Saturday, March 21, 2009

Jetting Off to Bangkok



Just a quick note before I jet off to Bangkok for a weekend with the girls.

Bee and I actually have to go pick up the girls for airport in an hour's time, but I have yet to sleep or pack!

And I'm having indigestion. Great! *Rolls eyes*

The girls and I have absolutely nothing planned for the trip, I don't even know which hotel we're staying in. Talk about an impromptu holiday huh?

Okay, I'm rambling here and this is pretty much another pointless entry. I really should start packing ey?

Anyhoo, I'll be back on Monday night.

Till then, have a good weekend, everyone!

Over and out!

P/s: And I'm missing Bee and our bed already. *Sighs*

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Ready, Get Set, Go!



I started the first practical session for the phase II of my secret project today.

The hiccup still hasn't been resolved yet, but we've decided to go ahead anyway since I'm seriously pressed for time to complete the course before I leave for Melbourne.

So I had an intensive 2-hour lesson from 5-7pm today, and honestly, I was terrified!

After all, it's something that, for SO long, I've been convinced I can't do; and it's hard to believe that I'm actually really doing it this time round.

It's a good thing that I was assigned with a female instructor who is very nice and patient with me, which makes it a lot better since I was really REALLY nervous. I could actually feel my hands trembling the whole time!

And I guess I'm really lucky in the sense that my ever-so-supportive hubby is always there to encourage and spur me on whenever I start doubting myself. Thanks, sweetie, you're the best! *Hugs*

I'll continue to have these express compact 2-hour lessons everyday for the next few days, so here's hoping that I'll get better at it as we go on.

For now, I need a huge cup of chamomile tea to soothe my nerves.

Later, people!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Comfort Food



I got back to a rainy evening in KL.

Gloomy. Gloomy. Gloomy.

It's a good thing that my sunshine was there to welcome me back with open arms and that silly wide grin on his face brightened my mood instantly.

To alleviate homesickness, I got myself some finger lickin' good comfort food on the way home. Yes, it's none other but hot and spicy Kentucky Fried Chicken!

There are very few things that I love about Malaysia, but all year round hot and spicy KFC is definitely one of them. Stupid Aussies only have them in winter, pfft!

Staying in with a bucket of crunchy fried chicken and free flow soft drinks on a rainy day does wonders to comfort one's soul.

All those in favour please say "aye"! ^_^


Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Another Rainy Night in Swan City


I'm leaving for KL tomorrow.

It really doesn't get any easier. To leave.

And then I remember that I'm leaving KL for Melbourne in less than a month.

*Long sighs*

I think I need a hug.


Monday, March 09, 2009

M for Monday


I got up early today to have breakfast with my parents and Adam, my youngest brother.

(Yes, 9am is really early for someone who normally only wakes up around noon.)

It reminded me of how my parents used to take all of us out for breakfast every Sunday morning when we were kids. Oh those good ol' days of simple pleasures!

Stopped by the pharmacy to pick up a few things for Adam before mum and I took the maid to the hair salon. We had a little mother-daughter bonding time over drinks while waiting for the maid to get her haircut. ^_^

I was ready for a nap when we got back, but there were contractors moving around the house servicing our air-conditioners. I was so sleepy that I was dozing off in front on my laptop, and I must have fallen asleep the minute they left my room.

A growling stomach woke me up after many hours and reminded me that I had missed lunch. It's a good thing that we have dinners real early at home. Our standard dinner time is around 5.30pm! Haha.

So here I am, typing this pretty much pointless entry while greedily sniffing the delicious smell of food in the air. Hmmm, mum's original roast pork ribs and my favourite turnip soup!

Whee!


Sunday, March 08, 2009

No If's and But's


I'm having a good time in my little home town.

Just got back from dinner with my family, and we had all my favourite dishes, including the Foo Chow sea cucumber soup (okay, I don't actually know what it's called, but I love it!). *Slurps*

It's great to be home, but at the same time, I'm missing my Bee a whole lot!

It seems like no matter where I'm at, there's always a "but".

I love spending time with my family in Swan City, but, something is just missing when I'm not with my Bee. And it is what it is, a really really small town with nothing much to see or do.

I love being with my Bee in KL, but, the void in my heart still yearns for the lifestyle and career that I left behind in Oz.

