Friday, November 27, 2009

First Year + Two Days

Sorry if I've been absent for the past few days.

I'm flying off later today at 3:30pm to London to embark on my two months Europe trip (considering it making it one month plus instead of two, too long a journey can be depriving). Yet to pack, what is new.

Tentative countries that I'll be passing: England (London to be exact), France, Spain, and Portugal. If you're in this region and want to meet up, shoot me a mail. nicootan@gmail.com

Anyone stays in Southern France and drives? I wanna go to Bordeaux!



The past week has just been amazing. The last two days was the pinnacle of this wondrous two weeks.

And I found myself ignorant of the rest of the world for the first time. To be able to cast everything out of my mind, and focus only on one.

Everything was perfect. Perfectly lazy, perfectly aimless, and it was beautiful.

rose petal hearts


One year. That was the period. From the day I stood and leaped from the cliff, and found myself diving into Eden's waterfall. Instead of drowning, I discovered euphoria.

Since, I have unfolded layer upon layer of cloud nine.

And there were hardship, yes there was. There still is.

Though even with doubt, I go on with life, with this, as if it were my last everyday. So challenge me if you will, fate. I am not afraid of what lies ahead, be it darkness or hope, as of present, I do not fear you. For I've always been hard-headed, and accepted the last could be the next day, the next hour, the next minute. Experience has taught me to be receptive and adaptive toward pain and sorrow, and loneliness can be nurturing when befriended.

Obstacles to happiness can only be seen as obstacles when regarded as.

With or without thy blessings, two days ago was a celebration of the past, the process and the unknown yet appealing future.


He drove up to the mountains on which I first saw our first sunrise, and brought back petals that I loved so much (which I used for my bubble bath the next day).

rose petals


And ended the day with our favourite genre of food.

japanese dinner


Dressed to the nines, I wore the dress I'd worn the first day he claimed love at first sight sparked.

first year dinner


It was simple. But meaningful.






Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Perth - Little Creatures

After leaving Christchurch and New Zealand altogether behind, I've flown back to Australia via Melbourne and landed myself in Perth.

christchurch to Perth
I know this map shows that I flew straight from Christchurch to Perth which was actually untrue since I did pass by Melbourne for a transit, but I'm too lazy to change now.


Perth was beautiful, immaculately modern and clean and new.

Despite the many proclamation on how it's boring and nothing compare to Melbourne, greeting a modernized sky scraping city in the face wasn't quite what I expected.

bell tower and eye of perth


Perth was busting with new age folks and many people of different races from different parts of the world. It's like walking through "A Small World".

street performance


There were street performers, statue lady and band playing everywhere.

golden lady


golden lady with little girl
hey little girl, I'll give you some candy but don't tell your mama


city of perth
Standing in the middle of the city.


Hello from Perth.

me standing between eye of perth and bell tower


I met up with two girls in Perth. This time not readers but instead friends of friends (who eventually are my friends too).

First one being Fayth Tiah (photo of her will come later in the blog),
know her through her brother initially (guess who else is Tiah)

The second one was Pei Wen, Fayth's friend and coincidentally, Casey's friend too.

A quirky personality that has swam of guys over her year after year.

pei wen
Hello Pei Wen.


I had a quick tour around town on my too-short-a-trip in Perth by Pei Wen,
since Fayth was busy that day.

She brought me to see the bell tower, an iconic building in Perth and apparently Western Australia that tourists have swarm in to see every day. Read up the details in the link.

perth bell tower


bell tower 2


bell tower 3


Inside you'd find historical large bells that still rang for its people, well for tourists more like.

big bells in bell tower


Considering it was more tourists who rang it.

strings of bells in bell tower
A floor below.


me pulling strings


On the observational deck, you would see the skyline of Perth 360 degree.

perth skyline from bell tower


perth ferris wheel
Ferris wheel next to it. Didn't get the chance to sit on that one.


Or really just 260 degree of Perth, since you're facing the sea.

cloudy perth ocean
Oh deym, looks like it's going to rain. Better get going.


I like this meaningful? meaningless? pole...

bells pole


bells


My favourite building in the city was this cottage looking shop smacked in the middle of the city,

wooden cottage shop


which was why I loved it. It was smacked IN THE MIDDLE of the city,

wooden cottage between high rise buildings


between two really tall buildings that made it looked so out of place but ironically cute.

That night we met up with Fayth who drove us out of town to the infamous brewery Little Creatures.

It was where I fell in love with Little Creatures and began to appreciate beers like how I appreciate wine.

little creatures


Many have mentioned to me due to my arrival in Perth to visit the infamous Little Creatures, somehow it just didn't register in my mind back then it was the actual brewery of Little Creatures the BEER. (I was thinking about a place >_<)

To mentione that it's a brewery was an understatement, it was more like a factory to me!

inside little creatures


The place was HUGE!! and ever so crowded!!

We ordered Little Creatures Pale Ale at half a pint, which was my favourite thus far.

drinks menu


Fayth was so cute. She was craving for sticky date pudding non stop and she wouldn't rest commenting and fidgeting over it till she ordered and have some sticky date pudding.

Now everytime I think of sticky date pudding, she springs to mind. And it made me wanna try the damn cake. LOL

This was also when my camera was running out of battery. T_T

So quickly I took my last opportunity before the batt die to camwhore with Fayth before continue enjoying the rest of our evenings.
PS// Perth was getting pretty cold by then, so staying in for beer was the best idea one can have.


me and fayth
must I really use flash T_T


nicole and fayth


There. Satisfied.

