I’m not kidding when I say I’ve been sick as a dog the past 5 days. Frequent readers would know that I usually get to updating almost immediately after an event, what more a holiday. I saved up like mad to go on this trip to Cambodia so I was excited like I’ve never been before to start blogging about it, to share with you guys my photos and travel anecdotes. Alas, I had to fall sick, to an irritating little thing called “sun-poisoning” no less, so that stole 5 precious days away from me.

But that’s behind us now and I’m feeling brand new so let’s get started! =D

Ahhh I finally got to see for myself the cheesy airplane wing out of the window view. I’ve never been on an airplane before prior to this so it part and parcel made the trip all that more looked forward to. Granted we only flew AirAsia but like I’d know the difference between a low cost carrier and a more expensive one anyway, since I’ve been in neither haha. It was nothing to shout about I guess, until you break above the clouds and see nothing but a sea of fluffy white cotton candy no matter how many degrees you turn your head. And it’s also taught me that one of the most beautiful things you can ever witness in life, is sunrise above those clouds, 40, 000 feet in the air. It just took my breath away.

The clouds look so tangible you’d wonder if you hopped right out of the airplane right there and then, would it hold your weight?

Siem Reap is a two hour flight away from Kuala Lumpur. Your itinery might say only an hour but that’s because Cambodia is an hour behind Malaysian time. Like precisely an hour.

If you’re to ask me off the top of my head what was my first thought of the place, it’s that it’s very hot. Very, very hot. Despite Cambodia lying very near us on the equator line, its sun, for some reason, is just something like 5 times hotter and 5 times more searing on the skin. We felt it almost immediately after stepping out of the airplane despite wearing long jeans and sweaters.

No prizes for guessing what gave me my sun-poisoning =P

First tuoristy shot upon landing!

Our hotel had very kindly arranged free airport transfer for us so it was only a matter of looking out for the Ninja Rabbit’s name at the arrivals. I spotted it first, printed in almost perfect handwriting and spelling on a piece of neon orange cardboard, held up by our Tuk Tuk driver who would become a good friend over the next 6 days.

Everyone, this is Ah-Mi. He works for the hotel and has to be ready to receive tourists from the hotel to take them around from as early as 7am everyday, up until the last tourist is ready to call it a day. It could be 9pm if he’s lucky, so he gets to go home and get some sleep, or it could be 2am if they decide to stay out and go drinking. Either way he has to be at the hotel steps by 7 sharp the next morning. He earns $40USD a month, and he gets no day off throughout the whole year. Yup, that means he works seven days a week, sometimes up to 18 hours a day, all for $40 a month. His only breaks are the first three days of the Cambodian New Year (which I’m assuming is something like our Chinese New Year since they’re mostly Buddhists there) and that is the only time of year he gets to travel 200km home to the village where he was born and where his girlfriend is, in Kampung Cham. Despite his circumstance, every morning when he sees us, he’ll greet us with the heartiest, “Good morning! Where would you like to go today?”. I’ve not seen him not smile in all the 6 days we were there.

He really makes you appreciate your job now, doesn’t he?

We made it a point to tip him at the end of every day because he would really go out of his way to show you the hidden treasures and secluded spots only the locals would know of. Even a tip as small as $2 would make him smile so wide, it makes me want to hug him.

Motorcycles are the main mode of transportation in Cambodia. Motorcycles and bicycles actually, but sometimes it can get too hot to even ride a bicycle. There is the occasional car or two, owned by the really rich of the nation, but most of the locals make do with small kapchai motorcycles, even the ladies. We saw for ourselves this young woman clearly on her way to work with a freshly pressed blouse and stockings and 3-inch high heels on her feet, making her way through traffic on a scooter.

According to the Ninja Rabbit, these are the more privileged few who can afford to go to school. Even then, you’ll notice they hardly have matching shoes to wear, most of them making do with the odd slipper or sandal. I can’t begin to imagine how far more they had to walk in that insane heat. I was already feeling dizzy in the Tuk Tuk. They waved and shouted across the street “hello!” at us when we drove by them. Ah-Mi says most of them love cameras and if you point one at them, they would more than willingly pose for you.

After a 20-minute ride, we finally arrived at our hotel. This place, omg. Dream. Come. True. It was so much more than we ever dared imagine for the price we paid! We came across this deal on Agoda quite by chance a few months ago. It was on a 40% off deal and it was the only one that looked quaint enough without the whole commercial, impersonal feel of bigger hotels, so we went with it. We didn’t regret it one bit.

It wasn’t anything lavish, which wasn’t what I was looking for anyway, but the place was decent, the location looked safe and the bathrooms were clean. The Ninja Rabbit is very particular about bed bugs so he did his mandatory round near the bedposts and mattress edges and found no sign of them. Yay!

We even had a pool! It’s nothing big but in the evenings, you’d find other guests splashing about in it or lounging by the decks next to it reading a book. Everything simply looked so serene and ideal. We kept saying we’d take a dip one of the days but after every day out in the city, we’d either be too tired, or just not bothered hahaha. Such a shame, I kinda regret not having gone into the pool at least once now.

Not sure if it was the excitement, or if we were just really sleep-deprived, we ended up falling straight asleep after settling down HAHAHAHA. And we slept for nearly 5 hours. We woke up at about 3pm and by then the receptionist told us it would be a better idea to hit the major tourist hotspots (like Angkor Wat!) tomorrow so we’d get our ticket’s worth. Instead, she suggested we just take today slow and make a tour around Old Market (their closest thing to a city centre cuz that’s where all the food outlets, bars and restaurant are) before proceeding to dinner. We took her up on her suggestion.

Siem Reap, where do I even begin. It’s almost like home at one glance but upon closer scrutiny, you’ll realise that it is oceans and continents apart. You’ll see a baguette truck selling fresh vegie sandwiches (nothing out of the ordinary there) but just around the corner there are children playing by themselves unsupervised, some without shoes, some without clothes. They’ll laugh among themselves and roll about on the ground, dirt smudging their otherwise smooth cheeks. The remnants of war is everywhere. Landmine victims, some with no arms and some with no legs, do their best to get by on a daily basis.

A lot of them still maintain a very positive outlook on life. Most of them do not want to have to resort to begging so they try their best to sell books, souvenirs, the odd keychain or two. This particular man on the tricycle, lost both his legs to a landmine in 1990. He still goes about town to try to earn a buck or two so he can send his two children to public school. He can be seen almost every evening going around Pub Street and the Old Market selling his books on Cambodian history.

These two girls were going around selling colourful friendship bracelets and everytime the street cleared of tourists, they snuck aside and started reading what appears to be an English activity book. It broke my heart seeing the extent they had to go through to get a bit of studying squeezed in when back home we had to have our parents shouting at us and chasing after us with canes to pay attention to our books.

Street food was a big deal there in Siem Reap. Everywhere you go there’ll be a small stall selling grilled meats and foods of all sorts. The weirdest I’ve seen yet is grilled bananas. These bananas are peeled before put to the grill so they get all dehydrated and charred from the coal. Out of curiosity, we bought a stick; they tasted like a weird combination of tapioca with only the slightest hint left of banana-ey sweetness lol.

Believe it or not, they eat these too!! Crocodile is a huge delicacy in Cambodia. I never got to try it (nor do I dare, ugh) but a friend said the meat is really tough so it’s not a nice things to have for dinner at all. The Khmer are very resourceful though, I must give it to them. Because of the Tonle Sap lake, the biggest freshwater lake in South East Asia, almost all of Cambodia and its swamp areas used to be infested with crocodiles. Instead of allowing the crocs to scare them however, they’ve turned the tables around and started hunting the crocodiles instead. They eat the meat, use the leather for bags, shoes, belts and other leather goods, and even taxidermise them as above for sale. These are the smaller ones ages about 4-5months. I’ve seen some 5-6 years old, they’re longer than a full-grown man =O

HAHAHAHAHAHA the Ninja Rabbit insisted on desecrating something on this trip and upon seeing the crocs took his long-awaited chance. There was a lady waiting in a car right in front of us, who burst out laughing at seeing him do it. At least we managed to make someone’s day!

We had just enough time to do that little bit of exploring, grab a quick dinner before it was time for something very special in the evening!

We had bought tickets to Pharé: Cirque du Soleil, otherwise also known as the Cambodian Circus.

What sets this show apart was that it was a human-only show, banking in on unbelievable acrobatic stunts and breath-taking human contortionists. I’ve never supported circuses that make use of animals in their shows. If you knew of the methods of torture they put the animals through to train them to execute a certain move or stunt, you’d swear animal circuses out of your life too if you were humane.

Another plus point to this show was that almost all of its cast are comprised of underprivileged children and young adults who were handpicked to be trained in this art so that they may have a way of making a living. It was heavily advertised all over town so after doing some background check on them and learning of all this, I insisted we went for the 7.30pm show.

It was amazing.

10 minutes in I was wondering if we had made the right decision because they were just dancing around a lot but when they got to the good parts, omg, even the Ninja Rabbit was left with his mouth hanging wide open at some of the stuff they pulled off.

There was your usual juggling and skipping and flipping, but there was also a whole lot of other things you’ll never have guessed!

Some of their stunts were so death-defying, I genuinely worried for the poor person at the top. I mean, I know they are trained and all but human error was still something we had to think about.

This guy was both the Ninja Rabbit and my favourite. Despite the face make up and costume, his personality really shone through his performance . It also helped that he did one of the most unbelievable stunt that night.

He was just tethering on that tower of cylindrical blocks and they were almost swimming from left to right under his weight. How he managed to get up there and stay up there is beyond me. The whole audience erupted in a thunderous applause when he did, so loudly that I was afraid the noise vibration from the clapping would knock him over lol.

They had equal parts daredevil stuff and equal parts graceful, pretty stuff to look at.

The aerial trapeze was immensely mesmerizing. She swayed and bent in the air like she had no bones, I was completely captivated.

The Ninja Rabbit pointed something out about their show which I hadn’t noticed. They employed the most basic of props and tools in their show, probably to save cost, yet they delivered so exemplararily. Normally with the likes of other circuses, their performers would be decked out in elaborate costumes that’s colourful and shiny and expensive-looking. Here, everything they wore to everything they used in the show was as plain as they came.

Yet they really entranced us all with their true skills and showmanship. Talk about making do with what you have eh?

Needless to say, we had an amazing first night in Siem Reap watching these guys literally bend over backwards to steal an exclamation or two from us.These young athletes definitely have a lot of potential going for them. I really hope they make it big and maybe even go international one day.

I’ll update again soon with Part 2 (Finally the part you’ve been waiting for, the temples!! Hehehe) but I gotta catch some shut eye now. I’m a working girl now, didn’t you know? ;] Busy, busy, people to meet and places to be tomorrow! Haha I just wanted to try that out and see how it rolls off my tongue.

Take care, all, and have a great start of the week, peeps!

Cambodia — it is an old giant trying to learn how to walk again in the ravaged aftermath of war. Its people are as diverse and colourful as the history they were born of and given their past, they deserve so much more. The Khmer was one of the strongest race around back in the day, defeating even the likes of Thailand, which was what gave Siem Reap its name. Siem Reap, the name itself literally means “the flat defeat of Siam” — today’s Thailand — when the Khmer King Ang Chan shot dead the Siam ruler, Prince Ong on elephant back. How bad ass is that?? Lol. His victory routed the Thais, captured no less than 10,000 Thai troops, and earned the Khmer a much deserving place in history, as well as their home, in what is known today as the Kingdom of Cambodia.

We went to all the places you’d find on the map in our six days there — all their temples and shrines, the Tonle Sap lake, even the war museum — so I have something like over a thousand photos to process and filter through before I can properly start blogging. In the meantime, here’s a sneak preview, a small video summary of our trip to tide you through because I get agitated when I don’t update this blog hehe. Do watch it as I stayed up till nearly 5 putting it together and, if I may say so, it’s my best videolog yet. I’ll update again soon with a proper post because I have so much to share and so much to write about this beautiful, beautiful city. I’ve never had such profound respect for a nation before, one which has risen and pushed forth many time and again no matter how often they’ve been kicked to their knees. So yes, please do watch this vid and stay tuned for future updates!

P/S: Watch it in HD! I went to the extra mile of recording and compiling everything in 1080HD so it would be a shame if it’s not enjoyed the way it’s meant to be, heh.

