Year 2012

Year 2012 had been an eventful year for me. I spent more time blogging and occupy my time with hobbies. New hobbies are plentiful, just not enough time. I took up film photography again after so many years and love it. My love started with my Fujifilm Instax 7s followed by Lomography Diana Mini using the 35mm film, Fisheye as well (got myself a second hand unit) and was gifted with a 110mm format SLR from Minolta (courtesy of Mr Hubs).

Attended Thirst for the 2nd year and watch Avicii and Above & Beyond spin. Partying like a VIP! It's truly a dream come true for an old fart like me. Tick off my Bucket List. Attended Urbanscapes for the first time ever despite it had been around for 10 years. Bought some goodies and got my leg full of mud. It was fun and watching Darren Ashley live was fantabulous!

I went to Big Bad Wolf sale for the 1st time this year and went twice. Bought boxful of books to occupy Year 2013.

Went to a 'Beauty and the Beast' musical at Sunway Lagoon Amphitheatre recently as well. Things that I used to enjoy doing during my college days. Things that I did not do because my BFF is not around. She and I shared all this craziness and love for talents.

I guess Year 2012 was not a waste after all with all the predictions of end of the world and thingamajig. I did not watch that many movies because that is not my main interest. Rather laze around and do some crafts or read.

Drank lots of coffees -  the most I've drank all my life. Coffee drinking habit was not something that I practise before my current job. And I'm glad that I've met you caffeine. Without you, this year would be pretty hard to overcome.

Here wishing everyone a Happy New Year 2013 and many more wonderful years to come!

Weekend Project : Totoro Card Holder

I did not drive to work yesterday so I tumpang my bro's car to the Curve after work. We got there in no time, one of the perks of going to PJ from KL on a Friday. I normally reach home pretty late on Fridays because of the stupid traffic.

And so, we head over to Starbucks for a drink first and decide for a place to go for dinner. The boys came over shortly after and time for toilet break. I noticed that there are some stalls in the concourse area of the Curve selling Christmas stuff (still!) and could not resist checking it out.

There was a particular stall that sells DIY felt products. I have always been curious about making one and whether I will be able to complete it 100%. Mr Hubs bought 3 ; 2 for me and 1 for his sister. I got a Totoro Card Holder and Super Mario Bros iPhone sleeve. For his sister, it's a Doraemon iPhone sleeve.

 

The packaging that caught my attention in the first place.

 

All of the content.

 

The materials provided are 3 different colour threads, 1 needle, various felt fabrics, 2 black beads, 1 set of cut velcro and 1 pack of plastic card holder.

 

Instructions in Chinese. Bah! I don't know what it says.

 

Arrange the felt fabric to have an idea on where to start.

 

Start off with some simple stitching. You will notice that my stitching suck, it has been a few good years since I last picked up a needle.

 

First draft done.

 

Add another creature into the base. Black beads for eyes and some additional stitching for legs.

 

Stitch the velcro on plus the 2 acorns on different base.

 

Tadah! The finish product and I did not stitch the japanese characters after the acorn coz I don't know what it says and don't want to look like a fool holding this when it says stuff like, "I like shit".

 

Slot in the plastic card holder.

 

I'm not good at blanket stitching so the finished product looks horrible.

 

The back of the Totoro card holder.

It took me a good couple of hours to complete this. With the occasional delay for toilet break, surfing the Net but it's a Saturday well-spent. I'm giving to Mr Hubs because I think he will appreciate receiving a gift from me which he paid for.

When you feel like it

Ignore me when you feel like it
Talk to me when you feel like it

Get upset with me when you feel like it
Be nice to me when you feel like it

Puts my life in danger when you feel like it
Make me feel safe when you feel like it

Hate me when you feel like it
Love me when you feel like it

Wonderbox - December edition

I receive my 2nd beauty box from Wonderbox last week. Was pretty excited coz it's the Christmas edition and it's my favourite holiday. What surprised me the most is the extra touch that Wonderbox puts into the packaging.

 

Ta-dah!

 

Ahhh... the goodies ❤❤❤

The content of December edition are as follows :

Clinelle Eye Bright - Improves firmness for all skin types. Helps reduce the appearance of eye bags and dark eye circles.

Clinelle Purifying Toner - Increases skin moisture instantly. Soothes and calms your skin while reducing oiliness.