Everyone, meet Fayth - the breakdancing wonder, Caryn's best friend.




Saturday, November 21, 2009

Christchurch - The Last Leg

*update* review of dim sum restaurant in this post has been updated in my food blog.

I arrived at my final leg in New Zealand - Christchurch adopting a new concept for masking tape.

masking tape wallet 3


My host in Christchurch taught me that the best way to not get your wallet stolen was by making your very own wallet from the cheapest material you can find in a stationery shop. (He lost his previous LV wallet)

masking tape wallet 2


masking tape wallet


After hitch hiking down from Marlborough with a random German couple, I met up with Danny, my reader and host in Christchurch. A sweet sensitive guy whom you should be dialing his number right now to ask for a date.

danny driving


sitting in car


while I comfortably sat in his car as he drove me around Christchurch
.

driving to cable car


We went out of town to take the gondola up the Port Hills to see the beautiful landscape Christchurch takes pride in.

gondola sign


posing inside gondola


The ride cost us NZD44 for two. Not a cheap ride, but definitely worth while considering there up there were really spectacular.

looking down from gondola


ocean within


beautiful bay


The cafe's food quite delicious. A great place for an afternoon tea.

building on top


sitting in gondola cafe


From the summit, you can catch a glimpse of Akaroa - a historic French and British settlement nestled in the heart of an ancient volcano.

mountain ocean bay


If you have the transport and time here in Christchurch, take a day trip 85 km east to Akaroa to bask in the beauty of what's left by two erupted volcanoes.

beautiful scenery at the top


The place was first sighted by Captain Cook in 1770 and was then was settled by French in the mid 1800.

Get a jacket when you visit the summit, it's windy.

strong wind blowing my hair


I mean really windy.

Now my Christchurch experience can be summed up in two: Food

chicken feet


& Culture.

nicole posing on colorful steps


Danny's parents own a very neat dim sum restaurant in Christchurch which he brought me there for lunch one day.

danny and dim sum menu


The restaurant is called Foo San. You should go and support our countrymen's business in foreign land.

He also brought me to sample some of Christchurch's finest desert in a local popular dessert cafe - Strawberry Fare.

dessert shop


Where we indulged in crazily sinful rich and moist cakes (keep a look out for my food blog soon for this one too).

cheese cake


At night we would sit at home in front of his big ass flat screen and sip wine and eat cheese with chutney while watching Slumdog Millionaire. Kiwi life, one has got to love it.

Danny's mom is one of those rare friendly awesome moms who allowed her son to invite travellers from all over the world to come to their house and stay and eat for free. They have a way to make you feel most at home that you can't help but to feel embarrassed.

Just before me, Danny hosted a Hong Kong traveller for a week who was visiting Christchurch in the guest room I was staying then.

Speaking of his house, he has a typical tree-hugging organic kiwi backyard where you can find all the locally produced fruit trees around.

One being the Feijoa fruit tree.

photo with feijoa fruit


feijoa fruit


Amongst many other fruits too.

apple


lemons
lemons, not lime.


home grown strawberries


Before I leave the city and country altogether, I was brought on a walking tour around Christchurch to see some of the typical tourist spots you'll find in town.

Like the famous Christchurch Art Gallery.

christchurch art gallery


And its famous colorful staircase. Which we shamelessly took millions of photos on.

me on colorful stairs


danny jumps
Danny jumps


nicole jumps
Nicole jumps (photographer fails)


colorful staircase of art gallery


colorful stairs
distant Danny


danny posing in art gallery staircase
near Danny


final pose on colorful stairs
cool pose


And then the guards came and we had to run. :p


Then we visited the Cathedral Square.

Cathederal Square and cathedral


Where you'll find the strange metal sculpture in the centre in front of the Cathedral.

kissing Cathederal Square


And a shot of me with one of the hundreds of similar Cathedral I've seen around the world.

Christchurch Cathederal


And the inside.

inside Cathederal


And the pope's chair.

im the pope


I'm just guessing. I don't think it's the pope's chair.

halleluja
Fallen angel.


Then continue to act silly almost everywhere else, Danny being my ally.

holy grail


If you can't tell, I'm imitating the angel with the sword at the top.

I also spotted Captain Cook somewhere near a fountain area.

salute statue


Well, that's the end of my long New Zealand trip.

With that, I left Christchurch and headed back to Australia.

But not before heading toward Perth before flying back to Malaysia as my final stop.


Bye bye Christchurch. I lup you. *hug*

hugging big metal


Yes I know. I'm loony.




Thursday, November 19, 2009

Painting with Nippon Paint

note: home lovers will love this

Weeks ago I attended the Nippon Paint workshop in KL convention centre where the Home Décor 2009 was held.

home decor exhibition
All the things you need in a house


nippon tube colors


Together with a bunch of bloggers, we sat through a talk course about how to paint your house with colors, etc.

camwhore


camwhore 2


peace sign
No smile


peace sign 2
Smile


It was an interesting talk by both charming presenters Ms Gladys Goh and Ms Wong Meng Lee about colors and what do they signify or represent.

nippon representative


It also taught us how to pick and mix-match the colors when deciding to paint a room/item/house.

nippon paint


Never knew painting a house could require so much knowledge, and I honestly though decorating and furnishing the house was the difficult part.

Here are a few fun color facts for those home lovers out there. Or for those who likes colors and love furnishings.

blue


I like blue. Just don’t really like it in a room. It’s kinda.. moody for me.