I love that I'm closer to Bee and my family when I'm in Malaysia, but, it's just not a place that I can see myself settling down for now. Or ever.

I love my life and work in Melbourne, but, it's lonely without my family and Bee around.

Today is Bee and I's 7th wedding monthiversary.

Here's hoping that, in the not-too-distant future, we'll finally find that balance that we've been looking for.

No if's and but's. Just us, together.

I love you, Bub-Bee.


Saturday, March 07, 2009

Good To Be Home



It's good to be home.

The first thing I do when I wake up every morning *coughs* or afternoon *coughs* before even brushing my teeth, is to wander around the house in my pyjamas while holding my small pillow, looking for my mum.

And before she goes to sleep every night, mum would come over to my room to check on me, to ask if my blanket is warm enough, or if I wanted anything in particular for breakfast the next day.

It feels great to be pampered and taken care of like a little girl even though I'm old enough to be a mum myself. Haha.

Of course, it's definitely good to have everything done for you without needing to lift a finger, and all your wishes granted like a true spoilt brat. Your bed gets made up right after you got up, your favourite food magically appears on the table everyday without you even asking, and you get chauffeured wherever you wanna go.

Life as a kid sure is easy and much MUCH less complicated. So why were we so eager to grow up when we were younger?

But no matter how old you are, it's always a joy to be with the people who love you the most and unconditionally - your family.

It's good to be home.

Yeap, I've said that already.

Friday, March 06, 2009

Mini Stay in Swan City



Just got back to Swan City this afternoon.

It's going to be a really short visit this time. I'm heading back to KL next Wednesday.

The flight home was awful. I was seated between an uncle who felt the need to narrate the whole trip to his friend across the aisle while he wasn't even in the window seat himself (e.g. "We're taking off.", "The plane is descending.", "I can see the roads and buildings now.", blah blah blah.), and a whale.

No, the "whale" wasn't huge, he's a young guy in his early 20's. I gave him the nickname because he kept making this weird noise with his nose throughout the whole 2-hour flight, which sounded like a whale's water spout? I have no idea why he did that, but it was really getting on my nerves after the first hour.

I was THIS close to asking him, "Excuse me, do you have a medical condition or a valid reason for making that noise? Because if you're just doing it for fun, then maybe you should know that it's really REALLY starting to annoy me!"

Pardon the meanness, I blame my crankiness on the lack of sleep last night and the subsequent mad rush to the airport. :|

Anyhoo, I've actually got more hauls to show you because, yes, I've been shopping again this past few days. *Grins* But I didn't have time (read: I was too lazy) to sort out the shopping bags and take pictures of my new lovelies before I left, so that's gotta wait till I get back to KL next week.

Speaking of which, does anyone else find taking, choosing, and editing pictures for your blog a tedious process?

Personally, I think it's a pain in the arse.

Maybe because I'm not as good at it, or that I'm just plain lazy (which really shouldn't surprise you anymore). Sometimes I need to take 10 pictures of the same thing just to get that one picture right! So more often than not, I get impatient and fed up half way through it that I just gave up.

Perfectionism + Laziness + Zero patience = A very B.A.D combo!

And that's precisely the reason why, as much as I love sharing all my shopping finds with you girlies, most of the time I just couldn't be bothered to because I hate taking pictures of them.

Then there's the concern of someone I know stumbling across my blog and recognise those items, and hence, the need to filter through what to show and what not to show. Again, pardon my paranoia, I'm a nut.

Okay dokes, I guess that's enough verbal diarrhea for one day. I'm off to take a much needed nap.

Happy weekend, everyone!

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Cosmetic Haul: Lancôme + Clarins


A breakdown of my mini Lancôme and Clarins haul from my angry shopping.


One of my favourite products by Lancôme is their Le Rouge Absolu Reshaping & Replenishing LipColour SPF15 (what a mouthful huh?) in shade 391. It's definitely one of my holy grail lipsticks, and I'm more than half way through my third tube of it.

During my recent trip home, mum saw me wearing it and she really liked the colour. It's a lovely shimmery pink that is perfect to brighten up the face even when you're not wearing makeup at all; yet at the same time, goes on really naturally on the lips.