This is a scheduled post by which time it is published, we would already be in Cambodia! We’ve been looking forward to this trip since January when we booked the tickets, I can’t believe it’s only hours away now till we set foot in one of the oldest kingdom ruins in the world. It feels like a total dream come true because I’ve always wanted to visit since reading about it in my Form 1 history textbook. Can’t wait to trek the temples and forests and pretend to be Lara Croft! Hehehe. Oh the sights and sounds and things we’ll encountering, I’m grinning like a fool just thinking about it all.

This trip is also somewhat special to me because it would be the first time I’ll be boarding a plane and flying off somewhere haha. Yes, I’ve never been on an airplane before, mostly because I’ve never had anyone to go travelling to these far off places with and now I do. I’m so super glad I’ll be embarking on this journey with the Ninja Rabbit. He’s promised to take me range shooting (hopefully I’ll get to fire an AK47), bug-eating (fried locusts! YUM!) and all the other nitty-gritty adventure stuff. This is my kind of holiday, roughing it out in the great outdoors and feeling as close as a part of the culture and nature as possible.

We’ll be back only in a week’s time so this is just a head’s up that this space will be abandoned for a bit. See you all real soon with hopefully tonnes of awesome adventure photos =D

Have a great weekend yourselves!

Guess what we were up to last Sunday afternoon? =D

We decided to do something a little different from our usual brunch and mall-trawling and by recommendation from Sheena, decided to drop by the newly opened Citta Mall for a round of Mini Golf! Hehehe.

You might think it’s not anything new but this is the first time I’ve come across a mini golf place in Malaysia (yea we’re a little behind times like that, boo-hoo) so we were pretty psyched about putting our first hole! I’ve always wanted to have a go at it from seeing it all the time in movies and all (boy and girl goes on a date and it’s usually the movies or mini golf lol). Finally we have the chance!

Mini golf indeed, so much so that most of their other golfers there that day were mini in size too hahaha. We felt so totally out of place in that sea of what I’m guessing are no more than kindergarteners. But pretty cool isn’t it?! A little messy to take in at first glance but they have this numbered markers  next to every hole so after some getting used to, you’ll be making your way around the course with no trouble in no time.

Everything about the place was so mini that the Ninja Rabbit had some trouble locating a club that was long enough for him hahaha. Some are so short they’re probably only about half a metre long! We joked that it looked to be made for Alfred hahaha. Too adorable.

Score-counting was simple enough. You write down how many strokes it took you to put the ball in the hole accordingly and the person with the least amount of strokes win. No fancy-schmancy golf terms and jargons as I was afraid of, luckily.

Here we go!

I’ve never golfed before — regular or mini — so I had no idea whatsoever what I was doing. I was probably doing everything wrong, from the way I was holding the golf stick (is that what you call it?) to how I was standing prior to executing my shot. See, I’m even talking in basketball terms now because that’s about the only game sport I know lol.

What do I think of golf now that I’ve had a taste of it?

I hate it. I really, truly, genuinely hate it. UGH.

I’ve never played something so frustrating before. If I hit it too softly it moves all but 3 inches. If I hit it too hard, it flies right out of the square box thingy, whatever it is you call it. Worst part? The ball, no matter how you hit at it, simply refuses to enter the hole!! I’m serious, it would rim the edges of the hole and then roll off elsewhere, anywhere but fall into it.

WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?? T_T

Many times I nearly killed someone with my flyaway golf ball HAHAHAHAHA and once even nearly broke one of their glass windows. People were looking at me with this look of caution in their eyes everytime I went near them LOLOLOLOL.

Then again, maybe it’s just me because the Ninja Rabbit seems to be doing fine, recording an average of two strokes per hole, maximum 3, all the way. Mine was somewhere in the double digits T_T

Thankfully the maximum number of strokes to be recorded is 7 so it didn’t look that bad on paper hahaha.

This picture of the Ninja Rabbit reminded me so much of Adam Sandler’s movie, Happy Gilmore lol. Here he is, a giant towering full grown young adult, waiting in line with little kids who come up to more than his waist, playing mini golf. Oh yea, you can book out the whole place and throw a party too if you like. Makes for an interesting party alternative don’t you think? I might just seriously consider that, only — oh yea, I forgot — I hate golf =.=

Halfway through, the Ninja Rabbit began to fancy himself a pro-golfer and started talking about tactics and strategies lol. It’s hilarious because this was mini golf, how do you take mini golf seriously?

The courses slowly but surely got harder and harder to get past too =(

The first few holes were simple enough to maneuver the ball around but come around the 5th or 6th hole, I was on the verge of rage-quitting lol.

I mean look! They had all these elaborate and complicated contraptions everywhere that made putting that ball into the hole almost impossible. Spinning windmills and and rotating barrages and what not. Who comes up with these things?? And this is all supposed to be kid-friendly? I can just imagine a kid getting his head stuck in one of those things while trying to retrieve his golf ball and in a freak accident, gets decapitated. (OK maybe I’ve been watching too much SAW haha).

My face when another of my hits did not go through as intended. Which was about 70% of the time we were there LOLOLOLOLOL. I am soooo bad at this, seriously. Gimme a basketball and I can give you a three-point without the ball even touching the rims of the basket, but this?? It has successfully made me feel like I have zero hand-eye coordination.

HAHAHAHAHA this was when I nearly hit the Ninja Rabbit with another of my flying golfballs. He jumped out of the way like I’ve never seen him before — all arms and legs flying everywhere like the tentacles of a giant squid. Everyone turned and looked at what the commotion was, it was the most embarrassing moment ever. He let me re-try the shot but needless to say, I was laughing too hard to execute anything considered remotely decent.

After a while, things got pretty boring. You just stand around and chase after this small dimpled ball everywhere it goes trying to put it into the hole. I was yawning incessantly by the time we reached the 11th hole, and felt scandalized when I learnt there were 7 more to go =(

The Ninja Rabbit says real golf is a lot more fun (when he got to play it, I have no idea) because you’re not just confined to this small little space where you can hardly move without tripping over either a platform, or a small kid lol. I suppose there is some truth in that, otherwise I can’t imagine why so many middle-aged rich tycoons love the game so much. I heard range-driving is a lot more fun too; anything must be a lot more fun compared to this! The only time I enjoyed myself was when I nearly give someone a concussion D:

It was boring towards the end, but it was still an afternoon well-spent laughing at our own stupidity and inability to play mini golf lol. Or rather, my stupidity and inability to play golf because the Ninja Rabbit did pretty well actually haha.

At least now I can say I’ve tried mini golf although whether I’d go back or not is another question altogether =P

Ending this rather abruptly because I’m still not done figuring out what to bring to Cambodia haha. We fly in 2 days! Only One more sleep till I get to pretend to be Lara Croft, Tomb Raider ;]

Have a great rest of the week everyone!

To help ease my workload, Alfred is taking over the keyboard today. Let’s hear what he has to say! =D

Hello, fellow Netizens! We’ve met once before but just in case you’ve forgotten, it’s me again, Alfred, the cutest, fluffiest and most adorable teddy bear you’re gonna meet online. To read more about me and my adventures, click on the Alfred-ism tag in the tagcloud widget to your right hehe. You’ll want to because I do the most interesting things at home when the humans are away! ;]

Today, the blog mistress is on another one of her panic meltdowns again because she can’t decide which camera lens to bring to Camboba and the really tall guy who usually has to take all her tantrums is at the end of his wits trying to come up with a solution. Perfect timing for me to sneak some online time on their computer! =D

I’ve told you what I usually do at home when the humans are out, now I wanna tell you all about my favourite colour, brown. And what better way to show you how much the colour brown means to me than by showing it through means of my favourite foods! =D

Why do I like the colour brown?

For starters, Nutella is brown. Nutella is the world’s yummiest breadspread I tell you. If you disagree with me, I’m sorry to tell you that you have no tastebuds. Why stop at calling it a breadspread. Eat it with anything!! Crackers, scones, cupcakes, blend it into milkshake. Eat it on its own. The possibilities are unless given a little creativity. Everytime I see the colour brown I’ll automatically think of Nutella now, my favouritest food in the whole wide world.

Guess what else is brown?? Yes, PEANUT BUTTER!! My second most favourite food in the world is brown too. Coincidence? I think not. Who doesn’t like peanut butter, really. I’ve never met a single person, human or bear, who doesn’t like peanut butter. Chucky or creamy, sweet or with a slight hint of salt, I like them all. I can eat it straight out of the jar or paired with other stuff like bread, and I can eat it anytime of the day. Have you ever tried a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich??? That was the day I went into hyperventilation from what the humans call it a sugar-overdose but if you ask me, it was more of a happiness overdose. Peanut butter and Nutella together makes for the most heavenly afternoon snack!

Chocolate’s brown too, the one food that’s scientifically proven to be the world’s number one most craved food. I don’t doubt that statement at all because in our house of three girls, the fridge is always stocked with all sorts of chocolate bars like this. Most other people’s fridges are probably always stocked with beer or something but ours always has chocolate. We never — never — run out of chocolate. Chocolate stimulates the release of endorphins upon consumption, that’s natural happy hormones produced by the brain that generates feelings of pleasure and promotes a sense of wellbeing. Must be because it’s brown in colour =P

Mustard…is not brown. But I reckon if you left it out long enough it’d eventually turn brown haha! I just really like mustard so I wanted to make a small mention of it.

What else is brown?

The blog mistress’s favourite ice-cream is brown! Yes, she loves Magnum ice-cream and can have one a day if the really tall guy doesn’t stop her. Her record for Magnums consumed in one sitting is something like 4 I believe, one of those days with she wasn’t feeling well and was complaining about some kind of cramps in her lower abdomen. She doesn’t like just any Magnum ice-cream either; her favourite’s the Chocolate Brownie one. Brownie because it’s brown inside and out? Hehe. The Chocolate Brownie Magnum is my favourite one too ^_^

Speaking of foods that this house never runs out of — ICE-CREAM! Everyone who’s ever visited our place before loves opening our freezer and helping themselves to the never-ending stock of ice-cream we seem to have. It’s not like we go out and get it re-stocked on purpose everytime we’re anywhere near finishing our supply. Some stroke of luck will always bless us with so much ice-cream we will think we can’t possibly finish, but end up doing just that anyway hehe. The fastest to finish will always be the chocolate ice-cream, that also happens to be brown in colour! There’s just something about foods that come in this wonderfully delicious colour I tell you. They all taste equally as good as they look!

And the best reason why brown is an awesome colour to have all around?

Cuz I’m brown in colour!! There’s no colour sexier to be in if you ask me. Brown isn’t only a pleasant colour to look at, it’s been associated with only the best traits in people too.

What are some of the things that come to your mind when you think or see the colour brown? Warmth, stability, comfort, and all things nice, I’m sure. It makes me think of my warm little bed in my happy little home filled with all my favourite yummy foods to fill my happy little stomach. Nothing makes me feel right at home and a greater sense of belonging than this down-earth and reliable shade of nature.

Is it any wonder that all my favourite foods I listed above come in the colour brown? Seriously think about it! Nutella, peanut butter, chocolate and ice-cream… The odds that they all just happen to be brown in colour is too damn high! There’s bound to be some mysterious force of the universe at work here. Because we all know all brown foods are the yummiest! And we also all know what lies at the opposite end *coughs* green veggies *coughs*.

If you also love the colour brown like me, but unfortunately do not have a great bodily metabolism unlike me, here’s another way you can still have brown in your life!

The Samsung Galaxy Note II now comes in the colour brown so you can pretend you’re carrying a bar of chocolate around for a little pick-me-up any time of day.

It’s not just any brown either. It’s a nice Amber Brown that’s a timeless classic colour, a nice strong and bold colour of tree-wood resin that will never go out of style. My favourite part? It makes me think of dark chocolate, or the chocolate sauce you usually drizzle on top of towering ice-cream sundaes =D

If you like me, love the colour brown, then this is the phone for you!! The blog mistress recently got an S4 that’s white in colour and while that’s pretty to look at and all, I think this brown is more enigmatic in a lot of ways. The really tall guy has a Note I that’s black in colour and in comparison with this brown unit, black suddenly seems quite boring to look at.

Plus, who doesn’t like having a phone that looks like a chocolate bar?? That’s like endorphins on the go everytime you use your phone! = D

So go now to your nearest Samsung retailer and have a look at this pretty new edition of the Samsung Note II.

If you can, do me a favour and lick it for me. Then let me know if it tastes as good as it looks =D

Anything brown usually only means good things!

So there’s been a lot of buzz going around basically everywhere regarding the new Samsung Galaxy S4 about all the amazing things it can do, and who can blame the people really. It’s been dubbed the most sophisticated cellphone technology by a couple or two technology websites and even Samsung themselves are calling this newest brainchild of theirs, a “life companion”.

