A Busy but Great Week

It's been a wonderful week lined up with various events.

I went to the Zara & Massimo Dutti warehouse sale and returned happily with some great purchases, which should be able to last me for at least another two months (before itching to shop again...). I attended two wedding dinners; first one was a traditional Chinese dinner in the restaurant, second one just took place tonight in the Courtyard Garden Restaurant in Damansara Heights. The place was tastefully decorated and the ambience was both relaxing and romantic. It's a pity I forgot to bring my camera to capture all the lovely moments and nice decorations...

This afternoon I finally went off to search for a perfect wardrobe. I've been using my IKEA 'doorless' semi-transparent plastic sheet cupboard for years and have grown so fed up of it. Yes, it's practically without a door, which is replaced by a white 'curtain' instead. It does look modern at first sight, but when you discover how easily the layer of dust formed on the clothes and stuffs in your cupboard, it's too late to regret. Besides that, I've got too many clothes that the small cupboard can no longer hold. So it's time to get a larger wardrobe with a 'door' (yup, that's a must!).

After nearly two dreadful hours of visiting furniture stores without air conditioning in their first floor showrooms (where all the wardrobes, mattresses, etc are displayed), I picked a pearl white sliding door wardrobe with imitated wood texture patterns in a store with fully air conditioned showroom. Maybe the cool air enabled me to finally think and make a decision, or I was just too tired to continue searching? However, it did accelerated the whole decision making process, although it's way out of my original budget. Luckily Ben has agreed to give a 50% subsidy. :) My new wardrobe is going to arrive on next Wednesday evening, I can't wait to see it!

Moral of the story to all furniture store owners out there, please make sure your air conditioning systems work properly in the first floor showrooms; some people really can't think under hot and stuffy condition.

I'm a Happy Girl Today

Just returned from the warehouse sale in Atria Shopping Centre, where big brands like Massimo Dutti, Ted Baker and Zara are having great markdowns. The sale actually starts at 11am, but a long queue was already formed when I reached at 10.30am. Yet, I still managed to grab a whole bunch of nice clothings regardless of the massive crowd!

With a starting price from only RM9.90, Zara items are pretty affordable. There is a wide range of selections (tops, dresses, pants) to choose from, but don't expect those exceptionally nice pieces you've seen in the stores, as most items are basic day to day wears. The choices for Massimo Dutti both in the male and female sections are pretty limited; definitely no nice tops and dresses for you girls. Ted Baker and Bebe items are divided into a different small section near the entrance, where you can't bring in items from the other brands. I saw some nice clothings there but the prices are not cheap either. I know that the items have been marked down a lot compared to their original prices, but still, I'm not willing to pay around RM200 for a skirt, especially in a warehouse sale and in this bad economic climate.

Here are some of my wise purchases made within 4 hours in a place which was hot and lack of oxygen, lol.

Massimo Dutti cardigan RM299 for RM59.90.

Massimo Dutti hand crocheted bolero RM299 for RM89.90

Zara green checkered tube top, which I found in a pile of clothes that other people left on the floor... :)

The quality of these Zara racerbacks are superb, the material is so soft and comfy! Guess how much do they cost? It's only RM9.90 per piece, quite a steal, right?

Altogether I bought 4 tops, 2 cardigans, 1 bolero and 1 skirt in the sale. The total damage is RM289.20, so it's quite reasonable. :)

Later in the afternoon, I went to Mid Valley Megamall and bought some Japanese snacks from Shojikiya. The three big packets are nuts and rice crackers, which I got from the price markdown (near expiration dates) area. Hehe... really cheapskate of me huh? Spending too much on clothes means cutting money for snacks... The assorted nuts packs cost only RM5 per packet, and the soy sauce rice crackers costs only RM2! Who cares about the expiration date somewhere in the first week of December anyway? I'm sure they'll be all gone within 3 days with the kind help of Ben, lol!

