2009 in a Nutshell

I'm writing this post with only 3 hours left to 2009. The feeling i have now is like having to say good bye to a dear friend. I dare not say that i love the year 2009 but i do have some fond memories of it.

2009 have been one-darn-year. So many things happened and some of it i only wish it didn't happen.

I when through a tough semester in college. I gained as much as i regret. I learned new knowledge but those new knowledge just brought a heart-sick experience. But you know what? I don't regret or dread much about it. Cuz if it wasn't for that painful experience, i'll be less understanding 'bout myself. It was what that taught me about myself and how to deal with it.

Ok, enough emo talk.

What's most highlighted of all about 2009 is the amount of death that occur. And it all started from a close family member - my grandpa. We still miss him dearly and think of him occasionally. Ghong Ghong, you are not forgotten.

After that kind of lost, i notice many other death stories just continuing. And i think the most talked-about is Michael Jackson's. He passed away few weeks after my grandpa, sadly to say.
Other celebrities that pass-away are Natasha Richardson who we all knew her for her role as the twin's mom in Parent's Trap, Farrah Fawcett who many of us youngsters do not know but i bet your parents adored cuz my mom loved her, Stephen Gately who i remember singing the song "No Matter What" along with him, Yasmin Ahmad who i loved dearly for her wonderful and meaningful movies and advertisement (especially the PATRONAS Tan Hong Ming ad), and Brittany Murphy who was a beautiful and graceful actress.

The famous Yasmin Ahmad's advertisement about racism in Malaysia.



Boyzone, No Matter What music video.

But not all's lost in 2009 - there were a few happy moments to look back and smile. My personal favourite would be Barack Obama's first day as President of United States! He is one person that really changed things to the better good. We also have a new leader. Pak Lah stepped down as Prime minister and Dato' Sri Najib took charge. So far, he's doing ok.

2009 was also a year where i shopped in the dark! 60 EARTH HOUR! It was one unforgetable event that i hope will be brought forward to 2010 and the next. Turn the lights out like Beyonce sings! LOL!


There was also the H1N1 scare. So many people died and suffered cuz of this deadly virus. There will be a second wave soon, so, peeps, a gentle reminder to wear a face mask and wash your hands - Please!

Lots more stuff and happenings went on during the year of the "ninth". But these are the few that i think i will remember in the next 10 years.


Right now, i want to wish everyone around the world that came across this post...

HAPPY NEW YEAR

or should i say

HAPPY 2010!!!!!
have a great year ahead...

Cheers!

xoxo

Tips for shopping online

There's always a first to everything. Your first car. Your first handphone. Your first kiss.

And it was my first time shopping online, for clothes. Some guys may say, "Girls... always shopping non stop...". And you know what? You're right! Shopping is like how you guys can't seem to stop playing football or watching football.


Recently, a friend of mine introduce to my friends and i an online store. And once she did that, there was no turning back. Everyone of us were addicted! Even though we've seen literally every single web page, we still seem to be staring at the same clothes. All of us teamed up to get at least 20 clothes so that we can get RM20 rebate for everything we were buying. Trust me, the clothes were already very cheap or rather, reasonable.

So, after weeks of waiting for the clothes to arrive, it was down to the moment of truth, the clothes were delivered.

Did i mention there's a first to everything? I was kinda disappointed. I guess my mom was right once again. She told me not to spend on something you can't feel or touch. But i did anyway. RM79 for 3 outfits that were not really well-made and attractive.

RM 23 (after RM20 rebate)

RM 33 (after RM20 rebate)

RM 23 (after RM20 rebate)

What's a girl gonna do? Tweak it up a little bit (and also blog about it to advise all online shoppers out there)! You just need a creative mind for this. If the ribbon on the dress doesn't seem right, cut it off to make it as a belt. Or if the buttons seem out of place, put on more buttons on it to make it look like a design!

It might just work but whatever you do, do NOT throw it away or ignore it. There's always a way to fix things (and this does not only apply on clothes). Trust me, coming from a girl who get hand-me-downs from mom, aunties, and sister, not all the clothes are flattering, so, all i did was mix and match my clothes.

Ok, when i got my online-bought outfits, i knew i have to blog about it.
Here's your 101 on online shopping...

1. Know your source.
Do you know the person responsible for that site? Or at least know is it a "trustable" online shop? You can always know if it is if your friend recommended it.

2. Don't buy anything common.
Cuz you can always get it from a shopping mall! And you know what? You can even bargain the price. If you purchase it online, what you see, is what you pay.

3. Don't buy chiffon or silk material
2 of the most hardest material to work on. It's not worth the risk! (Psst: Chiffon is a see-through material. Unless you want it to be a lingerie, not a good idea.)

4. Make sure you can contact the source
Whether by e-mail or telephone, make sure you can keep in contact with the online shop owner just in case if there's a delay delivery, you'll know and not assume they cheated your money.

5. Be aware of the length
This applies to dresses. In the site, the picture of the dress may be knee length, but don't be surprise to see it longer or shorter real-life. Remember, online stores are just like any other stores that wanna make money. They will make their clothes look as flattering and pretty as it can be.

6. Keep track of your order
Know when the clothes will be delivered. If it's not delivered on time and i mean 2-3 weeks late, then i think we know what happen.