Big words if you ask me, not something to be taken lightly or at face value.

Call it what you will — life companion, domestic partner, tool, toy — at the bottomline of it all, the S4 is a great smartphone.

Let’s just get the one single peeve I have about it out of the way before we proceed. The one and about only downside to this lovely piece of cellphone evolution, is that it comes in a boring and plastic-ky housing. No sleek metal and shiny sophisticated edges here as in the iPhone 5 or the HTC One, this unit’s principal rivals. All it has is a lightweight and somewhat flimsy-feeling obviously plastic shell but hey, you’re gonna put it in a fancy protective case anyway, aren’t you? Then all that matters to you should be the only part you’ll actually feel, see, and touch — the screen.

And oh, that screen, it’s beautiful. It’s a 5″ diagonal 1920 x 1080 bright Super AMOLED screen boasting 441 pixels per inch and supporting full 1080p HD video. That’s a screen that’s considerably bigger than both the iPhone and HTC One, with a higher pixel density than the former and a tough competition for the latter. As someone who is particularly nitpicky with my photos and how they turn out, this is a feast for my eyes. I’ve never seen my photos in such brilliant detail and vivid colours before.

In other words, this screen rocks some serious ass. The details are sharp, the colours rich and saturated, and words show up clean and crisp. This is all layered under the very formidable Gorilla Glass 3, the miracle shatter-proof glass perfect for total klutzes like me. It won’t break, won’t crack, won’t chink, yet is still sensitive enough for you to operate the S4 while wearing gloves. Take that.

The visual is great, but what about sound? Funny I should bring that up, I know, because these days, it seems almost old-fashioned to be talking on the phone anymore. Some people use their phones to text, but most people use it to send emails, update Facebook, read blogs, play games. They use it to do almost anything else except making calls. I must say, the sound quality on this baby is great with distinct background noise separation. No echo-ey, distant quality, as if the person on the other end is talking to you from the other end of a tunnel. When loudspeaker is turned on, the delivery does get a little too soft but that is by no means a dealbreaker given all the other things the S4 can do.

So what are these other things that the S4 can do? Well for one, you can answer and receive calls without having to even touch the phone.

We all know Nasi Kandar and that delicious side of mutton varuval is best savoured using your hands, Malaysian-style. But don’t you hate it when someone decides to call you in the middle of that meal?

Just wave your hand over the motion detector at the top of the phone and you may easily choose to answer the call (on loudspeaker of course) or cancel the call altogether. Likewise, you may just turn the phone facedown and that irritating insurance salesman’s call will be directed immediately to voicemail. Samsung understands that at this modern day and age of easy access to information, the oddest individuals find their way to obtaining your phone number. That don’t mean you have to entertain them all ;]

While we’re at the topic of not having to touch our phones, let’s talk about speech, so to speak. The S4 has a built-in mic key — yes, that’s Microphone Key in case we’re unclear on this — with which we can easily speak into and have the articulated words typed out for us. It is accessible anywhere that requires typing and its accuracy is great if you wanna compare it to the iPhone’s SIRI. Just speak a little slower and practise your best diction and you’ll soon find sending texts and emails from your smartphone one of the fastest means of written communication. This is especially useful for those who probably hate typing on a miniscule keyboard or are beginning to suffer from sore thumbs.

For the high-flying businessman who has clients from all over the globe, do you need to communicate with someone in a foreign language? The S4 has a very cool translation feature that would automatically do all the translating for you, whether spoken or written. Speak in English into the phone and have your phone play out the version in Spanish. Have your Italian friend speak to you in his mother tongue and listen to the English version just a few seconds later. It will transcribe the script down in text too so you can use it for further reference should you want. It’s the fastest, promptest translation tool I’ve laid my eyes on yet; your texts get translated on the way out and the other person’s get translated on the way in.

Don’t just talk to humans anymore, talk to your phone! Launch the camera and order the phone to take the photo for you by simply saying “Shoot!”. This helps to reduce shakiness when taking your photos so you get the steadiest shot possible since you’ll no longer have to manually snap the picture. Smiling and saying “Cheese!” works too, can you imagine the amount of finger exercise saved on this? No more shaky and blurry photos from trying to balance the camera while pressing down on the shutter with your thumb!

Speaking of cameras, this one in particular takes a whopping 13-megapixel images and records videos in a brilliant 1080p 30fps speed. It also comes with a variety of really cool modes that will make any teenage  girl ditch her stand-alone compact camera for. Some examples among them include the Dual-Shot function that allows you to take photos with both front and back camera; the Animated Photo function that lets you capture GIFs or, in other words, moving images; the Drama Shot function that captures a series of photos in a fast moving scene; and of course, the Beauty Mode, that automatically helps erase blemishes and imperfection on faces from the photos. There’s also a 2-megapixel front camera for videocalls, or more likely, checking yourself out and camwhoring.

The S4 also comes with a few of the other highly touted S-features prevalent with the Galaxy Notes and Tabs. These include Air View and Air Gesture (which let you preview content and control certain apps by waving your hand or hovering your fingers over the screen), Smart Scroll (which allows you to scroll content in certain apps using your eyes and/or tilting the phone) and Smart Pause (which allows the video player to pause videos if you’re not looking at the screen). There is also Quick Glance, which allows you to wave your hand over the phone while the screen is off in order to make the phone briefly display the time, number of missed calls, number of new text messages, etc. My personal favourite has got to be the Smart Stay, which prevents the screen from going off into sleep mode when you’re looking at it.

And the S-Beam, how could I, I almost forgot about the S-Beam! By just touching the back of your phone to another, you get to automatically transfer files, photos, even music effortlessly to and from your friend.

Initially I was a bit skeptical about the stability of this feature (we all remember what a nightmare InfraRed connection was back in the days when the Nokia dinosaurs ruled the mobile phone scene) but it has shown me no room for disappointment yet. It takes almost no time at all to send an almost 3mb sized photo — literally the length of a second it took to touch our phones together.

Powering all this is an astounding 2600mAh battery which keeps the phone alive and beeping for close to 48 hours under minimal usage. My average activity with my phone include texting, surfing the web, replying emails, scrolling through Facebook and making the occasional call or two and the S4 allows me to do all that while lasting solidly till the end of the day. A feature worth mentioning about the battery is that it is removable, unlike the iPhone or the HTC One. They also have an extra SD card slot if you want to up  your storage space, which supports up to a maximum 64GB. It’s a good place to put your music so you don’t eat up main storage, especially if you have the 16 GB version of the device.

Pretty impressive, huh?

So far I’ve only had the S4 for a little over a week and I’m already beyond amazed by what it can do. It puts the smart in smartphones, predicting and carrying out actions before we finish the command. With a myriad of apps and widget engineered for making life easier and injecting more meaning into moments, Samsung truly lives up to its name of being the world’s number one best-selling smartphone brand with the S4. It has some top-notch technology packed into a slim and compact design that slips seamlessly into your life, no matter what’s your age or demography.

That’s my general overview for what is right now the most highly sought after smartphone in the industry. Share more soon after I’ve had more time to play with it and explore in greater depth!

Stay tuned for more S4 news!

Meanwhile, do watch this hilarious promotional video that Samsung has very cleverly come up with!

The Samsung Galaxy S4. It’s your new Life Companion.

Last week was a week of celebrations. It was the sort that called for toasts from friends, and not just simply any toast either, mind you. It called for strawberry-and-banana milkshake toasts, with which we clinked our glasses and raised our voices to good luck and many other happy things at a small corner table at our favourite neighbourhood hang-out whilst other customers talked and laughed loudly around us. In other words, the best kind of toast.

Why?

Because guess who is finally officially employed and no longer just bumming around at home anymore! Nyehehehehe.

I’m not gonna disclose where or with whom yet, but I reckon if you’re close enough to me or have me on Facebook you’ll find out eventually anyway. I’m just so super glad it’s all happening and in the way I want it to. As you can probably already guess, it’s a writing position for a rather renowned publishing house (what else do I actually know how to do? Lol. My life skills are painfully limited beyond a computer keyboard sad to say) but my favourite part has to be the fact that I’ll be writing some serious stuff as opposed to just some beauty or fashion piece week after week. I’ve got nothing against beauty or fashion writers, I just rather write about things like life, the economy, the environment and other important stuff that people don’t just read while waiting for the bus or the train.

AND AND AND!!!

I get to work from home! Yes, that part came as a bit of an unprecedented surprise. I totally wasn’t expecting it at all because that would have been my dream job if you’re to ask me what my dream job was — a work from home writer — but I wasn’t so naive as to believe I’d score something as awesome as this on my first job. But looks like this time I did score and I cannot be more thankful. I now get to do exactly what I’ve always wanted to do — write serious stuff that truly matter, and not just what lipstick staple you must have this season to go with what bag and shoes, from home.

I can’t wait to start!

Let me just shout it out loud again — I’ve got a job now!! I’VE GOT A REAL JOB!! =D

A cause for celebration like this also calls for a small celebratory feast!

Actually it was just an excuse for us to splurge a little on something fancier than usual for brunch hehe.

Nelson recommended this new place opened by his friend in Ara Damansara, quaintly called Mr & Ms located inside the office shoplots of Oasis Square. They supposedly serve awesome breakfast sets and anything to do with bacon, ham and sausages can’t go wrong in our books!

He was right.

My Big Meaty Big Brekky was everything I had been craving for all week. Nothing quite hits the spot like a good big breakfast sometimes, you know? Not sure if it’s the grilled tomatoes or sauteed mushrooms, there’s just something about them that leaves me feeling all warm and home-y inside after devouring every sliver of food off my tray. My favourite part about their big breakfast was that their baked beans weren’t from the can. They were solid to the bite (none of that disgusting mushy stuff from Yeo’s or Ayam Brand, ugh) and the gravy was thick and chunky with a special blend of herbs. This, I would believe, was true home-made food!

They had also very thoughtfully laid out stick mustaches and kisses for play haha. Naturally because we’re Asian like that we had to take a couple of photos with it. I foresee this place actually booming quite well so the next time you see a friend’s photo with said mustache and lips on your Facebook or Instagram feed, you know where they’re from! ;]

Nelson has already eaten before we arrived but upon seeing our orders, couldn’t help himself but go for Round Two lol. They have a healthier, less greasy option too for those of you who may be on a diet. Even I’m not health conscious enough to eat a fruit salad or a bowl of granola and wheat cereal for breakfast! Those pancakes look super damn good though…

My view throughout brunch looked something like this, two of the most beautiful sights to look at if you ask me, hehe. A nice scenic view of a beautiful fountain pool matched with an equally blue and clear sky on one end, and the silly face of the person who makes me the happiest girl in the world on the other. What’s there not to like about this place?? LOL.

There is a funny story behind this shot hahaha. Under normal circumstances, I hate it when I catch people taking what I call “tuorist shots” where they pose rigidly exactly like this in front of some view or monument or some stupid statue or another and say “cheese!” before the the person behind the camera quickly snaps the picture. To piss me off, the Ninja Rabbit asked for a picture taken precisely like that. Nelson couldn’t stop laughing from our explanation of how ridiculous some people look standing all still and stiff like that and that was how this photo came to be. I initially took it only to humour the Ninja Rabbit and had no plans whatsoever to upload it, but looking back, this photo of all the shots taken that day, has come to commemorate one very pleasant morning when we made it to have brunch with a very special friend over a very special occasion =)

And you can’t say no to a memory as special as that.

The week capped off really nicely with special invitations for us to catch the special screening of Steven Spielberg’s 1993 classic, Jurassic Park, in 3D!

With special thanks to Manoah Consulting and Samsung Malaysia, we got to be one of the first few in the nation to relive the wonder and splendour of Michael Crichton’s best-selling novel brought to life on the silver screen in breath-taking 3D. The whole 2 hours and 7 minutes of it was pure nostalgic 90′s power, I tell you. The denim shirts, high-waisted pants, mid-shin length socks — man we felt like total kids again in the cinema haha. The Ninja Rabbit was practically humming along to the Jurassic Park theme song everytime it came on. And who can forget that big poofy hair that seems to be all the trend back then xD

The special screening was held in conjunction of the launch of the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.0.

I know right, Samsung seems to have every inch-spec available for their tabs! There’s the 7.0, the 10.1, and now the 8.0! Just another way they try to cater to every angle of their customer demand I suppose. With them, it’s always customers first heh.

