girls gone wild

What happens when you put some girls together in a mall...They shop! Duh!!?

All it took was my gf and I to go back to the same mall week after week and every week without fail, we would always contribute to the economy both big and small ways. Yesterday, it was in a big way.

She arrived earlier to get her facial done at Clarins while I came slightly later to get my brows trimmed at Shu Uemura. Amount spent - RM178 which is quite good considering she came out with a starter kit, a lotus oil serum of some kind, a free facial (pays to be a regular customer with thousand of points), RM20 for an eyebrow trim (usually RM30 but am a regular customer so again, pays to be loyal).

Then it was off to Charles & Keith where she bought a pair of shoes. She was extremely decisive on this purchase. Amount spent - RM 129.

On the same floor, we went over to British India to get my white tank top to replace an old piece. Tempted to browse through the store but the pricing does not quite justify my ROI even if I were to wear it to sleep.... Anyway, amount spent - RM89.

Inbetween, I had to hopped over to HSBC to do some banking while gf was at Bimba and Lola.

Bimba and Lola is a Spanish brand founded by two sisters. They have a great Spring Summer collection from shoes to clothes and bags and what caught our eyes were the gladiator 4-inch shoes. The straps are made of suede and gf tried to them and swore that they were more comfortable than they looked. Price was over RM65o, not a necessity at the moment and probably not very versatile unless we are young Hollywood starlets. The other shoes, from ballerina flats to wedges start from RM195 and made from the softest leather in the most amazing colour palette.

I was very interested in two items; one was a gold plated ring resembling a vine and the other was a a small envelope bag in light beige and olive. The ring cost RM105 while the mini bag cost RM160. Currently they are running a promotion with the mall cardmembers offering 10% discount on any purchase.

I contemplated and decided to give it a pass as they were not necessities. Regrets? none.

Off we went gallivanting and stopped at Marks & Spencer. Gf tried many outfits but bought one very nice striped tee with puff sleeves. Got the same one actually. Amount spent - RM59.

It was close to 3pm by then so off we went to have lunch. Which kinda ended up much like a little adventure but that is for another time.


The next stop we made was all the way to the old wing to look for a handbag at Liz Claiborne. GF looked at a few and finally decided on a patent handbag with many compartments for your mobile, wallet, keys, etc. Very chic too.

Now this was what happened next. While chatting with the sales person, she mentioned that there was a promotion going on whereby purchases above RM250 will receive 20% off retail price and for every multiple of RM250, the discount increases by 10%.

So we did our calculations and that is when the mayhem started. Things at Liz Claiborne started to look different, somewhat more attractive ;)

So we went on a shopping spree at the store. We picked up so many things... A patent black bag , a funky fuchsia and a purple coloured namecard holder each and a black wraparound top. The total came up to RM750 so we eventually only paid about RM450 for all those stuff. After that, we kind of lost count of how much we have spent in total.

We were tired after an entire day of shopping, calculating and trying on stuff and it was a sign

that it was probably enough for a day.

In light of the current situation, being frugal is essential. So instead on splurging on full retail price on whatever you have your eye on, always remember that there is a bargain lurking somewhere. And always remember to ask whether they have any credit card promotions going on because somehow these retail assistants are not very keen on sharing information.

It was truly a pretty damn good day ...

the quintessential white tee

Ok to be perfectly correct, its a tank top, not a tee... but hey, English evolves all the time.

Anyway, I have had this white tank top from British India for over 4 years. Made out of lycra and some super fantastic fabric, it is soft to the touch and is amazingly skin tight. It also comes with support for the bosom and thin bra like straps.


Today, I eventually bought a new one to replace the old one. after 4 years, and a ROI if at least worn once every 2 fortnight, buying the exact same one at British India was not difficult.

Some may think I may not have advanced and my taste is stagnant, well you guys have no idea until you have found the quintessential white tee...

new beginnings

Tomorrow marks the first day of the rest of my working life. Tomorrow I embark on my own with a good friend in realizing my dream to be a business owner.

The decision was a hard one to make but somehow when you are making the right decision, the Universe makes it happen for you too. In my case all glory to Him who made all things possible.

In this new place I will be able to exercise my entrepreneurship and also try my hand in TV, something I haven't done before but am fascinated by.

Tomorrow is the beginning of many...

tried. tired

The problem with most events is that they usually come with hundreds of photographs that you would have to go through to pick out the ones that fancied your eyes.

Then uploading them will take forever because the files are so large.

