Tuesday 29 December 2009

Paul & Joe 2009/2010 Collections…

Gosh, even before the year is out, I’m already considering breaking a resolution I haven’t even made yet…aikss...not good! I told myself I wouldn’t shop that much but damn if these aren’t the prettiest things I’ve seen (so far, anyway!) and it just HAD to be from Paul & Joe (Nikki's sure going to be salivating over her screen when she sees this!)


Paul & Joe Winter 2009 Collection – Smoke & Mirrors





Now this is super gorgeous…I wouldn’t mind me one of these…sigh…


Paul & Joe Spring 2010 Collection – Wild Flowers






I hear there’s even going to be a new Disney collection coming out soon…arrghh!! Someone please chop up my cards and sit on my wallet!

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Monday 28 December 2009

Post-Christmas Sales…

Usually, Boxing Day (26th December) is the day most major departmental stores go on massive sale, but unfortunately for us Malaysians, it seems to be limited to the likes of the US, Australia and UK…sigh…regardless though, there are a couple of them happening now that should be pretty good to take advantage of.


Origins is having up to 40% off their jumbo sized products – perfect if you know what you like and want to save money on stocking up.


They’re available while stocks last, so better hop on down quick before the stocks run out!


MAS is also running some year-end promotions for those wanting to get away for a last minute vacation or simply to recover from the festive season since the travel period is end December 2009 to early January 2010. Some of the deals look pretty good, so it’s worth checking out. :)

As for me, I'm keeping my wallet firmly under my butt. NO more shopping for me after the damage in Bangkok!!

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Random Updates…

How’s everyone’s Christmas celebrations coming so far? I must admit it was pretty good going into Christmas, but got rather spoilt by something that happened on Boxing Day and hasn’t felt quite the same since. I’m determined not to let it ruin the end of the year for me though!


Christmas Eve was spent at a friend’s place digging into the likes of pork chops, onion and beef soup and…homemade lamb shank! *slurp*


Christmas Day dinner was at my place…where we decided to have the leftovers from the previous day’s dinner…knowing the mothers, they outdid themselves worrying that the leftovers wouldn’t be enough and as usual…too much food!

Boxing Day I had a wedding to attend which was rather amusing considering there were FIVE wedding dinners going on at the Selayang Palace Restaurant. I wouldn’t have chosen the place since the walls were rather thin and we could hear the off-key karaoke and “yam seng!” coming from the other halls…nothing kills the celebration of your special day like having to share the space with other couples? That’s just a personal opinion though…I’ve seen plenty of others that didn’t mind in the least, so maybe they know something I don’t. :)


If that wasn’t bad enough eating big three days in a row, last night was spent at Munakata Japanese Restaurant along Jalan Sultan Ismail tucking into the ala carte buffet dinner. And eat we did…turned out the portions were tiny, so we had to order HEAPS from the kitchen (until the chef himself came out to peep and see who these mad ravenous people were…whoops!)

This Christmas, I told myself I’d exercise some restraint in opening my gifts – rather than rip into the whole lot like some mad creature, I’m opening them one by one over the next week to savor the experience. Can tell you, resisting the urge to shred the lot into bits is pretty hard going, but I’m loving the payoff! Two of the items I've opened that I really love so far are these…


Looks like a moleskine, no? hehe…this planner was in such a pretty colour, and so soft too…


The inside is simple – no fuss, just lines…plus a refill too! :) This will be my “until I get a Hermes bag” replacement…for now…LOL!


MAC’s Tri-Colour Lipglass…can’t bring myself to muck up the pretty layers just yet, but it’s just a matter of time, no? :D And there are…QUITE a few more packages to go, including those from the girls as well as an Oroton I bought for myself that has finally made the trip back from Australia…wheee!

Looking forward to the rest of the week though – I’ve gotten some time off work and relatives will be around, so by all means will be winding down for the rest of the year before it hits full swing again next week! Till then, there are some post-Christmas sales that I’ll be talking about in a bit. Cheers!

