photo space_zpsab443ffb.png photo ootd_zpsvmcsbmod.jpg photo youtube_zpsl7hdozar.jpg photo 88_zpsqoko5stl.jpg photo midnight_zpsssf1cubd.jpg photo home_zpsh9wc5ewz.jpg

Monday, May 31, 2010

The Shopping Race & The 2-Way Monologue

Sooooooo...I'm back from Singapore and the shopping race I participated in with Hanzky from Fashionese Daily...overall, it was a great and memorable experience as I got to deal and team up with an inspiring, persistent & passionate woman (yes Hanzky, you truly are, so thank you), hop from one mall to another which forced me to explore shopping centers other than ones on Orchard Road that I usually only visit, revisit my mathematical skills, and know how it feels like to compete with teams from various countries and run like hell. Alhamdulillah...:)

Here's a recap of everything! :)

Below was our guide, Mr. Agustar, a very friendly, supportive & heartwarming guy...


Before the race started, we were all gathered in the Singapore Tourism Board office for a technical briefing...in total, there was 25 teams participating, some from Malaysia, India, Dubai, UK, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and of course Singapore and us Indonesia.


I actually misunderstood the mechanism of the race earlier (tee-hee), therefore my explanation here was incorrect. We were not given a list of items to buy, but instead given $1,000 to spend on any items that will allow us to achieve the greatest savings possible (savings = real price - after discount price). Having this, our goal was to locate stores that were having major discounts. And by major, we mean more than 90% discounts! Besides shopping, there were also some tasks we had to complete, such as the memory challenge and cake decorating.


And look! We arrived 1st at the finishing point! Hahah!


The race was won by the UK team (a woman named Amanda who was in this UK team, was also the winner of last year's race), followed by the Vietnamese, then us.

Now here comes the interesting part. We were very surprised during the announcement, as 1) they declared our amount of savings less than what we have expected and calculated earlier, and the fact that 2) the winning team achieved total savings that was practically and mathematically impossible given that we knew exactly where and how much they shopped. We directly raised this issue to the committee, and ended up arguing from 8:30 pm till 12 midnight. Since our debate went up till late, we had to continue the next day.

It was actually a very simple issue to resolve. A very, very simple issue but made complicated. I do not wish to lay out the exact problem here, so all I can tell is that whatever we or the UK team had to say, can simply be verified by the shopkeeper on who was telling the truth.

On the next day, we all reconvened in hopes of wrapping up all unsettled issues & hard feelings we still had from last night...but it turned out pointless. The meeting was opened by a representative of the committee, then continued by Amanda from the UK team who literally delivered a speech she had already prepared and written on a notebook prior the meet up. As her hands were trembling the whole time she read out her speech, she verified that she and her partner had no intention of cheating whatsoever, and denied all of our accusations stating that they did not hear anything we thought they should have heard from the shopkeeper. Therefore, if there was anyone to blame, it would be the shop itself who had made mistakes in the calculation, and the UK team had won out of luck having the advantage of the shop's mistake.

Our point was clear, that all we wanted was for the shopkeeper to clarify this issue as she was the sole key witness that knew everything that has happened inside the shop during the whole time of race. That simple, that easy. Funnily both the UK team and the committee refused to invite the shopkeeper into our meeting, with the reason that "the shopkeeper is not trustable".

Wow.

I guess Hanzky and I did not see any point in having the meeting after all, so we decided to end it and thanked, apologized to and congratulated everyone there. As soon as we turned around and walked away, we both cried. Sigh. I love you, Hanzky. Sorry for not being able to fight more.

And let's just forget about the other issue we raised but was not followed up seriously by the committee: our savings calculation that was not accurate.

But again, it was a great and memorable experience, and I thank Singapore Tourism Board for inviting us to take part in the race. We won 3rd place! :)

Thank you for all the support, guys! XOXO


PS1: It's a sad thing that I totally lost interest in shopping there though heavy discounts were all around, and these were all I got during my 3 days there...;p


PS2: There's no such word as "trustable".

*All photos during the race courtesy of Hanzky and her hubby :)

45 comments:

t a l i s h a said...

"PS2: There's no such word as "trustable"."

LOL. hahaha you competed fairly even though it's not a fair fight.. which makes both kak hanzky and you the true winners yourselves.. :)

Stiene Saenen said...

cute dress! x

doublysweet said...