Kerastase Bain Chroma Riche - Leaves hair moisturized, supple, disciplined and protected against external aggressions and dullness with added shine.

Kerastase Masque Chroma Riche - Leaves hair soft and glowing with radiance, revealing intensity and depth of the colour, while hair fibers are protected from external aggressions.

OPI Shatter Nail Lacquer - Inspired by graffiti art, OPI Shatter leaves behind a crackled, two-texture finish when painted over any dry OPI hue.

Gamila Secret Cleansing Bar - A natural beauty agent which not only cleanse and nourishes our skin but also softens and heals it.

I'm not a fan of Clinelle products so I'll probably give it away. But I can't wait to try out the rest.

Thanks once again to my BFF for this thoughtful gift :)

My fisheye experience

If you've read my previous post here, you'll know that I've started dabbling in film photography again. The last time I did was when I was in primary through secondary school. Yeah I'm old, so shoot me!

Fisheye is something new to me eventhough it had existed for a long time. And the fisheye lens/camera alway gave me a bad impression, don't know why. Maybe because it can't be taken seriously as a camera or method of photography ? Who I am to judge? I am an amateur after all.

My colleague Ms TM owns a Fisheye 2 camera from Lomography and she lent it to me. Or else, it'll still be sitting at home gathering dust. I wanted to have a feel of the camera before I make my own purchase. She got bored of it after a while because it's a simple point and shoot.

Rule #1 of the Ten Golden Rule of Lomography is Take your camera everywhere you go and I did.

I have a habit of using normal 35mm films on my first attempt on a camera. This is to have a feel of how the camera works and it's a cheaper option. If the roll doesn't turn out right, at least I don't feel so bad.

Camera : Fisheye 2
Film : Fujifilm Superia ISO 200

 

Straits Quay Penang. This shot was taken closer to the evening and you can still see the bright blue sky.

 

Somewhere along the North-South Highway. Traffic was pretty bad hence, the photography opportunity.

 

The dragon guarding the entrance of Jonker Street in Malacca. This shot was taken in a shaded area with flash.

 

The middle of Jonker Street. Performances are held here during the weekend for the tourists. Dark clouds looming above, heavy downpour is imminent.

 

This was taken indoor with low lighting flush flash. Fisheye is definitely a camera hungry for light. It creates a dreamy vignette feel to it. Dad is alway happy to pose for me.

 

My friend - the willing poser. Normally he's on the other side of the lens snapping candid shots of people. 

 I love clear blue skies. This was taken in front of SeChuan Restaurant in Teluk Intan, Perak. I was attending my cousin's wedding then and waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive. Took the free time to experiment.

I will definitely try to shoot more using this camera because it's fun and easy. I get more into the frame than the Diana Mini. And this is so much funkier. I've acquired a second hand Fisheye One for a cheap price. Still shooting with it. I hope that it turns out alright because the film is long expired. Fingers crossed and more pics to share.

more THIRST 2012 photos

As the night wore on, the energy gets crazier. Here are some additional photos from Ms TM and Ms JR's camera phones. All are using Samsung Galaxy Note. I forgot to download the photos from Mr FO and it's on my previous phone.

 

The party never ends. I heart you for organizing this event. I wonder which international DJ will headline 2013 Thirst?

THIRST 2012

Thirst 2012 is an annual electronic music festival organised by Future Sound Asia and Heineken Malaysia. The drawing factor this year is Avicii coz I'm a big fan of his song Silhouette. I was at Thirst 2011 because Tiesto was spinning. When will it be Armin Van Buuren or ATB ? I know ATB is old but he's still very good.

Met some of my crazy colleagues at Thirst 2012 in Sepang. Had a blast and some beer. Yes, I had beer. Those who know me knows that I don't drink. I have to drink a lil at a rave party or I'll be too sober and can't enjoy the music. I can't dance, the most I could do is jump like a crazy woman. I did and regret it coz my muscle hurts now. Too old to go to a rave party.

We (me, Mr Hubs and my son Mr JL) arrived at Sepang Paddock around 10-ish - 11pm. Parked the car and walk over to the shuttle van area. Thank God that we did not have to walk all the way in. (Lazy MF!) First thing that came to view is the back stage of the Main Stage. Above & Beyond is already halfway through their set.