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Thursday 24 December 2009

Random Christmas Updates…

In a blink of an eye, Christmas is suddenly less than 12 hours away…any plans for the holiday season? :) After all my previous wailings about not feeling Christmassy enough, oh the mood has kicked in full swing…


An ex-colleague gave me some cupcakes since she got a huge box from an admirer (until now she won’t disclose who it was!) and they are seriously adorable…now if only I could figure out which company did these!


Is it just me, or did anyone else get the feeling that the designer for Midvalley’s Christmas decorations took the easy way out and copied the scene out of Harry Potter? Candles suspended in mid-air, castle structure, banners…what do you think?


Ah well, regardless…Christmas is here! I’ll be having dinner with some close family friends at their place and hosting Christmas dinner at mine (taking turns and eating in takes the stress off the pocket and one family, no?) Have fun, and see you after the holidays! *hums Christmas tunes*

Wednesday 23 December 2009

East Meets West at A Cut Above Christmas Soiree…

A Cut Above had their Christmas soiree at Sunway Pyramid the day before I left for Bangkok, and despite not having packed (which wasn’t too big a deal anyhow if you see the previous post! LOL!) I dropped by with Connie and Paris…and inadvertently bumped into Yet Mee and Erin there. This time however, we had a bit more fuel added to the usual mayhem thanks to the beer supplied by Heineken…


There were performances by the likes of Nikki (Malaysian Idol Season 1) who did a pretty good rendition of Lady Marmalade and Shawn Lee who is one of the best beatbox-ers I’ve heard to date. Tiny dude, but huge sound!

The theme of the night was “Shanghai Moulin Rouge” which at first thought conjured up thoughts of err…Chinese concubines? (there was another word that came to mind, but I shan’t mention it here!) but what transpired was actually a display of Keith Kee form-fitting cheongsams with elaborate hairdos reminiscent of the showgirl era…East meets West?


The highlight of the evening would definitely have to have been the body art cheongsams drawn by Fabien Wong. At first glance we thought the models were wearing outfits that were waaayyy too tight outlining their underwear, but on closer look the outfit was painted ON them which came across pretty cool.

Amusingly enough, the two hairstyles that I really liked turned out to be Winnie Loo’s creations herself. The stylists weren’t revealed prior to the finale, so no prejudice yeah?

Now that brings me to a more pressing question – what am I going to do with my hair come Christmas? I just got word my regular stylist is finally back from maternity leave, so maybe I’ll let her have a go at it…LOL!

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Tuesday 22 December 2009

Massive damage…shopping damage, that is!


I’m back!! Missed me? :D Feeling a bit perkier than normal thanks to rather copious amounts of coffee to get the machine running this morning, especially since yesterday I was SO dead I could barely move…methinks it’s age catching up…alamak...

Anyhow, had a great time in Bangkok with Tine, and feeling rather awesome that almost everything had the best possible outcome from timing to little perks. Slight bummer when our plane got delayed at KLIA when we were about to take off, but we spent the time chit chatting with Paris and Pinkelle so there was definitely no boredom! :)


This gave my mum and Tine a good old laugh when they saw this – the contents of my bag to Bangkok! (and yes, this is exactly EVERYTHING that went to Bangkok with me)…one rule of thumb now I try to stick to as well as to reduce the packing stress for Bangkok is that as long as I have my passport, plane tickets, money, credit cards, phone and skincare with me, the rest I can inadvertently forget if it comes to that. Everything else can be easily gotten there, right?

From the start, we agreed that this was going to be a full-blown shopping affair, and shop we did…Platinum Fashion Mall, Siam Paragon, Mahboonkrong, Siam Square, Chatuchak…all squeezed into 4 short days. The damage? Erm…I’ll give you a rough idea below…


Mind you, that does not include some other items I bought…Tine’s got pics of her haul as well (she had to stand on the bed to get everything into the picture!) so you’ll be getting some eye-candy there too. LOL! Will be doing a more complete round-up on the trip later, but thought I’d whet your appetites first…heehee…


Just 2 more days to Christmas…everyone ready to hit the festive season head on yet? :D

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Thursday 17 December 2009

Off to Bangkok!!



