... and you are one of them!
Solemn....
We'll be going back hometown tomorrow for a relative's wedding which happens this weekend. It's been about a month since we last went back, and Ikhwan's four grannies can't wait to see him and miss him so much.
I learn from parents that our beloved cat, Sky has been sick for about a week now. He's 13 years old, and that is considered quite an old age (not to forget, wise) for cats. We love Sky very much. I..... love Sky very much. It's just that lately, I hadn't been able to spend as much time with him whenever I was in hometown - being a family man and all... Sky is such a unique cat - his characters can't be found in any other cats I've known and seen. I hope he'll recover fully soon enough.
I remember the first cat my sister and I owned. His name was Nit. The day he died, I was crying my eyes out. I was 12 years old at that time, if I'm not mistaken and that day marked the first day I started having a diary. Now, I no longer write, as in by hand, in a diary anymore. This blog is more or less a diary of mine too...
Meantime, David Cook wins the American Idol - a difference of 12 million votes between him and the 2nd place winner, David Archuleta.... way to go Cook!!!
Labels: Life, Music, My Families, Sky, TV shows
Sales pitch (of sales and selling oneself)
Wow, almost three weeks have passed huh, since I last wrote in this blog. The thing is, I've been rather busy. Other than spending most of the time with Ikhwan, there are other non-job related stuffs that (my wife and) I need to straighten up. At times, I feel perhaps I should just give this blog a wrap. But then, there are so many things I had shared in the past, that I don't want to lose, should this blog be removed by Blogger after many months of no updates. Also, I'm sure there'll be stuffs in the future, that I would definitely feel like sharing with the whole world, especially those involving Ikhwan or my family.
But one thing for sure, should the day has come when I've made up my mind not to blog anymore, I'd print out all the entries (photos, sketches and comments included) and bind them like a book, so that one day, when I'm already old(er) and my children all grown up, at least I can share with them that their father once had a blog called boulevard-ijab.
Anyway, back to usual blogging for today. I went to a music store, VS in Sg. Wang Plaza (a shopping complex) the other day, to get the latest Madonna's CD but it was still not out yet (sori, I find the cover of her latest album too..... scantily to portray it here).
VS is my favourite store when it comes to buying the latest original music CDs. Newly released albums or albums of a particular artiste whose song is currently a hit over the radio stations, are sold at 10 to 25% off their original prices, much cheaper than other stores.
The size of VS store is relatively smaller and I'm not aware if they have branches elsewhere. But, they have a good strategy in winning over their customers. Compared to other more popular music stores which require customers to own certain membership cards or to purchase above certain $$ to get discounts on newly released CDs, VS store offers CDs at much cheaper prices with no terms and conditions attached to it. The only condition is that, you have to be quick and lucky enough to get them before they are sold out or before the store removes the albums to regular-priced items shelves.
The VS' unique sales pitch has enabled them to survive the competition, not only with other stores selling music CDs but also stores selling other stuffs, in this 4-storey shopping complex building.
The building that housed Sg. Wang Plaza (SWP) is one of the earliest built. Back then, obviously, not much attention was paid to the design of the building. As a result, on the outside, the shopping complex looks just like another square-shaped building.
Not just on the outside, the inside of the building is also rather poorly planned (in my opinion). Despite still heralded as one of the most popular shopping spots in KL, one cannot deny the fact that on each floors, SWP is crammed with so many shops along its many aisles, with some shops are rather hidden (i.e. not easily found, unless by chance) than the rest. Now, let's not even talk about Bukit Bintang Plaza, which is adjacent to Sg. Wang Plaza and within the same building. It has more stores there too..
Come to SWP or BB Plaza during festive seasons or when there are sales, you'd find the ambience, especially on the lower floors, rather suffocating and you might prefer other shopping complexes which are more spacious instead.
One thing I notice about SWP is that when it comes to product categories, most of the shops sell fashion apparels (especially for women). With Parkson as SWP's major tenant (and Metro Jaya in BB Plaza) and plenty of popular shopping complexes around, I wonder how do the smaller shops make themselves stand out or any different from their competition. What's their unique sales pitch (provided there's any)? Guess, that's why certain shops close down only to be replaced with another that also sells clothing lines... sigh...
Let's reflect having sales pitch in real life. You don't have to be in sales to have your own sales pitch. In fact, we are already good sales persons ever since babies. Babies/toddlers have their way of getting what they want (well, most of the time) like by crying, screaming, throwing tantrums, or simply, by showing their sweet, chubby and have-mercy-on-me kind of face (ok, I'm thinking about my baby here and perhaps, Puss in Boots of Shrek 2 too).
As adults, we may have to think through on our sales pitches (or tricks, as some might prefer) in 'winning over' the love of our dreams, in obtaining the blessing of our parents (and future parents in law) before getting married, getting that dream job or the promotion we're after, having our arguments/opinions/suggestions accepted, defending our rights or wanting to be included in the group of peers.
So, what's your sales pitch? Whatever it is, just don't sell yourselves short la ok or cause other people to be sickened by your pathetic 'sales pitch' :-)
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Madonna is one of those singers/entertainers whose voice is easily recognisable without the need to see her singing. Ok, so, she doesn't have such an outstanding voice that can be projected like what Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Whitney Houton and the likes can. But Madonna is an entertainer who doesn't rely solely on her voice. She has the whole package and her unique sales pitch makes her still a sought after singer to this day.
One may argue that her music styles have changed over the years and her 'older' songs are more catchy and memorable. I mean surely you can remember and may still even hum to the songs like Holiday, Material Girl, Like A Virgin, Papa Don't Preach, True Blue, La Isla Bonita, Like a Prayer, Cherish and Oh Father. Compare those with her most recent songs, the difference is highly noticable. I strongly believe that Madonna's strategy is to win over the hearts of younger people, so that she is not known only to older people like me, hahhahaaa...
Labels: Life, Malaysia, Music, Of....and...., Travel
Penguin Rush