So what does one do?

Simple load what you can and leave the rest for days that you would rather do something remote more challenging that watching paint dry.

Look, I tried and now I am tired, so... be patient and Wait for my post of Thomas Pink's Project Peace. Lots of good looking men and women to look at.

project peace

What started as a little discussion soon took over our daily schedule with coordination and liaison with a multitude of people to make this happen. In addition to the different activities requiring our immediate attention, we have to manoeuvre through land mines hoping that we wont be blown into pieces.

Project Peace was an expansion of a similar concept which Thomas Pink London came up with many years ago profiting the starving children in Africa.

We wanted to make it more topical and so we steered it towards Mercy Malaysia's fund for Gaza.

Project Peace kick started with identifying the designers/creative personalities and pinning them down with the concept as well as the deadlines as the 6 weeks given for them to complete the garment was right smacked at the beginning of fashion week. So sorry about that you guys but having said that, those who were torn between designing, appearing and endorsing did amazing work!

We managed to gather an outstanding list of luminaries from the design arena and they were Khoon Hooi, Sonny San, Chris Yong, Shahril Nizam, Nurita Harith, Alexandrea Yeo, Bernie Chan, Iman Aznan, Alex Koh, Will Quah, Charlz Chan and Daniel Boey. OK so some of them are not fashion designers but they are definitely involved in design one way or the other.

As they toiled over the concept and the garments, we had to do the same with finding the space for the exhibition as well as the final event where we would auction the garments. Also press opportunities and the list goes on.

As the dateline drew to a close, the garment were collected one by one and as we oohed and aahed, we soon discovered that we had to now make sure that each garment was styled correctly and 'sold' during the auction. Quite a daunting task if you think about it.

The fundraiser event went as planned and ended early as hoped for.

I want the pictures to speak for themselves and all in all, we raised RM20,000 from the sale of the 11 garments. Thanks to all the kind bidders, designers and everyone else who came to support the project. Also a shout out to Gillian who tirelessly agreed to model for Sonny right after Fashion Week and Henry for saying yes without even thinking about what he was getting himself into.

Anyway he looked great in that outfit, maybe a tad uncomfortable...

All in all we managed to raise RM20,000 for those in need and kudos to all those who lent a hand.

honey glazed ham

I was back at Le Deli at the shoplet at Mont Kiara after a long time thanks to Jarrod & Rawlins and Mr. Ho sprouting around town.

In my household, I adhere to a certain routine when making dinner. Certain days were meant for more elaborate cooking while others were simple but satisfying meals.

You see, every weekend I shop for groceries which means making a mental note of the week's menu. Armed with that I storm the supermarket to make my purchase.

However last weekend was different. I was just not in the mood so I had to resort to find the simplest food to make for my hungry man after his golfing game.

So off to Le Deli I went a picked up the Honey Glazed Bacon to make a simple ham sandwich.

All I did was grill the bread (coz I love those charred marks) and pan fry the bacon, sliced some tomatoes and voila, yummy tummy filler.

This is as much as I can bring myself to blog about now with a headache. Maybe more later when it starts to pour coz that was what my friend the weather man told me last night.

One can only hope and pray.

schokolart

After our rather disappointing start to the day, we headed over to Solaris hoping to salvage the rest of our Sunday with lunch.

Remembering an article a certain friend by the initials of KHC featuring Schokolart, we decided to check it out and lo and behold, another major disappointment.

Located on the same floor as Tenji, Schokolart is located close to the escalators one floor up from Haagen Daaz. We were instantly excited about the prospect of lunching there especially when escaping the horrid heat into this pretty cafe.

What greeted us was promising. The large glass showcase of chocolate, praline and ganache instantly made us crave for the fix of the day.

Most of the tables were reserved for groups celebrating Mother's Day so we were ushered to be seated on a raised platform behind curtains. I must say that the chairs were very funky with a high arch back for one to lean back and enjoy.

The service was bad, completely inadequate although they have only a few tables occupied then and many more waiters milling around. They did seem busy but doing what, this remains to be a mystery. Anyway, our service was bad.

Next came our food. The Caesar was badly made. The salad was yellow, there were no croutons but the only saving grace was the grilled chicken and the hard boiled egg (seriously how can one screw this up). The sauce was horrible and it had some weird stale oil taste to it.

The Rosti with bacon was great but not good enough for me to get rid of the taste of the Caesar. The salad accompanying the dish was not fresh and I would have preferred them not to include that in the dish.

