My Grandma :)
Dinner at Sirocco with Olivia and Simon.
Then off to The Brisbane.... very nice chill out place.
Today Mark and I drove to Freemantle...
Must have fish and chips and mussels.. but we found it average. Oysters were fab though!
We also went to my little cousin Keisha's birthday party earlier today (5 years old!). :)
This is the Mortley Crew in Perth. This pic was taken 8 years ago!!! Time flies! Costume party, otherwise they look pretty normal. Loud (!)... but normal. :)
Actually, not everyone is in this picture... the whole family consists of my mom's 4 brothers and sisters, plus their spouses and kids, so I have almost 20 cousins there. 2 of those cousins are already married, and have 5 more little kids altogether. And there's my grandmother too. Big happy family.
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This week on MyFatPocket, my sex column is on Secrets To The Female Orgasm
(Click to read).
If that is what she wants to live by then so be it. So what if she exercises, doesn’t over eat and doesn't eat junk food??? I say, good on her!
Now don't get me wrong.. I do love Oprah.. and I'm not saying Skinny is good and Fat is bad. All I'm saying if we're so obsessed over the perfectly natural and healthy body image... then don't we have to be fair and criticise the women with silicon or women who are obese too?? Because if we put fat people and/or surgically enhanced people on TV, then aren't we encouraging young impressionable teens to not exercise, just and eat and eat and just be fat yet successful? Or make them feel unattractive unless they splash out for a set of fake tits or a new nose?
How is being skinny any worse an influence than any of that???Dear Holly Jean,
3. To conceal pores, I recommend the Acne Pore Smooth Concealer from ettusais. Our pores are visible because of shadows caused by light on the enlarged pores and excess sebum. This product maintains your skin's sebum balance with AC-control Oil and it contains very fine powders to help disperse light and absorb excess sebum. Not only does it conceal open pores but it treats rough skin too. So your skin won't look dull.
It's so comfy, and floral flirty. This dress even has a ribbon tie at the back. Mark pointed out that hey it hides my tattoo... but there's no need to hide it... my Grandma's cool. For a almost 90 year old, she's more broad minded than some of the people my age! 
Also check out their collection of lace dresses. They're dressier and more formal than florals but just as feminine and sweet.
(I'm the third girl from the right, in the boring black halter) In hindsight... I shouldn't have gotten that black dress tailored.. and should have turned up in a hot pink tube dress. But it wasn't the trend then I guess... it never crossed any of our minds.
I've been getting loads of emails from sec school/JC girls regarding prom dresses, and make up for that big night. So I've consolidated everything (sorry if you never got a reply personally), and come up with a whole post to prepare you for your prom!
[Obi waist strapless dress $39 ]
[Laceback dress $27.90 ]
[Lace toga $25 ]
[Racy pink party dress $29.90 ] 
[Black & Red Prom Dress P-5742 $119]
[Jodie Sequin Dress $56]
Cotton roses trendy and feminine. Get creative...it's nice on a belt, in your hair, or even around your wrist as a corsage. Ribbon/bow accessories are pretty too! Go to Bugis Village/Far East to get them.
If you're going for a less cutesy and more elegant look, then forget the ribbons and roses... get gold accessories instead.
Note: Focus on one feature. Don't go metallic over your whole face! But I think that's common sense right...
When I first tried to get a smokey eye look, I made the mistake of using only black eye shadow. Looked like I got punched. The trick is, to use 3 shades.. from light brown for the whole lid, then a dark brown and lastly a little bit of black. Blend Blend Blend.
Loving it. It's similar to the dress from Victoria Beckham's collection... The bottom of the waist skirts out. Very feminine and pretty. Mine's in a shimmery denim blue and tailored for asian proportions!
Was at the White Rabbit at Dempsey on Saturday night. Service in the restaurant was poor, as usual. But the food I had that night was fab!!!
I didn't order a starter because my main course was a beef tenderloin topped with Foie gras! My starter and main course rolled into one. Excellent. And the beef was super duper tender and tasty.
For dessert it was creme brulee which was just right... I remember having their deconstructed version of the black forest cake there the last time, and it scarred me. I haven't had another slice of black forest since.
Haven't been there in months... and now they have these huge white chairs and tables in the back yard.
Gives it a very Alice In Wonderland feel. I like!
I've taken step by step pics of my basic make up routine so I can share them with you how to get a flawless base. Absolutely no photoshop has been used (I never photoshop my blog pics anyway).
