I'm not feeling 22, the birthday roundup

Seriously, I can't believe I'm 22 already! I still feel like 21 but I took a reality check after my birthday. No big celebrations this year and I didn't feel like doing anything big. Maybe cause I'm growing too old for those sweet 16-esque/ big ol' 21 kind of parties. Anyhow, I was happy to celebrate it later with my family and close friends! :)

Also I should be hunting for jobs like all the others who already has stable job and income (peer pressure level: HIGH) but travel plans are on the way! I will jet-setting to the land of K-pop and K-dramas, South Korea with my lil sisters and the beau on the 21st this month until the 29th so I'M GOING TO BE SPENDING CHRISTMAS THERE, LIKE OMG *CUE* WINTER SONATA SCENE! I'M SO EXCITED~ AND I JUST CAN'T HIDE IT~

So the familia and I had dinner at Fresca Mexican Kitchen and Bar since they have never been there before. I had the Grilled Chicken and it was delish though the rice was a bit burned since the plate was sizzling hot so it was still cooking. It was my second time dining there since the first time was during KL Restaurant Week 2013 and I really liked the course they created. I should blog about it soon cause it was ages ago. After dinner we went to watch Catching Fire. It was the second time I'm watching it but I still love it! Really good movie that is a must watch for everyone!

Then I got surprised by the besties the following week. I thought it was just going to be a dinner with the beau at BLACKmarket but the whole group was there so their surprise worked!

Seriously, they just have to spell out Kraken instead of my name. -_-lll  I wanted to take the bunny bowl where they serve their tiramisu (tasted ok but I have tasted better ones elsewhere) in but I resisted. It's a very cute bunny bowl and I wonder where I can get my hands on it the legal way. Food wise, the food was just meh. It claimed to be serving semi-fine dining food but from the food presentation and taste itself, it was more of a cafe-style food. Environment wise it was semi-fine dining, I give them that. I think that's because it's right next to C.A.F.F.E.I.N.E.E.S and owned by the same family too.

My Grilled Pork with Red Wine sauce. The sauce was ok but I expected the pork to be more flavourful and the sides to be more interesting than the typical potato salad. With a price above RM20 for a main, I don't think it's worth it.

We headed to C.A.F.F.E.I.N.E.E.S anyway after dinner and we chilled a bit over there. It gets super crowded around 10pm with loads of people having drinks while they shisha the night away. Their potato wedges with sauce was good, especially the sauce! I ordered a glass of wine cause I wanted to try out one of the Muscat wine I saw in their wine menu.

Me likes this wine! Though I was a lil tipsy after that glass which was RM25. Well, at least I found another alcoholic drink that me likes. I find the menu here more interesting as well. Will come back to try out the mains and etc.

My beau and my love. :)

Thank you my dears for the surprise and the dinner and the gifts! I love ya long time! I'll post of a review of what they got for me in another post cause it's so pretty that it deserves a post of its own.



Third round is with the Karats family and we had dinner at Dancing Fish. The food here is like the usual ordering dishes to share, accompanied with a bowl of rice each. The dishes were not bad but still can't be compared to the ones you can get at coffee shops which are tastier and cheaper too. However, I love that they have Paku stir fry. You rarely find restaurants which have supply of Paku.

The cakes were from Just Heavenly. Apple Crumble, Tiramisu (Is it me or does everyone buy tiramisu cakes for birthdays? I guess it's one of the safe options!) and Chocolate cakes which was wiped cleaned at the end. So yes, the cakes were heavenly! I wish I could bake delicious cakes like that! Shall keep baking on until I get better!

Thank you for the dinner and earrings, my dear Karats! Had some wine and was tipsy also. Clearly, I can't drink to save my life. My parents should have trained me when I was younger. I could have drank more and still be able to think normally.

I'm happy that I was well-fed during my birthday!

Hard Rock Hotel, Penang

So Ayesha, Charmaine and I had our celebratory trip to celebrate our freedom after 3 years of degree last June! We saved and managed to find a cheap deal at Hard Rock Hotel, Penang! I was excited because it's my first time staying at Hard Rock and I read many reviews on it and saw pretty pictures of the swimming pool area!!! (I was excited about the slides!!!)

Car shot as we make our way to Hard Rock!

We got a good view of The Beatles' butt from the balcony.

Doing crazy faces on the beach.

Pedicure perfect for the trip!

It was a first time for me to dine in a Hard Rock Cafe so was impressed with the food actually! This is the twisted Mac & Cheese, even the pasta is in a spiral shaped!

Well, three of us shared that and the tortilla/ I forgot the name of this dish for dinner cause the portion is big.

Then Ayesha went outside and told me to distract Kepo so that she could arrange something with the waiters and the plan worked!

