SGD

So on Merdeka weekend, it just so happened to stretch to a 5 day public holiday bliss. Can't complain, I love long days off. Since school! And I was glad I didn't end up using the annual leave I applied for Monday since we got that off too (thank you athletes, so proud and we love you).

I went to Singapore in April for work and I was reminded how much I loved it that I immediately planned on going again later in the year with my sisters. And now that I'm working, I thought it'd be nice to treat them out on a short holiday. This was a rather big achievement for me because I didn't have to borrow money from my parents. Which makes this hopefully, the first out of many holidays of me self-sponsoring.

We were there for 2 nights and we left on Saturday. Took an early flight with Scoot which is a new budget Singaporean airline. And I really liked the whole experience because i) We didn't have to walk to the airplane and ii) We arrived 10 minutes earlier from expected. Talk about being kiasu, amirite?

Got ourselves to our accommodation called Arcadia Hotel and it's situated in Lavender, just a stop after Bugis which wasn't too bad. And it's a boutique hotel so I thought it'd be cuter (also, relatively affordable). My mistake with ALL my holidays is that I always, always book for a damn early flight and then being in the dilemma of "Hmm now what do we do?" while waiting for our room to be ready. I know some people dump their things at their accommodation and go about their day. But after a flight, especially one early in the day, I like to wash up a bit before going on with the rest of the first day. So we went to go to a small café nearby and hung there for a good minute before going back to the hotel. The room we got was SO tiny, it reminded me of like a small student's accommodation. Felt bad for my sisters because we were squeezed in a pretty tight space so I asked for a bigger room but could only get it the 2nd night. Which was fine. What's a night of small tight lovin', right?

This was the only shot I had of this store because was too busy going around and loving everything. Iman bought an oversized denim jacket and I bought a pair of jeans and a striped top.

Dress from Zara (which I got half priced!) and maroon slides from where else, Nelissa Hilman.

CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHENNNNNNN MY LOVEEEE

Walked around Orchard Road because we wanted to take it easy. Even planned to go to Bugis right after but underestimated the amount of time we spent on Orchard that we just pretty much spent all our time there on the first day.

Made our way to one of my FAVOURITE stores ever, The Editor's Market. I loved everything and I loved the concept of it too. Like how you buy 1, you get it for a certain price but if you buy 3 items, you get everything cheaper and if you buy 6 things, you get it even cheaper. It's a pretty brilliant strategy because you go in the store thinking "OK, I need to get 3 things now because why not" or at the very least, people will bring in their friends and family to buy more so that everyone gets a cheaper price. And the clothes are already quite affordable in my opinion, especially compared to other mainstream retailers.

During breakfast, we were joking how we would have to go all the way to Seoul to eat good pizza (a good pizza for us is California Pizza Kitchen's pepperoni pizza) and I asked "Maybe ada in Singapore??" and I Googled and true enough, "California Pizza Kitchen, Singapore" appeared on the homepage and Iman was very close to crying happy tears. We really should bring it back to Malaysia, any willing investors? Promise you'll get your returns in like... a year.

I don't know about anyone else but one of my favourite part about a holiday is the hotel room I stay in. For me, what makes or breaks a holiday is the accommodation. I'd rather spend a good amount on a place to stay because at the end of the day when you're tired from all the walking and sightseeing, you just want to come home to a nice, comfortable place to shower, relax and sleep.

So we did just that. Hahahaha. It was so hot and we were sweating in all places and we woke up very early that morning so we decided to take an early night. We slept at 9:30pm!! We had to wake up early anyway because.... we were going for Yayoi Kasuma's exhibit! Yes, the one with a lot of circles and yes, the one with the magical lights.

This was the very last day of the exhibit and it has been running since June. I booked tickets a week earlier so it was a matter of collecting the tickets. We were slotted for 11am so we got there before 10:30am and there was already a 2 hour queue for people who wanted to buy tickets then and there. Craaaaaazy. Good thing I didn't leave it last minute.

The queue to get in the 4 different 'rooms' were also very long. It could just probably be because it was the last day and everyone was rushing to see it before it closes but man, the line!!! Was!! Absurd!! Though I have to say the line moved pretty quickly so it wasn't too bad. But still. Would've saved an hour from lining up everywhere.

