Well, I woke up a little bit late than usual for work.2 reasons. Reason 1, because I just recovered from a fever and reason 2 is because it was Monday. Monday blues.
I switched on the radio and get ready at the same time. Topic of the day was, do married couples show their affection in public. There were numerous phone calls coming in and had different opinions. It was interesting.
Me and Juan had been married for a little less than a year and even then, we don't show our affection in public especially in front of our good friends or family members. Back when we were still dating each other, we don't show it too. For me, it's all about respect. There has to be time where affection need to be shown in your personal time. Like when you're at home, just the 2 of you, or when you are taking a stroll by the beach. Showing affection towards your partner is something personal and intimate, in my context.
We had a farewell lunch few days ago. It was for a colleague, Sheryn. She joined us 9 months ago. Back then, she looks very reserved and quiet. I can hardly hear her voice. We were not seated nearby to each other, not until we had a reorganization of seating in the office recently. It turns out that she was one talkative girl with a sweet smile. But when she smile, you can hardly see her eyes.
So everyone voted to go Maa Roy in Krsytal Point because Sheryn wanted to do Thai for her farewell.
Juan wanted to have dinner outside. So I tagged along (duh). Coincidentally we had to find apricot in syrup for my mum. It was not available in Cold Storage nor any baking ingredients shop. So we tried Sam's but it was not there too. Called my mum if she's able to settle with peaches instead. She agreed and we bought 2 cans.
We had dinner in Just Food (Paragon's food junction). After dinner, we took a peek at LaCoste clearance sale. The sizes available were between 36 to 40, I had no hope there so we left.
We also managed to see what is Penang on 6 all about. It was a partially renovated place on the 6th floor of Paragon which was turned into an old Penang town dated back perhaps in the 40s? It was nice and we had the chance to take some photos. Go see it for yourself.
I'm wearing Uniqlo WOMEN Supima Cotton V Neck Short Sleeve T-Shirt, beads necklace (Dianah's), MNG's skinny, Jelly Bunny kid's sandal.
Ever since me and Juan got married, I've been looking forward to go back home for dinner. Juan cook amazing food. Although they're simple but each dishes is cooked with passion. He likes trying new recipes. Adding a little bit of this and that to his cooking. But sometimes he like to change too much of something :-)
Our dinner has been very simple. Normally, it includes chicken (i love chicken), vegetables and fried potatoes. We make sure that our dinner is balance. That means it must have carbohydrates, protein and fiber at least. I hardly eat vege outside. Reason being, they're not washed cleanly. But I do eat them occasionally.
Currently, the Polenghi Organic Lime Extract has been Juan's best friend. He use it in almost every dish he cooks. I can say that it tasted better than the one that you have squeeze it out yourself. You should try it.
I was looking forward to the last weekend because we had 2 guests all the way from KL. The night before, I've prepared the guest room for the boy and the girl sleeps with me.
I met Alina during our diploma convocation back in year 2006. It was a random 'hello' that built the long distance friendship that lasted until today. I knew Ali through Alina, they were boyfriend/girlfriend back then but now thy're happily engaged and getting hitch soon.
So say hi to a stranger from now on cause you'll never know you might make a new friend.
Well, in short, after we picked them up at the airport on Saturday evening, I brought them to Khun Thai Seafood restaurant. Situated far inside of Bayan Lepas, the place serves fresh seafood on a daily basis although the price was a bit pricey The taste is just okay, not as good as other seafood place. Since it was Saturday, you can expect a whole lot of crowd. Alina wanted to have carbo for her dinner as preparation for her half marathon in conjunction with Penang International Bridge Marathon and since Juan had never been to Khun Thai, it was a good idea to bring them there all together.
I wore Strawberry Siren from Red Burlesque, green shirt and linen pants from MNG.
I like reading blogs every morning before starting my work even though it's just a short one. It gives this sort of 'vision' or 'dream' on what you want to do with your life. It also freshen up your mind.
The blogs that I read are normally revolve around creativity, true stories, experience. Try reading one, cause it can inspire you to get yourself going.
Well, one of the many blogs I follow these days is Timothy Tiah's (I followed him like e.v.e.r.y.d.a.y). What I like most about his writing is, he writes about reality, what has change between now and the past, what have we forgotten about olden days parenthood, how his wife cope with pre-eclampsia during pregnancy, etc. It's so inspiring that it made me feel sooo grateful with what I have, had and will have. Taking life one step at a time and embrace your inner self.
So there's this one topic that actually caught my interest. The '5 things our parents used to do that we are increasingly not doing for our kids'.
1) Travel in a car without a baby seat
Today it’s almost a given for us that every baby must have a special car seat at the back to sit in when traveling in the car. And for good reason too. Car seats are safer and protect a child much better if an accident or a collision were to happen. Heck many countries have even made it the law to have a car seat when traveling with a baby.
Compare it to our parents’ time back in the 80s or 90s.There were 4 kids in my family and not one of us had a baby or toddler car seat in the car. We sat in the back seat just like an adult would (heck most of the time even without a seat belt) and if a baby was too small to sit on his own, he sat on the lap of someone older. It was that simple. No special seats for babies. Everyone was equal.
2) Learn to ride a bicycle
During my time, every kid learned how to ride a bicycle. It wasn’t just a useful life-skill. It was a necessity since going out cycling with your neighborhood friends was part of a late afternoon’s fun. The person who taught you was always either your elder brother or your father, with your mother often cheering you on when you succeed.
Today I increasingly see more and more kids grow up without learning how to ride a bicycle. Perhaps habits change. Kids spend these days spend less time on outdoor activities like cycling and more on indoor activities like video games or iPad games.