The Galaxy Tab 8.0 is the tablet that’s custom-fit to slot effortlessly into your life. With the integrated S Pen it combines on-the-go productivity, with the ability to multitask and even control television. Just think of it as everything the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is, but squeezed into a smaller, more compact body. Built in with Wifi and 3G capabilities, they’re perfect for working women who are constantly on-the-go to have everything they need at the touch of their fingertips. It fits almost effortlessly into most women’s handbags too ;]

They had a nice little conference room place set up to show to us first hand what the galaxy Tab 8.0 can do.

I, for one, was completely blown away. It’s smaller, slimmer and all around prettier to look at but it doesn’t sacrifice on performance power. It’s built for multi-tasking and helping you accomplish as much as you can within the shortest frame of time. It’s got dual-window displays now so you may watch a video while editing that word document. Air View lets you preview what’s in a file before you even open it so you save even more time. The S-pen lets you do the most precise and detailed editing and drawing as you please. It’s basically the ultimate work tool every working professional would want complementing their dynamic and productive lifestyle.

While most everyone else was ooh-ing and aah-ing at the wonders of the new Galaxy Tab 8.0, two little boys snuck off to the buffet line hahaha.

I love seeing these two together to be honest. While Yuki and I will be busy with our blogging assignments, they’ll find their own ways to entertain themselves to pass the time and they often get the most hilarious ideas in their heads.

Like beating the crap out of thugs, albeit in an animated cyber world.

And basically acting like kids hahaha. OK fine so I was guilty too, but how can you say no to climbing onto that little motorcycle!! It was just calling my name for a ride! LOL. I like to think you need to get as much of your kid mode on before you head into the cinema hall and watch a movie like Jurassic Park, thank you very much. You need to be in the moment to fully appreciate the moment, right? =P

Group photo with some of the other bloggers who were there that day because I don’t do this enough haha. Taking group photos with everyone, I mean. We have all come to the unanimous agreement that I have some crazy awesome camwhoring skills =P All made possible with the cool swivelly screen of the Samsung EX2F Smart Camera, ladies and gentlemen =D

So yes, last week is what I like to now call celebration week. May is coming to an end if the grandest manner possible if you ask me. Everything I can ask for has been granted and my biggest fear (of not being able to get a job anytime soon) has been pushed out of the way. Now I just need to find a theme song to play everytime I’m going to reminisce about this celebration week hehehe. I’m not kidding!

Have a great rest of the week everyone. Only one more day till the weekend!

The MyVi’s cooling fan died on me last weekend and repairing it cost me quite a bomb by an unemployed struggling writer’s standards. Talk about stereotypes coming alive lol. For the first hour or two I was quite upset about it. The money was from a small sum I had put aside for our trip to Cambodia (that’s happening in less than two weeks!!! =D) and while my Mummy had offered to help me pay it off, I felt it was a responsibility of my own to fix any car problems, especially since it involved my own car.

Then I stumbled across this video online.

It got me thinking, if this Zach Sobiech kid can be so positive about life despite his circumstances, what do I have to complain about, you know? He had so little yet made the most out of it. Surely, I can be just a little bit like him.

After the end of that 22 minutes very well spent, I started thinking about a couple of things. Actually, I started thinking about a lot of things.

What is a mere RM240 compared all the other forms of riches and happiness life has blessed me with? I have it as good as I can dare wish for — a loving boyfriend who makes me smile everyday, a beautiful family who always has and always will continue to support me no matter what I’m going through, a great group of friends who texts me daily just to see if I’d like to go out for food, a promising job prospect at a renowned place to do exactly what I’ve always wanted. Some people, like Zach, won’t even get the mere chance.

It might sound too much of a cliche to say this, but something in me snapped and I decided quite on the spot to look out more for the positive in life. Shit’s gonna happen sometime or another. It might happen when you least expect it to and may even completely spoil your plans for whatever bigger picture you have in life. What matters is how you choose to react to it when it happens. Life still goes on. It’s up to you to go on happy, or spiteful.

More importantly, it’s vital that we not let one bad incident in the week make us forget all the other good ones.

So in highlighting all my other happier moments from the past week…

I got a new phone!! (RM240 vs a brand new phone? I think we have a winner.)

Yes, that’s the new Samsung Galaxy S4 I hold in my hand. In lieu with signing on with Samsung as their new Digital Imaging Brand Evangelist (that’s just a fancier term for camera ambassador, really, haha) they gave all 20 of us new phones to tinker with. I was initially quite sad to be parting with my iPhone because it was a Christmas gift from my Daddy and I’m a sentimental person like that (I even still have the ticket stubs from the Ninja Rabbit and I’s first ever movie date). But after only three days with this new baby, I’m sold.

iPhone? What iPhone? ;]

I didn’t even know technology like that which comes with the S4 existed!! They have so many swipe motions that you can maneuver through the phone with without even touching it, on top of a variety of other voice recognition and eye-movement sensors. They have some serious Minority Report shit going on right here. I’ll write a more thorough review about the phone soon, but for now, I’m too absorbed with feasting my eyes on its stunning display and the smoothest of smooth handling.

They didn’t just hand the phone to us and left us by ourselves to figure out how to fully use it to its potential either. The very nice people at Samsung had a nice workshop specially for some 27 of us evangelists and a few other bloggers so as to teach us step by step how to unlock the true wonders of the device.

Care to guess what’s in those little blue Samsung paperbags, nyehehehehe.

I’ve never seen so many brand new phones in one sitting before T_T In fact, I’ve not had many phones throughout my adolescence. My Daddy was a strict man who gave us only what we needed so once we got a phone, we’re expected to stick with it till it won’t start anymore, or till it passes the 8-year mark (best case scenario), whichever comes first. Seeing a new phone get unboxed is as good as seeing the Aurora Borealis in my books!

Have you met a few of the other evangelists? Yuki looks completely happy with her lollipop LOL. Lisa, who was sick that day, poor girl, is also the Camera evangelist like me. Ashley and Yuki are the Mobile Phone evangelists. Based on which area of technology we’re more well-versed in, we’re assigned our respective categories to blog about. So I guess you can expect more camera reviews on this blog haha. Perfect for a camera- and photo-enthusiast like me to be honest! Likewise head on over to Ashley and Yuki’s blogs for more first-hand reviews on the latest Samsung phones and its many features!

Unboxing it was, needless to say, a lot of fun. It was about a third in size bigger than my old iPhone but easily only half the weight of it!! I don’t know how they do it, honestly. Bigger but lighter phone? Who would’ve thought, right? It’s also so wafer-thin I was afraid I might break it in half if I’m not careful. I’m not the daintiest person around lol. Everything about it felt smooth and sleek and the cold tingle it left of my skin sent small shivers of excitement through my whole being. Sue me, I just haven’t had a new phone in a while ok! =P

Su Ting and Sui Ying familiarizing themselves with their respective new toys. On a side not, I’ve always thought the both of them look very much alike! So much so that the Ninja Rabbit to this day confuses the both of them all the time haha. Their highly similar names don’t really help matters either xD

Pic with Zana just because =P Behold our blur faces from having to be awake so early in the morning haha! And also my puffy cheeks, sigh, time to start working out again xD

I was already above the clouds at this little present from over the weekend, really. But alas more good news await.

Have you heard? Yuki got married!

Is she simply the prettiest bride you’ve ever seen or what!

I’ve never actually been to someone’s official registration of marriage before so it was very breath-takingly beautiful to me. The smile on Yuki’s face was a different kind of smile altogether, one put there by pure happiness and the corners pulled up by true love.

She trusted me enough to let me take the photos that day and it was the biggest pleasure being allowed to. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at wedding photography, only of course no one close enough to me was getting married nor would a stranger hire me hahaha.

Thank you Yuki for the this opportunity I’ve only ever dared dream about.

There’s something innately different about wedding photography. Instead of capturing just faces, you’re essentially capturing the happiness and joy and love that is in the air. Every crease on the subject’s face and every tilt of their heads when they laugh convey a different message on what would be the happiest day of their lives.

I reckon wedding photographers must be the happiest people in the world, don’t you think? Everyday when they head to work, they’re going to be surrounded by nothing but good vibes. That sort of positive aura, consumed in such large amounts and on such a regular basis, must be good for you in the long run. Just like how stress will quietly kill you without you realizing it, I imagine being enveloped constantly by only joy and love should fuel you mentally and perhaps even physically.

Love, that is such a subjective word I’ve just come to realise, heh.

You can love your parents, you can love your siblings, you love your boyfriend, you can love your dog. You can love your friends, you can love maggie goreng, you can love MAC make up, you can love running. They’re all such different kinds of love, yet at the bottom of it all, love all the same.

Ahhh just looking at this set of photos make me so incredibly happy ^_^

This person makes me incredibly happy too ♥

Super love this last one of us with the newly weds! =D

I wish you two eternal happiness and may you always find strength, love, and joy in one another. I can’t imagine what’s it like to be married, but from a photographer’s point of view, it’s one of the most beautiful occasions to experience yet. And if it feels anything like while I was photographing it, then the real thing must be super amazing hehe.

Life has this annoying habit of throwing at you the most peculiar combinations of screwballs sometimes.

But when you learn to anticipate and predict it, and you successfully catch it, that feeling is one of the best in the world.

OK so let’s see… The Ninja Rabbit’s birthday!! This was something like almost a week ago now (my goodness!), I am such a horrible girlfriend. His birthday of all things gets shoved all the way to the back of the burner.

Happy (belated) Birthday, baby! 23 now but still as immature as ever =P

He asked specifically for as small a do as possible so I obliged by his wishes lol. I tricked him into believing we were only gonna go out for dinner just the two of us. What I didn’t tell him was that the rest of the gang will be meeting us there at the venue too HAHAHAHA. If you must know, I’m not very good at keeping a straight pokerface so the fact that I got him to believe something that simple is a big feat for me ok =P

Even then, because I’m Bad Luck Brianna or something, the surprise was given away merely 2 minutes before it was due. Upon arriving at Tao’s, the receptionist looked up, saw us and proclaimed, “Your friends are already here! Let me bring you to your table.” FML TTM LOL.

And everything was going so well!!

But ah well, can’t win them all I guess.

Luckily he was still very pleasantly surprised to see his friends at the table. Birthday dinner surprise attempt 80% successful =P

Tao’s is now having this special promotion for all May babies where if you’re born anytime in the month of May, you get to dine for 50% off! So that was how we settled on Japanese cuisine for his birthday noms. We didn’t regret the decision one bit! All you can eat sashimi and fresh oysters, yo. You can never have enough of sashimi and fresh oysters!

I had so many oysters that at the end of the night everytime I burped I tasted Tabasco sauce hahaha! The salmon and tuna sashimi slices came thick and chunky too, nothing like those pathetic tissue-thin wafers they serve you at Sakae or Sushi King. And yes, those are cheese-baked scallops you see in the lower right hand corner! *drools* I guess you can guess as much that we all overate that night ;]

Everyone was incredibly sweet too. I planned this dinner surprise thingy rather last minute (OK, like 2 hours before dinner time itself if you must know) yet everyone made it to show up prompt and on time. It’s times like these that makes me feel so incredibly blessed to have friends like them, who I know would drop everything they were doing and come to your aid when you need them to. Granted this was just dinner, but their mere presence made the Ninja Rabbit so extremely happy all the same.

Plus, everything, even something as simple as dinner, automatically becomes 10x funner too with them around. Fish, anyone? Hehehe.

Zana was incredibly bogged down with work that particular Monday I remember, yet she made it with her ever-ready smile reserved for everyone throughout the entire evening. Where else do you find people as awesome as this bunch these days?

Mitchy-matchy boys all dressed in white! Far left is Nelson’s cousin Bensen who was visiting from Holland. He’s the most fascinating character I’ve had the chance to meet this month. He’s a Mixed Martial Arts fighter, how cool is that? Like he gets in a ring and beat the shit out of someone else as a sport. Needless to say, the Ninja Rabbit was borderline smitten with him all evening LOL. The Ninja Rabbit has always wanted to pick up MMA himself but for some reason never got around to it (big part cuz I don’t like the idea of him getting bashed up in a cage haha).  Unfortunately, meeting Bensen has also revived his want to join a class again.

CHEESE-BAKED OYSTERS!!! This is what heaven tastes like!! I discovered them on the menu too late so I only had space for about three before I had to wave the white flag. But zomg I’d go back to Tao’s again if only for these!

Cute little smoked salmon ham thingy which I took simply because of how it looked haha. It didn’t taste all that great to be honest. Then again who can blame it when it has the likes of fresh seafood and other baked gourmet delicacy to compete against.