We then moved to have 4 Fingers for lunch at Marina Square. Also, bloody hell, it was damn sunny. I know this shouldn't be news but damnnnnnn it was so sunny. Don't think sunscreen worked cause I'm still tanned! I scurried to any and every shaded walkway every chance I got but don't think that was too helpful. After having 18 pieces of chicken (!!! SO good!!! And I personally think it's so much flavourful in Singapore than the one here in KL), we made our way to Bugis to check out Haji Lane and everywhere nearby. By then we were SO tired, and just wanted to sit down somewhere and it was a Sunday so there were so many people everywhere! AND it was so hot. I think the reason why we didn't sit down at a cafe somewhere was because we much preferred going back to the hotel and lying down on our bed. So we did that... with a Grabcar. Couldn't be bothered to walk to an MRT station. 

All three of us didn't have internet on our phones and so we attempted to travel around with a map (that was, by the end of the trip, very well-loved, all torn and wrinkled). And we did pretty well, I think? Though I think CityMapper would've saved us a lot of time, surviving with a map made for great adventures and lots of "Wait, huh, what?". 

The walkway towards the National Gallery of Singapore was all polka dots! So cute.

Just wanted to quickly note that I was ENDLESSLY impressed by how beautiful the National Gallery was. What a sophisticated and stunning place. Architecture, curation, interior, everything was so elegant. Reminded me of the National Museum in Amsterdam.

Yep, 18 pieces of chicken got nothin' on us.

One of the only photos we took together. And it's a selfie...

For dinner, we got a cab to Clarke Quay. Yeah, we couldn't do the whole walk/train/walk/train thing, got too tiring haha.

Loved Clarke Quay though food prices were crazy. Wanted to eat at the super famous seafood restaurant but there was an hour and 45 minute wait and we couldn't be too bothered. We managed to find a small Korean place and it was pretty good... and definitely a lot cheaper than the ones on the deck.

After we did some walking, we went back to the hotel to chill. I think we were at 11k steps the so we were pretty exhausted by the end of it hahaha.

Next day we took our time with leaving the hotel because we loved the room a little too much. So we walked our way to a nearby cafe and had breakfast. Got back and showered to get ready for our last day out! Flight was that evening so we had to pack up. Made our way to Gardens by The Bay where we went up on the OCBC Skywalk. The elevator up didn't feel too bad but it was actually quite high up. Tania didn't walk to the other side because she got the creeps. It's quite pretty, as you're surrounded by odd looking structures (like scrawny trees) and you have the Marina Bay Sands hotel behind you and you can see good ol' greenery all around you and see a good chunk of Singapore. It was quite windy too and Tania swore the bridge swerved but I didn't. It was narrow in the middle so can be quite daunting... just try not to look down too much.

We then made our way to Chijmes, and it's like a big space for restaurants, cafe's and all that. It's a lot more lively in the evening than it is in the day but we went to take some photos and left to find ourselves a cab to make our way to have CPK again. Fulfilling Iman's pizza cravings from years back. And mine.

After that, we went back to our hotel to collect our luggage and left for the airport. But not after changing into a I Love Singapore t-shirt. The uncle at immigration read my tee and asked, 

"You love Singapore?"

"Yes, I do!"
"Well, at least that's one of us"

and another uncle joined

"You can only love it if you have money"

which I guess is very true. It's quite expensive to live in this place. Even if you do compare 1 to 1 on the transport costs, it's still quite expensive to travel around with the MRT. It's a pricey city but I really do like it because of how well the place is built. I still have loads to explore but I think I'm going to go travel other parts of Asia before coming back to our neighbour here.

OMG this post took freaking ages to complete and post! I'm so sorry that I'm behind my blog but work's been a bit busy these days and my days are so routinely boring that I have nothing much to talk about. I'm going to sit down properly and blog about what's been up with life and all that. I've started listing down the things I want to blog about but haven't come to actually writing it so one of these days, I'll definitely do that. We have a short week (we got Monday off because the team worked over the weekend at Riuh) and Friday's off due to Awal Muharram so yay!

Talk soon. Promise! 

Catch up on the weeknd

It's Friday, I feel a headache coming on, but I'm all snuggled in my bed and I just showered so I smell pretty great.