Noticed the two cute pink and yellow containers (resembles a chick and a bird) in the picture? They contain furikake (a kind of Japanese rice seasoning) inside. There are altogether four designs, they were so cute that I had to grab at least two. There's a packet of sakura denbu as well (which is not in the picture), I'll try it out when I cook rice tomorrow. I'm not sure how it tastes like, but how can I resist having sakura pink on the rice?

Before heading back home, I had my very first try on a yummy gelato treat in Gelatissimo. There were many irresistable flavors that I greedily wanted to try, at the end I chose a cup of two flavors: peach and chocolate truffle. Pardon me for not able to show you how the real gelato looks like. I didn't bring my camera along, so at the time I reach home, there's only an empty cup left...

Lovely Sweet Treats From STICKY

Take a look at the lovely candies I bought two weeks ago! These are high quality handmade rock candies from the Australian confectioners 'Sticky'. They just opened their first outlet in 1 Utama shopping centre in Petaling Jaya. I happened to be there on their opening day, so I was fortunate enough to be able to speculate the live performance of two Australian candy makers, demonstrating the whole candy making process. I've watched it in some documentaries before, but of course nothing beats the live show! :)

I like their nice packaging...

I bought the passion fruit flavor Sticky candies, which costs RM12.90 per jar. The smell and flavor reminds me so much of my happy memories...

A closer look at the candies and the colorful intricate details.

Time to Rewind

It has been a hectic week with tonnes of work in the office. I originally planned for a holiday to Port Dickson, but can't decide on which hotel to book. My last stay in Corus Paradise Resort was indeed a nightmare, thanks to the musty and dirty room. When I finally decided on the hotel, the rooms were already fully booked!

So instead of spending the weekend somewhere else, I opted for a one hour massage after work on Friday. I went to the "Qi" massage centre in Damansara Uptown, which is located next to HSBC. All the massage therapists are from China, so they perform traditional Chinese massage (I heard that they provide "gua sha" service as well).

I was asked to soak my feet for around a minute before the massage therapist led me to a dim room for a full body massage. I can say that the experience was not bad, at least my muscles were very much relieved (I secretly hope it was a two hours session instead... :)). The receptionist told me it was supposed to be an aromatherapy massage, but I really can't smell anything even though the massage therapist applied lots of oil on my body. Anyway, the whole massage session was a pleasant one. The best thing is it only cost RM55, which is quite affordable.

Next time I'll try out traditional Thai and Malay massages, or maybe spa too! Any good suggestion?

Dear Old Shopping Bug

I've been bitten by the shopping bug lately, which resulted in a great level of self satisfaction but a slight shrinkage in my bank account. None of those were pre-planned shopping trips actually, but still, I ended up buying at least 'something' during my visits to the malls. I bought plenty of clothes, but those are necessities after all, as I was really running out of clothes to wear! :)

I guess the only guilty splurge was on a pair of Aldo ballerina flats, which are so comfy as if my feet are being wrapped under a soft fleece blanket. The actual price is not worth mentioning here... For those who are familiar with the brand, you can guess it anyway, as I'm not fortunate enough to be able to purchase it online (they only ship to certain places and Malaysia is not one of them...) with only a fraction of the price I actually paid to the shop.

Overall, I did make some very wise purchases, which include a few cosmetic and skin care products from the L'Oréal luxury products sale in Parkroyal Hotel at the end of last month. This is when you can save some money, as the discounts were pretty amazing; do keep an eye on the manufacturing dates though. I bought a jar of night cream, two boxes of whitening intensive treatments, a bottle of serum and toner, plus two tubes of lip gloss.

These are the much sought after Lancôme Juicy Tubes. I'm currently using the blue color one. Fear not, you won't see your lips turning blue after application. In fact, it's colorless; your lips will only become shinier with a hint of grape that smells pretty nice. The hydrating effect is pretty lasting, and the best thing is the 'stickiness' is still within a bearable level.

I bought plenty of other things, but too lazy to get them all photographed. I'm not sure when the bugs will leave me alone, lol! So, happy shopping to all you gals out there!