 

The party go-ers mesmerized by Above & Beyond. Dandelion in the background.  The smart ass (me) forgot to bring my camera. So all the photos are taken with my lousy iPhone 3Gs. Human photos are taken with Mr Hubs' iPhone 4s. 

VIP area - good service by the Heineken girls and cleaners. They clear the tables constantly and sweep the floors off rubbish and cigarette butts.

A closer view of WISH the 50 ft LED dandelion. Not very clear.

Me and Mr Hubs. Happy and merry. The old farts at a rave party :)

 

Me and Mr JL (my son)

 

Mr JL (fashion extraordinaire)  also, Mr AL (dai lou), Ms TM (DCL and designer), Mr IL (swag), Mr JL (my son) and me.

 

Ms TM, Mr AL (in shades), Mr JL and me.

 

Super dancers aka Party People. No gangnam style tonight folks! Mr AL, Ms TM and Ms SL.

 

Ms TM dancing on a platform to Above & Beyond. Fluid movement.

 

Mr AL aka Prince Hello Kitty. Praying to Avicii's music. Is that bright light a halo ? I think not!

 

Me as a drunk Hello Kitty. 

Last but not least, a confirm drunk man lying on the floor outside the portable loo. Passerby just buat tak tahu. His friends must be arseholes to have left him there. Haha... 

Avicii is the last DJ on the main stage. And it finishes sharp at 2am. He did layan us with an extra one song and that's it. There was fireworks display a couple of time throughout the night. The longest and biggest one was while Avicii spins the last song. As I've forgotten to bring my camera, I did not snap any photo of the firework. What a waste! 

A fight between 2 Chinese guys while we were exiting the event. Apparently they were fighting over a girl *yawn*. It's super Ah Beng of them to do that and the girl is not even pretty. But I guess the saying, "Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder" is true or they were having "beer goggles". Everything/Everyone look so much better when you're drunk.

Nitey nite or should I say Good Morning ?

Big Bad Wolf 2012

Slept almost half the day away today coz I was up all night book shopping. Book shopping ??? Yeah, the biggest book sale started yesterday by the good people of Book Xcess. 3 million books are available for sale from 7th December 2012 - 23rd Dec 2012.

The grand opening from 7th December - 9th December is something to shout about. Big Bad Wolf started the sale with non-stop opening for a total of 63 hours. It's called Mission 63. I've planned ahead of time to go book shopping at night because I thought that most families would be asleep by then and that left us childless people to enjoy midnight book shopping.

I was fucking wrong ! Malaysians are super crazy about book sales and we got there around 11-ish at night and the traffic was almost standstill. This photo is super blur because I took it with my iPhone 3Gs.

 

We were queuing up to pay for our books. This was taken 8.12.12 at 2.32am. We got to the end of the line around 4am.

Books are cheap, 75%-95% discount and to find out more about it. Please visit their Facebook page here.

Some of the books we bought. Between Mr Hubs and I, we bought about a box.

My brother and colleagues bought a few coz they are seasoned BBW sale go-er. And regretted buying too many useless books in the past. And for OCBC credit card user, you get a further 5% discount...hehe... Guess who's happy today ?

Wonderbox Malaysia

Beauty box is proving to be the latest trend in Malaysia now. I am blessed to receive it as a gift from my bff. It started with Fabulous Finds for my birthday back in August but they have cease its operation due to illness of the owner. I am really sad because I love it. You may read about it here.

However, my bff made it better by subscribing another beauty box service for me. It's a continuation of my birthday/christmas gift. Thank you so much, Ms AY.

And so, I got my first Wonderbox (November 2012 edition) sometime ago. But I did not have time to blog about this. Hope that it's not too late.

 

I receive it by courier.

 

Surprised to find it bubble wrapped. I love to bubble wraps.

 

Ta-dah! The beautiful packaging.

 

Welcome note and some vouchers.

 

The beauty samples for November 2012.

 

A close up view of the products.

What's inside the box?

SAMPAR Vivid Radiance Serum

SAMPAR - Glamour Shot

SAMPAR Lavish Dream Cream

OFFICE Makeup USA - 3D Resplendent Lip Gloss

JURLIQUE - Moisture Replenishing Day Cream

I have not tried any of the products yet as I'm still working my way through my previous beauty box. This is definitely a great gift for friends, girlfriends, wife etc To subscribe, go to their website here. This won't costs you much but ladies love beauty samples. 

Happy shopping!