The past 5 day holiday was bliss and my sisters and I went for a quick weekend trip to Singapore, mainly because I really wanted to catch the Yayoi Kusama exhibit and it was already the closing weekend so I had to go that weekend. 

It's been a week since that happened and I'm so obviously still on that post-holiday blues. I treated my sisters so I'm pretty broke now but I'm so glad I did it. I really wanted a holiday and I really kinda needed it. I never got a break since graduating so I guess this was it. Actually, no. Just remembered I went to Seoul as my grad gift lol. But this is my first time really spending from flights to accommodation to dinners. So it felt kinda... good? Wrong time to be broke though because Fenty Beauty just launched today and Zara had pretty nice things when I popped by just now.

Also! Sam Smith is back, baby, back!!! I love him and I missed his music loads so I'm so~ excited he's back! He only has 1 song out and I already love it. I can't wait to hear the rest of the album, apparently out by end of September. Eeeeeep! Sad ballads, come my way! Mess me up, Sam!!!!

I'll update more about our Singapore trip (with a video!) soon enough, need to compile photos and videos first. Haven't gotten the time to sit down and zen yet so maybe this weekend.

I've got 2 events tomorrow and they're kinda back-to-back but I'm so stoked for both 'cause I get to meet my friends again!!!! From seeing each other every single night to not seeing each other months and months on. Pretty crazy to think about it.

OMG! ALSO! I know I wrote something about tea tree oil being my saviour but I got myself a big burn because of it so I'm retracting my statement about it. DON'T wear it with a pimple patch or band aid or anything that will have the tea tree oil trapped. I Googled it and it is a thing. There is such thing as a tea tree burn. So don't be like me and try this out. Sorry, I hope no one's tried it yet. But if you have, I swear by aloe vera. I bought it and put it on my burns (burnSSSSSSS ok, I'm talking multiple spots!!!! On my face!!!!!) and it cured in like, 2 days. What kind of magic is aloe, amirite? 

Hope everyone has a great Saturday and Sunday! Make it count, guys.

xx

60th, my dear Malaysia

HAPY 60TH INDEPENDENCE DAY, MALAYSIA!!!!!!!

I complain and whine about this country and how inefficient it can be and how frustrating it can be but man, I wouldn't leave this country and I will forever be loyal. This is the country I want to live in all my life, with all of its ups and downs. This is home, this is where I grew up, this is where I made friends, this is where I have the best memories of being a kid, being a teen, and now being an adult. It's where my heart is and it's where I will always be.

I understand why some people would want to leave and who would want to find career opportunities elsewhere. I understand that most of the time it's because they don't find satisfaction in this place and they would economically be a lot better elsewhere. I've always been an advocate of people returning home to contribute to a brighter, bigger, better Malaysia. It's our responsibility as anak Malaysia to do that. The future of this land is ultimately in our hands now and so it's up to us to make it a better place. We're now at the age where we get to have a say in how we shape this country. I've confidence and belief that I grew up in a generation where there's an overwhelming amount of smart cookies and hardworking, aspirational kids there. So I hope we all stay loyal to the country we were born and raised in and start giving back. We complain and whine about it but we also have to do something about it. If we don't find it efficient, let's work towards making it efficient. Be the change you want to see (thanks Gandhi). Stay on the left side of the escalator, let people off the elevator/trains first before getting in, work smart, be polite, smile more, pick up the trash you see, recycle, give people way, JUST BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE, be the nation you want to be proud of. 

I love this country but I definitely think there's so much more we can do to improve. So let's improve. It's the best gift we can give back to this country. She's given so much so it's time we contribute.

Happy 60th Independence Day, Malaysiaku. You're my favourite and I'll always come back to you. 

xx

Current Favs (July/August '17)

Sitting on my bed with my smelly sister with me. She brought her speakers because she wanted to let me listen to some of her new finds. She has some pretty great taste. We're going to the movies very soon, like in 45 minutes to watch Bad Genius. I'm kinda excited! It's a Thai movie and it's been getting crazy good reviews so I'm banking in on that. And my mum's following too! It's so rare that my mum leaves the house on weekends because she's so lazy to go out and I understand because she spends so much time at work that the weekend is too precious to be spent being tired.