Dim Sum for Brunch

Woke up pretty late today, so I went out for a brunch instead of preparing lunch at home. I decided to revisit my favorite dim sum restaurant (Jin Xuan Hong Kong Dim Sum Restaurant) in Damansara Uptown with Ben. It might sound weird to go for dim sum at this kind of hour (yes, it’s around 3pm…), but believe me, there are actually plenty of customers inside the restaurant!

We ordered a pot of pu-er tea with chrysanthemums and some delectable dim sum...

Deep-fried yam balls with char siew (Chinese barbecued pork) filling. I don't know how it tastes like, as I'm not a pork fan. This dish was specially ordered for Ben only. :)

Deep-fried bean curd skin wraps with shrimps, served with mayonnaise. It's very light and crispy, but not too oily. I generally dislike those fried dim sum with excessive oil leaking out just after a first bite.

Deep-fried sesame balls with lotus paste filling. A scrumptious sweet treat!

Steamed fish balls. Plain looking but yummy!

Ben's favorite steamed chicken claws.

Some mouth-watering siu-mai dumplings with a generous amount of shrimp fillings.

Now, this is truly my favorite of the day! I'm not sure if this is something new, but I've never notice it before during my past few visits (sold out, maybe?). The outer layer is mashed yam with sesame seeds topping. For the fillings, you can see shrimp meat and egg york, the white color portion taste like fish paste. Needless to say, this will definitely be on top of my must-have list during the next visit.

Phobia 2

Just came back from the movie ‘Phobia 2’ in Tropicana City Mall. This is a Thai horror movie, consists of five sub stories: Novice, Ward, Backpackers, Salvage, and In The End, which are directed by five different directors. As a die hard fan of horror movies, how can I afford to miss this one?

My personal favorite among all five stories is definitely the last one (“In The End”), which is a mix of comedy and horror elements. People can’t stop laughing (including me!) because it was very funny. I guess it’s one of those rare occasions where you can hear a roar of laughter during the screening of a horror movie!

I think the stories are not really that scary (especially with the last one that is pretty hilarious), but the whole movie created a sense of uneasiness, which is both depressing and disturbing. Yup, my heart kept thumping like thunder as if it was going to jump out from my mouth anytime! So even with a funny ending, overall it’s still a horror ‘movie’, and I wouldn’t recommend to those who have a weak heart.

Flowers for Me

I was not feeling well this morning (partly because I felt jaded after too much working and no playing last week), so I bought myself some chrysanthemums on my way back from the clinic. Since it had to serve the purpose of lifting up my dampened spirit, it must be a cheerful color; and yellow certainly suits the bill.

I always love to have some flowers around the house. They’re like a source of positive energy to me, which usually lightens up my mood. Plus, there’s nothing better than a nice bouquet to decorate your room and chase away the gloom.

Here’s a snap of my lovely flowers.

Mooncake Festival’s Desserts

While transferring some pictures from the digital camera to my laptop, I found an interesting one featuring the unforgettable desserts I had during Mooncake Festival. These cutie pies were actually imported from Taiwan and sold specially as gift sets for the festive season. They're definitely not the typical round shaped mooncakes with lotus or red bean paste fillings, so I guess they should fit better into the category of 'desserts' instead.

These desserts were made of mochi with cream fillings inside. The pink one in the centre was my favourite. It looked just like a Swiss roll, only a cuter miniature version. Well, it's not just about looks, they were indeed yummy. The heavenly strawberry scent still lingers around my taste buds until this very day! The mochi was the softest and fluffiest one that I've ever tasted. It's nothing like the typical ones you get from candy stores or supermarkets, which taste like some soft chewable candies. I supposed it's because the former ones were stored in fridge (the one used to store ice creams in shops) instead of shelves, so they were fresh and had to be consumed within days of purchase. Of course, the price was not cheap, but good things always come with a price, don't they?

I can't wait to get more on next year's Mooncake Festival...