For years now I thought I’d outgrown my suayness. So much so that my AudSuay category on my my blog has been neglected lolol. I attribute it to the fact that besides actual bad luck, most of my suayness comes from me being impulsive, not thinking things through or being just plain careless wtf. So when motherhood arrived, I think I subconsciously leveled up and became more responsible.
And my suayness dropped! I thought wah I really grown up already, responsible adult and all. When I met Angela after having Fighter, I even told her I’m serious now and don’t laugh as much WTF. I don’t know what delusions I was operating on la cos she met me and told me I’m crazy obviously because I am exactly the same hahahaahha.
Well. I now know the reason why.
When I’m around my kids and Fatty, I’m fully in Mom/Wife mode.
But when I’m by myself… I go to shit wtf.
Ok la not as dramatic as that hahaha but when I’m by myself, I subconsciously let my guard down…. and the stupidity comes back. Hahahaha.
Ok why all this soliloquy? It’s cos I was pretty amazed by all the stupid incidents that happened New York that normally NEVER happen to me now!
Incident 1: Shopping at Target
Okay la this one not rooted in stupidity but just shopaholicness wtf. When I was in college, my favorite hangout place was Target FML. There wasn’t much to do near Mount Holyoke especially when I didn’t have a car so every week I’d take the shuttle bus to the mall and spend my time in F21 and Target lolol. Target is awesome man. Got everything under the sun – for me as a college student, it was dorm stuff, snacks and makeup.
So when we got to NYC I told Sieu Ee that we must go to Target! I googled for the nearest Target and called for an Uber.
We were staying on the Upper East Side and I vaguely wondered why the ride took quite long.
When we finally got there, we were surprised to find that we were the only two Asians there. Because everyone else was Black wtf. :X
Upon further googling, I found that we had gone to Harlem HAHAAHHA. And later on when I met a friend from MHC who’s living in New York now, she told me she didn’t even know there was a Target in NYC WTF. No wonder when I walked around Manhattan I never came across Target la wtf.
I don’t know if Target is a more suburban thing? Or that New Yorkers just don’t shop at Target but now I know hahahaha.
Well don’t say shopping doesn’t teach you new things hahahha.
And we managed a lot of loot! Got a lot of nice kids clothes off the sales rack some more at like USD 1-4 each ok damn worth traveling to Harlem hahahaaha. Good experience, good experience.
Incident 2: Jumping trains
Um. Even now as I’m typing this, I’m having doubts if I should write this. Cos uh I suspect this may be illegal wtf.
But ok the story is. We were hanging around in Soho one day. By hanging around I mean shopping at Nordstrom Racks wtf. We were just about to head back to get ready for a dinner with Sieu Ee’s family when it suddenly started pouring.
We’d planned to get an Uber but due to the rain, the jam looked bad from Waze. And there was a subway entrance right outside Nordstrom.
At this point I hadn’t figured out the subway system yet (last trips I either blindly followed Fatty or blindly followed Angela/Angela’s cousin wtf) and I was the old hand at NYC compared to Sieu Ee. But we had no choice. It was getting late, the rain didn’t look like it was going to stop, and there was no Uber to be found.
We made a mad dash through the rain to the subway station. Then the weirdest thing. We hurried down the stairs to the station to find…. No ticketing machines????? WTF Union Square?
There was only a row of turnstiles that everyone was breezing through, and an exit door. How?? We cannot go up into the rain again because rain la duh. But we cannot stay here forever either. Sieu Ee stood there stupefied.
So I took action. The next person who came out the exit door, I darted and held the door open and slipped in myself. :X I looked for Sieu Ee and she was standing all the way the other side FFS looking blur hahahaha. I had to shout to her and ask her to come. *adrenalin
She obviously has a lot more brains than me cos she was like, “Cannot! This is the exit!”
And I was like “Can! No choice! Maybe we can go in and find someone or a counter or something so we can buy tickets!”
There must be a way to get tickets, I thought. There wasn’t wtf.
All the while, Sieu Ee was muttering about being deported or not allowed to come back to the US ever again, whilst looking around for security cameras. Hahahahaha sounds funny now but at that time I was getting quite scared too.
In the end I made the executive decision that we should get on the train because nowhere else to go! I reasoned if we can’t find an attendant here, maybe we’d find one at the destination. When we got to our station…. no attendant either wtf. And there were turnstiles. So I just turned one… and left the building wtf. So that was the day we became criminals wtf.
Errrr NYPD or FBI if you’re googling this, uh please don’t arrest me wtf. I confess! I have your money I am more than willing to pay for my subway ticket!!! I am not a dishonest person!!!!
