One Year Wiser

It's a couple of days more before I grow yet another year closer to the big three O.

As I had to come back to T-eeny Town to pack up some of the things, my sweet little family decided to take me out for dinner yesterday for an early celebration. Wanting to keep things simple, we settled for the yummylicious D'Italiane Kitchen at Sunway Giza (for those of you who find Giza a little out of the way, they actually do have another branch at Jaya 33. Click here to get to their website.

As soon as we stepped into the mall, the cheeky little Ollie started running around and the moment he laid eyes on a Bob-the-Builder motor ride, all of us were put to a good round of pre-dinner exercise.

Thinking I could outsmart the cute little rascal, this Gu-Gu went, "Ollie, let's go have something VERY nice to eat, and then Gu-Gu will take you out here to have a little ride with Handy Manny okay?"

Putting me back on the electric chair, little Ollie said, "No!! This is not Handy Manny, it's Bob-the-Builder!"

@#$%!... So much for trying to be an "in" aunt.

It took my brother awhile to convince our highness that if we did not start with dinner, it'll be too late for him to ride with Bob later.

Ollie when he finally managed to ride with Bob

We also took some photos in the restaurant.

Check out Ollie and his so-called smile

With Mom

Fresh Mushroom Soup

House Salad

Seafood Platter

Ollie and Mommy

After an amazing dinner, we all adjourned to Bro's place to just chill and have some cake.

Mom made me one of her better recipes -- New York cheese cake with fresh cherries.

Lovingly from Mom

Connie!

My Mommy and Daddy

Ollie and Grandpa. IMHO, I think the cheekiness is in the blood!

We wanted to take one nice family photo, but as always, Ollie successfully screwed it up after at least 10 no-good takes. He almost got a good spank in the butt!

p/s: Just in case any of you are wondering why J has not appeared in any of the photos, or if I've cruelly appointed him the cameraman and banned him from being photographed ;) He was actually away in T-eeny Town. Had to go there for something urgent.

Another year older, hopefully another year wiser! :)

Shiseido White Lucent Serum Launch

I was recently invited by a friend to participate in a Shiseido product study. So basically, all I needed to do was to test a range of products from a brightening range for two weeks, and that was it. Having always had a problem with freckles on my cheekbones due to hardcore sports practice under the sun when I was in school, I simply thought to myself, why not?

So from 8 March onwards, I started using the products for 2 weeks. The star product in this range was actually the White Lucent Intensive Spot Lightening Serum. It contains natural Yomogi Extract and is formulated to deliver intensive brightening benefits. True to its claim, the serum is also lightweight and very easily absorbed.

Shiseido White Lucent Intensive Brightening Serum

Having tried various skin care products in my lifetime, I've always disliked the hassle of using too many products on my face. So maybe I'm just plain lazy, but in this day and age, nothing beats saving a couple of minutes everyday for other things on your to-do list! Hence, this range was simply perfect for me -- straightforward and definitely no rocket science. With just a foaming cleanser (which is another heavenly product), softener, serum and moisturizer (plus sunblock for the day) day and night, I was ready to run!

During the entire two weeks, I tried to observe my skin to see if there were any positive changes, and man was I pleasantly surprised! In just a week, I did manage to see my freckles starting to lighten. I also found my skin a little more bouncy, radiant and poreless as the two weeks went by. With all the good things going on, I actually thought to myself, 'Bummer, another reason to spend money! What am I supposed to do with the skin care that I'm currently using?' I think this is no foreign issue to most of you girls out there, but hey, if you find a miracle product that works, why not stick with it? At least it saves you a lot more money than continuing to "discover" something that works right?

So anyway, after the two weeks were up, I was invited to the launch event at KLCC to give a testimonial on the product. Not having to fake any "positive feedback", I attended the event with not just good comments about the product, but I also had better skin to show for it.

Here are some of the photos.

The four selected testimonies

With Amy, my sis-in-law's twin!

Cosmetics galore!

The spread

The set up

This is a good company with great products

Celina Khor was emcee for the event

Us testifying on stage together with Linda Onn and Jojo Goh

Remember how I mentioned that I was afraid to spend a hefty sum on a whole new set of skincare? Well, at the end of the event, the people at Shiseido were very kind to provide us with a complete set of full sized products! Can you imagine how happy I was? :D

Can't wait to continue my Shiseido brightening journey. Hopefully, all these freckles will just disappear from my face one day. I'll keep you posted when that happens! :)

Being Inspired When You Least Expect It

My futsal shoes needed fixing yesterday. Making a quick dive out during my late lunch, I drove along Jalan Ipoh trying to look for a cobbler and was thankful as it didn't take me long to find one right outside one of the many wedding gown shops in the area.