3) Coloring books or reading story books on the dining table
Speaking of iPad, go into any family restaurant today for dinner and you’re bound to see a kid being entertained by a cartoon playing on an iPad or a smartphone.
Our parents never had the benefit of that technology. Keeping us busy on the dining table then normally just meant coloring books or even just reading story books. Watching cartoons on the iPads while addictive doesn’t do much for personal development.
Coloring books though gave us the chance to walk away from a dining table having feel like we created something. That we added color to what would have otherwise been a very plain picture.
4) Beat us
If you grew up in Asia in the 80s or earlier, chances are your parents may have beaten you every now and then to discipline you. Today some parents still do use the physical to discipline their kids but it’s becoming less and less because beating your kids to discipline them is seen as a controversial part of parenting now.
A good number of parents disagree with it now and even among those who agree with it want to limit the extent in which they use such force.
5) Allow some level of chaos
I find myself and many new parents my age now to be very overprotective. We’re afraid to let our kids touch dirty things for fear they might put it in their mouth. If someone coughs in public we run away for fear of our kids might get an infection and heck we even worry bringing our kids out for a night walk around the house for fear of getting mosquito bites that might lead to dengue.
That never used to be the case in my parent’s time. They would tell me not to touch dirty things but wouldn’t freak out if I did. They wouldn’t evacuate me from any area within a 5 mile radius if someone coughed. In fact they often felt it was good I built my immune system anyway. We had lots of fun with our nights too. Some of my fondest memories as a 10 year old kid was following my dad out for night rides on his motorbike as we crossed Penang bridge.
Red can be a bold statement in your outfit. You can leave the mascara and eye liner behind with just a truly red lipstick. With just that, it can actually enhance your overall look.
Red lipstick has been around for more than a decade, even during our ancestors. It brings out the lady and sexiness in you. You can never go wrong with a red lip.
Well, I have 2 red lipsticks in my beauty box at home. One is the real red and another is an orange based red lipstick. I wanted to find a deep red color but have not found a suitable one. Though I stumbled a few over-the-counter ones, they never caught my interest.
I browse Luxola page every now and then to get my beauty supplies. Most of it are brands that are not available locally. The thing is, this web page is so user friendly that purchasing the items are easy and the shipping are fast too. The last I ordered an item, it took around 2 workings days to arrive and the package was still in good condition.
So, many days ago, I found a deep red lipstick (Strawberry Siren) which I fell in love with on Luxola. I was hesitate at first but the color was what I have been searching and it was in matte. I don't prefer glossy or shiny lipstick because it makes my skin looked oily (I have combination skin).
Red Burlesque has tonnes of red-based lipsticks in the collections. Their lipsticks are inspired by the sexy, teasy, steamy world of Burlesque – 21 shades hand picked by, and named after, 21 of the world’s most renown Burlesque performers.
Just in case you’re wondering all are 100% allergy tested, fragrance free & enriched with Vitamin E to moisturize your lips. And of course, cruelty-free.
Strawberry Siren goes well with Desire (lip liner) for a full and plump lips.
So I received a sample of Kanebo Impress Foundation and makeup base 1 and 2 many weeks ago. I only managed to try them out over the weekend. Well, I wasn't that impressed on the foundation compact powder, maybe because the color was a few shades lighter than my actual skin color. But what I like most about this product is that, it glides smoothly onto your skin and it felt velvety smooth though it doesn't cover up my acne scars as good as a concealer (duh). As for the makeup base, I didn't had the chance to try them out as I was rushing mad to collect my kit for the Penang International Bridge Run.
I was wearing Joetta Colourblock Blouse - Navy/Turquoise from Poplook, shoes from Payless Shoes, watch from Fossil, chunky bracelet from F21
So I attended the UKM 42nd Convocation as it spelled h.e.c.t.i.c. It rained so heavy when we were on our way and I was in heel. God bless me. But then, when we arrived, it was super hot and humid. We had to park the car so far away that going back to the car after the convocation end felt like I just finished running a marathon. Getting our of the place was another thing and stuck in a moving jam is another thing. We end up having dinner below our rented service apartment.
The convocation reminded me a lot during my degree convocation. The feeling was so overwhelmed.
The sister-in-law brought us to Sentul Park where her office is situated and that is also where the famous KLPAC is. The place was so beautiful and artsy. We didn't spent long there as time was not on our side. You are not allow to take any photographs of anything there without permission. But we took a few anyway. The place is also a VSCOCAM application friendly. If you get what I mean.
During the last day of my trip to KL, we got to spent a few hours in Publika. The hip place for teenagers with many cafes scattered around. Places that you could see people tag in social media like Wondermilk, Boat Noodle and to name a few. We also managed to meet up with BFF (the happy part). You know, we've been friends for like forever and no matter where both of us end up, we will still meet. She's my definition of friends forever although we had to drive like crazy people to the airport. My flight was scheduled at 9pm but we were still in Publika at 7.30pm. Mad rush people.
So Alla arrived like 40 minutes after us. So while waiting for them, me and Juan had a tour around Publika. The place is so confusing that we didn't know where we came in at first (I suck at directions, so you know). If you're a shopaholic, then I guess this is not your place unless if you're a coffee lover, . Publika has small shops in it, not the bigger ones that you can see in places like Midvalley and Pavillion.
We tried out Boat Noodle. It wasn't that 'wow' as I expected. But the taste was authentically Thai. The waiting time is too long so definitely it is not a place for the elderly and hungry monster. We managed to go up to 18 bowls. Juan ate a little because we had lunch before that with my sister-in-law. I believe that we could go beyond 18 bowls if Juan was hungry at that time.
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