WOW that is QUITE the situation.
sorry about the issues you experienced, but overall it seems like it was worth doing!

jacobian said...

there is something wrong with your blog.looks like google did not trust you so that there is always an error message that being displayed.I had to confirm twice in the option to be able to get through your blog.

are you sure you're not playing with some javascript code that causes this warning? it can greatly reduce your traffic in this blog though.so you better take care of it.

anyway on a bright side,at least you had won in the third place.that's great though.as usually being in the first place is the means to an end,but not the end itself. you tried your best to win.that's what matters. :-)

btw I kind of like this posting because it was so much longer and have many photos, a bit different than your normal one. :-)

jacobian said...

anyway you can find out more about malware warning here

it's only affecting user who use google chrome to visit your blog.because chrome has the option security that's always on by default.other browser did not experience any of this though. :-)

anyway here is the screenshot so you you can check it for yourself. it seems that you put award.pestablogger.com link in your blog that contains some script deemed dangerous by google chrome.

hope you can fix the issue. :-)

Bunga Kariodimedjo said...

ya ampun kak, kaget banget baca ini but it's okay at least you got 3rd place nd it's their fault, rite? :D
sabar yah :D
and I like the candid pictures heheh

Unknown said...

wow...it's too bad n i'm feeling sorry for u and hanzky, but at least u guys made the 3rd place ! ! ! n that top hat is a great find ! *drooling*

Citra said...

after reading your post,
i knew i would lost my interest to shop, even in a country full of shopping discounts like Singapore if i became you :(

how could they say that the shopkeeper was untrustable?
how could we know who was untrustable? urggh..

but i'm glad to see your happy face at the end of your post
he he, i hope i can participate in a shopping race too, particularly in a "fabrics" shopping race a.k.a "belanja kain" ^_^

Nabila Fasza said...

COOL !
amazing experience !
congrats yay ! :)

amel said...

wah seru banget! kira-kira event ini bakal ditayangin di tv nga di? :)

hanny arianty gultom said...

".... As soon as we turned around and walked away, we both cried. Sigh. I love you, Hanzky. Sorry for not being able to fight more."

huhuhu, kok gw merinding yah Die bacanya, and sad of course..:(
feeling your fight there with mba Hanzky..

i know it's disappointing, but i guess life offers us many possibilities.. so, just be a winner by not following something that is wrong, and sometimes winners no need public recognition, they already know they are a winner.. hehe..

well, at the end it really was a worth experience knowing that you fight not for your team, but for us, for our country.. :)

what a funnnn experiencee... hehe..

Salam kenal buat mba Hanzky..:)

dela said...

uh, I was following your journey with Hanzky from @fashionesedaily, and I was literally upset. Not because you're not the winner, you both did well, i trust it. :) but how could they not discuss it with open heart, and call appropriate witness? Grrr, it really annoys me! :(

But, however you ran the game fairly. I am interested to hear from Hanzky's side, any idea if she will write her own story? Please inform here. :)

Gricia (Cia) said...

at least we know d truth..eventhou things wasnt solved well at least u still got d 3rd place..with pride =)

Nice hat diii...beli dimana?

anijnas said...

the world is horrible and good people are always tested. i'm glad u can stand ur ground.

nit said...

Love your style with stripes legging..

And congratulations, Diana :)

Strawberry Giggles

FlashFash said...

That was kinda suck. But I agree with what talisha said above that by being honest throughout the competition and stand up for what's right, I think you guys are trully the winner :)

http://flashfashfash.blogspot.com

DinnaPutriAprila said...

You still the winnner diana, coz you fight for the truth..

btw, the pinky shoes and hat are awesome.. !!!!

Anonymous said...

sometimes the journey is much more important than the destination right?

third place is good enough! :)

kristiyana shinta said...

gregetan bacanya,,
ikutan sebel kak di :(
tetep semangat yaa :)

-loovveeccuupps
shinta

thedailyspread said...

wow, so sorry you guys had to go through that. Me and my partner Cynthia and the other Malaysian team(karen and syat), we left right after the photo taking. we were pretty bummed coz we tried our best and ended up with a lot of stuff we didn't even like! haha.

in any case, for the sake of future teams I hope this kind of situation doesn't happen again.

Congratulations on your amazing savings anyway babe! :)

Anonymous said...

i wanted to say it's OK, but to think of it again, it's totally not OK. :)
but hey, even if the UK team won, deep down they know that they didnt. that's the best part of letting go something you deserve for somebody else, that they and you secretly know they dont deserve it.
uh oh, the last pic u did look happy, but hanzky looked so sad..., hahaha

Rebecca Clairine said...

look so much fun !
congratz kak !

and cool tight !

xoxo,
Rebecca
http://rebeccaclch.blogspot.com/

supershanen said...