(I wrote that first paragraph before the movie at about... 3:45pm. Now it's 11:35pm. I watched the movie. It was good. Very good, in fact. I was more blown away by the cinematography and art direction but the plot had my eyes glued to the screen the whole time.)

A week and a bit late but here are some of my current favourites. 

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1 MRT

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Ok. Sorry first and foremost for ever doubting the MRT/LRT. But I take it all back. I love it!!! I love it I love it I love it. I have been wanting to get on the MRT for sometime now but have always been a bit skeptical and no one wanted to follow me on it so I guess I was a bit scared. Which is so weird because I'm so independent in other countries. Give me public transport in South Korea, Budapest, Singapore and I'm so game. But here in my own country and I'm thinking twice???? I hate myself for it but so glad I'm now comfortable getting around with the railway. I hope everyone gets on it more because it's so stress-free I swear!! #jomnaikmrt

Last weekend my friends and I agreed to have lunch at Chillis, KLCC and I was like, "Yes! I'll get on the MRT!" and I did. For the first time ever! I still had to take an Uber to the nearest MRT station though but oh my God, I loveddddd the whole experience! It's huge, it's clean and it's COLD. Like on some days, I'll be freezing in the train. But I was just so impressed. I was really late to the lunch (... like an hour and a half late) so I guess there's that. It's still not as efficient as I'd like but I loved it nevertheless.

My nearest stop is Sg Buloh so the very end which is great because that means empty carriages.

This... however, was quite full. Towards KLCC.

My friends and I spending time at Kinokuniya, just about the best book store ever.

I looooove these girls. They're so girl power all the time, I'm always in *awe*. We're going out this weekend again and I can't wait! 

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2 ASIAN YOUTUBE VLOGGERS

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I used to watch mainstream Youtubers but completely stopped because I was just not into their vibe anymore. Everything felt like an advertisement and everyone was vlogging. I'm not that into their personal life so I wasn't interested.

But then I came across a couple of Asian beauty Youtubers and I was back on it. I don't know what about it that I love so much. I think it's because they fit the perfect no-frills Youtube video genre. Minimal editing and soothing voices. I find some Youtubers to be too perky and too cheery that I find them so impossible to connect with. Because I'm not like that at all! So I much, much prefer these Asian Youtubers who are more chilled and laid-back and I love their faces!!! And their make-up!!! Everything about it feels so natural. I'm more of a no-fuss, messy hair kinda girl and these girls are it!!! Long gone are the times of using scotch tape to guide your liner because i) that hurts and ii) who cares.

Here are some of my favourites

i. chrissstttiiine



I love Christine - from the way she edits her videos to her calming voice. And she's so freaking intricate in her reviews. And honest! I love her. Her voice is so calming and zen and she doesn't have background music and she's got such a lengthy opinion for everything which I really appreciate. That shows passion and honesty for her work and that she doesn't just do it for Youtube.

ii. HYULARI



She's so beautiful!!!! I stumbled onto her Youtube page and from then I followed her on Instagram. She's very new to Youtube and only has 2 videos out but I'm sucha fan of her feed already. I love the Instagram accounts yang tak kisah anything at all and has no rhyme or reason for any photo. The more random the better. And she likes Zion T so that's a plus already for me.

iii. Dasha Kim



She's Korean and most of her videos are in Korean but she's thoughtful enough to put in subtitles. She currently resides in Australia. I came across her video because she had a Q+A video about being a stewardess which I thought was particularly quite interesting. I've always been curious about being a flight attendant (not that I could ever hold the job because I'm incredibly prone to air sickness and WILL vomit if I don't take a motion sickness pill before I fly) so this kinda answered my queries. But she's also very cool and chill and a bit all over the place but it's quite refreshing to see this from a Korean lass.

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3 MAKE-UP

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i. Glossier's Cloud Paint

So I've been wanting to get myself a Glossier product for so long but have been putting it off because it's quite expensive and pre-orders take such a long time. Something like 3-4 weeks from payment date. Ridiculously long and I'm such a impatient person so I don't think I'd bear to wait that long for a product I've already paid.

But anyway, I got it and I was so excited! It's a tiny, tiny tube. Don't know if I can justify it but you really do need a very small amount for both cheeks. I sincerely, genuinely quite like it because I love the colour. I got the shade Haze which is their darkest shade. It's pretty in-your-face pink and I dig it. I don't put tons of it because trying to subdue it is just another hassle of its own.