And I realized how nice green is when painted on a wall. I always thought it would be really dodgy and odd. You know, one of those peculiar colors.

green


I like this yellow + green settings below too.

yellow
O definitely love this design


yellow 2
Reminds me of those cozy guesthouses in Europe. ^^


Then there’s a sexy red.

red


Which this design here makes it really classy and expensive.

red 2


Speaking of expensive, purple is definitely my favorite expensive-looking color.

purple
They always looks so elegant regardless


I stayed in this resort hotel in Thailand once and it’s all purple and white. I LOVED that hotel so much.

This following design reminds me of Nuffnang office Malaysia.

orange 3
No wonder their whole office is orange in color


Though I wouldn’t mind it in a house if the furnishings can be as nice as this next photo.

orange 2
The one of the left, not right. Not too orange-y please.


Then there’s the typical pink.

pink


I like pink. A lot. Though I don’t really show it.

Maybe because it doesn’t really suit me, who knows. But I love the color to bits! All my ipods are in pink.

Though somehow my current room color is a bit purple-ish. (purple used to be my childhood favourite, now it has become white, well, and pink)


But I have to say, when it comes to a furnishing a house. My ultimate favourite is still BROWN… and WHITE.

brown


Not just any brown.
Light brown.

I mean, I like the woody Balinese style feel that most darker shade of brown can bring out, but I always think that Balinese/woody style should belong to a home-stay/resort holiday rather than an everyday color.

Like I said, I like lighter brighter colors. Not dark and moody.

Perfect example would be this super marble light brown design here.

brown 2


OMG swoon! So Medieval Age feel!!

As for white: elegance, simplicity, clean, what’s not to like?

white


Or maybe I just can’t imagine my future Jacuzzi bathtub to be any other color. It would just be soooo wrong~

Come on. A pink bathtub?! /:S


The fun part began when each of us was given a canvas to create our own design, after a very brief talk on the types of design Nippon Paint can create.

lime green canvas


I chose a lime green canvas, I thought it looked cool. As in really nice relaxing cool.

So with some creativity, we were off.

I started vigorously taping my masking tape away onto my canvas, in hope to create a base for up-coming design.

masking tape the canvas


stretching masking tape


Then I took a white Nippon Paint white, my favorite color, from the table filled with assortments of paints.

nicole holding a nippon white paint


And a brush.

white paint and brush 2


And painted away I did.


painting on canvas


And paint.

concentrating on painting


And posed for camera.

getting white paint


While I was working hard on my artwork, the rest were busy creating masterpieces of their own.

There was Red Mummy pouring out her creative juice. Or rather, the husband’s.

redmummy and husband
She was busy taking photos. Lol


Cindy was pasting blue tulips.

cindy and tulip


Ringo was cutting cheese blocks.

cutting sponge


KY was obviously doing up a wall for a girly room.

ky paints


And.. and… bah. Let the photos do the talking here.

colorful canvas


lovely painting
Lovely love


pink squares design
Obviously a lot of people liked the square-masking-tape design


CD pasting
Oh this was unique


pink flowers painting
This was more like a painting than a paint job for a wall


three finishing pieces
And many others


(Sorry if your artwork is not here, I didn’t manage to take all with my camera)


And finally, my MASTER PIECE!!

Tell me you like it.

my masterpiece
Did you see the kisses on the bottom right area? Hehe. That’s my lipstick prints.


What do you think?

Tell me the truth. No I’m kidding.
Be nice. I can’t handle harsh criticism.

Someone said it looked like Adidas. T_T


Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Autumn Happiness

Ever realise that when you look through series of movement photos, your imagination will engage you into the photos too?

autumn leaves


Since it's autumn season now (in the northern hemisphere), I'll like to share my autumn with everyone (which I had earlier this year in the southern hemisphere).

autumn


I've always wanted to do this. Run through the leaves, kicking them around and tossing them up in the air. Stomping on them as you walk pass, not caring if you're leaving a mess because you're already in a whole pile of beautiful mess.

It's like walking in a fairy wonderful. A dream. Wandering into the woods and get lost in your fantasy.

autumn happiness 1


It's even more fun when there are more leaves around. I've once seen a kid on tv jumping into a pile of human height leaves and disappeared into it. Who cares about dirtiness, or making noises, or criticism for reliving your childhood.

It's one of those things that's meant to be fun and meaningless in life.

autumn happiness 2


So when I arrived in Christchurch, I decided to take an afternoon out and indulged in my autumn silliness.

I call it My Autumn Happiness.

autumn happiness 3


autumn happiness 4


autumn happiness 5


And another two dozens or more photos of it.

autumn happiness 7


autumn happiness 9


autumn happiness 6


happy danny
a happy danny


autumn happiness 10
kicking leaves


autumn happiness 11


autumn happiness 12
more kicking


autumn happiness 13
and more


autumn happiness 14


autumn happiness 8
danny stomping on leafy ground


autumn happiness 15


autumn happiness 16


autumn happiness 17


autumn happiness 18


autumn happiness 19


autumn happiness 20


autumn happiness 21


autumn happiness 22
fly leaves, fly~


Are you feeling the Autumn Happiness yet? :D



ps// I just realised this series of photos are really matching to my blogskin. :p


Saturday, November 14, 2009

Hitch Hike across South Island

*update* I've written about The Store in my food blog. Check it what I ate for breakfast that morning.


