Fraud - Cheating & Playing on desperate people's feelings

Don't be cheated, no matter how desperately you wish for a baby to adopt!

I saw the advertisement on one of the pages online, and copied the whole ad (sob story of unpaid rent and no money for doctor check-ups worth a few K) and wrote an email to this supposedly 'pregnant girl', though I do suspect she is actually a 'he' and the pregnant mother never existed.

The ad was posted on July 2, 2012. I emailed on July 9, 2012. I got a reply 5 hours later. For someone who has no money, it is amazing they still have internet access, eh?

I was feeling quite down and the No.1 thing that I am hoping for most fervently as those who have been following my blog for quite some time would know, yes, is to have my own child. My hormones have settled down after a few hours (yeah, my 'down time' lasts only several hours at most) and now my rational mind is trying to make sense of the story. It is obviously a case where RM8k is the 'minimum' price to pay UPFRONT!

There is no guarantee there is a baby in the end. You can kiss your RM8k good bye the moment you believe in it and pass the money to this guy, with pregnant mother or otherwise.

So please, don't commit by paying up front payments, it is considered buying and selling if you do that, you are only encouraging fraud and baby trafficking, so please, be patient, go through proper channel and yes, wish and hope and pray if you believe in the power of prayers.

In one of my 'down times' when the hormones surged too high or dipped too low, which doesn't happen that much lately, the maternal instinct tugged and pulled inside me, hence I went online and keyed in various keywords, looking for Baby For Adoption/Child For Adoption.

I looked on with envy when I see Americans (US citizens) are provided with International adoption agencies and even our neighbouring Singapore has their own adoption agency (which also caters for international adoption!), as compared to Malaysia - there is no official adoption agency, only the Social Welfare Department and the only baby hatch in Malaysia, Orphancare (orphancare.org).

The rest who help unwed mothers like shelters by various non-governmental organisations (NGO) does not make adoption their main priority, most of the girls chose to raise their babies after giving birth and only a small percentage gives up their baby for adoption.

However, there is a page on facebook that is started by a good soul to save unwanted babies from infanticide, there are many cases of baby dumping, most of the babies did not survive and it is the saddest thing for many to see the news reporting yet another baby dumping case. In this part of the world, it is still a social stigma for unmarried woman to be pregnant. To help save these innocent souls, Anak Angkat Untuk Dibela (AAUD) was started by a group of admin who worked closely with the Social Welfare Department (Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat) and they cater only to Malaysians who are Muslims.

I am a non-Muslim, and I don't qualify even though I am a Malaysian, so why am I highlighting them? In Malaysia, a non-Muslim adult can only adopt a non-Muslim child up to the age of 18. A Muslim adult/couple can adopt both Muslim and non-Muslim children, to protect the sanctity of Islam as the official religion of Malaysia. It's part of the constitution hence we are known as an Islamic country, but not all Malaysians are Muslims nor Malays, which is the common misconception of the world towards Malaysia.


Anyway, I digress. I feel that such a good cause is worth highlighting. On the basis of saving innocent lives and giving joy to potential parents who are really hoping and wishing for a child to love. Thumbs up for such a noble cause!

I know that the Indian community have their own private NGO, Christian-missionary-related shelters for girls, and Buddhist Welfare Homes and Shelters are available but the wait list for adoption, which isn't their main priority is very long.

We made it to a waiting list of one of those and it has been over a year, and still waiting. Someone we know have been on the wait list for years and in the end, they opted for private adoption (de facto adoption) where they deal directly with the birth mother.

Congratulations to adoptive parents who finally have a bundle of joy to call their own.

To all those who are still hoping and wishing, like me, just keep in mind that in our 'desperation' for a baby, do not fall prey to cheaters or those who are just out to fleece you of your hard earned money. Remember if they are sincere (ikhlas in BM), they will not rob you in broad daylight because raising a child is not cheap nowadays - milk formula, diapers, insurance, education, etc. If they are thinking for the good of their baby, they will not act so unreasonably. If they are, either they are really selfish or they mean to make 'profit' from the 'transaction' - that is when it becomes baby trafficking, and it is illegal.

Food for thought.

I love shopping so I started a blog

As the title says, I love shopping so I decided to start a whole new blog about shopping and shopping alone!

First, for April 2012, I am offering the Coach wristlets and handbags I bought from my last US trip to fellow Malaysians, if there are no takers, I get to keep them, *glee* hahaha.