It's so easy to blend and I really like how you really don't need much to have some colour on your cheeks. And this is my first time playing around with a liquid blush and it's quite interesting though I think it's a bit more work as opposed to your average powder blushes. But it gives you just the right amount of flush to your cheeks.

ii. NARS' Do Me Baby

Asked my mum to get this shade while she was in London because they don't have it here! It's one of my favourite colours from NARS because it's both very everyday wearable and yet it's not boring. This is my second favourite shade, first being Dolce Vita. The formulation of these lipsticks are the best. They glide so easy and your lips don't feel chapped at all. Out of all the NARS products I have, their lipsticks are my favourite.

iii. Maybeline's Fit Me Foundation

So you're saying there's a great foundation that's affordable? *sings praises to the heavens above*

I found out about this winner from my friend, Shera who wore it one day and I was so awed by how smooth her foundation looked. It was like she was professionally made up! So I had to go get it myself. And it's so affordable, less than RM50! Can't say the same for all the other foundations I've used in the past! Only downside to it is that it doesn't have a pump which sucks because you won't know how much to pour out exactly and you're practically wasting product. But it's all good in the hood because it's AFFORDABLE. And it's amazeballs because it matches my shade exactly and it blends so well and it covers up and evens out your skin tone so gr8.

*I'll have photos of these products soon, I just don't have the time to go outside and take decent photos with decent lighting.

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So thus ends my post this time! Going to watch Running Man and then sleep. Only Tuesday but already looking forward to the weekend.

xx

Dunkirk

*contains spoilers. 

So today I went out for a movie with my sisters. We watched Dunkirk. I don't think I'd usually go for a war film like this but it was written and directed by the great Christopher Nolan so I just had to go. Plus I haven't gone to watch a movie in so long so I kinda missed TGV's popcorn.

Dunkirk might as well have been a horror movie for me. My heart was beating so fast at some scenes. To me, movies like these scare me the most. Movies that tell a story of survival. Because it's so real and raw. Like, hantu movies are scary but I think that's all very much a story. War and survival and death is all real life. I thought it was a brilliant film. Felt more like a stunning, breathtaking experience than a movie, really. I loved how there wasn't really a hero and it was pretty much silent in that there wasn't much conversation but had so much to tell. There wasn't much to say anyway in war. The men are too busy fighting. So I really liked how Nolan took that into consideration. And Harry Styles said in an interview, "Everything that was said felt like they were needed to be said". There wasn't a need for a long dramatic pause in a dialogue, there wasn't a need for a monologue, there wasn't a need for a call back home. Because in reality, that doesn't happen. Everyone's spending time trying to fight and survive. There wasn't time for the dramatics or the romance. This felt so real and it's probably the first time where I watched a movie and didn't feel like anyone was acting. I also immensely loved how there were 3 overlapping timeframes from 3 different perspectives; ground (The Mole), aerial (The Air) and naval (The Sea) modes of warfare. And all three with different time frames. Expected from a director who loves to toy around with the concept of time and I was quite curious as to how he'd do that with a war film. 

It was a movie that felt so inclusive of all possible aspects and ugh, I just lived for the cinematography and the sound effects. They were horrifying and it really brought the audience to May of 1940 and dragged us to the beach of Dunkirk. Felt like I was rushing to the boat with them, felt like I was running with them, felt like I was drowning with them. Held my breath, gripped onto my seat, everything. It was such an immersive experience. I had my brows furrowed the whole time. I just haven't seen an epic quite like it. I appreciated the movie and I appreciated that it was more emotional than I thought it'd be. I loved how it wasn't really about winning the war nor was it about the enemies. It was about living. And I'd probably be booed off a stage for saying this but I also particularly quite liked how there weren't any women in it or were there stories about loved ones back home. It was about the men who were there and who went for war and who experienced it. There weren't much words as there were physical struggles. Which I think was why it felt like such an immersive experience. You didn't have to empathise with them through dialogue, you empathise with them through physical hardships. I also loved that scene when they got back and the old man giving out towels was saying, "Well done" to everyone and Alex (played by the handsome and surprisingly decent of an actor, Harry Styles) said, "All we did was survive" and the old man responded, "That's enough". Which I thought was so true. I was so moved by that. The act of surviving felt like a flaw from Alex's part but was celebrated by everyone. Felt like something I could takeaway from the film. That there's nothing to be ashamed of for surviving. 