After two nights in Marlborough wine country, I was on the road again.

road trip to christchurch


But this time, I was in the car of another stranger couple.

hitch hike


Meet the Germans.

nice german couple


I met the wife of the couple the night before after I cycled drunkenly back to my guesthouse from my one-day wine trail and we got to know each other through a glass of wine or two (from my stash which I bought that day).

Next thing I know, they offered me a ride down to Christchurch the following day.

Yay~!

my New Zealand route


It's amazing how many nice people one can meet on a single trip.

What's even more amazing was that they were going to pass by Kaikoura for a day trip on the 6-hr drive down to Christchurch. YAY!!!

Kaikoura is famous for their wildlife observations and more often than not, you're able to spot many creatures like whales at sea, dolphins near the shore and fur seals along the coastal lines. It's a wonderland for animal lovers.

Will talk about Kaikoura in a sec.


On the way, they stopped by a restaurant for a cuppa (where I had my breakfast) which was very famously known among the locals.

Introduce "The Store".

the store kekerengu interior


Apparently most people who do the drive down to Christchurch would purposely stop by this place (place in fact is Kekerengu) for an eat out.

way to The Store in Kekerengu


me in the store kekerengu


Reasons being the obvious upon entrance.
(will do a review about the place in my food blog soon)

description of The Store


After breakfast (coffee for them), we walked out to the parking lot where fog was already collecting.

foggy road


Not a good sign. But they drove on cautiously and made it through anyway.

While half asleep at the backseat of the car, I was suddenly jerked awake by the sudden stall in momentum. The car was parked at the side of the road.

I followed them out of the car and found myself facing the splendid eastern coastal line of New Zealand South Island.

beach at kaikoura


Then I saw the couple speaking to each other in their native tongue and pointing towards the stone-filled beach, I followed gaze and was surprised with the cutest thing!!

baby fur seal 2


Fur Seal!!!

Or seals rather.

The whole colony of them!!!

They were sooooo cute! Especially the baby seals.

baby fur seal


It was a clear sign that we were very near Kaikoura already.

Here's a video of the cute mammals.




Here are some facts about fur seals.

facts about fur seals
Test to your eye sights. Don't squint too much, you can almost make out the words if you focus hard enough.


After 20 mins or so, we finally arrived at Kaikoura!

kaikoura information centre


It was still pretty cold so we brought our thickest jumper and walked the beach.

I realized that the beaches here were pebbles instead of sand.

kaikoura pebble beach


And the wave quite aggressive.

big wave


wave caving in


Spotted a guy challenging the wave next to us, which was pretty funny.

He was running even before the wave hit the shore. Haha... Cute.


Here are a few more random photos in Kaikoura.

white among the grey
a white among the grey


two white pebbles
scouting for pebbles


sperm whale speed bump
sperm whale speed bump, lol!


kaikoura postcards
bought two postcards as a remembrance of the cute baby seal I saw earlier.


fur seal colony location
an empty known popular seal colony area


Last photo was a reminder to all tourists to leave the seals alone in their colony.
I saw more seals at the beach along the drive than 10 people can spot in this colony.


By evening, we arrived at Christchurch where my next host was already there waiting to pick me up.... ;)

(to be continued)


Coffee with MILF?

You know you've done the Cu Chi tunnel tour in HCMC when you see this in your menu for lunch.

ice coffee with milf


Just coffee, thanks. You can keep your milf.


Friday, November 13, 2009

Lens Acquired!

I know I'm suppose to blog about the last few remaining parts of my New Zealand trips. But I couldn't help it. The advertorial has to go up first and I just can't wait to share this news with everybody.

Remember the blog post I posted a few entries back calling out for a canon lens sponsor?


Well~~~

You don't ask, you will surely never get.

And I asked.

And and and...

new canon lens


Ta da!!!!

Thank you my 10-22mm sponsor Mr Tuang!!!

We should go for Peking Duck lunch in London?!! :D


Ngeh ngeh to all haters who criticized my shamelessness.


Initially I had wanted the 17-40mm wide angle lens but after reading my readers' comments (which I always take very seriously in, sorry that I didn't get to reply all the time) on the better lens to get, and after reading and watching few reviews on the net, I decided to go for the 10-22mm lens instead!

10-22mm lens box


canon 10-22mm lens
Equivalent to the price of my 500D.


The lens managed to come in time for my HCMC trip.

And OMG I love my new baby!!! I'm using this to shoot every thing now in Vietnam. Crazy nice and clear and WIDE!!!!

Dead.


Just to show you a photo taken from this baby at LCCT before my departure.

lcct with 10-22mm lens
Casey sending me to the airport.


Look how wide the lens can capture. I can see everything!!!

*doing the happy dance*

*show butt to all haters before*


Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Follow Me Will be Following Me to My Travels

Hi

Today I am going to perform an advertorial ritual.

I’m going to review Follow Me Oil Control whitening product series.

follow me oil control set


With that said, I brought the set into my toilet and laid them out on my dressing table.

follow me oil control complete set


Check out the travel pack! My favourite!


So without any make up on and risking the criticism of exposing my bare face to the world, here’s me on a bad hair day after not sleeping most of the night before.

before washing


Considering that I didn’t sleep much, I didn’t look half bad.
Though panda eyes were starting to show.
Tsk tsk.

hair tied up


Since I’d be washing my face, so it’s best that I tied my hair up.

Let’s start with the cleanser.

cleanser


The thing I like about this series was that it has whitening feature, which is always a plus plus for me in buying any skin care product.

