MMFA Gala Night

So, my sister, Christie and I were invited by Jaz to the Malaysian Models Festival Award aka MMFA last Tuesday. Jaz was nominated as Best Fashion Photographer of the Year! And he has only been in the fashion photography industry for no longer than 2 years! Even though he was not awarded, it is incredibly impressive for him to be in the run for the title alongside other well known photographer like Bonnie Yap! I can only imagine Jaz going above and beyond in the future.

I hope I pulled of my outfit that was put together on a REALLY short notice as I didn't really had the mood to attend the event. I'm so thankful I attended though! It was a glamorous event and I had the opportunity to meet and speak to some influential individuals from the local fashion and modelling industry so it was really awesome. The ones I met like Dato Jimmy Choo, Amber Chia, Benjamin Toong, Wilson Tan, Leng Yein and many more were incredibly down to earth and humble. Who says you need to be mean to be on top? My respect and admiration for them skyrocketed that night.

Jaz, talented photographer right there.

Leng Yein, who was SUPER NICE, I almost cried.

Wilson, who's not only fabulous but also incredibly humble.

Benjamin, glamorous and down to earth. A combo that will not go wrong.

The talented Dennis Lau and Koujee.

Beautiful Jojo.

Looking forward to attending similar events soon  and meeting new people! One of the things that surprised me most from attending events like this is the realization that I actually enjoy meeting new people and I am no longer as awkward as I used to be. Thankful for the change in me. :)

Little People

I'm not referring to people who are physically petite or small, I'm talking about people with little minds and a narrow, bitter heart. These are the sorts of people who take pride in insulting others, making nasty remarks and comments, saying ridiculous things that only magnifies their stupidity. The worst ones are the little ones who make sarcastic remarks and think they're witty when really, they're just making themselves look bad.

Then we have the little people on cyberspace. They are usually the ones leaving hate comments, creating hate groups, bullying others, mostly indirectly because they have absolutely no guts to do it upfront, and the social media platform is the perfect place for them to hide their true identity. When you go as far as creating an account to do petty mean things around people you are jealous of, it just shows how ugly you are on the inside. No wonder you needed another account, even you are embarrassed of your unsightly heart.

I'm sure we all have come across these people, especially on the web. And I thought I was annoyed and angry at them for being incredibly mean to others, but I realized I just felt sad for them. I know life can really slap you in the face and make you bitter, but to channel that negative vibe to others...I mean how low can you go?

The beautiful Carey Ng was crowned as Miss Universe Malaysia 2013 yesterday. She deserves the crown and maybe the other girls deserve it just as much, but the reality is the people who understands the industry knows she is our deserving Miss Malaysia 2013. When she was announced as the winner on the facebook page, there were the ones who were happy for her....and then there were some who made me feel embarrassed to call myself Malaysian.

Nasty comments like "trlalu cina/oriental","xxx deserves it so much more, she ugly", "x tau judges buta ke?" "cina doll", "msia downgrade teruk" immediately popped up under the comment. And the fans of the other girls, my goodness, you're not just a sore loser, you're a crude sore loser. I'm sure the girl you rooted for deserves is too but just because God has other plans for her don't mean you need to hate on Carey. I don't think the girl you rooted for would want to call her fans sore losers too. I felt even sorrier for the ones who made hateful remarks with terrible english and made no sense at all. Expressing your hatred is already makig you look dumb, and with your command of language, foolish would be an understatement. I felt so sad for the people who made remarks like this, especially the girls who called our deserving miss ugly. You should get a mirror for yourself this Christmas. Even if you are beautiful, you are completely fugly on the inside. People judge, heck, even I do, but keep those filthy thoughts to yourself. What if your one nasty thought made someone end their life?

The countless suicides that happened because of little people scares me. And must it really take death for the little people to reflect on their wrong doings?

I really hope little people will soon learn to let go of all the hatred and bitterness they have in their heart.

Too Many Too Little

Ah, the long hiatus with no excuses. I really need to be more discipline when it comes to updating this blog. Maybe I should just punish myself with no cake for a month if I fail to update the blog on a weekly basis.

Anyways, just a quick run through about my life since I last blogged. So, I have been working in Groupon Malaysia for the past 2 months now and my internship will end in December. I am truly thankful that my first internship is in Groupon. The people here, the office culture, the Xbox, the parties, I really doubt I'll be able to experience this sort of working culture anywhere else. I AM ALSO PROUD TO SAY I AM NOW AWARE OF A LOT OF GOOD FOOD IN DAMANSARA/PJ, thanks to my colleagues who are hungry 24/7. I love them. The best part about being here in Groupon is the opportunity to learn. I have always heard throughout my life that interns get the most garbage to do as companies would exploit them or all they are allowed to do is make coffee, or plain old filing, but my superiors are amazingly skilled and super nice. They even assigned me to be one of the project managers of the fundraising initiative that managed to raise over RM140,000. I'm so glad I got the chance to help out the communities involved through such a huge medium. The lousy part of this Groupon journey is that I am starting to get really emotionally attached to the people here. One of the things that I fear of has always been being attached to people who I will only be with temporary. and in less than 30 days, I'll have to leave and move on. Again.

 Ah, well. Life.

Aside from that I have been planning and meeting up with some friends for a community project called the Before I Die project, I've been wanting to carry out this project since September but my spirits were so broken back then I only truly starting putting pieces together recently. Anyone of you interested in working on this project that will be based in KL/PJ, do contact me via facebook and we'll see if we can work things out. :)

Went on a family vacation in Guilin, China as well. Other than the yummy, dirt cheap food and the incredibly picturesque scenery, nothing exciting.