This is a light weight pre-makeup base with SPF 24PA ++. It's important that I protect my skin from UV rays before I step out of the house. It does not cover pimples (pimple still visible on my cheek) but it prevents breakouts and lightens imperfections. Since it's a pre-makeup base, it keeps my make up on my face longer and prevents shine. The dry block formula is good for dehydrated skin like mine. If you have oily skin, it also comes in an Oil Block formula for you.
AC Pore Smooth Concealer(sgd$36)
This concealer only comes in one colour... why? Because unlike other concealers, it doesn't mask your imperfection by coating it with a lighter colour. It actually has very fine particles which disperse light to reduce the look of enlarged pores or imperfections. 
I use the dry block in 30 Beige. If you have oily skin, you can opt for the Oil Block instead. The Zero Pore Pact gives a flawless poreless finish. It's so light that it doesn't flake or cake up. Yet it is able to give smooth and even coverage.
After achieving a flawless base, I've opted for a sweet natural look for today. So a lot of soft pinks: Cheek is PK3, Lipgloss PK4, Eyebrows filled in with dark brown eyebrow pencil, no eyeshadow but I highlighted just underneath my brow bone.
The first thing we did when we got there was walk along the Sarawak river, just outside our hotel. There were also short cruises available at just $60 ringgit but I thought it looked a bit boring.
But there's quite a bit to do along the river walk itself. On sunday there are bands playing (though I didn't think they sounded good)... little stalls sell bits of jewellery and bags... and pop corn!
With a map, we walked for about 15 mins in search of the Sarawak Museum. Across from the Padang, are a few museums. Art Museum, Old history museum, new museum... etc. Most are free to enter, while some charge a small fee (a few ringgits only). 
Because they're all clustered together, you can pop in all the museums and cover them in about an hour (or two if you want to stand and stare at every single thing).
There are day tours (about 5 to 7 hours) available which involve visiting Longhouses and villages, but I was happy enough to experience them in the comfort of a museum really.
There are many temples that you'll pass along the way to the musuem. We skipped the Cat Museum, I heard it was not worth the effort.
Their streets (for instance Carpenter St) are filled with little souvenier and wood craft shops. There were a lot of sarongs, scarves and weave bags too. After walking about (it's hot!) we treated ourselves to a quick 30 minute foot rub. Can't tell you which one we went to... so many reflexology shops there. We just chose a random one. It was $25 ringgit for a half hour.
In the centre of the city, there's a huge cat monument/fountain... you're unlikely to miss it. And across from that, we found a massage place, it's the builidng with the Mcdonald's.
We had a 1 hour full body massage (with free ear candling) at only $55 ringgit a person. This is my second time ear candling in my life... and I still think it's bullshit. No effect. The massage was good, just Mark and I in a couple room. She flipped the towel down and massaged my boobs too though (!)... quite strange... never had that done during a massage before!
At about 70 ringgit a person, there's a Matang Wildlife Centre day trip available. It's a 3 hour trip in total, inclusive of the drive to the wildlife centre and back(about 45 mins each way). 
Here you can see orang utans and other rescued wildlife. But don't expect that you get to cuddle baby chimps and feed them milk from the bottle... most of them are semi-wild.... 
Apart from wildlife centres, there are also kayaking trips available, but those take the whole day. And we didn't have the time.
Here I am at the Kuching Airport on Monday afternoon, heading home. Flying Malaysian Airlines of course. I had a great little weekend adventure.
Once out of the airport... it's easy to get a taxi from their budget taxi counter. A standard flat rate of (Malaysian Ringgit)$26 takes you to your hotel in the city. I love that it's all hassel free... you don't get touts and people trying to rip tourists off with an inflated taxi fare into town.
As recommended by some blog readers, we chose the Hilton. We made reservations for 2 nights at a total of (Singapore dollars)$520.
And when we got there, the Hilton upgraded us up to their Penthouse Suite! (Good thing we didn't spend the extra 300SGD to book THAT in the first place! I was very happppy.) The bedroom had a great view of the river and the city.
And the bathroom and lounge area was nice too. No complaints about the suite.
But what I hated about Kuching's Hilton was that their pool was shitty looking, their tennis court was old, and their Gym was under construction (upgrading!)... so not much to do there in terms of exercise! But other than that, the food, rooms, and staff are top notch. 