However, Lancôme counter in Robinsons ran out of this particular shade when I tried to get a new tube for mum. The sales assistant then directed me to their new range of lippies - the L'Absolu Rouge Advanced Replenishing & Reshaping Lipcolour Pro-Xylane™ SPF 12 (again, what a mouthful!).

This new line of lipsticks promises to be even creamier and smoother than Le Rouge Absolu, and since their shade 391 - Rose Diams looked really similar to the one I have, I decided to give this a try instead.


L'Absolu Rouge retails at RM72, which is the same price with Le Rouge Absolu. I got it in shade 390 - Rose Cashmere for myself, and shade 391 - Rose Diams for mum.



Rose Cashmere is a very pretty shade of pinkish rosy nude colour, which is perfect when you wanna play down the lip colour yet don't wanna look all washed out.


Pink Diams might look like a strong shade of pink in the tube or swatches, but I assure you that it actually goes on very naturally on the lips like your very own.


And here are the swatches:

With flash

Without flash


I also got the Teint Idole Ultra Fluid Foundation in 01 - Beige Albatre, which I believe is the lightest shade. I'm getting rather bored of my Estee Lauder Double Wear and MAC Select SPF 15 Foundation.


I like that the glass bottle comes with a pump, but I can't say I'm too fond of the floral scent of this foundation though.

The scent is actually quite mild and not too bothersome, but I just would much rather if it's unscented and fragrance free. Oh well. *Shrugs*


I had a hard time deciding between 010 - Porcelaine and 01 - Beige Albatre. The former has a pink undertone, and the latter has a yellow undertone, but both matched my skin tone equally well.

The makeup artist put the two shades on each side of my face, but we couldn't really see much difference between the two colours. I decided to go with 01 in the end because I have this terrible fear of looking pinkish or orangey; and I'm counting on the yellow undertone to even out the redness in my complexion.


Beige Albatre is actually still a hair too dark for my skin tone, but I really like how lightweight this foundation is. It's fairly watery and only provides medium coverage, but it evens out my skin tone really well and it's super easy to blend. Plus it's oil-free!


The Teint Idole Ultra Fluid Foundation retails for RM126, which is very affordable for 30ml of product. This foundation claims to be formulated to resist transferring onto clothing and to provide a flawless 14-hour wear, though I seriously doubt that. It was transferred onto my clothes even after I set it with powder, so..... *Shrugs*


The purchase of these 3 products came with a 6-piece gift-with-purchase - the Blanc Expert Neurowhite X3 sample set.


And I finally stopped procrastinating and picked up the Clarins Double Fix' Mascara that Fuzkittie's been raving about. Can't wait to test this out to see if it really delivers what it promises to do - sealing and waterproofing our mascaras!


This is a transparent gel-like mascara sealer that you're supposed to use before and after (or after only) applying your mascara. It retails for RM85 at Clarins counters or outlets in Malaysia.

Get ready to say bye bye to raccoon eyes, baby! Haha.

Monday, March 02, 2009

I Need Anger Management



If I were to stay in Malaysia for an extended period of time.

Like, seriously!

The incompetency and "tidak-apa" attitude is infuriating!!

Worst thing is, the whole frigging nation is practising it like a religion.

Every day, every corner you turn, every single little thing that you need to get done, something and someone is bound to piss you off with their lack-of-brain-cells syndrome and couldn't-give-a-damn attitude.

Even with the most straight forward task, something as simple as lifting a finger and pressing that "enter" button on the keyboard, you can expect some fucktard to screw up because that's how effing lazy and stupid they are.

And when that happens, all you get is "there is nothing we can do now". Not "we're sorry", not "we'll try to fix it", but "tak dapat buat apa-apa lah".

It's basically saying, "Yes, so we screwed up, but we don't know how (or can't be arsed) to fix it. So you just admit it's bad luck and take it lah."

Then they shrugged, and walked away, avoiding your angry stares.

End. Of. Story.

All you can do now is to suck it up like a pathetic loser and repeatedly curse that motherfucker in your head with all the foul words you can think of while he/she happily shakes their legs and enjoys a hot cup of kopi-o.

There is seriously nothing you can do. That's how fucked up it is!

And we're surprised why we're still a third world country? Really?