I hate being dark, though I am quite dark myself, and it doesn’t help that I travel so much. S.i.g.h.
(Why can’t the world be perfect).

squeezing cleanser gel


Squeeze an inch or two out, rub it on your hand in circular motion and then apply on your face.

washing face


Looks like I have a white mask on. Haha.

washing face 2


Then after performing few circular motion on your cheeks, around your nose and forehead, wash it off with clean water.


half way washing out cleanser
Halfway washing


clean face after cleanser


Ta-da! Clean face!
Damn it, dark circles still there.

Now move on to toner.
toner and pad


For girls, and guys, out there who don’t know how to apply toner, this is how you do it.

First you will need a cotton pad.

Hold it between your index and ring fingers in a way where the top of the cotton pad will be revealed on top of your middle finger.

Then soak it with toner.

pad soaked with toner


Be generous with your toner. We want it really wet (oh yea~).

Then gently start tabbing on your face, covering the entire area.

tab on face


apply toner on face


Done?
Ok.

Final step.

Moisturiser.

squeezing out moisturiser


Now this is the most important step for me.

You see, I have combination skin. And since this series is an oil control range, it would mean the normal non oily part of my face can be rather dry after washing with cleanser.

No worries. Just apply moisturiser and your face will be fine.

tabbing moisturiser on face


tabbing


Slap a slightly thicker layer on the dryer part of your facial skin and less so on the oily part. That’s how you can control your overall facial skin balance. :)


DONE!

clean refreshed face


Now in case you have pimple, they also have the pimple gel that’s guarantee to make your pimple visibly less, well, visible in three days time.

pimple cream


The gel is greenish transparent like and consist of what I believe to be Sea Algae and Tea Tree Oil.

pimple gel
Could be lighting of my skin making the gel looked more yellowish than greenish, but it’s really is greenish.


Now I don’t really have any pimple on my face at the moment (thank god), but I did have a pimple mark left by a recent pimple on the corner of my forehead.

pimple


So yep, there it went.

applying pimple gel


Now I was finally done!
Ps// you should apply the pimple gel before the moisturiser, but I forgot and too lazy to repeat the process anyway.

Just when I thought I was done, I realized I forgot one more step! Before the cleanser!

Blackhead Remover!!!
So instead of starting all over again, I decided to pick a random make species to partake in this daily ritual.

Well, it is a unisex product. Yes?

casey and blackhead remover


squeezing blackhead remover cream


“Wait! Before that! Your fringe is too long!” I shouted.

So I made him do the unspeakable.

casey and headband


Awe… how cute. And it’s pink!

Upon instruction, Casey rubbed the gel onto his T-zone in circular motion. And there I spotted little residue forming on his forehead as he’s doing this.

residue


Then he proceeded to wash his face with the cleanser, applied toner and moisturizer.

And DONE! Again.

shining face
I use green leaves brush to match the color theme of Follow Me Oil Control. Hehe~


Shiny as new.

Here’s a contest that people like me, who takes a lot of photos of themselves, would be interested to join. :)

contest
(link: http://tohtonku.com.my/index.html)

Buy RM20 and above of FOLLOW ME Oil Control products. Take a creative photo of yourself with the product. With proof (scan or photo) of your receipt, send your entry by MMS or email to oc@tontohku.com.my.

E.g.

follow me snapshot


You could just win a cover page opportunity with Campus Plus magazine cover and Follow Me press ad, a Samsung Delphi phone and ONE YEAR supply of the said products. Woo hoo!


It has now been 20 minutes since I applied my final step of the Follow Me Oil Control set.
And my face still felt really smooth, not too dry, not oily at all.

Almost like there’s a layer of smooth powder over my face. Nice~ I like this feeling
*touching my face*

Ermm… I think I would actually bring this set to my travels since they’re actually quite of convenient size in bottles even for the normal set. Affordable, easy to travel with. What’s not to like?


Here are a few photos of me shooting this advertorial with my 500D.

taking photo of cleanser


taking photo


Not easy you know, camwhoring with a DSLR.

At the end of his ritual, I spotted Casey chucking his pink headband onto the floor.

throw headband


But but, it looked so cute on you~? @_@ *watery eyes*


Tuesday, November 10, 2009

New Shoes and Fleeting Images

Bought my mom a pair of new sport shoes today for our Vietnam trip tomorrow.

This is the first time I'm travelling with one of my best friends (a guy) with my mom.

She's thinking of adopting him as a godson. LOL. Funny mom I have.

reebok 2


Pair of fresh Reebok.

Wanted to get a pair of Nike plus which was my mom's initial choice but then decided that this was more comfortable for her to walk in. Afterall, she didn't need Nike plus shoes anyway. I, on the other hand, should get a pair.

But now she said she's going to reserve the shoes for her Korea trip next month cause she don't want to use it yet and want to wear her old sport shoes tomorrow. -.-;;

reebok with blackberry


I was contemplating if I should bring my Xpax plan Blackberry Curve 8250 along since there seems to be a lot of free wifi service all around Vietnam. More so than Malaysia. o.O

Even if I can't use my data plan, well, msn on the go won't be completely impossible.

Oh god. Should I? I can't live without Twitter. >_<


Anyway, if you ever stalked my facebook (like how people stalk other people's facebook profiles), you will find in my videos a video with my face stapled on it.

It's a short film my friend Edmund made + produced and conveniently insert my scene into the film to make it his experimental philosophical film - Fleeting Images.

Here's the trailer.