Their selection of dessert deserves a shout-out though. I loved their matcha green tea ice-cream, which you may choose to have topped with chocolate fondue or not. You could really taste the fragrance of the tea in it, complemented by the subtlest sweet taste of frozen cream. Of course it was one of the first to run out too so I couldn’t go back for second helpings even though I had wanted to =(

OH!! There was one last surprise that worked out, nyehehehehe!! I had snuck behind the Ninja Rabbit’s back and got our housemate to buy him a cake. He suspected nothing until late at night when, with candles on the cake lit and everything, all three of us brought it out and started singing him a mandatory birthday song xD

Emmy, quite by chance, chose his favourite cake too, the popular Red Velvet. Clever girl.

He was trying to act cool and all while we sang him his birthday song but I knew he was grinning like a 5-year-old on the inside. Say what he may, he’s nothing but an overgrown baby under all that macho front he tries to put up. Nothing excites him more than his birthday and Christmas. And the prospect of cake LOL.

Pretty, isn’t it!!! They used only the good stuff too because those giant strawberries? They were actually sweet! As were the blue and blackberries as well as the cherries. None of those for-decorative-purposes only nonsense.

House of Awesome group photo!! Hehehe yes we call our little apartment the House of Awesome because well… it’s rather self-explanatory, isn’t it? We be awesome!! =P

He got a second celebration from the rest of his family too, the day after his real birthday. I always found it to be extremely sweet how his whole entire extended family will come from as far as Malacca to celebrate his birthday. They do that with everyone’s birthday for that matter. I love this tradition of theirs; I don’t even know when some of my cousins’ birthdays are =(

Every time the month of May rolls around, these two will always celebrate their birthdays together. There’ll be two cakes (because otherwise they’d end up fighting over who gets to blow out the candles) and both their presents from everyone has to be identical (because otherwise they’d start fighting too over who got the better present hahaha!). It’s been that way since the both can hardly talk or walk according to Auntie Liz. I guess it’s true what they say — your cousins are your first best friends.

Yup, it’s been decided, when I grow up I’m gonna keep this tradition alive too. Where each and every birthday requires the entire family — nuclear and extended, thank you very much — to be present. They have this closeness among them that I’ve never really seen with my own family. Most vividly with things like how they’d tease, joke, and make fun of each other hahaha. They’re always such nice company to have.

Doing that would double the presents for the birthday kid too! ;]

Happy birthday again, you =)

It wasn’t much this time but I hope you enjoyed your birthday all the same. It’s our 4th year celebrating your birthday together! It is these little milestones that always bring me back to those days when we’ve just started going out and looking at how far we’ve come since then and how much joy being on this journey with you has brought me, I’d sign on for another year any day. I mean it ♥

You’re 23 now, time to start acting like it! =P

Happy New Week everybody! =)

When your friends are one by one getting married!

Mm-hmmm, that’s right, our beloved Yukiko Tan is getting hitched this coming weekend!

As one of her bridesmaids, it fell upon our shoulders to plan a bacholerette party for the girl before she kisses bye-bye to singlehood forever. She’s (hopefully) only gonna get to experience this once so this party had to be just perfect for her to remember it by.

Where did all the time go right? Last I remember, I was still fussing over what dress to wear to my college prom! Suddenly here I am planning someone’s bacholerette party. Talk about big life transitions!

It wasn’t just anyone’s bacholerette party of course. It was Yuki’s and it being hers, I was adamant about having every single detail about the party right, right down to the smallest minute spot on the carpet. Call me anal but I when I genuinely care about something, anything less than perfect will not do. Woe be whoever has to deal with me when it comes to my own wedding LOL!

It was my first time doing this but it was so much fun! I’ve not had many parties in my life before (in fact, now that I think about it, this is only the second in which I have a personal say in planning it) so in the beginning I had all kinds of ideas buzzing through my head. Towards the end, we decided on a small close reception so as to keep things sweet and personal — something she’ll hopefully remember 10-20 years down the road.We figured what’s the point of a big, loud party with lots of booze if she’s only gonna get drunk and not remember a single thing the next day, you know?

From as early as lunch time, some of us already started on the prepping.

Hurhurhur we’re so lucky we have Zana on the team. She was the only one tall enough among all 7 of us to reach those high areas when putting up the decor. I tried stacking two chairs on top of each other yet was still too short T_T Decorating the place would’ve been a complete nightmare without our Miss Long-legged Model around.

The rest of us shorter people had to blow up balloons LOL. Alicia and I huffed and puffed until we were blue in the face! At one point I swear I thought I was going to faint from being so breathless. My vision started spinning and swimming right in front of me until I had to sit myself down and catch my breath. The initial idea was to have about 100 balloons floating all over the place like a sea of colour, but we surrendered halfway through that and agreed 50 was more than enough HAHAHA.

After two and half hours of balloon-blowing and furniture-climbing to put up all sorts of colourful streamers and ribbons, we changed the room from this…

to THIS!!

TA-DAA!!!!

Pretty, isn’t it? ^_^

Zana nearly fell off her chair more than just once, and both Alicia and I nearly died from shortage of oxygen to get the place looking this pretty, ok. That’s a lot of hardwork right there LOL.

I’m not much of an interior-designer but I reckon we did quite a good job with sprucing the place up and making it feel at least a little bit party-worthy?

I’m exceptionally proud of this banner thingamajig because I hand-drew, hand-cut and hand-strung them. Credit goes to Zana for putting it up, of course. I searched almost every party store in KL for a suitable one but none of them looked pretty enough (those that are cost a bomb!) so I decided to make it myself. Plus, by making it myself, I got to include Yuki’s name personally into it. Win-win situation! =D

Yay us, Team Decorate-The-Suite! Great job, girls!!

If you’re wondering where the others were, they were on Team Get-The-Bride. While we decorated the suite, they had to go get Yuki from home without her suspecting anything and bring her here to the hotel blindfolded, hehehe. I felt like I was running a secret undercover mission the whole while planning this. We were talking in codes and secretly messaging one another the whole time.

I am Ng, Karmun Ng =P

When finally they arrived with the “parcel” I almost got a heart-attack. She wasn’t blindfolded as planned! She said she’ll just close her eyes because she didn’t want to mess up her make up lol. I dont know, but if it were me, I would have snuck a peep or two!

She started proclaiming that she hears the camera clicking the moment she got close enough to me hahaha. I’ve failed terribly as a ninja photographer.

SURPRISE!!! =D =D =D

I think one of the best things about throwing someone a surprise party is the look on their face when they first open their eyes and realise what’s going on. I’ll admit it, rushing all over town and getting things done just perfect for this was a lot of work. It was exhausting especially since I was also juggling blogging, a couple other freelance writing jobs and working on looking for a proper job in the midst. But seeing that smile that bloomed across her face at seeing all her closest friends together in that pretty room to celebrate her — that was worth every ounce of sweat and stress.

Close to nothing feels as good as seeing your friend so genuinely, incredibly happy, and knowing you’re part of the reason behind it.

Are big, wide smiles contagious or what =D =D =D

Happy last few days of being single, Yuki!! Hehehehe.

Hope you liked your little party, we tried our best ^_^

Over dinner we let the fun start hehehe.

We whipped out the obligatory Bachelorette Scavenger Hunt — basically a list of highly embarrassing things to do in public and depending on how many she manages to cross off the list, she’ll have to down the resultant number of shots later in the night. I am a super evil genius in disguise, nyehehehehe.

I’ll give it to her, sister is incredibly sporting when it came to her pre-wedding challenges. She asked a guy to marry her, she wrote her handphone number on the toilet cubicle wall, she asked a guy for his number. She even made it so far as dance with a stranger in the middle of the mall LOL.

This totally reminds me of that scene from one of Disney’s most classic cartoon, Sleeping Beauty. ♫ I know you, I’ve walked with you once upon a dream…♫

When it came time for her punishment, we realised we all forgot to bring shot glasses hahahaha! So with a soup spoon it is shall she take her shots!!

There was also one more last minute surprise in store! Nyehehehehe.

We had planned for Nate and his groomsmen to crash the party sometime near midnight so we could all party together as one big group and have both parties remember this night. Lucky thing we did too because halfway through the evening, Yuki was already missing Nate. No amount of “but you have us girls to spend the night with” or “you have the rest of your life so spend with Nate so tonight it’s just us girls” managed to cheer her up. The moment the doorbell rang and we opened the door to them however, she became this whole other person re-injected with an extra dose of zest and life LOL.

And that was how our bacholerette party became a little less conventional hahahaha. This is probably the first time in history we have the groom and his groomsmen over during a hen’s night!

I’ve never had someone this close to me get married before so I must say it is all very exciting. I’ve had cousins and much older acquaintances etc get married, yes, but with those I wasn’t this closely involved at any point, know what I mean? The fact that Yuki happens to be in my age group also makes for a very startling revelation. I am now at the frontier of building careers and weddings. Soon it will about babies and children. Seriously, it felt like it was just yesterday that I was looking at different universities and trying to decide which would suit me best in helping me further my tertiary education!

As startling as it is, it is also part and parcel beautiful. Celebrating love has always been one of my favourite things to do, and this? Celebrating the days leading up to the big date when they’ll sign the papers that will officially mark the beginning their beautiful, beautiful journey together as husband and wife? This is the epitome of love. I just feel so super glad to be allowed a spot to be there for and by them as they go on their own journey =)

I like to think our party went pretty well hehehe. Before the night was over everyone looked along the lines of this.

Happy faces buoyed by happy spirits, my favourite kind of view ^_^

Oh before I forget!! Our mandatory heart photo hahaha.

I’ve never been a lovey-dovey nor the sappy emotional sort of person but as I grow older, I find that I’m getting more and more easily affected by the feelings of those around me.A simple thing like a small proclamation of love on Facebook makes me go Awwww when before this I would have just scrolled on undeterred at all by it. A B-grade movie can leave me easily in tears when back then I fell asleep in the middle of Titanic and A Walk to Remember (I never actually finished watching A Walking to Remember now that I think about it). Now, just being in the middle of celebrating Yuki’s soon-to-be big day, made me feel so completely overwhelmed at the heavy weight of love and happiness and joy that was laden in the air.

I couldn’t help stealing Yuki’s tiara for a bit sometime through the night hehehe.

There’s something to the bond of sisterhood of this sort. Sure I’ve not known Yuki for very long (it’s only been a little over a year since that night when we danced drunkenly in Hard Rock Cafe hahaha omg Yuki, do you remember that night??) but when someone becomes this important in your life, every little bit about them comes to affect you too. And now that she’s getting married, I’m feeling this emotional pull at the ends of my heartstrings as if my very own blood sister is getting married too.

So it’s T-minus 3 days to their registration of marriage!

More happy wedding news to come.

If you liked this post, perhaps you’d like to hire me as an event-coordinator for your next party hahaha! It comes with a free photography package too, albeit just an amateur level one hehehe. I am in fact looking for a job and while I would prefer something on the editorial side, I’ll take what I can get right now LMAO. I’ll even give you a discount if I’ve known you for more than 5 years and/or if we’ve had lunch together recently ;]

Happy getting married Yuki!! Can’t wait to watch you two exchange your vows and sign the promise in ink!

So let’s take things one by one and I promise I’ll come around to eventually blogging about everything. It has been a crazy hectic weekend but it was crazy hectic in all the good ways!

So first thing off the list! Warning: Incredibly pink post ahead!

Last Saturday was the official launch of Kiss Me’s latest product in their mascara line. We’ve all heard about how awesome their eye make up (and basically ALL their other make up products) are. Now to cater to the Asian culture of having brown hair, they’ve released a new BROWN mascara so our eyelashes may also match our hair! Leave it to the Japanese to think of everything ;]

To introduce their latest in their already very extensive line of beauty products, they threw a small princess party of sorts, where everything to do with the place is bathed in the most feminine colour around — pink. To really make things girly, all invited guests were required to be in pink too. I had a bit of a trouble figuring out what to wear (rummaging through my closet informed me that I have close to no pink article of clothing, surprise, surprise) but eventually found something that was as close to pink as possible. Yay me!

Upon arrival however, there was some debate over how my top was more of a coral-ly peach colour than pink. But hey I gave it my best shot! LOL. Regardless, here’s a picture with the BFFs to start off the morning. We look so fresh-faced and radiant before the heat and humidity got to us!

More pics of us just because =P

The entire main entrance and connecting concourse of Sg Wang was turned into the pinkest cotton candy play land. Chairs were spruced up with pink linen and equally pink lace ribbons. The two girls who very graciously took our names at the reception table were dressed almost head to toe in pink. Even the giant Kiss Me mobile truck that wasn’t at all hard to miss parked right in the centre of all the commotion was a brilliant vibrant pink! I’ve never been to an event so completely pink before hahaha.