Oh, I forgot to mention, I AM NOW LIVING IN DAMANSARA. HELLZZ YEAAAA. Not that I hate Klang, but really Klang is so insanely boring, there's nothing to do there but eat. So any of you who are in PJ, do call me up!

I'll now let instagram do the talking

baked and fundraised for charity/ good times to keep me going in the office

with Nadine whom I aspire to be like / Crystallll

moving on / baked for charity again

postcard from a good friend whom I miss dearly / just shots 

ni hao from China / doesn't it remind you of the Shire?

quote of the month / what I do in Groupon 

Groupon's Annual Dinner which was an absolute blast / ootd to work

fresh flowers makes me happy / so does chocolate cake

That's all for tonight!

back to working on scholarships for the night. :)

Seafood Marinara

Any day is a good day for pasta. A plate of glorious, sinful pasta. Christie and I are constantly trying to shed off the extra chubs we have around our arms and thighs, and we try our best to make our meals healthier every time by using fresh meat, fresh herbs and what not. But pasta....how do you make pasta healthier, without cutting back on its taste, well you can, but we just couldn't seem to leave out some crucial ingredients like cheese...........lots and lots of cheese.

Here is our seemingly healthier version of the seafood marinara.

In a war zone

The armies were on the loose on the runway this time around. I have a love-hate relationship with the Fall/Winter 2012 military-inspired apparels. Be it structured trench coats or military cuts, as much as I love the structured look as a whole, I'm not sure I'm that into the masculine silhouette, but I absolutely adore military colours, military buttons and those gorgeous laced up boots. 

Here is a military-inspired look I came up for fun after going through pictures from the fall/winter runway shows, excuse my being late, I have been pretty busy with work!

Oasis maxi dress, 295 MYR / Military jacket, 110 MYR / High heels, 175 MYR / Satchel bag, 62 MYR / Gold jewelry, 30 MYR / ASOS , 54 MYR / Triangle ring, 23 MYR

I definitely prefer a more feminine look thats why I chose a pretty, simple military green dress and I spiced it up with edgy military inspired accessories. Who says you can't rule the world wearing a pretty dress. As I mentioned, I absolutely love combat boots and I chose the satchel because its both functional and fashionable. I am also currently obsessed with oxblood red, it makes everything look fabulous.

I hope more ladies out there will rock the military look and show em boys who runs the world!

Going Korean

I think it was a Wednesday evening when we were watching our favourite educational channel (more commonly known as the channel for gluttons) when this korean cook off was happening and their competing dish was none other than Kimchi Jjigae aka Spicy Kimchi Stew with Pork. Since then we were craving for it. Wait. On second thought, craving seems like an understatement. We literally started prowling in and outside of our fridge and the unicorns were dancing when Christie found ingredients she could use to brew a pot of Kimchi Jjigae.

I expected it to take a long time since its stewing, but I think we were gobbling everything down after about 2 hours. That's not too long, if you have something really good to distract you, like leftover bacon, or tim tams.

Without further ado, here's Christie's version of the Spicy Kimchi Jjigae.

Ingredients

Asian Mushrooms

Pork 

Korean Chili Paste (Go Chu Jjang)

Chilli powder

Red Chili

Green Chili

Cabbage

Onions

Garlic

Pepper 

Salt

Cast of Characters

You are welcome.

Memorable Moments

Life....is unpredictable. And that is not a bad thing, but sometimes it can make you feel completely, utterly hopeless. That being said, there is no point to dwell and drown in hopelessness for a longer period than the time taken for you to finish a plate of warm, moist chocolate cake. Happiness is essentially a choice, one chooses to be happy, or chooses otherwise. It really is simple as that. It is hard to look at the bright side at times and it is even harder to appreciate what we have especially when we are stuck right in the middle of reality. But where does one find the strength to choose to be happy when one is physically and mentally drained? I don't know. I mean really, who knows? Some find strength in prayers, some find it in their partners, some find it in giving and some (ME!) find it from watching the Ellen show.

September has truly been a rough month for me, I would even call is a month of shattered hopes and dreams, but that isn't going to stop me from dreaming, loving and appreciating the moments in my life.

This photo post is dedicated to my memorable moments of September à la instagram.

This quote I came across in Singapore when I needed it most / This batch of chocolatey chocolate chip cookies that was gooey on the inside / the H&M VIP launch that was all about fun and shopping / adorable poodle at the bazaar in desa park city / rekindling childhood memories at this mooncake festival family dinner at Aunt Jenn's place / this pair of earrings that reminded me of an old friend

H&M VIP Grand Launch

We were invited to the H&M grand opening in Lot 10 last night thanks to our ever awesome Aunt Jenn! It was a fabulous event filled with glamour and good music. To top it off everything was on a 20% discount. We have always been avid lovers of H&M, now that it has finally arrived in KL, we have one more reason to love it. 

H&M heart KL!

Part of our haul of the day

Sorry for the lousy quality for some of the pictures, we somehow managed to forget our camera after prepping ourselves. Mehhh I reckon we need a new point-and-shoot camera anyways. Overall, it was a really great night sipping away Moet champagne while going on a shopping spree. We're absolutely even more in love with H&M now.

HQ Pictures credits to: Cheryl Chan Photography