Turn out. Fleeting Images, with me as the main actress (kinda) and my "borrowed voice"
(no I do not sound like that, though I wish I do >_<), won the grand prix (grand prize in French, taught by Edmund) for the CON-CAN Movie Festival in Japan recently.
(click on link, register and sign in to watch the whole film)


Oh. My. God.


A film with me as lead character inside won a grand prize at a film festival!!
o.O o.O o.O


Edmund, do I get a sushi treat from your USD5000 prize? :D :D


ps// Last leg of New Zealand posts resume tomorrow.


Don't blame it on yourself

chocolate makes my clothes shrink


Monday, November 09, 2009

Report Police? Yea right~

Just so you know, we've already reported the case to the police, together with the culprit who drove away.

But you know what did the nice police men reply to us?

"Oh, it's like this one la~"

"There's nothing you can do about it. If you want write your details down and we'll see what we can do."


500 bucks say that they won't give a shit about "the case".

This only proved that rude Malay guy right. Sigh~ Really? Do our police force do anything at all?


After reading the comments posted in the previous post, I realized a lot of you have experienced similar things too. Is this a Malaysia culture?!

1Malaysia? My foot.


However, a reader commented as such.

You can go to JPJ wangsa Maju
Go to the Kaunter : Butir-Butir kenderaan
They will charge you RM20
you will get the details of the owner of the car
Just tell them that you just want to buy the car and need to validate the information to avoid fraud.



I think I might just do that.


You know how Murphy's law goes?

My tragic series of unfortunate events didn't end just there that night.

That night, my BB curve hang.

Well, kinda.
It didn't literally hang.

But because I "BB ON" my data plan but the network wasn't registering. I have to force shut the phone (took the battery out even) and when I switched it on again.

My Blackberry Messenger disppeared. And there was this icon asking me to upgrade my BBM. So yea, fine. Upgrade.

Guess what.

Upon upgrade.

I lost ALL my BBM contacts.

F**k.


Now I need to collect them one by one again.

two contacts
Back to two lonely contacts. *sob*


But you guys who upgraded your bbm already don't have to worry a thing. Because the new upgraded BBM has the auto backup feature.

I wish I knew this earlier. T_T


Saturday, November 07, 2009

WLV4273 Kelisa - Fat Bitch!

There’s only one thing more despicable than a hit-and-run, and that is a BAD BAD driver.

The type of bad driver that should not be allowed to have a permit to touch the wheel, least to say to drive.

But you know what’s more hateful than a bad driver?

A BAD DRIVER WHO HIT AND RUN!


WLV 4273

Silver Kelisa.


I'm watching you...


The lady (more like an ripen teenage looking aunty) who drove the car on the 7th Nov at 12am
in Jalan Alor (or more precisely, Jalan Changkat Tong Shin) was a fucking bitch who just hit and run on a BMW 3 series.

Yo anyone who knows this f*cking idiot FAT Chinese bitch who was flirting with a Malay dude in the middle of the night, probably looking for a few one night stands of her own, please tell her that she has the tendency to NOT KNOW how to reverse her LITTLE KELISA and scratched a BMW, drove out onto the street, even with the owner of the BMW standing next to her, upon instruction that she was to park at the side of the street and discuss this, actually drove on and AWAY!!!

She F*CKING RAN AWAY!!!


This was the whole scenario earlier midnight.


WLV 4273


First we arrived at Jalan Tong Shin, where all the good food roams, with everywhere full parked.
So we managed to come in front of my boutique hotel where I was spending my few days in KL.

(I'm like on a hotel marathon every time I come up to KL, no point renting a place here since I'll be travelling again soon, so far I've stayed in Cititel, Sunway Resort, Pyramid Tower, Radius hotel, etc etc etc but that's another story)

Everywhere was full (of cars) and just right in front of my boutique hotel was this WLV 4273 Kelisa who despite its size, parked COMFORTABLY (to size in her lack of driving skill) in a space that's enough to fit in TWO cars!


driving in


We wanted to park, of course. Since there was no more parking space. So we got out of the car and asked nicely.

ask politely to move


ask to go away


And seeing that there were no where else to park and the fat bitch REFUSED to move her LITTLE kelisa and continued to FLIRT and CHAT with the Malay guy.

We decided to improvise.

park nex to fat bitch


We wheezed our BMW into the space, careful not to scratch or come to close to her car, and managed to fit into the parking space nicely.


Then after negotiated her price for the night and decided she was too cheap and cannot pay up to the Malay gigolo finished talking to her "friend", which was like 3 minutes later (bitch!), she was reversing out.

reversing
ample space to reverse out, it was side ways afterall


instead of hitting on reverse gear and steering her wheel left, she reversed in STRAIGHT LINE!!!

hit


It doesn’t prove that girls parking and driving skills are bad.

It is just the FAT BITCH who is the sad specimen of the womankind. Shows that ugly bitch (on the inside and out) can’t drive, don’t’ have the moral sense to face her faults, nor have the BRAIN and ethical sense (there lack of) to drive away!!

And this was after being instructed (kindly by the victim whose car got scratched) on how to reverse her car out onto the street.

SHE DROVE AWAY!!

No sorries. Nothing!


1st: she parked in two space (it's only a Kelisa, how much space do you want?! F**k woman! what's the point of driving a small car if you can't even park properly provided a decent space)

2nd: she refused to drive out and and parked slightly to the left while she chatted on with his street fling, who told us off and asked us to go away

3rd: she was there only for another few minutes, is it so hard to accomodate when we asked so nicely to move??? doesn't her mother teach her anything? uneducated fugly pig! oh, i guess not, she was too poorly educated to know what was common courtesy.