It's such a great film and I highly recommend it. Takes you to a different place altogether. I love watching movies like this - ones that you come out of and the conversation of the film follows you all the way to lunch and dinner and the next day. Ones that drive you to be analytical and creative and imaginative. Breathtaking. 

And if I can write about a movie, it really is *that* good.

xx

'Family' with Friends

Hi!

Been a hot minute.

I'm trying to manoeuvre typing this whole post because I have steroid cream all over my fingers because of my eczema and I don't want to get my keyboard all sticky. My eczema is getting really bad and I'm so annoyed with it because my fingers are looking so old and wrinkly. I hope it gets better or at least become less itchy!

I'm kinda tired today and it was probably because of my drive to/from my office. The air-conditioner broke and it's not a gas problem, it's a compressor problem. Which is such a pain in the ass because to repair it is so expensive. And I'm crying in the car because of how hot it is. I wind down the window and well, it's not particularly cold outside either. Wind, yes but I have no idea why I'm not getting the breeze in the air kinda wind. It's just hot air and it's just such a frustrating drive. I think I'm getting a headache from being in the car. #drama #over

Can't believe we're already in August!! In about 2-3 weeks time, it'll be a year since I worked with Nelissa. Which is kinda unreal because it really doesn't feel like a year. To think this time last year I was prepping myself for an interview with the ladyboss I see everyday now. Weird.

Last Friday, I went to watch a friend of mine, Nabil, perform at a play called 'Family'. It was in KLPAC and I haven't been to KLPAC before so I didn't know what to expect. But it's pretty damn gorgeous. It's soooo nice and I was so impressed by the whole place. I went there at night so I think it would've been a lot better in the day but it was so, so cool. With exposed bricks, airy hall space and just so much greenery. I loved it! 

But I loved the play even more. I CRIED THREE TIMES. No one else cried with me but there were several scenes that I was so completely awed and moved by that I freaking cried. So emotional!! Didn't help that I was on my period. 

So this play is very abstract and it doesn't have a plot set in stone nor does it just tell you ONE story. It tells you of many. And it was so relatable. There was this really cool scene with two characters; a father and a son. The father tells the audience of his child's 'achievements' like "He got straight A's for SPM!" "He wants to study engineering like I did!" and then you have the son going, "I got 2 A's for SPM" and "I want to sing and dance!". So the father was telling everyone what he wants from his son (and what he wants to tell the world about his son) and then his son was telling the audience the God honest truth and his dreams and his wishes. I just thought that that scene was so well-played and I nearly teared for that one too. I almost posted (well I did, but I retracted it 2 seconds later because as much as I want to tell the world what I felt but I chickened out because it might feel and seem offensive to adults... my parents in particular) a post about how Asian parents tend to have futures planned out for their kids and it's not always in the kids interest. I feel so passionate about children going with their dreams and I don't think anyone should have a say in it, not even parents. It's because I felt so strongly about that that I particularly connected to that scene.

Anyway, back to the play. It was so perfect - minimal props, no fancy costumes, but with just so much heart and soul poured into every scene. The whole play was immersed in heartfelt stories and perspectives about families. How broken it can be, how different it can be, how every family is just so unique from one another. It was a beautiful telling of everyone's stories and the whole takeaway from the play is the paramount importance of instilling family values and loving each other unconditionally, regardless of the makeup of the family. It was an emotional roller coaster ride - one second I'm crying, the next I'm hitting Ariff because I'm laughing so much (I tend to do that). It was entertaining and I wished it played on for a little longer because I want to recommend it to everyone! It was sold out for all the 4 nights they played at KLPAC and I'm so happy it did! I was so pleasantly surprise to see the amount of people coming to support local theatre. I'll admit - I wouldn't have known of this if not for Nabil but I'm so glad I did. I plan to attend more in the future because if Family was any indicator of how great local theatre can be, count me in.