But someone else was the centre of attention all morning…

Hello little Zara! (She’s the cute one in the pink dress, not the futuristic man in blue in the background xD) Have you met our youngest member of the media yet? ;]

Everyone fawned over her from the moment Dila arrived with her in hand LOL. She adored being in front of the camera too, which made things a lot easier for a lot of the girls. She willingly posed for photos with almost every blogger, and even tried to photobomb a couple that didn’t include her! HAHAHA. Too cute!

LOL at how she held up 3 fingers instead of two because the 2-fingered peace sign is too mainstream.

At 11am on the dot, the event took off with a short speech from guy whom we’ve all got to thank for bringing Kiss Me all the way from Japan here. If it weren’t for him, this number one make up brand in Japan would not even be available for purchase on Malaysian shores.

Already our variety of drugstore make up is painfully limited. I think all ladies would agree he’s a lifesaver in many more ways than just one! So big round of applause for the man, please!

He wrapped up his speech nice and short and then quickly introduced the next itinery on the list: a group of girl dancers dressed also in the super happy and vibrant shade of pink.

They had choreographed a cleverly amusing routine that involved putting on make up and powdering your face a lot. I thought it was really cute, especially given how apt their dance was to the theme of the occasion. Their personality screamed all things Kiss Me to boot, with hair-flips and hip-thrusts that were executed with extra enthusiasm.

When they were done, something happened which really caught me by surprise. The Kiss Me mobile station truck that had been parked right in front of us all morning suddenly split right in half to reveal a fairytale princess dressed all in pink!

I mean I knew there’s bound to be a way to get on and off the thing but I didn’t expect it to split open in half, right down the centre like that!

And that princess who emerged from it — ermagerd I’m telling you if I was 5 years old and didn’t know any better, I would have totally believed she was a real fairy princess just like those you read about in storybooks. My Mummy used to read to me to bed every single night and I’ve always conjured princesses with long black hair (yes, even my Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty had black hair because that was the only hair colour I knew back then hahaha). She was every bit the princess I saw in my imagination. Childhood nostalgia right there.

As a treat, the very nice people at Kiss Me had even flown in renowned make up artist, Ms. Sayaka Kondo to demonstrate a tip or two on how to utilise the power of make up to hide your flaws and highlight only your best features.

If you’re wondering, that bump on her chin is a small microphone attached to an earpiece. Just thought I’d clarify that because I spent a good 10 minutes staring at it trying to figure out if it was a mole or not, too.

I think its a Japanese thing but just like the one other Japanese make up artist I’ve had the pleasure to meet at a K-Pallette event last July, the first 5 minutes of her speech had nothing but praises for how beautiful our country was and how much she loved being here. It was almost impossible to not like her lol.

She asked for a volunteer to do the make up demonstration on and Julie was sporting enough to do it.

Did you know, all of Kiss Me’s make up is specially formulated for Asian skin and weather, which means it’s meant to stay on even in the midst of our incredibly hot and humid weather here in Malaysia? Rain or shine, hot or cold, all their make up, ranging from concealer and foundation to eyebrow pencils and eyeliners, won’t budge or smear unless you use proper make up remover on them.

To prove the validity of Kiss Me’s claims, the entire demonstration was done outdoors under the very striking 12pm sun.

How often have you, as a girl, ended up looking worse than the undead by the end of a long day? Eyeliner is like my number one make up staple and I have a habit of pounding it on despite not really needing it given my rather big eyes. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve returned home after a full day out looking only slightly better than a bride who’s been ditched at the altar.

All of Kiss Me’s products have been scientifically tested and proven to outlast heat, moisture, grime, what have you. Following in the trails of all their very successful line of products, their newest mascara, the Heroine Make Long & Curl Mascara in #02 Lovely Brown also is as stubborn as her older siblings.

It offers a dramatically gorgeous lengthening and curling effect upon application, thanks to the new lengthening fibre formula that allows the mascara to adhere to the end of each eyelash. It fully coats and lengthens individual lashes up to 1.5 times more than its previous existing mascara and best bit? It does not clump and leave you with a frustrating, sticky mess!

Its main selling point, however, is of course the fact that it comes in a lovely subtle brown colour. Black mascaras are a dime a dozen everywhere. Brown mascara makes for a refreshing change, especially if you’re looking to achieve a sweet subtle look that’s not too over-the-top. Also, now you won’t have the problem of having black eyelashes as opposed to your brown hair and eyebrows! You may now have the complete triple threat set! Hehehe.

Pretty Julie and Ms. Kondo after the little makeover session. Julie has always been pretty to begin with but the make up really did help bring out her eyes and cheekbones!

After we were done ooh-ing and aah-ing at the many techniques we can actually employ to make our face look slimmer and our noses, higher, we were invited to go on the bus and take a look around inside! I got pretty excited because, well duh, it’s a cute little mobile truck! These things will always remind me of the mobile libraries from back in the days. My Mummy would take us there weekly to exchange the previous week’s book and the small little confined compartment always felt so cozy and home-y with the scent of old pages.

Quite the contrary to old books, what they had inside was their full collection of every make up product they carry. I imagine it must be every beauty blogger’s dream to own a truck like this hahaha! Everything you need to look good can be found there.

Another picture of the princess because I can’t get over how alike she looks to those I made up in my head when I was younger =3

Before we left, we were each given a set of Kiss Me’s new Brown Mascara to bring home and try.

If you’re wondering where you may get your hands on some, they are now available for purchase at most major SASA and Watson’s outlets.

Would it be worth your money, and would it do everything it claims to do? Let’s test it out!

To be completely honest, I’ve never been particularly drawn to this brand simply because of all its “gyaru-ness”. It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of all the cutesy, kawaii Japanese stuff, so looking only at the packaging, I was quite put off by it. I will admit, the packaging made it look cheap and childish, not something you’d associate with high-end brands. Even the illustrations of the anime princess made me cringe. It was too nauseously sweet — not to mention pink — for my taste.

I had judged it too quickly and harshly.

I tried it for the first time today to be able to write this review and you know what, it’s much better than all the other more expensive brands I’ve tried. Even Clinique’s over-priced stuff has got nothing on it! The texture is smooth and creamy, which really gives you clump-free lashes even after multiple coats. The brush is slim and sturdy, making application a total breeze. It hasn’t got that horrible synthetic smell that Revlon has either. I really may have finally found the ultimate go-to mascara!

I super love, love , love what it managed to do to my lashes, and that’s not something I casually spew out about a product. For years I’ve trusted Revlon. I’ve spent fortunes on Dior’s, Clinique’s, Shiseido’s, even an Anna Sui (although that one was because I fell for the packaging haha). Now I may have found a much more affordable yet deserving competitor. Kiss me’s mascara does everything all the bigger brands’ mascaras do, at only a fraction of the price! Application was clean and tidy thanks to its super thin brush bristles and the results were really unbelievable. I wouldn’t have taken your word for it if I hadn’t tried it out myself!

Behold, the Heroine Make Long & Curl Mascara in #02 Lovely Brown…

Super long and curly indeed! Sorry, I don’t have a ‘before’ photo because I completely forgot to take one before application (I’m not a beauty blogger, I’m not used to these things!) and also because I always found ‘before’ photos completely useless. Who cares to look at the ugly parts anyway? It’s the ‘after’ that counts!

It looks almost black here due to the awful nearly-5pm lighting, but in real life it is a delicious shade of brown. That is quite some amazing results eh? The colour makes me think of chocolate fondue, or molten chocolate lava cakes, hehehe.

Now good news for you! GIVEAWAY TIME!!

To reward you for having made it all the way to the end of the post, I’ve giving away the Kiss Me Heroine Make Volume & Curl Mascara! I figured I don’t need so many, so what better to do with it than to share it with one lucky reader!

How do you stand a chance to win this?

Follow these easy steps!

1. Like this post and share it on Facebook.
2. Follow me on Networked Blogs (that’s the little widget you’ll find on the right-hand side taskbar on this blog)
3. Leave a comment telling me why you’d like the Kiss Me Heroine Make Volume & Curl Mascara!

One lucky reader will be chosen based on the best creative answer by the 25th of May and contacted before the following week is out. I’ll have it sent to you asap. Please also leave me a valid e-mail address so I may contact you otherwise the prize goes to the second place winner =)

All the best and good luck!

After the 80′s went and together with it, the trend of colourful mascaras, I didn’t think mascaras of any colour other than black would be deemed wearable anymore at this day and age. I guess I was wrong haha!

So keep those comments coming. You’ll want to try this new mascara that comes in the prettiest shade of brown. If it can convert me, imagine what that says about the product ;]

Have a good rest of the week!

It has been a tumultuous week for a lot of us who call ourselves Malaysians.

You know that’s very difficult for me to even utter those words because so often I try to look at the bright side of things. Truth is, there is comfort in acknowledging feelings — both good and bad — and this time, I must say I was torn apart watching how my country and and its people fall back into the hands of the corrupt by means also of the corrupt. There was a gnawing pain that chewed at the corner of my heart seeing our people’s victory so close, almost already in hand, only to be taken away by fraudulent means.

And then there was 508, the eighth of May, that restored as much hope as was possible in our hearts.

Isn’t this sight simply beautiful? This is what true unity looked like. This is what Malaysia at her innermost core looked like. Malaysia minus the need of free hand-outs, cash incentives, flashy concerts boasting even flashier performers from overseas. Seeing all these people come together fills me up with this overwhelming feeling of pride I can’t quite explain.

I wasn’t there although plans had been made between the Ninja Rabbit and I to be there. We were unfortunately stuck in a jam from a previous engagement and didn’t make it in time. But seeing all the photos that flooded my Facebook news feed and Facebook status updates from friends and family who braved the rain and countless other threats of arrest warmed my heart almost to tears.

What happened on the 5th of May was shocking. It was heart-breaking, I agree, it left a lot of us speechless. But if one good thing had come of it, it was this. And I’ll take it if it meant it would bring out the best in every Malaysian to this extent. I had never witnessed patriotism and oneness like this.

200, 000 people all gathered for a single purpose — to see justice to our one same love, our country.

If you’re wondering what’s going on in this photo like I did, it’s the people flocking around Anwar Ibrahim’s car.

Whether or not that justice will be seen to, I don’t know. But in my books, I think we’ve come a quite a long way from where we were just 5 years ago. Look at these photos, they’re all you need to know it is true. Malaysians were now more united than ever. We were also now more aware of the truth than ever. The biggest and strongest nations took centuries to get to where they are, perhaps we are a little arrogant to think we can achieve that in only 50-plus years?

To those who are saying that democracy is dead, I beg to differ. If anything, the past week’s series of events only showed that democracy has just begun.

I believe our time will come. Maybe not in this General Election and maybe not even in the next coming one. But come it will, eventually. We just need to strive on. We might not have won this time, but at least they now know they are under our scrutiny and we aren’t afraid to voice out anymore. And that is what’s most important, no? Having our voices heard and making it clear that we are still at root of it all, the catalysts that decide who stays and who goes?

Our time will come, we just need to keep fighting for it.

On a happier note, my baby sister is here to stay with me for a few days! =D

Actually she’s here for a scholarship interview but whatever the reason, I’m glad I have her here! She’s definitely helped in lifting our spirits amidst all the election dejection. Sometimes a small break in routine is all we really need take our mind off the bad things and focus on the good instead.

I’ve not realised it but I’ve missed my family more than I thought. They’ve always been my anchor during rough sailing seasons and in the past week, it feels like I’ve gone way past secure water borders and am now just floating in foreign territory.

Her childishness and small naivety which she brought together with her arrival was like a small beacon of hope from a faraway lighthouse.

Let’s just say the Ninja Rabbit has been enjoying her company tremendously too hahaha. I don’t usually entertain him with his incessant obsession with both PC and arcade games. I just don’t understand his fascination with any form of games played across any form of platform for that matter. Looks like he’s finally got a friend to play two-players with xD

So what else did we do?

We terrorized Garfield for lying about too lazily in the sun LOL

Granted he looks to be rather enjoying our harrassment haha!

Pretended to be Ironman and Captain America in Toys R’ Us.

I always knew my sister and boyfriend got along but I didn’t know it was to this extent…

And poked a couple of guinea pigs at the pet store LOLOLOLOLOLOL.