By the time many of you read this, I’ll already be on the plane with Tine to Bangkok for the rest of the week…shopping, food, massage, shopping (oh yeah, I said that already didn’t I?)…can’t wait! :D And who knows, we might end up bumping into a couple of friends along the way…*winks*

Be good, stay safe…and see you all when I get back!

Wednesday 16 December 2009

Bodybar Christmas Deals…

Bodybar has some lovely sets available for purchase this month just for the festive season, and if you’re a member you get RM10 off your next purchase with every RM200 purchase even for promotional items.


The brands offered at Bodybar include Mukti (sets from RM68), Madara (sets from RM40.80) and Remedica (sets from RM113.05). Plus, for members born in December, you get 25% off any skincare product (includes lip & body products but excludes soaps) and 15% off any soap and accessories including travel pots and cards. This applies only to normal priced items though, so buying a set might actually be more worth it.


You can also get 30-50% off Biguine, Bio, Organic Indulgence, BioBotanica (selected items) and Remedica (selected items), although stocks will vary from outlet to outlet.

Bodybar is available at Tropicana City Mall, Pavilion KL and Sunway Pyramid. You can also visit their website for further details.

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Tuesday 15 December 2009

Random Ramblings…

Welcome to the next instalment of Random Ramblings…in this round I'll be covering a new ambassadress for Lancôme, keeping H1N1 at bay, having a Choobs-y Christmas, Prescriptives’ Custom Blend Replenishment program…and maybe a little funny thrown in. And the funny is really worth waiting for! :D (it had me in hysterics!)

Told you it was random! :D
Keeps life a little more entertaining too, don't you think? Heehee...

Julia Roberts for Lancôme

Following in the footsteps of Kate Winslet, Juliette Binoche and Anne Hathaway, the latest celebrity to be signed up as the new ambassadress for Lancôme is none other than Julia Roberts. As one of Tinseltown’s most famous actresses (who wouldn’t remember Pretty Woman, Erin Brockovich or Notting Hill?), she brings a kookiness that many of us would have already been familiar with over the years – glamorous, but yet refreshingly quirky roles…will we see the same thing out of her with Lancôme? Can’t wait to see! :D


Next Cycle of H1N1

Of late there’s been talk of a new mutated strain of the Influenza A H1N1 virus, and to be on the safe side I’ve actually gone and taken a flu jab ahead of my Bangkok trip just in case (or rather, because my mum wouldn’t let me out of the house otherwise!) But jokes aside, did you know that our computer keyboards, phone receivers and desks contain even more microorganisms than the average bathroom? *horror* and these are surfaces that you routinely come in contact with multiple times daily.

Washing your hands should be the first choice to keeping your hands clean, but if you just can’t get to a sink, hand sanitisers are the next best thing. Rather than toting about a huge bottle that could leak in my bag, I carry a small bottle similar to the ones Aiken is selling for RM3.90 each (50ml bottle) and refill it from a bigger bottle – makes sense and is more economical right? :) It’ll be following me to Bangkok too for sure!


Choobs Birthday-Christmas Promo

Some of you would remember my purchase from Choobs a while back and were wondering whether or not to go pick out a piece of your own. Well, there’s no better time to do so with their 1st Birthday and Christmas promotion – some of their Christmas-inspired creations with angels and snowflakes have me just itching to pick out a few more items (I already did some damage at their 1st Birthday Party a few weeks back!)


Prescriptives Custom Blend Replenishment Program

For those in the US, you’d have heard by now that the Prescriptives brand will be making its exit at the end of January. However, there is good news for the fans of Prescriptives’ Custom Blend foundations and powders – you will still be able to order them online while supplies last via the Prescriptives Custom Blend Replenishment program. All you have to do is visit a Prescriptives Custom Blend counter and ask for a new Custom Blend recipe form, after which you register your recipe online and you’ll be notified by email when it’s available in January 2010. This is great for those that have been moaning over having to again go on the search for the perfect shade – it’s not a permanent solution, but at least it’ll delay your quest! :)



And last but not least, the funny…I came across this and thought it was hilarious – pretty creative way to promote a hair-loss solution, wouldn’t you say? :D

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Monday 14 December 2009

Stage-ing my Christmas groove… :)

How was everyone’s weekend? I had a pretty packed weekend getting my car serviced, paying bills and attending both a wedding as well as a wake service (not at the same time!) plus got to have a good old food + chat-till-the-cows-come-home session with the girls. (Actually, I think we put the cows to shame!)