Securing a parking spot right in front of the stall, I took the shoes to the Pakcik at the stall, who looked no younger than 60 years old. The usual show of shoe and explanation occurred, and Pakcik said that he'd be closing at about 3:00pm. It was then 2:20pm. Needing the shoes that same night for my regular Monday game, I decided to wait. Pakcik told me to sit down in the brown plastic chair right next to him, and we sort of started a casual conversation.

I asked him what his business hours were like, and he told me that he usually operated from 8:30am to 3:00pm. Figuring that he probably had other obligations after 3, such as picking up grandchildren etc, I further clarified if the case was such. He then explained that usually after 3, the sun starts shining into the corridor, and it usually gets too scorching and hot for him to bear. Watching him struggle a little with the sewing of my soles, I was overcome with sympathy, recalling that Pakcik was sitting there doing nothing, merely waiting for customers before my arrival. The six pairs of shoes that he had at his stall were all fixed and ready to be picked up.

This Pakcik had a very kind smile. As he worked, he also told me that he used to stay in the shop lot above the wedding gown one, but recently moved to Chow Kit area. I inquired as to why he had to have his stall all the way at Jalan Ipoh and he said that competition was great in Chow Kit. I was curious as to how he got to work daily, and he explained that he took a public bus. He did not need to lug his tools around daily, as he leaves them by the stairway leading up to his old residence.

Sitting around for the next 15 minutes, I thought about how difficult life must be for Pakcik to make a living. Each day, he would just sit there waiting in the hopes that someone's shoe requires fixing. On days of crazy weather (like how it's been recently), he might just not be able to keep his services available. As I watched Pakcik work, I realized how blessed I was, and how I had life so easy. Sure enough, I was far from being a billionaire, but I was blessed with a proper education, a good family and a comfortably challenging career path. Despite all the uncertainty that Pakcik deals with daily, you could tell from his smile that Pakcik was contented, and his sincere smile said it all.

As he finished up, I paid Pakcik and told him to keep the change. Happily receiving the money, I again saw the same glimmer of hope that I noticed when he first received me to his stall. As the saying goes, 

"Life lies not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well." - Josh Billings 

And this day, Pakcik showed me just that.

 

Michael Buble

The world's super-est duper-est crooner was in town last Sunday. And managed to keep a stadium-full (9,000 people to be exact) of audience happy, if not having left them even bigger fans.

Sure enough, the evening seemed pretty dampened before the concert due to a heavy downpour, but it did not deter two solid world-class sensations from picking everybody's spirits up.

The show started about half an hour late due to the rain, but when Najwa, who did the opening act for Michael Buble at 8pm took the stage, everyone's mood got set just right. I personally found her first song off her debut album, Got to Go very catchy and memorable.

At about 8:35pm, we caught glimpses of the one and only Michael behind curtains, and the crowd went wild. Dressed in a light grey suit, Michael looked sharp and typically suave. He opened the show with Cry Me A River, which I never really liked until that night :)

Michael did a wonderful job engaging the crowd the whole night. He was funny and of course, had an AWESOME voice. He wasn't just your regular run of the mill singer. This guy was a true entertainer. The highlight of the night was when he just sat down in the middle of the stage, introducing his 13-men band. One by one he narrated fanciful and hilarious introductions for each of them. Scripted or not, you could tell that this guy's not all about his own fame, he gave each and everyone of his team members a good opportunity to shine.

Other than belting out a whole list of songs that I loved - Everything, Crazy Love, Georgia, Home (which he did it acoustic), Haven't Met You Yet and a chain of others, he did his usual twirls of the microphone and slid across the stage. There was even a part of stage that was slightly tilted, such that he could slide up and down throughout his performance.

The show ended when he returned to the crowd's cheers for encore, closing with Feeling Good, Me & Mrs Jones and lastly Song For You. He sang the final verse acappella and without a microphone. The crowd was silenced and burst into a standing ovation after he ended.

It was truly a memorable concert. One of the best I've been to in my lifetime. If Michael Buble ever makes a trip here again, I'm sure J & I wouldn't mind forking out that few hundred dollars to go see him once more.

Our home-grown jazz sensation -- Najwa

Buble on the big screen (it was the only way we could make out his face)

Buble on the tilted stage

Check out the stage layout

Really couldn't get very good photos due to all the spot lighting

Bel & I at the entrance

Shaken by the Ground that Shook

I know it's cliched to have an entry on one of the hottest topics around the world at the moment -- the Japan earthquake, but reading up on it has left me tear-filled. Well honestly my chords weren't tugged as hard yesterday, but as I woke up to the aftermath of it today, to see how Japan has been torn apart, and picturing how so many lives have been broken, it shattered me. 