When I am not selling anything, I plan to blog about my most recent purchases, as a form of sharing with like-minded shoppers out there! A woman sure loves shopping especially when you know it's a great bargain!!!

Check out my blog:

http://shoppingshoppinglala.blogspot.com/

Part 2: Brow Raising Experience - My Adventure of a 2-year-investment EyeBrow Tender Treatment (similar to embroidery but NOT tattoo)

This is a continuation from Part 1 of my brow raising experience: http://suesanctuary.blogspot.com/2011/06/part-1-brow-raising-experience-my.html

As shown in the pix: The offer on mydeal which made me one of the 38 'unsuspecting' customers who bought the RM99 voucher for eyebrow tender session (they claimed it's more natural than eyebrow embroidery) - and for only RM99, I thought why not? I've asked around and the nearest beauty salon in my area offered it for RM430 for 3 sessions, but I backed out because the lady beautician who did her colleagues eyebrow definitely did not do a good job as her eyebrows look really weird!!!

Anyway, I bought this mydeal offer for RM99 in February and waited till May before I made that phone call to make appointment as the expiry date for the voucher was on June 2nd, 2011. It is now or never, or else my RM99 will just be burned. I was asking around AGAIN after I purchased the deal, and the 'pain' stories kinda freaked me out.

So I asked hubby to accompany me to that part of Kuala Lumpur that is kinda far from my place, cos I didn't know what to expect after the first session and was scared I couldn't drive cos my colleague said I'd better get someone to drive me home because she felt like her "eyebrows were being boxed repeatedly that you have a huge headache afterwards". Luckily it felt nothing like that! Maybe a dull tightness around your brows but overall the first session was okay.

Anyway, when I reached their Kuchai Lama outlet, they promised me that it will be over within an hour, so hubby read his book at Oldtown White Coffee just opposite the road. They lied. The aggressive selling and trying to convince me to take on packages and me negating them, etc, took nearly half an hour - by the time I was done with everything, it was over 2 hours and hubby was becoming impatient.. sorry hubby!!!

Anyway, I feel kinda cheated cos the RM99 is only for ONE session and we usually need at least TWO sessions for the process to be 'perfected'. They then offered me a RM488 package which comprises THREE sessions that won't be expiring anytime soon, and is good to use two years down the line.  I redeemed my voucher at their Kuchai Lama outlet and they are saying if they have new outlets nearer to my place, I can go for treatments/sessions elsewhere too.

It says here it uses a machine-process but the only 'machine' I saw when the cotton pads are taken off my eyes are a needle which the first 'specialist' Sophia, refused to show me - my second touch-up saw a nice guy specialist (I forgot his name!!!) who showed me the needle - 14 fine needles, or was it 16, microneedles that poke on your skin!

Like it or not, I don't wanna end up with not-balanced-results with only the first session, so I signed up for the package with the assurance that I can use the balance two sessions (after the two sessions) by 2013, hence I consider it an 'investment'. I already have the RM99 voucher which entitles me to one session, so top up with another three sessions, I'm good for two sessions this year and another two sessions in 2013.

They tried to sell me a RM998 or nearly 1k (forgot the exact price) of a 3D very natural brows package - mind you, that is only for 3 sessions... I was like thinking "are you crazy"? I politely but firmly said no, I only want the eyebrow tender 3D session. We are supposed to continue to trim our brows anyway after either session, so why go for the super expensive one?

The small ampoule I got for 'Free' from the male consultant, SAM, cos I was comparing them to Bluunis, which gives a better package. I then realised that if you buy 'ala carte', that one ampoule of FGF costs RM38 and you are supposed to apply on your brows after the session so that the healing/colour sticking process can be better, more vibrant colours, etc.  Bluunis offers the gel for free as part of the package.

Immediately after the session - my sister said they looked like caterpillars. Ala-Crayon Shin Chan

 

Day 2

Day 2

Day 3

Close-Up Day 3

Day 3 - Close-up

Day 3 Close-Up

Day 3

The colour is dark brown and there is this layer of CAKE, I call it 'cake' cos it feels like mud sticking on it, cakey feeling.

My mum said the shapes are irregular, but then again, I don't have perfectly symmetrical eyes, so I don't really mind.

 

Day 3 - when I wanted to wash my hair - I used plastic sheet and tape it to my forehead because we are not supposed to let the eyebrows be in contact with water for at least a week -- lol.

Day 4 - the 'cake' is starting to crack. UGLY! You need fillers and this time your eyebrow pencil comes in handy.