Incident 3: The Homeless Man
This is nothing. Except that when we were walking somewhere near Times Square I didn’t see a homeless man in my path and kicked over his cup of coins. T_______T Shit I felt soooo horrible and of course I helped him to pick everything up. Considered giving him some money to make up for it but I didn’t have change besides pennies like a bit insulting right FML. And FHL too wtf luckily he was very okay about it.
Ok now the stories are off my chest, let’s move on to photos! I just wanted to enjoy NYC this time around without worrying about social media so I didn’t take out my phone and camera that much this time. So these are all random shots from everywhere.
Met up with a friend from Moho, Aileen! I haven’t seen her ever since graduation and she’s a couple years behind but it was so good to see her again and gossip about everyone else lolol. 
Christian Louboutin in Sephora. Super overpriced sorry this auntie cannot stomach.
Shake Shack!!!!
Our first meal in New York ermagerd damn good.
Top is available on Azorias now hahaha. 
A steel structure that used to be a part of the WTC.
My hair outside someone’s brownstone. Hahahaha.
OMG I know these book stalls are all from big stores but I love the abundance of literature in NYC! Actually in London also la. I think I said before but I would love to open a bookstore slash cafe here but I don’t think anyone reads enough for that wtf.
Bought a couple of books even though I can probably find them in Kinokuniya here wtf but books are awesome souvenirs! Just buy the appropriately themed book for wherever you are. Like I bought an F Scott Fitzgerald one here but in London I bought one on Tower of London… and another one on Hitler wtf.
/end nerd talk
Bought the prettiest Bare Minerals liquid matte lip color. It’s called Frenemy. But I came back to KL and realized Sephora has stopped selling Bare Minerals here!?
Open salmon sandwich when our Airbnb host bought lunch for us. Shit la the way he treats us makes me feel like a terrible Airbnb host now hahahaah. 
Fruit tart for dessert. My dessert palate is slowly expanding! (last time only ice cream) 
Pasta at Babbo, a Mario Batali restaurant. You cannot hope to get a spot and you have to book months in advance cos it’s sooo popular. So being kiasu tourists, we went there at 4.45 pm before the restaurant opens and became their first customers WTF. We had dinner at 5 pm hahaahah.
With Lay See who was also in NYC at the same time. ^^
Took a walk in Washington Square Park after dinner only to kena cheated by this man into paying for his stupid drawings he made us. I knew it already! But Sieu Ee and Lay See stopped to watch him so we kena sucked into his scam wtf. 
Still happy hahahaha.
Japanese lunch one of those days. 
Also met up with a reader Amanda! Who’s studying at NYU. 🙂 She happily tagged along when we were Target-ing and helped us to carry our bags some more hahaaha.
Didn’t go in but Fatty and I had tea here the last time. Found it was just two blocks away from our Airbnb. 🙂 
Sieu Ee being very amazed at the portion sizes.
Word. 
OMG hello ramen man.
Best ramen I’ve ever had. <333333
At Totto Ramen! 
Foie gras at Daniel.
Caught Book of Mormon again. (first time was last year in London) Even better the second time cos I know all the songs and jokes already!
Gucci florals at Woodbury. 
This was cool. An artist set up a blank canvas and paint in Washington Sq Park and invited people to get creative. And he was filming the process.
I asked him what this was about and he said he was just stumped for ideas and just wanted to see what people would come up with. Actually I kept going up to him and asking questions that I don’t know if he just thought I was flirting badly fml.
Shack Shack menu. Bottom right is a menu for dogs omg too cute. 
Thank you New York City, you’ve been awesome. 🙂
You know what I found out?
Beds are like the Titanic; once they sink they’re useless. #badjoke
Hahahahahahah sorry my joke is really damn bad! But true leh, that was the problem we had with our mattress.
Before we got married, Fatty went out and bought a new king sized mattress. This was… at most seven years ago?
About one of two years ago, we noticed this. A big dent on one side of the bed. To be precise, on Fatty’s side of the bed. :X The bed say he fat one ah, not me! Apparently we’re supposed to flip the mattress every 6 months to prevent sagging. But I did not know this. I never had any problems with my beds for 20+ years of my life and never had to flip my mattress ever. So I don’t know why ours developed this hole – is it really cos Fatty is heavy or what? :X Anyway I was very angry cos I thought mattresses are supposed to last longer than this anyway. So I jumped at the chance to try out Dreamland’s Chiro range. Dreamland is a homegrown mattress brand who pioneered spring mattresses in Malaysia. Then they incorporated the Miracoil technology in their mattresses – to produce their Chiro range. The Chiro range is meant to – as the name suggests – protect your back. Our old mattress was actually too soft – it felt great to sit on, but it wasn’t the best choice for our backs FOL. And since we got it in our 20s it was fine, but as the years past we started to really feel the strain hahahaha. So we went for the Dreamland Chiro Superior 1. 