I also met Dayana!! Which was such a pleasant surprise! Didn't expect to meet anyone other than the friends I went there with. Last we met was in London few years back for dinner (I think?). She was there with her family and I was telling her I was jealous she got front in line and we were all the way in the back but we managed to all sit in the same row haha. But it was so nice to be able to catch up even for like a few minutes. I need to organise tea with her one day (hope you read this and say yes, Dayana!). We don't meet often but because we've been on each other's social media since high school, I feel like I've known her for ages! Dayana is one of the very few friendships I've made on social media that I really am grateful for. Like so inspiring, y'know???

Photos!

One with Dayana after the show. I look so tired and worn out (or maybe 'cause I cried like, 3 freaking times) but isn't she so photogenic????? She blogs too (click here!) and if you like reading mine then you'll definitely love hers even more! She's so smart, witty and has done a million cool things. And about to do another million cool things.

All of us with Mr Superstar! In case you weren't sure which one, he's the one everyone's touching. LOL

Need to take a photo with people before they get famous. You can say I'm ahead of the game *blows nails

Perpetually annoyed with Tariq.

Marissa found this really, really cool walkway and we stopped by to take photos but got shooed by the guard yelling "PRIVATE OFFICE! PRIVATE OFFICE!". Yeah, so...? 

Bestie has gone back to Dublin (and she's already currently in Glasgow and I'm so envious because Kanda's in Glasgow too!!!!) :( :( :( Miss my two babes already. Couldn't spend as much time as I'd like with her when she was back but I'm really glad we did get to meet a few times and to reconnect and be ourselves and just relax and be in our own little world. That one night she sent me home but we hung out in her car for about an hour... infront of my house. Hahaha it did occur to me that we could've just brought the conversation inside but we were so immersed into whatever we were talking about that it didn't matter where we were.

The first thing you see when you drive inside to KLPAC. It's buried pretty deep inside Sentul West but it's so cool lah this place. I don't know how else to describe the place. You see it and you're like, "Duh of course this is made for people of the arts!". I don't even know if that makes sense.

There was a video of Sheila Majid doing quick fire questions on a video for BFM and she was asked what she would do if she were appointed as the minister in charge of music and arts and she replied "I'd stop building shopping malls and build more platforms for the performing arts" or something along those lines. Which I completely and wholeheartedly agree. She then ended her response by saying "The ringgit is already so bad, what's with it with all these shopping malls!". She sounded genuinely so exasperated and fed up which made me love her even more. 

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Promise to update more! I really want to talk about my favourite k-drama, Fight My Way (which ended weeks ago but I'm still not over it), my favourites of the month, and some photos for Quick Snaps and just some other things I've seen pop up. Need to make a list so I don't forget.

Bye, talk soon!

xx

Quick Chats #3

It's such a drag to shower but trust me, once I get in the shower, I'm there for like 45 minutes (while still conserving water the best I can, don't worry!). So I'm trying to delay my shower because once I do, I'll probably not blog at all.

I'm skipping dinner tonight because I had a heavy breakfast - nasi lemak with paru. And I freaking love myself some paru. For lunch, I had a massive bowl of ramyeon and I still am so full from those two so I'm giving my stomach a break and not have anything for dinner. So close to getting myself some fries just now but I had to refrain because!!! Tomorrow I'm going to get myself that nasi lemak again hahaha

I haven't updated my diary in ages because it was on my bedside table and the past 2 weeks, I was sleeping (and living) in my parents room while they were away. And I'm tiny bit scared to start writing again because I don't know what I would've remembered and what I've forgotten. I'll get the days all wrong and so is there any purpose to a diary if I can't remember the days and what I did?? Stress.

Tomorrow, I'm going to the gym with Sarah. And this was a spur of the moment "Jom Sarah, let's start enrolling to a gym" on a random mamak night and Sarah is a woman of promise and half of me wanted her to forget I ever proposed the idea to her but half of me is glad she remembers. Now, I kinda have to go. And only now I'm scrambling to find appropriate gym clothes. Thank God I still have one (!!! ONE!!!) from the time I tried to gym in KY but never worked out after that hahahaha

Anyway! My parents are home and so is my brother!!!! He hasn't been back in 2 years! I'm so excited and so, so happy to have him back and to have the house full again. Remember the days where I used to be alone at home and there'd be days that go by where I don't even see my own parents?? Now the house is noisy and lively though half of us are still jet-lagged haha.