Being adventurous and hungry, we also ordered the tea set for two (if we had known that the quality was this bad, trust me, we would have bolted soon after the Rosti).

The set came with 3 pieces of chocolate from the counter, 2 scones, 4 biscuit, 2 sandwiches and a piece of cake also from the counter. Drinks, either coffee or tea was also included.

The chocolate was stale (why am I not surprised), the biscuits were ordinary and so were the scones. The sandwiches - turkey ham with cheese and chicken mayo were ordinary bordering on bad coz the salad was bordering on going bad.

We were given two cups of chocolate drink in addition to our tea as compensation but wasn't good enough to compel us to come back.

It is sad that a place with so much promise failed so miserably but it was pretty damn good that my friend decided NOT to take his mum to Schokolart for Mother's Day coz he would have killed me!

art for grabs

My girlfriend and I decided to check out Art for Grabs at Central Market over the weekend despite the very hot weather but much to my dismay, it was rather disappointing; it was more like the art community in Malaysia seeking to form a network above ground.

We came and left in less than 10 minutes but good thing was the traffic was good and parking in Central Market was strangely a breezeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

So I hope the next Art for Grabs will be better than this coz local talents like Shahril Nizam are pretty damn good!

malacca calling

We were recently commissioned to shoot a pilot for a new TV show and had to write a list featuring the places of interest in Malacca as preparation before the actual shoot takes place.

BLANK. Absolutely nothing came up. NOTHING + BLANK = HUH??

Being Malaysian, I was utterly embarrassed. Yes, I grew up south of Malaysia, in a land where Malaysian history was not taught instead we embraced the history, geography as well as the civic responsibility of this little island.

I grew up being able to recite the Rukun Negara (I actually have no idea but have faint memories of this at the back of all the school notebooks) equivalent in Malay, Mandarin and of course English, each to represent the different races and oh yes, the National Anthem is in Malay. Most of my classmates had no idea what they were singing but anyway...

Sorry I digressed.

So anyway, back to Malacca. My last visit there was probably a decade ago with my then 'common' friend, DG, now a 'celebrity' and a prolific DJ spinning under the name Twilight Action Girl who brought us to visit his hometown.

There wasn't anything memorable about the trip except for perhaps how DG behaved when his family was around him; normal was the word.

Anyway, as I googled Malacca and tried to locate the road less traveled in Malacca, I found none. Was it futile for me to be searching for the less obvious? Is it because we prefer to blog about Paris or Rome than Kuala Kangsar? Do Malaysians rather travel outside to gather new experiences or is visiting neighbouring states too close for comfort. Or are we just afraid to be disappointed.

Whatever it is, the pilot needs to be shot so the places need to be identified. maybe it is not about the road less traveled but the road to be traveled again to revisit the charm of Malacca that attracted the Portuguese in the first place.

Whatever it is, it must be PRETTY DAMN GOOD!

homegrown SPACE

Yesterday was a hot day. The trees at home were parched. People were seeking refuge in malls where air conditioning was free. I was neither home nor at the mall yesterday. I was at a HOT location yesterday witnessing the opening of Homegrown SPACE, a space dedicated to local talents to showcase their passion.

Be it singing, dancing, reciting poetry or flaunting fashion, Homegrown SPACE is for all you talented individuals. And because it is dedicated towards helping the new talents, there is no charge at all.

The launch saw Izham Omar, CEO of 8TV and an advocate for local talent joining Michael Simon, the MD of Homegrown and a visionary, to officially introduce the space to the media and friends of Homegrown.

Ok, call me a skeptic or whatever... but let the truth be told, I was no advocate for local talent. What is 'Love Me Butch' or 'They Will Kill Us All' ? And 'One Buck Short' or 'Furniture' ? Or rather who are they?

As of 4pm, yesterday, I was totally converted. After checking out the Beat Box act with this little, unassuming guy called Jin Hackman doing his rap number, my perception that all foreign acts are superior was questionable. The scale continued to tip when Bo, this guy with crazy hair sang his own composition only with the most sultry and soulful voice I have heard live for some time already. Then this Reza Salleh guy confirmed that their acts will now join the ranks of John Legend and Jason Mraz on many playlist, most definitely mine.

Trust me when I say even the very JADED media who attended the event yesterday was blown away.

So let me say here, whether they are called LapSap or Meet Uncle Hussien, they are all PRETTY DAMN GOOD! and quite original with their name pickings.