It comes with a layer of Miracoil springs for back support and the mattress fabric has been treated with anti-bed bugs, anti-mosquito and anti-bacteria properties. Miracoil is touted as the world’s most advanced spring system. The springs are tempered with heat to ensure the spring units stay in shape. Springs are also coiled together more closely in the middle of the mattress for better back support since our spines lie in the center of the bed. The result is a non-sagging, less lumpy and highly durable mattress. Which is why it says its a Non Flip Design which means no need to remember to flip!!!! Warranty of 10 years of course. 
One thing I noticed is that this mattress is much thicker than our old one! The extra height looks more luxe even if it makes climbing down the bed a bit harder for me, Fighter and Penny hahahahaha. 
Set up the mattress and put on sheets and our comforters and ta dah! 
We’ve been sleeping on this new bed for about a month now. And first it took some getting used to cos I was really accustomed to our old softer mattress. But now I love that this mattress is solid. 
It’s firm but it’s not hard so it’s still comfy while sleeping. And it’s so stable that …. ok basically Fatty has this bad habit of going to the toilet in the middle of the night then coming back and JUMPING on to the bed WTF. So the bed sure shake la right wtf. And I sure get awakened. But with this bed no such problem hahahaha. It doesn’t transfer movement at all so I sleep through the night (except when a critter cries FML). The reason why is the extra layer of pocket springs on top of the Miracoil springs. This layer disperses movement so there’s less partner disturbance felt. ^^
The kids love it also. They have a habit of climbing up on to our bed and jumping on it. -_- This bed is higher so they damn clever ok they’ll push a stool against it and climb on the stool wtf. And then jump on it. :X
So luckily got the 10 year warranty la hahahaahha.
If you’re looking for a new bed, do check out the Dreamland Chiro range! Click *here* for their website, Facebook and YouTube.
To help you on your way to an awesome new bed, Dreamland is giving away vouchers worth RM200-1,000 off a mattress purchase. Click *here* to print out the vouchers and bring them to the nearest dealer. Promo period: now until 30 th November 2016.
This post was written in collaboration with Dreamland.
Shiet I am a month late wtf.
But better late then totally forgetting about it and moving on with life!
So the reason why I went to New York last month was because we got invited to Zang Toi’s show at New York Fashion Week! While I don’t identify as a very fashion person, I do love my clothes (and shoes and bags) and I’m also very kepoh wtf.
I’ve been to KL Fashion Week obviously but hello NYFW is on a totally different scale! I had to go, even if it meant leaving Fatty and the kids for a whole week. Best of all, Zang Toi offered us the chance to go early and see how everything works backstage.
How to refuse!?!?!
So… Hello NYC!
First stop: Zang Toi’s workshop and studio. With an intern whose name I don’t think I actually got. T_T
It was very cool cos we got to catch the fittings! Supermodels strolled into the studio and tried on their runway outfits while Zang checked to see if there were any last minute alterations. Then they did practice runs walking in time to the music while Zang and his team watched, ready for any changes.
Sieu Ee and I got to participate in the design house’s traditions too! Like Lucky Chicken Night, which started the first time Zang Toi showed at NYFW. He wanted to do something nice for his team who had been working so hard and he didn’t have a lot of money. So he ended up ordering in KFC. And it’s been a tradition ever since for the team to have a KFC dinner the night before the show. ^^
Zang Toi’s Malaysian and Singaporean family flies down every Fashion Week too, and another tradition is one of his brothers cooks up a huge pot of chicken curry for Lucky Chicken Night. Then he cooks up another pot of minced chicken curry which they stuff into buns and feed the press and volunteers during the show.
Apparently a Zang Toi show is famous for these buns cos other fashion houses normally don’t serve food. So the press is super happy about it and rave reviews have been written about the chicken curry buns hahahaha.
My outfit for the Zang Toi show! Floral two piece from Twenty 3’s KLFW collection! Ok I must mention this stupid disaster wtf.
So basically Sherlyn gave me two outfits to wear in New York and she got them delivered to me the day before we left. The other outfit was a gorgeous edgy white and navy ensemble and I planned to wear that for the Zang Toi show. It came in its own flat box which I left it in first while I packed cos I didn’t want to wrinkle the clothes.