DAY 5 - the cracks were more prominent - this is when the 'cake' is shed and the ink is already absorbed by the skin. Looks and fell like a snake shedding its skin at this point!

SUPER UGLY DAY 6 - As expected, it did not turn out 'balanced' after the first session, hence we need the second touch-up session.

CLOSE-UP of the cracked brow cakes. I call them cake cos they feel like mud that stick on your brows and feel cakey.

DAY 8

DAY 10 after first session - THE 'CAKE' Layer is gone - the colour is kinda bland, but hubby likes it, so did my younger bro - but when I stepped into the salon for my second touch-up, they were maybe 'pretending' to be 'appalled' by the faded colour and wanted to promote me their special FGF oil (shown in above pix of the small ampoule)

So the above showed the first session's progress from Day 1 to Day 10 - I was supposed to wait 30 days (a month) for the area to be less tender but my consultant booked me for 14 days later cos I was 'rushing' for a family portrait photoshoot in mid-June, hence I went ahead with my second session early June, barely two weeks after my first session, and I still feel a bit sore on my brows!!!

Immediately after the second session - they didn't look too thick the second time round.

DAY 5 AFTER SECOND SESSION (I peeled off the cake this time, and did not stupidly wait for 7 days before washing my brows/let water touch my brows)

BEFORE

End Result - AFTER TWO SESSIONS

So how was it? PAINFUL? STINGS? TICKLES?

The first time round, I told my consultant I don't wanna feel pain, so he applied the numbing cream twice, which took 10 minutes each time to 'set'. So the first session was virtually painless, save for the slight sting towards the end of that one hour when the numbing cream effects are starting to wear off.

The second time round, as I didn't wait one month for the next session, I went there on Day 15, it was still sore and tender so it hurt till tears fell down naturally. The second session's specialist is gentle and very attentive to my reaction and he did all he could to make it less painful so it was bearable, maybe men in the beauty industry really are more attentive to women compared to a woman-to-woman.

SO HOW PAINFUL WAS THE PAIN?
I do pluck my brows for trimming purposes since my teens, hence the pain is somewhere in between the first time you plucked your brow (which will cause your tears to fall unknowingly) and the usual plucking pain. Still bearable. I heard that the pain that comes with eye-liner tattooing is WORSE! You can read more about it HERE, that blog post made me decided NOT to go to Bluunis.

The first time round it was okay for me, and different individuals have different pain threshold, so I suggest you go for the double layer of numbing cream like what I had the first time round! And don't go back too soon for the second touch-up, some centres even ask you to return within a week, that's too soon! Wait at least 30 days before your next touch-up session.

What I've learned is that it doesn't matter what you do, just trust your instincts.

They tried to sell me a nearly RM400 set of ampoules FGF which is supposed to be called Gold Feathers whatever it is called, award winning product, and the consultant in the second session showed me the print-out on A4 sized paper in a clear holder, and I checked out the ingredients - main ingredients are jojoba oil and tocopherol - which I remembered as the scientific name of Vitamin E.

So I decided NOT to buy despite their pushy sales pitch and made a mental note to drop by a pharmacy on the way home to buy Vitamin E serum. I saved myself RM400 on that extraneous award-winning-ampoule and bought myself a RM30 Vitamin E serum, which worked just as well. I also thank my common knowledge of scientific terms to be able to identify Vitamin E in its chemical compound form. lol.

I will NOT go back there for other stuff from now until 2013 simply because it is a good 30-minute drive on clear traffic - quite far from my place. I will definitely return two years later for my touch-up, which I expect to have a second touch-up, and will finally use up my remaining two sessions that I have pre-purchased.

I am quite satisfied with my brows now. I have bangs/fringes, so my hair usually covers my brows, but you can see the shape through the fringes, and the compliments so far are consistent : They look natural. Yeah, they don't look too dark or fake partly cos I don't allow them to stay on for too long after the second session and I peeled the cake off on Day 5... lol.

The funny thing was, during the first few days after the first session, the 'cake' got too thick and I had difficulty frowning cos it was too tight and it hurts to frown. The second time round, I didn't allow the cake to be too dry cos I washed my brow area on Day 3, so it softened and didn't cause me discomfort with my facial expressions with my brows.

It definitely was a brow raising experience, I have a phobia towards needles but in the name of beauty, anything goes (but not to the more invasive ones with shots/surgery). Not at this point, and hubby does not mind how I look as old age is imminent, and he means it. I love you, hubby! :p