It all happened when my brother sent me an SMS saying that an earthquake had just struck north of Japan, and that he was unable to reach my sister-in-law, Connie, who had left for Tokyo on the 10th. Worried sick, he tried to call her again and again, and also contacted her colleagues here to see if they were able to get hold of any of their Japanese counterparts. I tried reassuring him that after a disaster of such scale, phone lines would usually be affected. Sure enough, about half an hour later, he SMS-ed me back to tell me that Connie was ok. THANK GOD.

As family and friends of mine follow up on this catastrophe, one that's labeled the fifth-largest earthquake in the world since 1900 and was nearly 8,000 times stronger than the one that devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, last month, it really isn't hard to imagine how scary and painful it is for any of the victims who is going through this first hand. We just have to magnify that imagination by like a million folds. I keep telling J that the thought of being caught under a rubble, without having any water, food nor company is simply depressing. Or how about those whose houses were uprooted by the Tsunami, leaving them with no home, and a majority of them with few or no family members left? The thought is just so painful, isn't it? Now with the explosion of the nuclear reactors at Fukushima, it can only get tougher.

Connie is still stranded in Tokyo. The situation there is under control, but since flights are still cancelled, and the airports closed, she can only depart early Monday morning (hopefully with no further changes). This incident has left her a little shaken too, as it is her first time experiencing an earthquake, what's more it being one of the worst. But my dear sister is a toughie, all she's hoping for now is that she comes home soon, and that McDonald's reopens ASAP :)

I really pray that by the grace of our dear Lord, the sufferings of our Japanese friends will be minimized, and that through this, the world is able to see the light behind nations joining hands. So what if you have the world's most powerful firearms or nuclear plants? That may be able to win us mortal wars, but it certainly will not put us in God's mercy books.

God bless Japan.

My BFZ is Back!

I think it's been almost a year since I last saw her... the brilliant girl who excels in every.single.thing that she does.

No kidding.

Ok, so maybe not sports nor her sense of direction, but I think God definitely spent like forever and a day on her brains, because this girl is a super genius! Every exam she sits for, she aces it. This hot doctor's a specialist in the making. Upon completion of her housemanship, she recently went for a whole bunch of exams and interviews to try her luck in various specialty right before her visit back. And surprise surprise (not!), she was selected for all of them!

I think what might have been more shocking was that she was chosen for all but one. That would have been life's greatest mystery. Well anyway I was at her place when she got the notification SMS, and yes, I was definitely proud of my dear ole BFZ. I mean, who wouldn't? She's always been the straight A student, but never just a nerd. She parties, she flirts (yes you do my dear so admit it!), she drinks and she dresses.. what is there not to like in a friend like that? Even her Greek beau, Dimitri, was utterly impressed, and I'm not the least bit surprised.

So, after such a long long time, we did a little bit of catching up. Chatting and getting to know the man in her life, and her getting to know mine (well she already knows a lot about mine but there can never be too many "updates", can there?). I playfully teased her about not being able to attend my wedding, and could tell how bad she felt (she had to start her new attachment in a new hospital then).

Well, all that said, I hope that we'll be able to spend a lot more time together before she goes back to London.

Great friendships are hard to find. This is definitely one of them.

Our VERY MUCH younger days

The Wannabe Fashion Editor

Was playing around with fashion layouts for a coming project *keeping my fingers crossed* and managed to put together the below. Very new to this and needing heaps of skill-brush up, hope you like it!

Earth and Its Corals

When Popeye Meets His Match

We're Going Home!

I’ve been getting the shake up lately, by some friends who complain that I don’t update my blog often enough. Well it’s not exactly my fault, is it? YOU are supposed to make my life more interesting so that I have more to write about! Hahaha… Kidding! You guys are great! :)

Anyway, fret not, you can now do that more often coz J and I are moving back to KL for good! Due to some changes in business direction, they are moving part of the business back to Peninsular, and with a little bit more of heavy travelling to and fro the east and west of Malaysia, I will just stay put in KL while catching glimpses of my husband over the weekends.

Not one to favour long distance relationships, I guess I don’t have much of a choice, considering I seem to have been thrown at it time and time again. Oh well, to look on the bright side, that means I’ll have more time for my family, friends and hopefully, a new career start up.

With that, it’s time to put on my thinking cap, to plan ahead and decide what I need to do next. Then again, spontaneity seems to have been smacking me in the face since forever. Till it decides to go for a holiday, I’ll just have to pluck up my guts and learn to go with the flow.