4th: she decided to drive straight out and hit the car! (instead of asking us to move, even if she couldn't find us, she could have honked her car like most people do here in KL to inform and ask us to move ours if she already KNEW that her driving skill was THAT BAD. Or maybe she actually thought she passed her driving test with flying colors despite the fact that it was her dad who bribed the driving instructor to let her pass)

5th: when we saw that our car got hit, we dashed out and spoke to the fat bitch, taught her how to properly reversed her car so that she could be on the road again, and also asked her to drive to the side of the road so we could discuss this incident further.

And she drove further in front, and decided, she was going to pull a hit and run.

So she DROVE AWAY!!!


When we confronted the Malay guy whom she was chatting to earlier, assumed by us to be her friend, the Malay guy told us off!!! Said if we want we can report to the police!! WTF?!

He dared to "pakat" with her and probably was the one who asked her to run away and don't care!


SO yes, if anyone's seen a FAT (ok I don't know if she's fat, she was in a pony tail so she looked kinda plump hiding in her car) SLUT (well, who knows, why else would she be driving all alone in Jalan Alor talking to some random crude and rude single Malay guy on the street?) who's driving a Silver Kelisa by the Number plate of WLV4273.

Please kindly direct her to me.


I have a bill for her to sign.

FAT BITCH~!


Friday, November 06, 2009

Year 2009

Love.

Happiness.

Heartache.

Move on.

New life.

Accusation.

Migrate.

Travel.

Friends.

Trips.

Work opportunities.

Argument.

Disappointment.

Tears.

Hope.

More accusations.

Giving up.

Scream.

Settle.

More disappointment.

Picking up.

Retort.

Anger.

Fear.

Bleakness.

Weak.

Decision.

Isolation.

Separation.

Strengthen.

Wonder.

me in the car


What's 2010 gonna be like?


BB On!

Has been my ritual everytime I come to KL. Because the data signal in Melaka is weak, more often than not, I rather opt for my wireless internet at home.

bb on


So instead I decided the Blackberry Curve will be my constant supply of internet dose whenever I'm up in the big city.

Yep.

RM1 gone today again.



Thursday, November 05, 2009

Calling for lens.. lens.. oh lens...

It's one week to Vietnam.

Anyone can sponsor or loan me a wide angle lens for my Canon 500D?


Hopefully a specific EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM???





Well, actually, any wide angle lens suitable for scenery shots would do.

Anyone?
I'll post up nice nice nice nice nice nice photos after that. :p


Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Nicolekiss Best 5 Marlborough Wineries

I've concluded a list of Nicolekiss Best 5 Marlborough Wineries and why.

This has totally nothing to do with public's judgment nor quality of wines but of personal experience in terms of the winery presentation, food and their selections of wines, especially sweet whites. :)

marlborough map


So here goes.

Number 5:

Wairau River Wines

wairau river wines

I don't need to explain far.

Just note: Cheese souffle. Must eat.

eating cheese souffle


Even if you don't like cheese.

Just for the sake of claiming that you've eaten a cheese souffle before.

Warning: very filling


Well, apart from that, it's a very cosy place.

wairau river restaurant

:)


Number 4:

Framingham

framingham winery


Probably one of the rare wineries that has the largest production and selection of sweet whites ever! (aka Dessert Wines)

ice rieslings galore


Just Noble Riesling alone, they produces 2,500 bottles every year.

On top of that, they have three types of Riesling Auslese (No. 1, 2 and 3) to add in my wish list.

framingham dessert wine list


Whoever produces three different types of dessert wines for the same (German) wine term is definitely my favourite winery of all time.

Just the reviews alone were enough to make me wanna wipe the entire winery clean of their sweet wines.

framingham ice rieslings review


Their dessert wines even come in categorized boxes to make your purchasing decision much simpler, and a lot of more expensive.

framingham ice rieslings


If only I have a 1000 bucks with me then.


Number 3:

Allan Scott

Even with my mental judgment impaired by the mass amount of dessert wines in Framingham, I still have my moral judgment intact.

*whisper* Heh. As if. *cough*

My top 3 here has nothing of those fancy exterior nor commercialized packaging for their wines, and as I've always believe, a good winery doesn't have to be one that has the pretties layout or largest amount of wines produced.

This little humble winery has nothing of the former, but has everything a soulful winery should possess.

allan scott winery entrance


allan scott winery


When you stepped into Allan Scott, or beneath, you'd find yourself in a cavern sort of room/space where you'd have your wine tasting done.

Tastefully decorated with lots of old and new retail items, machinery, and random artifacts; it's as if you're intruding someone else's wine cellar.

winery gadgets


The lady who poured us the wine was stern in a harmless way, almost non-talkative but helpful when you inquired.

I came about a group of travel folks who visited the cellar for a bit of wine tasting, before I knew it, they started jolly singing in English, in their local tongues, and A Cappella a few even.

It's amazing how an environment and surrounding could evoke such emotion and actions from certain people.

This wasn't the only reason I rated this as Top 3 in my list.

For those of you who like, or dislike, sweet wine.

This would be my ultimate sweet white to date.

allan scott late harvest savignon


Go for Allan Scott Late Harvest Savignon. You'll never look at sweet white the same again.

allan scott wine list


Ever imagine what it's like to see Winnie the Pooh savor honey when you were young on TV? or how love-making was like when you read romance novel when they describe certain action to be sweet like honey?