It's alright, kak D, winning 3rd place isn't that bad :) congratulations.

At least you have learned something from this event. You guys have competed fairly though! hehehe.

Cannaria said...

kok aku ngerasa emang ada kongkalikong pemenang sama panitya ya kak? but it`s okay as long as you`re having fun. kayanya lomba kaya gini ga bisa dianggep serius.

Nathalie Kartika Putri said...

at least you're in the third place. congratulation!
by the way your hat is as gorgeous as your bag :)

natzcracker

Ghizadhia Amira said...

congratulation ka diana :) and thanks for your kind comment :D

mari said...

you go girl.u fought for what was right and u did not give up!!dont let people walk all over you!!

Anonymous said...

PS2: There's no such word as "trustable"

I beg to differ. There is such a word, go google it.

Tara said...

congratulation Diana, meskipun gak jad pemenang pertama setidaknya kamu bisa membuat bangga Indonesia sebagai juara ketiga :)

g string addict said...

Congratulations on winning 3rd place and more importantly, on speaking up. I read your story and I can feel your passion for standing up for what is right. You guys are the real winner. I am just a reader, but I feel like I have known you for a life time. hugs.

the wanderer said...

you are still the champ for your readers my dear! at least you fought for your rights and the truth. hey, it's the experience that counts rite? =) congrats dear!

han said...

congrats for being in 3rd place kak di :)
not upset because u didn't win, but mainly because of the issue thing.
then again, the uk team know they won in a dirty way :)

Eugenia Maria Efendy said...

congrats :) nice blog anyway. mind to exchange link?

hilal said...

rüyada deniz görmek rüyada çocuk görmek rüyada ev görmek rüyada bebek görmek rüyada baba görmek rüyada enne görmek rüyada gelin gelinlik görmek rüyada balık görmek rüyada avret yeri görmek rüyada yumurta görmek rüyada araba görmek rüyada yangın görmek rüyada namaz kılmak rüyada kedi görmek islami ruya tabirleri islami rüya tabirleri sitene ekle
there is something wrong with your blog.looks like google did not trust you so that there is always an error message that being displayed.I had to confirm twice in the option to be able to get through your blog.

Anonymous said...

we all know who cheated, cheer up :)

Anonymous said...

Hi babe,

I'm from S'pore and an avid reader of FD. I got your bloglink from there after reading Hanzky's post.

After reading your post, I got very disappointed with STB. Saying a retailer is "not trustable", is the same as saying "don't shop in S'pore". It defeated the purpose of having this campaign and competition and inviting ppl from different countries like yourself and Hanzky to participate. I'm so ashamed after reading this.

I'm sorry this had to happen to nice ppl like yourself and Hanzky. I would have lost all interest in shopping if I were in your shoes too (no pun intended abt the shoes). I hope this incident doesn't put you off in to coming back here.

Ellen said...

Waaah... ada yg ga beres ya..anyway yg penting dinikmati saja prosesnya en jalan2nya Di =) And u've got a lot of new shoes (reading from Hanzky's blog) =D

Fenny Wong said...

It's always hard to accept the things the way they are but sometimes we just can't do anything about it.... But it's so great that you've bravely fought for the truth. I love your blog, Diana.

ribka said...

living in this red dot for almost 4 years, i can say, yes! you can meet bummers here!

L.I.N said...

i am appalled over how the situation was handled. and i have to agree with my fellow Singaporean. by saying that the shop owner could not be trusted is akin to saying that tourists should not shop here.

nonetheless, i just want to say that i admire your fighting spirit. and di, Tuhan yang maha tahu segalanya :)

yovi said...

kak diana !! itu topi nya bli dmana ?? ^^

raspberryblood said...

Dear Diana&Hanzky. I'm so proud of the two of you, standing your ground and doing it with full integrity intact.
I'm sure the international public will realize that you guys are telling the truth ^_^, I know I do.

Diana Rikasari said...

dear all,

many apologies for the late reply. and thank you sooooo much for all your support and kind words...may God bless us all..amin :)

Diana Rikasari said...

Anonymous: nope! the proper word is "trusworthy", not "trustable". if your refer to dictionaries like Oxford or Collins, "trustable" actually does not exist...:)

kiky_rose said...

Congrats Diana…its so happy read your adventure there ^_^

Blogging tips