They arrived KL last night but I was just so tired from work that I slept pretty early. Next thing I knew it was morning and my sisters had posted 'Welcome home!' videos of my brother on Instagram. And my mum posted a photo of my sisters and Zaim. We even got him a big, obnoxious balloon that says "Congrats, Zaim! What a nerd..." hahahaha because we just thought it was funny and appropriate (he'd always thought he was too cool to be a nerd... he ain't!). Apologies but I'm about to brag and praise my kid brother for graduating with first class honours!!!!!!! What a smart cookie! I mean, I've always known he was very smart but I mean!!! It ain't easy getting first class and he worked really hard to get it so I'm so happy and so proud that he managed to get that award. 

How the hell did he manage to survive flights with wearing just shorts? Aren't flights cold as January winter????

Ok bye, need to shower, put on a face mask, start filling in my diary and then find gym shoes...

... sigh, wish me luck!

xx

Quick Snaps #3

It's Sunday night and I'm all showered and full from my Samyang noodles (always a regret but it's just so sedap!). Parents and Zaim are coming back from the UK tomorrow insyaAllah so this would be my last night sleeping over at my parent's room. Boohoo. Who else thinks their parents room are the best???

Sucks that tomorrow is Monday already but I had a great weekend! Yesterday was spent with friends - went to Anis' place for her open house and I met people I haven't in SO long. So it was a really nice catch up and listening to how everyone's embracing adult life was quite fun. Working in banks, working in government bodies, working in construction companies, and then you have lil' ol' me working in fashion. I kinda like how a lot of my guy friends are all familiar with Nelissa Hilman hahaha. Also helps that I wear my NH flats everywhere I go!

Some photos to fill you in on what I've been doing these past 2 weeks.

My crazy friend and I at H&M near our workplace. We always unintentionally match and she's always rolling her eyes at me. Our birthdays are a day apart which is why I think we hit on so well.

My granny sunglasses made a debut! 

Tried out that chicken wings place at Curve. Wingstop was it called? Not too sure now but it was pretty good though the one they claimed to be the 'spiciest' isn't really that spicy. Not as good as 4 Fingers though.

Err sorry but I love Snow (an app similar to Snapchat but like with a million filters).. 

This was SUCH a great idea. Went to Sharul's place for an open house the other day. Uncle Jeff came up with a pretty smart and innovative way to make the giving out duit raya part fun. A lot of people got 50s and 100s but there were also some few unlucky ones who only got a ringgit which was pretty funny. But it was all part of the fun. Just a really cool spin of the traditional duit raya fun.

Misha and I wore matching baju raya! Even down to our shoes (ahem those are the Tessa's by Nelissa).

For most of the week, Tania and I only had each other so we'd usually go out for dinner after I come home from work. This was at a place nearby our house where we had a Korean dinner.

At Anis' open house where I met so many of my friends whom I haven't met in so, so long. So good to catch up with faces I don't see every weekend hehe

 

The other day I posted an Instastory about going out to lunch at Beard Brothers and I got so many enquiries on it. It's at Tropicana Avenue and this is their Facebook page. We had too much to eat and word of caution; they're usually sold out very, very fast. So best you come for lunch or for early dinner. When I got there at about 8, they were all sold out but good thing my friends had ordered a huge platter for all of us. We all had to sit on a mat just outside because it's a pretty small space and not enough for all 18 of us. But it was just a lot of fun, great good and better company.

We then moved to Artisan in PJ and I had their moist chocolate cake though I should've known better that it would be wiped clean by the time I came back to the table. What did I expect from sharing a table with 13 other boys...

Today, it was sister day. We went out for breakfast at Ravi's and after being really full from having 2 of the best roti canai in town (!!!), we moved to Loudspeaker which is located at the row just behind Ravi's. So, so so so so so fun. We hardly took a seat 'cause was too busy dancing. 

Tania and I singing to one of our favourite slow songs from our queen, IU. We forced Iman to take this photo. Plenty of videos and pretty embarrassing ones at that on our Snapchat's and Instastories and ones we saved privately because really, no one needs to hear us belt to Forget You.

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Ok back to work tomorrow. Have a great week, and I hope it's a busy one so that the week goes by pretty quick and we can all have our weekend again.

xx