But when it came down to it, I forgot to pack it WTF.
Yes. I left my NYFW outfit in Malaysia……….
And I only realized the day of the show!!!! Sieu Ee and I were walking back to our Airbnb from Central Park when it suddenly occurred to me I hadn’t seen my outfit ever since we got to New York WTF.
She said my face turned a becoming shade of green wtf.
Damn stupid la!!!! What is basically the biggest night of my fashion life and I commit a fashion disaster like this. T_________T So I settled for this outfit which is so pretty too but the other one would just have been more suitable. T_______T
Anyway bygones. Here’s me with Sieu Ee who’s dressed very professionally cos she was a show volunteer. 🙂
Wearing my new purple lipstick from Tarte. *hearts in eyes*
Got there and saw the set up still happening. Exciting!
And this is backstage!!! Ahhh I die of overexcitement wtf.
It was so amazing. The place was just bustling; models were all seated at the mirrors while hair and makeup people bustled over them. They even gave the models manicures and pedicures… and fake hair pieces. The hair team was headed by Eiji of Eiji Salon and the makeup artist was some celebrity fella too sorry I didn’t get his name hahahaha.
All those models with sleek ponytails and elegant chignons? All fake lolol.
With Lay See and Amanda who also happened to be in New York!
My sole useful contribution that day – making this sign to tell the press where to go hahahahaha.
Last rehearsal.
And finally the real show!
Ok if at this point I look like I’m dying…. it’s because I was wtf.
Still dying and trying to stay on my feet wtf.
Am I leaning?
Before the show when I was running around backstage, I had a very mild headache. But as the night progressed, it turned into a vise around my skull FML. I sometimes get migraines but this was one of the worst!
I managed to make it through the show, and still vlog but by the time it ended it was getting hard for me to walk/stand up/turn my head wtf. I left the after party early and Ubered back with Sieu Ee. T____T
We were sharing the Uber with some other guys and I had to lay my head on the inside of the car door and close my eyes cos it was so painful. One of the guys whispered, “What’s wrong with her?” and Sieu Ee told him I wasn’t feeling well but I can bet he thought I was drunk FML.
They were really sweet and told the driver to drop us off first though.
I got home, ran up to our apartment and finally vomited wtf. Then I collapsed on to the bed and slept the migraine off. T_____T
Thank you Sieu Ee and the Toi family for looking out for me. T____T And thank you so much Zang Toi for letting me be a part of NYFW 2016. 🙂
Here’s the full vlog here for your viewing pleasure! Please watch cos I filmed this while trying not to die wtf.
This is a super belated vlog filmed on Hari Merdeka, Malaysia’s independence day. We didn’t do anything special but we planned a swim date with some of Fighter’s friends… which sadly did not happen because it rained FOL. My heart is raining too wtf. But the kids had fun playing and having a snack party instead! Happy belated Merdeka everyone!
Love, Aud.
I’d recently bought a CD of children’s songs for the kids. Not exactly children’s songs, but songs from musicals but covered and attuned to children’s tastes.
Its in my car CD player right now and Fighter loves listening to it on the way to and back from school.
So one of the songs on it is Food, Glorious Food from the musical Oliver! (Oliver Twist) if you’re not familiar with it, it’s the story of a little orphan boy who starts out in an orphanage and everyone’s really poor and nobody has much to eat. So at one point, the kids sing this food song wtf.
The song starts in a minor key as the children are lamenting how hungry they are etc, but then the beat picks up and it becomes buoyant as the kids start visualizing and singing about different yummy foods.
This is how my conversation with Fighter went.
Fighter (at the start of the song) : why they sing like this?
Me: it’s just how the song is, Fighter.
is it they sad?
Me: yes they’re sad.
why?
ME because they’re hungry and they don’t have food.
why they don’t have food?
because they don’t have mommies and daddies to buy food for them.
why they don’t have mommy and daddy to buy food for them?
I don’t know… Maybe their mommies and daddies died (thinking how to explain such a deep topic to him so he’ll understand)
The song moves to the chorus so it’s upbeat.
is it they happy now?
yes I guess they are.
why they happy?
I don’t know… Maybe they now have food to eat (making shit up fml)
why now they have food? Is it they have mommies and daddies now?
Wah. Drive my toddler back from school also got so deep revelations wtf.
1. His level of deduction is more advanced than I expected! No mommy and daddy = no food, therefore got food = mommy and daddy must be back.