James Brooke Bistro & Cafe
We had lunch here. It's by the river, just infront of the Hilton. James Brooke was the first Governor of Serawak. They called him the first White Rajah.
It's open air but not hot. Good for a lazy lunch. They serve both western and Asian cuisine. Mark had a chicken salad, mango juice (x2) while I had chicken wings and wedges and a coke. The bill only came up to $40 Ringgit (less than 20 Sing$)
The Junk Restaurant
The first night there, we were looking for somewhere quirky and trendy to eat at... and we made reservations at a restaurant called The Junk. I wore my new dress and shoes.. ( for those asking for pics of my $10 shoes... here it is!!)
The ambiance of the place was fantastic, relaxing mood lighting. It's a two story shophouse, filled with bits of the old and bits of the new. It kinda looked like a collection of junk really. But well put together. It even had a nice little bar in the backyard.
And the food was excellent! I had lamb rack and Mark had a lamb shank. We shared a brocolli soup and bruchetta to start with.
And I found a new favourite drink.... kinda like a Lychee Martini... it's a Longan Vodka! Very niceeee...
Total damage for the night (inclusive of a few more glasses of wine and beers as well): $150 ringgit. No way you can get all that food AND drinks for 2 people in a restaurant setting for $70 Sing dollars in Singapore!
Magenta...
The second night there... we were spoilt for choice. We had a few restaurants we wanted to check out... first, we went to Magenta, which serves an Western Asian fusion cuisine.. and they had Foie Gras on the menu!!
I think they called it bla bla bla... because quite frankly, you wouldn't know what else to call it! It's hard to place Bla Bla Bla. The decor... is... interesting. You can dine upstairs... but the ground floor has much more buzz and activity! To get to your table... you have to step over a pond of fish...
The tables and chairs are.. rough. No.. I don't mean uncomfortable.. but it's just not a refined look. Even the walls are like unfinished and rough cement. Feels like dining in a cave or an old village... yet it's beautifully balanced with elements of the modern.. like a huge chandelier casting a warm glow over the dining area, colourful cushions and huge white crockery.
We ordered peking duck... yum.... that one peking duck made 15 huge pancake rolls of duck skin and a stir-fry duck meat dish. The pancake rolls were delicious!
Mark swears that he only ate 4 or 5 rolls, so I must have eaten all the rest! I love duck! But I think I overdid it that night. After dinner, I felt very uncomfortable. I ate so much that I felt like if you tickled me or made a sudden jab, I would vomit. No kidding. I even had my head on the table towards the end of the night and a lady at the next table noticed and smiled (ok.. laughed). 
Other popular restaurants we didn't manage to dine at in our 2 days there were- Top Spot which serves cheap but good seafood, Tom's which suppposedly has nice desserts, and Mango Tree which serve Thai food. For drinks, there's Senso at the Hilton which is more swanky, and a pub called The Living Room which is more rustic and laid back... all worth checking out if you're in Kuching.
So far, I've been to KL(last year), Penang( few months ago) and Kota Kinabalu (as a child), so I think I'd probably check out Langkawi next... but I do want to climb Mount Kinabalu... and I want to visit Malacca too because of my Peranakan roots. Too many places, too little time!!
Up to 20 kg baggage allowance (no need to pay extra for baggage allowance if you're a big shopper!)
It offers guest complementary food, beverage and internet access.
The lounge is very comfortable, it offers a good selection of food and booze so that makes waiting time very enjoyable.
Flying with Malysia Airlines is surprisingly good value. It offers extra comfort & convenience compared to travelling with budget airlines. There's better seat pitch (space between two seats – front and back), assigned seating and free food and ammenities.
The In-flight services provided by cabin crew is on par with Singapore Airlines. I've mentioned this before when I flew to Penang. And this time round, they still didn't fail to deliver.
This same E-voucher is now redeemable at all hello stores till 30 Nov 2009. (Click It To Print It)
Hello Sir!!
The cool thing about Evolve is that it has premium state-of-the-art, modern and sleek facilities. They are open 7 days a week from 630am to 1030pm with classes all day which is great for me since I don't have a fixed schedule for work... I can pop in for a class any morning, afternoon, night that I'm free.
Nail polishes from their new range- Insta-Dry.
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I've got a set of 4 vouchers for REDS hair salon which gives you 20% off each time. But I don't need them. So the first person to email me their address will get all 4. :) [OK, Stop emailing. Voucher assigned to the first email in my inbox already. Thanks everyone. I'll get more stuff for u soon]