Oddly enough, the whole ‘feel’ of the season didn’t hit me until this past weekend (Is it just me? Hands up if you’re feeling the same way!) Despite ooh-ing and aah-ing over all the Christmas sets, they appealed more to the shopaholic and beautyholic in me rather than bring around the Christmas feeling…does that make sense?

But with everything there’s always a turning point, and for me it was last weekend. A few touches here, a bit of cooking there, pop up the Christmas tree, put up the poinsettia decorations, paint my fingernails Christmas-holly-berry-red (Holly Berry....Halle Berry? someone should call a nail polish that!! heehee...or what about Berry Holly-days? OPI, please hire me!!), and voila! The Christmas mood is back in the game! :D


Nothing quite like holly-berry red nails to ring in the festive season eh? (or any other season for that matter!) It's such a pretty colour, and the nail polish is really just so easy to apply. Even with my klutzy hands (I can do my left hand okay, but the right hand always looks like a disaster!) I’m pretty happy with the results – all thanks to a bottle of Stage Nail Colour in Glamorous that I picked up at the recent Alliance cosmetics warehouse sales.


I paired that with the All Rounder as well, since it can double up as both a base coat and top coat. So far so good, will let you guys know how it stands up to my clumsy hands… :D

So Christmas is less than two weeks away…just 11 days in fact! Besides the rising panic of “OMG-I-haven’t-started-a-single-thing-yet!” and “How-on-earth-am-I-going-to-finish-my-Christmas-shopping?!”, I think I’m actually settling into the festive season a little more mellow than previous years, maybe because my church productions have been wrapped up early this year, plus I’ll be squeezing in a trip to Bangkok before Christmas… :D Can’t wait!


What got you into the groove for the festive season this year?

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Thursday 10 December 2009

Simple mistake or scam?


Just take a look at the picture above and tell me what’s wrong with it?

I got this from the parking payment machine at Curve last week – the fee was meant to be RM2.00, but when I put in a RM5.00 note, I got RM1.60 back in small change…which was even reflected in the receipt! Erm, correct me if I’m wrong, but how can machines make mistakes to THIS extent? What’s more, it wasn’t an even number which makes it a bit suspicious.

Better yet, when I tried the customer service for help, this was what ensued:

Payment Machine Personnel (PMP): Just go to the exit and they’ll make the correction.
Me: Any exit?
PMP: Yes, any exit also can.

Fine, so I went to my usual exit to claim back the outstanding change. But when I got there, the booth lady gave me another runaround:

Me: I need to claim back the remainder on this – the machine gave me wrong change. (shows receipt)
Booth Lady (BL): Tak boleh, kena pergi exit lagi satu (meaning the exit at the OTHER END of the mall)
Me: But your personnel said I can do it at any exit!
BL: Tak boleh, tak ada borang (no form available)
Me: Apa borang? (what form?)
BL: Kena isi borang untuk claim, pergi exit satu lagi, sini tak ada. (the entire conversation, she had this bored expression on her face that made me want to slap her)

I had already been running late when the problem occurred, so you can imagine by this time I was seriously pissed off. I ended up having to reverse my car and driving to the OTHER end of the parking lot (which I had just driven FROM) and was met with still more nonsense from the booth guy:

Me: (already irritated) Your machine gave me wrong change. (gives receipt)
Booth Guy (BG): Apa? Cakap betul-betul. (apparently he doesn’t understand English at all)
Me: Mesin bagi wang tukar salah!
BG: Haiya, you cakap betul-betul, ini bukan pasal saya. (say properly, this isn’t my problem)

At this point, he just glanced at the receipt and gave me back my change. But the interesting bit started when I asked for the receipt back:

Me: Itu resit tolong bagi balik. (Please give me back the receipt)
BG: Apasal? Mengapa nak ambil balik? Tak boleh! (What’s the matter? Why do you need it? Cannot!)
Me: Aku kena claim untuk parking (I need it to claim for parking)
BG: Tak boleh, kita kena simpan untuk rekod (Cannot, we need to keep it for records)
Me: Habis tu, borang untuk apa? (If that’s the case, what’s the form for?)
BG: Apa borang? Tak ada borang, hanya bagi resit. (What form? No form, just give receipt)
** and the lady at the other exit said she couldn’t process it because she had no forms??
Me: Fotostat pun boleh, asalkan saya ada salinan. (Even a photocopy will do, I need a copy)
BG: Tak boleh fotostat (Cannot photostat)
Me: Macam tu, bagi resit sini, I nak ambik gambar (If that’s the case, give me the receipt, I’m taking a picture of it)
BG: (getting panicky) Mengapa nak ambil gambar? Tak payah ambil gambar! (Why take picture? No need!)
Me: Kalau tak, macam mana nak claim? You pulak nak simpan resit, kena buat macam ini lah! (If not, how to claim? You want to keep the receipt, I have to do this!)

Long and short of it, I ended up taking pictures of the receipt, otherwise there would be no record of this ever happening. And the thing is, it’s not the first time this has happened. I can’t imagine what would happen if I hadn’t requested a receipt – then better still, no record at all to make the claim in the first place!

You might say RM1.40 is not much, but think about it – if everyone just let it go and shrugged it off, how much can be scammed off? 100 cars every day = RM140 extra per day…hardly a pittance! *Grrr…*

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Wednesday 9 December 2009

La Mer Holiday Miracles 2009…


La Mer’s released their Holiday Miracles 2009 which I found rather intriguing…but with some recent purchases, it’ll be a miracle if I can afford any of these this year so this is for you ladies that can… :)


This is going to sound ridiculous, but if any of you get the Connoisseur Collection, can I have the box pretty please? That shade of Tiffany eggshell blue is calling my name…


Coming up: Gift sets from Origins and Bobbi Brown.

You can follow the 2009 Christmas collections lineup here. :)

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Tuesday 8 December 2009

Banana Republic & Gap Sale…

For those that hold a Gardens Club Card, Banana Republic and GAP is having their year-end sales from Thursday (10th Dec) until next Tuesday (15th Dec) - and Gardens Club Card members get an additional 20% off their purchases. I’m rather tempted to go have a look, but will have to desist on account of my upcoming Bangkok trip! Just 9 more days to go…can’t wait!




Note: Been feeling a little humdrum the past couple of days, which probably explains the lack of actual product reviews…hopefully I’ll be back in full swing by tomorrow, so stay tuned. But for now…I actually feel like following my dog to do this…



That's her sleeping, by the way…like I said, my dogs come up with the funniest things to make me laugh – I woke up one morning to see her like this and…snoring! Aih…I swear she thinks she’s human!

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Monday 7 December 2009

Estee Lauder Great Gifts 2009…

How was everyone’s weekend? I know I was rather slack over the past couple of days, mostly due to running around for my church’s 50th Anniversary musical – all three days were seriously packed to capacity, which I take as a very good sign… :)

Heading back to talk of Christmas, it’s only…17 days to go! :D *wheee*…and if you’re working in the Selangor region, did you know that the next four weeks are only 4-day weeks? That’s right, all the way into 2010 all the Fridays are public holidays!! If that’s not good news, I dunno what is…

But steering things back to Christmas collections, Estee Lauder is up next with some nice coffret sets for their fragrances as well as cosmetics. I prefer Estee Lauder’s skincare and colour cosmetics to their fragrances and was hoping that they’d have maybe some skincare sets, but they have a firm following for the likes of Pleasures and Pure White Linen so it just boils down to personal choice. :)


Pleasures Captivating Duet @ RM160


Pure White Linen Fresh Favourites @ RM160


Fragrance Treasures @ RM180


Pen Pals @ RM180


Lauder Men His Favourites @ RM180


Beautiful To Go @ RM230


Intuition Personal Touches @ RM220


Sensuous To Go @ RM250


Good as Gold @ RM260





See anything you liked? :D


Coming up: Gift sets from Origins, Bobbi Brown and La Mer.

You can follow the 2009 Christmas collections lineup here. :)

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