Yes I'm angry. Yes I'm bloody pissed off!

Because of some arsehole who can't freaking do his job, there's a high probability that I won't be able to finish my secret project before I head back to Melbourne.

All that fuckwit had to do was to press two buttons on his keyboard to upload the result of my theory test, which was already in the computer by the way, so I could be cleared to proceed to stage II on time. But noooooooo, the dumbass just had to screw that up and not tell anyone until I found out a frigging week later.

And that's a week too late for me to finish stage II on time, you arsehole!

So after I've gone through the trouble and done everything on my part to complete all requirements of stage I within a week, now I'm stuck to bear the consequences of his irresponsibility and retardness.

Great. That's just fucking great!

Oh yes, I've taken the matter to his superior. And then the superior of his superior.

Not only did they not have the courtesy to call you back like they promised you they would, they did not apologise, not once, for the mistake and inconveniences their incompetence had caused. Let alone offer any solution for the problem.

Can't really say I was surprised though. This is Malaysia, for God's sake!

There. Is. Nothing. You. Can. Do. About. It.

I'm SO frustrated and angry now that my hands are shaking involuntarily and my stomach feels like it had been flipped upside down. I'm so pissed off that I feel like scratching off someone's faces and then punch them in the head.

These are the times that I wish I had superpowers so I could sneak out at night and beat the crap outta those imbeciles. (See why I said I need anger management?)

But no, I don't have superpowers, so I'm just gonna sulk in my little corner like a real sucker.

And I leave you with this clip of my favourite scene from Adam Sandler's Anger Management. I hope it makes your day a better one than mine.

Later, peeps!



Sunday, March 01, 2009

Angry Shopping



So it's been a week since the workshop which marked the completion of stage I for my secret project, and I still haven't heard from my course coordinator.

Mum's been saying that maybe I should call him to find out what's happening because the normal application process for stage II should only take 2-3 days, but I've been telling her not to worry since I believe the course coordinator would call me the moment he gets it done. You know, as he promised.

Besides, having been in customer service myself, I really didn't want to (and hate to) be the pushy crazy biatch that we all hate.

But boy, was I wrong!

When I finally decided to pick up the phone and called him today to check on the progress, he actually told me, in a relaxed tone, that there seems to be a problem with my application.

According to him, my application to proceed to stage II is still pending because, apparently, the result of my theory test hasn't been uploaded to the related department yet.

Well, Mr. Genius, don't you think that you should've called and informed me that instead of holding it out for a whole freaking week when you clearly know that I'm pressed for time to sit for the practical exam before I leave for Melbourne?!

So I asked him (nicely, might I add) what was causing my result not being uploaded and what could be done to fix the problem.

And he simply brushed me off in the typical Malaysian "tidakapa" attitude and told me not to worry as he's going to handle it tomorrow.

Excuse me?! You frigging didn't just learn about the news of my pending application today and why the heck did you not handle the matter right there and then? Instead, you had to wait till I called you more than a week after I took that bloody theory test to tell me that the result was not uploaded?

And now, you have the fucking guts to tell me not to worry because you are going to handle the problem TOMORROW? Did you not have a freaking week to do so?!

Like hell if I won't be worried!! *Hyperventilating*

Still, not wanting to be that difficult bitch, the good little Asian girl in me simply said okay and hung up.

Afterall, would it really have made a difference even if I had persisted? This is Malaysia we're talking about!

All you'd probably get is "okay okay I'll look into it.", and then, nada. Nothing. Zero action.

As much as I'd like to have faith in my so-called home country, and my fellow countrymen, I'm seriously finding it increasingly difficult with each passing day.

With no other ways to vent out my frustration, I took it to lunch and downed a huge serving of mushroom creamy pasta, super sweet frizzy drinks, and a big slice of mille crêpe. Even Bee was surprised by how much I could eat. Haha.

We popped by Robinsons briefly as I needed to pick out a lipstick for my mum, but I ended up getting these:

With flash


Without flash


And a sweet little cardigan from Yen by Arthur Yen.


Although, the joy and satisfaction of angry shopping is rather short lived. I'm back to being pissed off and stressing over my stage II application the moment I got home. Arrrgghhhh!! *Pulls hair out*

Do you angry shop too?