7. Keep an open mind
Don't be afraid. If we don't try, we never know. If that online store turns out to be a cheating sucker, well, at least now you know! But do keep in mind that, it may at the very least be an amazing outfit! So, it's a 50-50 chance here.

8. Don't over spend
Especially when you don't know that online store well. Give yourself a tryout. Buy 2 or 3 outfits and see whether it delivers and whether the quality is acceptable. Don't go overboard by spending RM100 above and regret later (although all the clothes look very attractive).

9. Imagine
Like what my mom said, you can't feel or touch the clothes. But the very best you can do is imagine how the outfit would look like on you! If it's an halter neck dress, imagine yourself in it.

I guess that's all i can squeeze out my brain right now. Last but not least, Happy Shopping!


Cheers!

xoxo

Rain, sun, "snow", and everything in between

It's kinda too late for posting this up but i feel that the pictures taken will be wasted if i didn't put it into good use. If you've read my previous post, Le sentiment de manquer et l'amour, you'll most probably know bout' this one. As i was still working for MYC! at that time, i got a chance to attend Dennis Lau's Debut CD Launch at Shook Starhill KL.

This was one event that i will remember. No, it's not because i get to see Dennis Lau in person (Honestly, i didn't even know who he was before i was assigned to go for this event), it's because of how i went there to see him. Starhill, one of the prestigious shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. I walked in, and i already felt like a million dollars. Hah!

Ok, here's a little info on what happen...

"It was a very nice afternoon, i took a cap to the LRT station and from there i took the LRT all the way to KL Sentral, where i took the Monorail and stopped at the Bukit Bintang station. Ok, no worries, it sounds confusing with so many transportation. What happened was, it has been a very, very long time since i actually when down to KL with the train. So, there were a few changes there and not to mention a renovation blocking my view to see where the Monorail was. To summarize things, I got lost!

Yeah... I don't usually get lost but that day was an exceptional. After walking for more than 10 minutes and asking 4 people for direction, i finally found the Monorail station! Kudos to me!!!

And to make things much more fantastic, it was raining!

I felt really out of place when i arrived. Everyone were dressed-up in nice elegant dresses and men in ironed shirt and some even in coat (note: i was in my simple-t and jeans!!!).

To make myself feel better, i told myself that i was there to work, not to mingle around celebrities and sip champagne, no matter how nice that sounds."

Alrite, enough embarassment talk of me now. All i can say is, i made it there safely, late but safely, not dry though...

A few noted celebrities were there that i spotted such as Xandria Ooi, Syafinaz Selamat, Will Quah (emcee of the evening), and a few more others that their names can't be recalled.

Oh, before i forget, those who don't know who Dennis Lau is, he is a Malaysian violinist. Here's his personal blog if you wanna check it out > http://dennislaumusic.blogspot.com (i Googled it).

He performed several times to give the audience a taste of his talents. I managed to settle down my nerves before he performed, so, i quite enjoyed his performance. I felt his passion for his violin playing and piano playing as well. He later did a duet with Syafinaz which i thought was amazing! But i like his duet with Jimmy Sax better where he played the violin and Jimmy with his saxophone.

All 5 pictures from Dennis Lau's officials
(Copyrights to the original owner - not me)

Overall it was a nicely planned media launch. If you want to read more about it, get your copy of MYC! News December issue now...


Don't even get me started with my journey back home... Urgh! Let's just say it was more of a human jam than a traffic jam.

Here's some pics i took (there were approximately 50 over pics but i chose a few here)

Will Quah

Performing with Jimmy Sax

With Malaysian Beat-boxer - Shawn Lee

Syafinaz Selamat

Cheers!

Merry Christmas!

Jolly O' Song

There's so many Christmas songs nowadays. And i'm sure many of us know a few of those songs.

1. Jingle Bell
2. Let It Snow
3. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
4. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
5. Deck the Halls
6. ...and many, many more...

Here's another famous Christmas song sang by David Archuleta and Charice Pempengco. The song title is Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. Charice is an amazing singer, as seen on Oprah Winfrey show. And David Archuleta is the boy next door turned America's sweetheart.

Here's a song dedicated to all my blogger friends and everyone who drops by...



Merry Christmas and God Bless!

xoxo

The New Karate Kid in town

Ok, brace yourself cuz this is real monkey-business. No seriously! I was doing my usual browsing when i came across this news >>>

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(News taken from Telegraph.co.uk)

And you know what the funny part is? The sub-line:

"A troop of performing monkeys instructed in the martial art of taekwondo has taken revenge on their trainer."

Sounds to me, the trainer has serious monkey issues while training it. What bothers me the most is, 2 things;

1. We, human beings are running out of ideas on how to earn extra cash
2. ...and monkeys can most probably take over the world!

I mean, if we can teach monkeys to do some fancy taekwondo stuff, imagine what we can turn monkeys into? I'm talking world-domination here. Alright, maybe i have been watching too much television but just imagine, take a moment to just think what the world be like if we teach monkeys the way we teach babies. Yes, babies, not dogs...

Two things can happen, first, whoever who train those monkeys will definitely become instant millionaires and second, the monkey will kick our human ass!

You think aliens or currupted politicians taking over is scary? You have no idea what you're missing out on...

So, some word of advise for those brilliant people out there, think twice, wait, make that thrice before teaching human knowledge to animals.

Cheers!

xoxo