down at the guest tables and held small talks with the 2 sons. The grasshopper flew off towards the skies. I felt that Evan's soul was standing beside us and the grasshopper had relinquish its duties.

I believe many of you had some phenomenon incident with insects too. Do you??

My PART 2 story will be another insect incident at someone's door.

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Election 2020 in America - Who will win?

I must admit that I have been highly excited and very tensed at the same time to follow the current US Election 2020. I believe that this US election is the only one which the whole wide world is following and watching closely like me. I have been checking on the Politico and CNN news whole day and night on my smartphone's internet until my battery went flat. No other country's elections is so exciting for foreigners like us to observe and keep our hopes high. Ultimately, we all wish for "America To Be Great Again" by whoever leads as the next President.

Either one, Biden or Trump has to win 270 to become the next President of United States for the next 4 years. Who will win? Biden Biden Biden! Trump Trump Trump! The votes will decided, all are advised to stay calm.

I once studied and lived in the Southwestern Pennsylvania. I just arrived the City of Pittsburgh when the earlier Elections was being held. I got caught in the feverish excitement and was glued to the cable television 24/7 by staying awake with so many pots of black coffee until my hands shook. When news broke out that Bill Clinton was appearing at the Market Square together with Albert Gore and their wives, I ran out of my classroom like a hysterical maniac to join the huge cheering crowd. It was crazy and I was screaming happily like everyone else under the cold winter weather. My classmates looked at me in disbelief as I was probably the only Asian foreigner at the scene. I replied them that I loved politics like drugs. A fortune teller had once told me that my palm lines indicated strongly that I would become a good politician if I wished to. Oh well, I am still thinking.

We can smell the winner, right now!

There are probably millions of foreigners who do not quite understand how the American elections work. It is way simpler yet transparent and fair to my opinion. What has happened in my country recently was a shocking and sad moment when you see politicians jumping parties like frogs! This could have been prevented if the elections are held like the American way which is a safe and farsighted practice. We have too many parties and independent candidates over here in our country's electoral voting system. The party that wins would suggest and nominate for their own suitable candidate to become the Prime Minister.

In US, the President is not chosen directly by the voters but by the results of the electoral college. This will need a lengthy explanation for foreigners residing outside US to fully understand. When the Americans go to the polls in presidential elections they would be voting for a group of officials who make up the electoral college. This is justified and safe.

The meaning of "electoral college" refers to a group of appointed people with a shared task in the presidential elections. Ultimately, the President and Vice-President would be chosen by this total of 538 electors.

Here is an example of the states with the most electors and the least:

California - 55 electors

Texas - 38 electors

New York - 29 electors

Florida - 29 electors

Pennsylvania - 20 electors

.....

Alaska / Wyoming / Washington DC / North Dakota - 3 electors each

Each elector in the 50 different states would represent one electoral vote  and the Presidential candidates Trump or Biden would need to gain a majority votes  of 270 or more to win the Presidency.

Good Luck and All The Best To America.

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Collecting Designer Shopping Bags

I believe many of you have saved all your pretty shopping bags over the years. Some paper bags have colourful themes besides very artistic designs that could make you feel happy. I think the most interesting ones are the Chinese's Mid Autumn Festival paper bags. The vibrant bags often commemorate well with the contents of assorted moon cakes to be given away as joyous gifts to friends and families.

Being in the advertising industry all my life, I do know the longs hours and costs to get the pretty bags out to reach the customers. My educator wife does not share my thoughts and often thought of me like an old lady who collects bags and recycle disused bottles. Muahahahaha... She upholds the teaching that we should "Be Present". This profound meaning is very deep and says we should not live & dwell into the pasts. Antique collecting is also a No-No!!! Adoi.....

I first discovered about shopping bags becoming collector's items while I was pursuing my advertising studies in United States. I often saw too many collectibles and brick brat household items that were sold in flea markets, charity fairs and garage sales which have been a common sights across America. Back then, they were really eye openers to someone who lived in a Penang cave like me. Now I regretted for not knowing how to buy them for a song and bring home. They could fetch handsome income today as good investments, if you are updated & following the prices on eBay and etc. Nowadays they even sell used seasonal shopping bags from COACH, LV, Prada and many others for hefty prices. 

I do have many used shopping bags being stashed in the storage areas at home. I wanted to decorate an ugly small wall inside my office space in my wife's education center. After much thoughts, I decided to hang up a few paper bags to liven up the space as a wall paper-bags! I prefer not to paint or hang any photos.

Do you support my idea to just hang used paper bags on this tiny wall?

I could lay down, admire the money spent and doze off into my dream land.

A closer look of the various shopping bags. I do have many other bags at home but their somber colours are boringly plain that wouldn't lift up my mood.

I guess this is the only shopping bag here that will become a collector's item. Many of you might not know this famous fashion designer Alexander Wang but he is just as very famous as Ralph Lauren in the US soil. He is well known for his black colour themed pret-a-porter lines and had once served in the luxurious house of BALENCIAGA. This 37 year old Alexander Wang, is a US born of Chinese migrant parents in San Francisco, California.

This is my brand new sofa-bed. I need to pamper myself sometimes. Life is short.

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