Those things are incredibly fast on their feet! Before your finger can even touch the top of their head they’ve already scooted to the other end of the basin! I wouldn’t want to have to chase one down should it manage to escape xD

See how this photo is blur? It’s because they were moving so fast!

You’ll be surprised at how much therapy small little things like that offered. Or maybe it’s just having a family member around. We were laughing more than we had the past two weeks put together.

The cherry topping off the whole cake was this handsome little monster we found just sitting at the corner of the petstore.

I’m telling you there’s something about dogs that just light up the whole entire room they’re in. He was the friendliest little bugger too, smiling at everyone who walked by like it was his duty. Argh, I can’t take all this cuteness. I wanted so bad to hug his big lumbering head and then bring him home with me.

JUST LOOK AT HIM! HE’S ACTUALLY SMILING FOR THE CAMERA!!! LMAO.

They say your sister is like a best friend you can never get rid of. I guess mine fulfills every aspect of that category lol. While we may not have gotten along all the time growing up, I’m the happiest person this side of town right now because she’s here.

Picture of her from the day she went for her interview for good luck hehe! Here’s to hoping you get the scholarship so you may be closer to me =P

It has been a tumultuous week for a lot of us who call ourselves Malaysian. But the key thing to remember is that it is only through darkness that one learns to appreciate the light. And sure there are a lot of emotions — negative ones at that — going around right now but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t allow ourselves the chance to capture only the positive ones. My baby sister showed me that.

All is well. All will be well =)

The past four months had seen me at the Penang International Airport two times – none of which times were for me. It was for sending away friend after friend who had had the privilege and opportunity to afford an overseas education, and probably even the possibility of never coming back. To me, that was the key out of here. The one-way ticket out of a hellhole where it didn’t matter how much effort you put into things and how well you did and fared and compared to others. Here, it was the colour of your skin and the name you bore as well as your proclaimed religion on your Identity Card that decided what kind of school you went to and what kind of incentives you got.

I remember looking forlornly at all the paperwork piled up in front of me, wondering if I should even bother going through all these tedious form-filling and letter-sending. Would it matter at the end?

Then came the news that, one by one, those who got significantly less A’s than I were being awarded full scholarships and sent on the first plane-ride out of town, out of country. I was angry, frustrated, despaired. At one point, I even came to hate the fact that I was Malaysian, because what else has this title given me other than the constant reminder that I am a second-class citizen even at this place where I was born and bred, and where my parents have also been born and bred? All that I grew up reading in my Sejarah textbooks were a lie. We were not all equal, and we certainly were not all given the same opportunities and shot at success.

I started to despise everything about this country — the low buying power our money gets us in comparison to our Western neighbours, the rapidly dwindling economy despite our very pregnant natural resources, and our seemingly innate disability to move anywhere in the direction of progress. I didn’t know this was the doing of a few fat people sitting at the top, because I hated everything about this place so much that I most certainly wouldn’t want to involve myself in its political mud of a mess.

Then the General Elections of 2008 happened and Penang freed herself from the oppression of the ruling coalition. Hope soared during those few months – I remember the cheering and constant elated shouts of a better Penang to come following those days. The prophecy fulfilled itself and now, five years on, my beloved home state is spearheading the development and advancement of the whole country. People began to really receive what they deserved and for the first time in my life, I saw that Malaysia has never always been like this – when certain individuals are given full entitlement just because they were born to the right families, in the right colour. There was a time when things were fair, free and just.

I began to imagine a Malaysia that was as she started out to be. What if every small town, district, state, got the chance Penang had. Penang was but a small island yet its achievements and improvements are the talk and discussion of international leaders the world over. Imagine the kind of wave that would sweep over the entire nation if it merely got the same opportunity to flourish.

All Malaysia needs is for her people to stand up for her this one time so she may have that chance.

For those of you who may still be undecided or choose to turn a deaf ear, maybe sometimes it isn’t about politics. Maybe sometimes, it isn’t about which party is better, the country, justice, the society, corrupted officials who steal from our very own pockets, or even about electoral reform. That may be what the majority of the country are going for, but if you don’t believe in it, it does not necessarily have to be what you’re going for. You can simply go for yourself, and what is rightfully yours.

Our call to duty is really but a very small one in comparison to the wars and blood debts our neighbouring countries like Thailand and or Myanmar have to undergo all for a chance at freedom. Step up and exercise the right we’ve been born with to secure our own future and that of our future generation. Let‘s not allow ourselves to be terrorized into submission and silence anymore by these hooligans who, in the first place, were supposed to protect us. What they seem to have forgotten is that we were the ones who put them in power and as such, can easily take it all back from them if they deemed unfit in our eyes. And they have not only abused that power, they’ve peed and stomped their filthy footprints all over it.

Am I going to vote? I was too ignorant to realise the severity of the circumstance a few months back and never got around to registering in time. It eats at me every day and night as the final hour draws nearer and nearer. I let my anger get the better of me; I truly hated it here so much that I believed this country has gone too far to the dogs to be saved. I see now how wrong I was. I see my housemate who had booked her flight home months before so she can be home in time to do her civic duty; I see friends whom I grew up with in school braving crowds and forces of resistance to spread the word of truth; I see the whole nation risen and more united as one for the first time in all of the last 56 years fighting for our one home country. Malaysia isn’t beyond saving. We, her people, are her one saving grace.

I have never been prouder to call myself Malaysia than at this moment. But equally so, I am ashamed I cannot do my part. Don’t be me. Go play your part and help our country. Do it if not for a new government and with it, new hope, then for your fellow countrymen’s bravery, and the sacrifices they have made in their relentless pursuit of justice.

If only our country’s leaders were made of the same kind of unmovable integrity and valour such as theirs. And maybe if we all did our parts enough, we can have a new board who are exactly that.

As if knowing its time was almost up, April decided to come to an end with a bang. It closed with three different parties held almost back to back, two of which took place at the same time and date to boot! Last weekend, there was Heineken Ibiza, a beach resort party held at the Mines Wellness Centre and then there was DEFINE’s Music Conference Asia taking place instantaneously at the Sepang International Circuit. How does one be at two places at once??

Unfortunately, you can’t no matter how hard you wish for it to be true, so we had to only pick one or the other. The gang voted on DEFINE’s Music Conference Asia and that was how we ended up at my second rave concert party of the year. I’m not usually a rave person but hey, spending the night laughing and taking photos with your best buds beats staying home and staring at the ceiling! ;]

The party was already going on at full blast when we arrived. Granted we arrived a tad bit late at nearly 10pm when it started as early 5pm (I think?) but better late than never, right?

My first impression of the place was that it had to be the prettiest rave party ever. EVER.

I mean , look at that! White trees grew from white carpeted grounds among revellers and white cushioned seats interspersed the special VIP area so we had plenty of place to rest our butts when we get tired. I’ve never seen a single place to merely sit at other rave parties, have you? LOL.

It looks a bit empty in the picture because this was the VIP area where we hung out all evening. It came with free-flow beer and tonnes of other cool perks. What can I say, when you party with Manoah, you get only the best. The regular area, on the contrary, was a whole sea of ravers, all jumping and raving the whole 3-plus hours we were there. I don’t know where they get such energy!

They looked all cramped up tighter than a can of sardines in there but equally so, they sure looked like they were having the time of their lives. I imagine it must be super hot, stuffy and not to mention, sweaty in there, but all I spotted were happy faces interrupted only occasionally by a couple drunken cheers here and there. These people sure know how to party hard.

Their enthusiasm was also highly contagious! I arrived not quite in the mood to party because A) I was having a stupid eye infection hence my make-up-less face and B) trance music really wasn’t my cup of tea. After a couple of beers however, things started to look and feel less miserable and I found myself actually having fun.

Ahhhh, the DJ stage and deck at raves always are so pretty to look at. It’s times like this I become immensely grateful I’m not epileptic or something otherwise I wouldn’t be able to enjoy all these sights and sounds without going into an unfortunate fit LOL.

Samuel was already very high up there in his own cloud of happiness by the time we arrived and photobombed quite a few of our photos together haha. Signs of a good party, eh?

Hello Mr. Best Boyfriend in the World. He said I looked even prettier without make up and even though I know he’s just saying it to make me feel better, I am compelled to believe it =P

If you look closely enough, you can see the slight redness on the inside corner of my left eye. Oh the woes of having to be dependent on contact lenses T_T

We ran into quite a surprising number of familiar faces there!

Most of them were too gone to probably even remember having their photos taken so I shall take on the duty of reminding them here =P

Asahi took their job of ensuring everyone have a good time very seriously. Coupons after coupons were handed over in exchange of cans of ice-cold Asahi and pretty soon, everyone was on their feet dancing. Whether or not the dancing was in beat to the music was another story hahaha.

Go Nate, go!! I’ve never seen him really let loose and headbang before!

Picture with my pretty ladies to upkeep the rule that we have to have a picture taken together at every event we go to =P I look so retarded trying to wink =( Why can’t I wink all gracefully and with poise like Zana, sigh. I always end up looking like I got something in my eye instead lmao.

I suppose it’s safe to say everyone ended up drinking more than they probably allowed themselves prior to arriving. The Ninja Rabbit himself said no beer for him on the car ride there (he’s trying to get his abs haha) but look at what happened to his resolve =P

Sometime through the night, people were began showering each other with beer!

Gross I know, but what did you expect when we have Sam Insanity in the house? LOL. The security patrol guy at the back doesn’t seem affected at all hahaha. He must’ve seen too much of this to care.

I must say, we had fun despite music I didn’t know how to appreciate, and too many cans of beer being poured down someone’s back instead of being consumed the proper way. People in raves are fun to watch, didn’t you know? They get up to all kinds of nonsense they wouldn’t normally do under society’s scrutiny!

Who am I kidding? We always have fun with these guys! =D

I love love LOVE this picture of the guys! It really paints them in their element you know? HAHAHA. This is so going onto Yuki and Nate’s wedding montage if I have any say in it =P

Thank you DEFINE for another great night! I really couldn’t have asked for more as far as raves go. And this is coming from me, a person who doesn’t even like raves! So you know that’s saying something ;]

On the very last day of April was the prestigious Passion For Fashion, the one night when the creme de la creme of KL’s high society come together for a night of fashion and networking.

This time it was the Ninja Rabbit’s turn to have to resort to glasses lol. No, I didn’t give him my infection as the rest speculated (that would be awful on top of being incredibly gross). He had the misfortune of growing an eye stye the night before and no amount of antibiotic eyedrops helped in reducing the swelling. He hates how he looks in his glasses but I think he looks rather smart in a small nerdy kind of way, no? Kinda like how Q from the James Bond movies look xD

He be my computer genius hacker extraordinaire hehehe.

The party was held in collaboration with Belvedere Vodka, which happens to be only my favouritest vodka in the world haha! Just ask anyone and they’ll tell you I go nuts in the presence of Belvedere. If there’s a bottle around, I’ll completely ignore everything else. I’m telling you, nothing works as great as Belvedere with my favourite Raspberry juice mixer! My best and most memorable nights are brought on by this smooth delicious mix. There’s nothing to not like about Belvedere!

We wasted absolutely no time in getting started hehehe. Can you see the look of glee on my face?? LMAO.

Hello, sweet beautiful bottle of happy juice :’)

The guys deliberately asked for this photo to be taken, lest you think I’m trying to make them look bad haha. They all coincidentally found themselves holding the clutches of their dates despite the bags being not theirs to carry. Pretty much sums up the roles of boyfriends huh? They’re there to hold your stuff for you when you need to take photos with your girls =P

Bottle after bottle of the heavenly spirit was served that night. A new bottle quickly slid into place replacing any empty ones as soon as we finish the last drop. I’ve never seen efficiency like it. They were brought to our tables by the prettiest usherettes too, who in their silvery white dresses, looked the complete female personification of Belvedere’s tall sleek silvery white bottle.

One of the more rare photos of us still proper before the night turned wild, lol.

If you get this picture, then you do. If not, then don’t bother asking.

Pic with Ashley, who showed me a very interesting side of her I never knew that night HAHAHAHA. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. Didn’t I tell you Belvedere makes the most intriguing things happen? =P

It even turned Don into Ironman at one point. Still don’t believe me??

There was supposed to be fashion show going on but we unfortunately didn’t manage to catch it. Not that we were late or anything. We just got too caught up with all that Belvedere going around… Hehehe.

Our group that night was a tad bit smaller than usual but we made up for it by having double the fun! Before midnight even struck, half of us were already tipsy. This night wins handsdown as the night everyone got drunk fastest LOL.

I didn’t even know Jaz borrowed my camera and took that pic with the Ninja Rabbit hahaha!