The first time I tasted honey (when a kid), as in real honey, I was fairly disappointed how just plainly sweet and boring it was. To be compared in equivalence with the sweetest most exquisite act when used in describing an ultimate emotion/pleasure was really, well, exaggerating.

Not to mention my over-expectation to the food honey.

Since then I've always envisioned something out there that would be sweeter, richer, thicker than honey but non-sickening in taste.

Drinking Allan Scott Late Harvest Savignon gave me that sweet sensation I've been envisioning all my life.

It's like drinking honey, no, more exquisite than honey, like a burst of sweetness in your mouth which slowly spreads all over your tongue, before consecutively moving down your throat and sending your a thrill sensation that you've just tasted the forbidden apple.

It would prompt you to savor it slowly, but eagerly, simply because it's made so fine, so delicate and delicious, you would want to drink it again and again.

Sucky part is, they don't export to Malaysia. :(


Number 2:

Spy Valley

Spy Valley would easily have topped my first place in Best Wineries if the current Number 1 placing isn't so damn fabulous itself.

One cannot doubt the presentation of Spy Valley as the infrastructure of the winery itself is really impressive, modernly designed and looking very new.

spy valley


But it wasn't the structure that brought me here.

I'll tell you a story.

A year ago I travelled to Australia and met up with my cousin who was then based in Canberra (still is), she brought me out to dinner in a fine restaurant one night, and being rather new to wines, the waiter recommended something light to me while my wine mature cousin went for the strong red.

It was then I first tasted Spy Valley's Gewurztraminer. (click on the link to see the photo of the wine I taken a year back)

You know the saying goes that if you're a good wine connoisseur, you'll be able to not only distinguish but also remember the taste and smell of the wine even after ten years?

Believe it or not. The taste stuck.

It was light, not too sweet, but sweet enough, slightly spicy but very adequately placed (as I normally dislike wine that has too strong of a spice flavour), and a tinge of lychee, it went superbly well with my fish that night.

And for as long as I was in Australia, and after my return there again the year after, I scouted for the same particular wine in every possible bottle shop I passed by. Alas, to no avail.

It was then I decided that if there's ever a way that I should locate this wine, it will be in Marlborough wine country, NEW ZEALAND itself.

No where else and none other than the producer of such fine wine - Spy Valley.

purchasing a spy valley


I got my wish~! ^^ After year long searching.
Damn I must be the most determined wine seeker ever.
(Next off, I need to go to Asti in Italy)

And no surprise when I found out that the fantastic Gewurztraminer here was a multiple awards winner all around.

spy valley famous gewurztraminer


The other wine I was tempted to buy here was the Noble Riesling. Simply deli-sh!

sky valley two best wine


Alas it's not purchasable online. :((


Number 1:

Herzog

Finally, the top list of winery in Marlborough goes to, no surprise here, HERZOG!!!

herzog


You've probably seen a trend here, as I move higher up in the list, the longer the story goes. So I'll try to keep things short, simple and sweet here.

Afterall, it's won't be difficult to see why Herzog would be in my top list.

First off, Herzog offered one of the fine boutique restaurant dining experiences you can find here in Marlborough. No joke, their freaking appetizer cost me NZD 24.

salami slices salad


Their dining tables stretched from the indoor to their private garden at the back.

standing in herzog garden


Which set the perfect ambiance of dining couples who just want a quiet romantic time together.

And if you look at the map, they're located at the top left of the region, right next to the river in a very secluded end of the small road.

herzog in marlborough map


Other than offering 5 star food and services, their wines were pretty exclusive too.

herzog wines


How exclusive? Let's just say if you want to "taste" the wine, you gotta pay.

10 kiwi dollars for 3 pop.

herzog wine list


And if you notice, their wines are of a higher pricing range compare to the rest of New Zealand retail wines, easily double the amount.

I had a glass of Botrytis during my meal there, it was rather exquisite. Generously priced and paid (by me T_T) at NZD12 per glass.


You know the fact goes that the best things in life are also the rarest to find?

Well, Herzog does not export their wines to anywhere else at all. Which means their wines are only purchasable at cellar door.

This is mainly because, according to them, their wines are so limited each year in production, they could manage sell off everything without the aid of exportation.

That's probably why you've never heard of it, case in fact that if you're a wine connoisseur.

purchasing a herzog


So I brought home a bottle of my most expensive wine ever bought for personal consumption.

Hello my golden Botrytis Chardonnay

Bye bye NZD114.


Monday, November 02, 2009

Close your eyes, and you will see~

This has got to be one of the best heart warming commercial I've seen in a long time.




Seriously, the hair flying around?




Cure for Monday Blues

To those who's working today.

Here's a little something I snapped from a shop in New Zealand to brighten your weekly Monday blues.

So remember to smile after reading it. :)

funny 1


funny 2


funny 3


funny 4



Are you smiling yet? :)


ps// look out for another post after your lunch hour.


Sunday, November 01, 2009

DIY Shandy

Take TWO parts of 7-up mix with THREE parts of Carlsberg or Heneiken (or any lager beer)...

What do you get?

Awesome homemade DIY Shandy. That's what!

diy shandy


Yummy.

Even though I'm not supposed to be drinking now. I should be writing, writing, writing...

Anyway, check out my new wallpaper to match my new Blackberry Curve 8520 pink skin.

pink bb with pink wallpaper


My free one week data plan service just expired few weeks ago. So I got myself a RM20 top up from Xpax for my data plan.

RM1 a day, it's gonna last me for the next 20 days. Woo hoo!