The entire restaurant sang Happy Birthday and they gave a cheesecake to Kepo. Quite a nice cake too, not too rich.

This was a gift as well. :) Too bad all three of us were looking in different directions. After dinner, we went to walk around the Batu Ferrighi Night Market.

The next day, we went food hunting in the city for the usual, Asam Laksa and Char Kuey Teow and had seafood dinner at Golden Thai Restaurant before taking the last walk around the Batu Ferringhi night market.

On the last day we checked out and went to hunt for famous food again according to the food map from the hotel. Look at Ayesha, so happy after she found her Fried carrot cake! She saw this stall on TV and from then on it was a hunt for this.

Just the other day, we celebrated her birthday at The Hills Restaurant.

Now you guys can see my new hairstyle! Feel like going shorter so might do it when it's time to touch up my roots.

Ok I am still shocked whenever I think about this but last Wednesday, I received my first freebie from work and we, interns were not given freebies at work at all since we started. The shock factor was the person who gave me the freebie, she's not exactly the nicest person since I started my internship. Another shock factor was HOW DOES SHE KNOW I LOVE NAIL POLISHES??? There has to be a hidden agenda somewhere.

Roxy Prize Giving Ceremony

Very late post about this party but better late than never right? :)

Roxy organized a Hula Night themed party for us at their newly opened Boardriders Cafe in Mid Valley and at the same time, they had the prize giving ceremony to the winners. I didn't have any Roxy dress that's suited with the theme so I got one a day before and I love it! It's so pretty! :)

Me posing with the Nirve bike which the grand prize winner, Kimberly Wan won as one of her prizes! So happy that she won! Actually it was expected or  more like I had that gut feeling the moment I saw her that she's gonna win it. I had that same gut feeling last year when I first saw Natasha. You know how people always say to trust your guts? I guess my guts was right!

Plus, I miss my long hair. T_T

So nice to be reunited with most of the girls again! It was fun catching up with everyone!

Ry-Ann is really cool because she's with Epic Homes so she builds houses for the poor people or aboriginals in our country. I really want to try that one day!

Geena just finished the MMA Ring Girl competition before she came for this event. She's super tall and has a curvy body so obviously she's a potential MMA Ring Girl! ;)

Syazza, Diandra, Ry-Ann and Aamelia gave their best Jenna Marbles impression!

Diandra after that night was known as Watermelon girl because she ate most of the watermelons from the buffet spread.

Yasyka, Kasumi and the rest of the girls played with Yasyka's Fish-Eye lens for a while. Yasyka made her own floral headpiece while Kasumi DIY-ed a bunch of flowers from Daiso! Creative!!!

That adorable girl behind is Cheyenne and she came all the way from Penang! She used to be blonde but she went back to black cause taking Form 6. 

One of my favourite pictures ever!!!!!!! I think they are a natural at this.

Single photoshoots outside Boardriders Cafe! Thanks Diandra for taking this.

With the winner! Enjoy your Bali trip, Kimberly!!!

Goodies from Roxy, Inglot and Amber Chia Academy! That bracelet was made by yours truly! All of us girls were busy killing time before the party started and it was difficult to put those beads through the strings! I stole the orchid from the coconut drink. :P

With that certificate, I can prove to future employers, my kids and grandkids that I am a Roxy Girl. For all you know, I might be the surfing grandma in the future! :P

First Bag of Love!

Got time to squeeze in a blogpost before I start on work! I was assigned to write a 2-page advertorial on one of Origins new product! If only I was given the product to test it out. :(

Last month, I wanted to get a new make-up bag and I heard from Samantha that there's Bag of Love, where every month they give you a make-up bag with some products inside for you to try out! I checked the reviews for the previous bags online and I was curious so I ordered my first bag and it turned to be the June bag!

So cute! Love the colour because it's bright blue so it fits the summer theme perfectly and the size is decent as well! I can definitely fit a lot of my make-up products inside!

Another prove that it can fits loads of stuff is because the full-size bottle of the Vaseline Healthy White SPF 24 Triple Lightening Lotion (Long name!) can fit inside nicely! It also came with Clairol Professional Color Radiance Shampoo and Color Radiance Intensive Mask. I have never heard of Clairol before but after trying out the products, I think it's pretty good! :D

Reviews:

- Vaseline Healthy White SPF 24 Triple Lightening Lotion= I like it that it drys quickly and it has SPF so I put it on before going out under the Sun. It has a subtle floral smell too. Whether I got fairer or not, that's not sure yet.

- Clairol Professional Color Radiance Shampoo and Color Radiance Intensive Mask= Both of it smells good and using both together made my hair softer and more moisturized! This bag came just in time too because I got my hair coloured not long ago so it needs the moisture.