Kenny here is a fellow Penangite! I didn’t even know after hanging out for so many months hahaha. He’s an SXI boy whereas I’m a CGL girl. You’ll get what I’m saying if you’re Penangite =P

The night ended like this! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  If this isn’t sign of a great night, I don’t know what is! This is officially my favourite photo ever. Courtesy of Belvedere, ladies and gentlemen. I tried telling you!

I guess that means April gave itself an awesome closing finale. I’m a bit sad to see April go to be honest. I’m bidding the months goodbye faster than is comfortable for me. It just shows another month has passed and I’m still exactly where I was the last time. Jobless, directionless and clueless. May is when “middle of the year” starts and I’m not sure if I’m ready for “middle of the year” yet =(

Regardless, I’m gonna keep my chin up and be positive! I will get a job before May is over, yes I will! *chants like a mantra*

Hope May brings you only good news and good things too! Happy New Month, everybody!

So yes it is finally here!

If you haven’t already heard, the much awaited for and even more highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S4 has reached our Malaysian shores! And it did so in the grandest manner possible last Saturday morning.

How did I know? Well, I was there, duh. I’m not missing out on the grand premier of the world’s number one best-selling phone!

I was told that people had started queuing in front of Samsung and other collaborating telco stores from as early as 2pm the previous day! Me? I wasn’t half as mad (although kudos to those who did and managed to get their hands on one of the first few units available in Malaysia!) so I only arrived at Times Square two hours before the launch took off. Already the place was swarming with eager people with even more eager hands to try out the new phone.

Spotted among the mass of nearly 5,000 eager beavers were local celebrities Liyana Jasmay and Awal Ashaari. I couldn’t quite catch what they had to say given the crowd but they seemed to be gesturing extremely excitedly to one another whilst occasionally pointing at the new S4. I take it that they are pleased?

There are so many new features the S4 has that trumps its previous predecessor. Already the S3 was an amazing phone by itself. Somehow, Samsung has managed to up the game even more and the result of their hardwork is what Awal and Liyana hold in their hands in the photo. The new S4 is specially designed to bring people together and enrich lives. It is, in a nutshell, developed to redefine the way people live and maximise their fulfillment for a richer, simpler and fuller life.

In lieu with the elements that inspired the S4, performances galore took place in and outside of the popular shopping mall to celebrate its arrival. Celebrity musician, Dennis Lau, serenaded the crowd with his convoy of fellow string musicians to commemorate the special moment in technological history.

I’ve always been the one to fall for the lead guitarist in a band, but this was the first time violinists look bad ass. Dennis sure knows how to make the violin, an instrument usually associated with boring classical music, look sexy! Extra brownie points for the cute fedora. It gave the show a more playful vibe as opposed to a performance that was rigid and too perfect in nature.

One of the new features of the S4 that enticed me most, is their dual camera capability. The new phone now allows you to take photos with both front and back cameras instantaneously so not a single precious moment is lost. Also, the cameras may be triggered in the most convenient way possible. It’s so convenient, I could hardly believe it myself when I first saw people doing it I tell you. Just by sweeping your face in front of the phone once, it cues the camera to take a picture without needing a single touch of the hand! Like, what??? This takes the possibilities of cam-whoring to an entirely new level!! HAHAHA.

When the violinists were done playing their score, I had thought that was the end of it. I was halfway through making my way towards the Samsung counters to meddle with the new S4 for a bit when suddenly I found myself right smack in the middle of a group of dancers. I swear they had appeared out of no where. They definitely weren’t there half a minute ago!

Clad in the signature Samsung blue, it was not hard to tell they were actually part of the launch. They were, nonetheless, an extremely pleasant surprise. The group grew right in front of our eyes — initially there were probably only about 10 dancers. Next thing we knew, we were looking at something like 50 people all dancing to the same identical choreography! Super cool. I suppose tinkling with the S4 can wait a bit, especially since so much effort has been put into these performances!

You could tell they were a collaboration of easily over ten different crews. Yet all their moves melded together like they were one big family regardless of names or titles. This one dancer particularly, stole the entire show with his really cool breakdancing moves.

He was all arms and legs which he swung all over the place as if he was made of spring. I wish I half that lithe and limber! At one point, he came so near me, I was most afraid he would accidentally kick my camera right out of my hands haha!

And with that, the S4 was officially launched in the Malaysian market. I don’t think there’s been a device this looked forward to since the Note II was launched mid of last year.

OMG bad hair day to the max. Ignore my frizzy lion mane.

When I finally got to try my hands with the new phone, all the expectations measured up. Their 5-inch full HD Super AMOLED screen trumps Apple’s Retina display any time of day. The clarity and sharpness are quite leveled, I’ll give it that, but the vividness and saturation of colours are incomparable. I loaded this blog on it and was most blown away by the dynamic feel my photos suddenly had. Every snapshot seemed to have come right alive, and every smallest minute detail was bursting with the the most effervescent colours. It was like a full-on rainbow orgasm right there, huhuhu.

I couldn’t help but notice how it’s only half the thickness of my iPhone 4, which suddenly looks extremely bulky and old-fashioned next to this sleek new player. Actually, I was trying to be nice, my iPhone 4 looked like a Goddamned brick next to it LOL. The sleek rounded edges gave it a very nice finish too — it brought to mind the very sensual curves of the woman body — and the metal rims were solid and assuring to the touch. Hi Daddy, my phone is now almost 3 and a half years now, maybe it’s time to change? Yes, no, maybe? Hehehe.

Since we were already in the area, the Ninja Rabbit and I thought why not take a walk down the road to Low Yat next door and see what are the best deals that can be found for this new phone. Little did we know, an even bigger fiesta was taking place over there!

Mimes and clowns and stilt-walkers flooded the place and the whole IT and Lifestyle Mall was turned into a small carnival of sorts, complete with a live band and all. Thank our lucky stars we decided to pop by Low Yat, otherwise we would’ve missed all this!

Everywhere we looked there was a happy face grinning somewhere and waving enthusiastically at us. They loved being in front of the camera too haha! Just point one at them and they would more than willingly pose for you.

The band played the most cheerful beat throughout the procession as the party half-marched-half-danced their way through the narrow corridors of Low Yat. Everyone was in such a happy, cheery mood that even the performers themselves wore big grins on their faces! I’m not usually too big a fan of clowns, I used to break down in tears if one so much as came near me when I was younger, but the atmosphere was such a positively-charged one that I couldn’t help but smile at all the on-goings myself.

The Ninja Rabbit made a few new friends as well. I don’t know how he knows who’s who because I can’t even tell one apart from another, but he knows them by name by the end of the afternoon, I kid you not! My boyfriend, Mr. Friendly 101.

I can’t even see this guy’s face but one thing’s for sure, I can tell he’s smiling. Can you?

This guy looks like he had just walked right out of Neil Gaiman’s Mirrormask.

And hey look, these guys are here too! Hahaha. Great job on the super cool way of introducing the S4 to us!

Every Samsung store we walked by was packed to the brim with customers trying out the new phone. We popped in one just to have a second look seeing the commotion that was going on. I can so tell the Ninja Rabbit wants this new baby so badly haha. He’s the biggest Samsung fan I know and is always putting down my Apple iPhone every chance he gets. I don’t blame him for being so completely smitten with the S4. The small thing sure does pack a powerful punch!

Little did we know, more festivities awaited us outside. What other surprises could there be after all the above, right? Hohoho, you have no idea.

The first thing this scene brought to my mind was the Disney Pixar cartoon Up! I was almost envious of them CEO big guys for getting to release those balloons lol. I wanna release so many colourful helium balloons at once too! =(

When they let go — OhMyGosh — the balloons made such a lovely sight! They floated off into the sky as if truly happy for their new found freedom. I know it’s silly to imply that balloons harboured any feelings at all, but that’s just how they looked!

Colourful confetti was popped and met the balloons halfway in their transcend to the skies above. I’ve always wanted to be part of Carnivale, the annual street parade and party held in Rio de Janeiro. This was like a small slice of what the real thing in Brazil must look and feel like! Oh, the colours and music and people elaborately dressed up just dancing all over the place!

He must be saying “Nice doing business with you” =P

The all new Sansung Galaxy S4, ladies and gentlemen. It’s gonna be a long while before you stumble across another launch as colourful and as festive as this one.

They had a double-decker tour bus that you could climb on to participate in interactive games and such. Needless to say I went onboard and dragged the Ninja Rabbit along with me hehehe. I never let things like that go if I can help it!

Aboard was a whole crew of Samsung staff ready to explain every single feature of the S4 to you should you yearn to find out more. I was quite taken aback at first at a whole row of people suddenly urging me on to try out the phones left out on display, but warmed up to them quickly.

And they were right. The S4 was something I’d want to experience for myself to fully appreciate its wonders and capabilities. There was so much this phone can do. One of the biggest  improvements the S4 has from the S3 is the Air Gesture feature. They now have Smart Pause, a feature that automatically pauses a video or song you were playing when you look away from the screen. They do this by detecting your eye iris movement. If the sensor does not detect your irises looking at the screen, the phone automatically puts to pause any media you may have been playing on it prior. How cool is that?? Hand in hand, there is also the Air gesture feature with which you may change music track, scroll up or down a webpage, or even accept a call with a simple wave of your hand. Waving to take your photo is only the tip of the iceberg!

Mega super cool, is it not? We have now arrived at the era of technology as seen in Minority Report and other cyberpunk sci-fi movies!

We got off the bus just in time to catch our first local dance crew that has breached international waters, Elecoldxhot. Initially I was wondering why was there a whole group of boys dressed in suits and bowties in this scorching weather. Then they started dancing and I immediately got understood. This was another performance! LOL.

I know what you must be thinking. Is there no end to the number of performances they have scheduled for this launch??

Apparently not, lol. But I’m not complaining! As always, the Elecoldxhot boys delivered an impeccable performance amongst a sea of other performers like themselves.

Their routine had all the most daring acrobatic stunts too. You can never go wrong with Elecoldxhot when it comes to wow-ing the crowd with dancemoves.

OH I MUST TELL YOU THIS HILARIOUS STORY!!

So there was also this poor mime there that day, going around distributing forks and bending them, seemingly with his mind. It must be his unlucky day or something because he had the misfortune of running into — of all people — the Ninja Rabbit LMAO. Let me do some background explanation here. For those of you who may not know, my boyfriend also happens to be a performing street magician (minus the make up and funny outift haha). One of his trademark tricks include — yup, you guessed it — bending forks.

Out of respect, the Ninja Rabbit initially wanted to just let the mime do his thing and be only the silent observer. Unfortunately, Mr. Mime insisted he take a fork, so began a modern day Magician’s Duel. Or in this case Magician vs Mime Duel LOL.

Every bent the Mime made with his fork, the Ninja Rabbit followed suit and delivered. The Mime stared at the Ninja Rabbit with the widest eyes I’ve ever seen on a Mime when the Ninja Rabbit went on to almost tear the fork apart. The crowd went from looking amazed to confused as they began to wonder who was the performer and who, the spectator LOL. It was the most hilarious sight.

Finally, Mr. Mime grabbed his fork back and stormed away from an even more perplexed crowd HAHAHAHAHAHA. He picked the wrong guy to try bending forks to, poor Mime.

I ran into Ashley amidst all the festivities going on! We had wanted to only borrow that bunch of balloons for a photo from a Samsung guy giving it out, but unfortunately couldn’t find him again to return them after. I hope he doesn’t think we stole and ran off with the whole bunch! LOL.

How sexy is my boyfriend? Hehehehe. Hello Ryan and Yeeing! =)

After taking all the photos we want with the balloons, and still seeing no signs of the Samsung balloon guy, we ended up giving them out ourselves hahaha. The Ninja Rabbit didn’t want to take them home so he hunted down families with young children and gave them all ballooons xD

My boyfriend, the benevolent balloon distributor HAHAHAHA.

That was a Saturday well spent I would say! There were balloons and clowns and music and dancing — what spells fun more than all those mentioned above??

This is one cellphone launch I’m going to remember for quite a while. I can’t begin to imagine the kind of stress the organizers must have undergone in preparing for this! If it makes a difference, all your hard work paid off! I am most impressed at everything and left with a small kind of high still buzzing in my chest from all the happy things seen at your launch! Now anytime anyone mentions the S4, I am brought back to this afternoon of joy and happiness again where everyone is perpetually dancing and singing and where balloons seem to everywhere.

So, you reading this, go now to your nearest Samsung store and check out the S4. It is a whole new kind of gadget that’s in a class of its own =)