There was a sample of Elizabeth Arden's Green Tea Honeysuckle EDT, samples of Cremorlab skincare and a Definite Foundation Brush! I haven't tried out the Cremorlab skincare and the foundation brush yet. A bit scared to try out the skincare because of my sensitive skin.

Review:

Elizabeth Arden's Green Tea Honeysuckle EDT= I LOVE THIS! It smelled refreshing and sweet! I let my friend tried it out and she bought the full-size bottle immediately! The only downside is that it doesn't last the whole day cause the scent is light.

Some vouchers and pamphlets that came with the bag. I think I'll pass them to my friends. :)

Will I be subscribing again? YES! Because they give cute make-up bags every month that contains make-up brushes, sample perfumes and other beauty products! :)

Check out their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Interning in a magazine

Well, just yesterday the results for my final semester was out and I managed to get a Distinction for International Media Communications, which is a shocker cause I thought I was just passing that subject. I was happy to see everyone's Facebook status cheering that they passed their degree! I'm relieved that I didn't fail a subject in my degree that's for sure and proud that I managed to get a few Distinctions!

Since 1st July, I have been interning in a magazine as part of my working experience which is needed for my final semester. I won't mention it here in case I could get in trouble for it but it is not as glamorous as everyone assumed. Well, I'm not getting paid for it, that's one but I am interested in the magazine industry and this magazine was one of my favourites so I guess my interests is more than the pay. I got an offer with another company before this one and they pay interns but the thought of travelling into Kuala Lumpur everyday through the jam, just puts me off. It's times like these I wish the MRT has completed its construction.

Anyway, my first day was boring but I met 2 more interns so I was glad that I'm not alone. I was staring at the computer screen doing nothing cause I was worried that if I log on to any social media sites, I will be yelled at. But if others could go into theirs so I did it too like a boss. The weird thing is no one briefed us about the rules or the lunchtime or the attire. Basically, you're on your own. After lunchtime, we finally got work to do. All I had to do was research the Fall/Winter 2013 collection and pick some designs from a number of designers and pass those pictures to the Fashion Stylist. After that, I had to cut paper. Well, at least they didn't make me go out to get them coffee or something. Then, I had to drive all the way to Bangsar to return some clothes to a boutique.

Most important thing to remember is, never ever tell them you have a car. You'll be driving all over just to take loans and return loans. Thankfully, you can claim for your petrol and toll. The good thing is you can leave the office early to do your loans and won't freeze to death under the air condition which I am experiencing now since then.

So what do I do as an intern?
-Cut papers and do some archiving when it's close to the deadline.
-Drive everywhere for loans.
-Research and write about beauty products.
-Interview people and get them to try out some beauty products. (Met a reader for the hair section of the magazine on Wednesday for a hair makeover.)
-Help with photoshoots.
-Call places and people. (Just last Tuesday, I was calling cafes and restaurants for the entire day.)
-To be continued...

I never appreciated Fridays until I started interning. I hope this can give you a little insight on what to expect if you ever enter into the magazine company for your internship. :)

Akachan no Hoppe!

Akachan no Hoppe is Baby Cheeks in Japanese, it is a brand hailing from Itoigawa, Niigata prefecture of Japan that specializes in making traditional Japanese pastries with a modern twist.

Recently it opened it's first outlet in Malaysia in Mid Valley Megamall on the 6th of July and it definitely have won fans with their signature product which is mo. cheeks, snow white mochi that is as soft as baby cheeks.

Located on the 3rd floor at the Centre Court. It's not hard to miss with an adorable sign like that.

Ms Seiko Sekine, JETRO Deputy Managing Director introduced the audience to Akachan before launching the store.

The founder of Akachan no Hoppe, Yamakawa Takehisa (4th from the left) and the rest of the VIPs took a picture with the yukata/ kimono clad shop assistants.

Look at those cute, snowy mochi! Don't you just want to take a bite?

Plus, got some eyecandies  for the boys too.

So what flavours do they have? Think, Red Bean, Green Tea, Black Sesame, Edamame, Japanese Plum, Double Chocolate, Strawberry Love, Melty Caramel, Tropical Pineapple and Jungle Banana!!! I had the Strawberry Love and Double Chocolate flavour before and it is YUMMY! The mochi skin is not too thick and it had just the right amount of filling and chewiness! You can buy these yummy mo.cheeks as gifts too!

It's only RM3.80 each and they have an opening promotion now, buy 10 mo.cheeks and get 1 mo.cheeks for free!

So what are you waiting for? Get your mochi fix now at 3rd Floor, Centre Court, Mid Valley Megamall.

For more info on Akachan no Hoppe, check out their website at http://www.akachan-no-hoppe.jp or like their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/akachan.no.hoppe.