2. How is he so perceptive?! How the heck does he recognize that a minor key denotes a different tone?! I guess I can save money don’t need to send him to JMC class already
3. This is a way deeper topic than I’d prepared for at age 3! He’s asking why and genuinely wants to know, but how do I explain to him what it means to be hungry and to not have parents to shelter and take care of you?
I tried googling to see what I’m supposed to say if my kid asks these kind of questions and came up with nothing fml hahahaha. I guess this isn’t a very common problem?
But I’m happy he’s curious enough to ask, and that he’s slowly becoming aware that other kids may not live the life he does and that they don’t have the things in his life that he’s always had. That’s the reason we took him to the children’s home for his birthday actually. The two things I’ll try my best to pass to fighter and Penny are empathy and enough courage to do the right thing even if it’s the unpopular thing.
This is super long in coming sorry Fighter hahaah.
But a month ago, Fighter turned three.
After his first birthday bash, I was so tired I told myself his next birthday party would be age 5 wtf (cos milestone ma hahaha). Same for Penny — to be fair, I threw her a first birthday party then planned to have no more FTL.
But Fighter recently has been super aware of birthdays – the whole shebang – the cake and candles, the birthday song, and the possibility of presents. Okay la more of the cake and candles and song; presents he mostly remembered if we reminded him only. I didn’t have the heart to deprive him of that.
So I thought, okay maybe we’ll just do a small party for his classmates. I’d bring in cake and balloons and goodie bags when he’s at school, and he and his friends can do the whole blowing candles have cake thing.
But when I started planning, I found myself thinking. Fighter’s classmates are all pretty privileged – most of them come to school with helpers and drivers, and head to private and international schools when they’re done with pre-school. And they are all used to receiving extravagant party packs. While I know, like Fighter, they will actually like anything I give them, I couldn’t help but think about other kids who probably haven’t even seen as many cakes as Fighter’s three year old classmates have.
So from 0 parties, I did 2 parties omg.
CLASS PARTY
Sticking to my original plan, I ordered a tray of cupcakes…
In the theme of Hansel and Gretel! It’s Fighter’s favorite fairy tale hahaha. Sadly some people see this cupcakes and thought Hansel & Gretel = Jude & Penny wtf. But it’s not! Check out the candy and the witch yo! 
Arrived at school with this one in tow. And my camera to vlog but unfortunately I lost my memory card FML DUNNO WHAT HAPPENED. That’s why no vlogs for a long time wtf.
Grandparents Ooi were there too! Fatty was away on a business trip so he missed this party. 🙁 
Everyone didn’t dare to look away from the balloons lest they don’t get one LOL.
Except Chase. Chase who is puppy in love with Penny, was preoccupied with offering Penny his banana hahahahaha. 
Birthday boy!
CHILDREN’S HOME PARTY
Because I felt that since Imma already have to put in effort to come up with party packs and get a cake etc, I thought why not do it for kids that will, not to say appreciate it more, but kids who will savour the experience more. Another reason is that I wanted Fighter to be aware that other children may lead different lives than him… never too young to start right?
So I contacted Lighthouse Children Welfare Home and arranged for us to bring food and cake and gifts over to them.
Lighthouse is a home for abandoned and underprivileged kids in Bangsar. I got to know about them cos Fighter’s class teacher’s mother actually runs the home! 
There are about 60 kids living in the home so we ordered Mcdonald’s delivery! Super amazed that 60 McValue meals arrived on two motorbikes. :O :O
I told my friends that I’m doing this party for Fighter but not to bother to come cos I’m not inviting anyone. But the Competitive Aunties made it anyway! They said they don’t need an invite LOL. 
With my two boys. We had to leave Mochi at home cos she had a fever that wouldn’t go away. T___T
These are all just pictures taken at the party! Professional photos taken by Gladys Tan, Careen’s sister. Her photos all damn nice la ok!!! She’s running her own photography gig called @Capturedgladness on Instagram. Please check her out for event and wedding photography 🙂
The only other kid we invited was Chase, Fighter’s BFF so that in case Fighter got shy, he’d have one friend there. Here’s Chase and David, his daddy, playing with the kids. Super cute cos David was talking to the kids about sports cars and football teams hahaha.
Didn’t have to worry about this fella feeling shy.
#thetwoboys as Fighter refers to himself and Chase hahaha sharing fries. <3
Kids all eating Mcdonald’s. Auntie Jacinta who runs the home told me for some of them it’s their first time having Mcds ever. 🙁
<3
Sieu Ee happier than the kids wtf.
I worked with party planner Paper Goodz, who prepared party packs as well as organized games for the kids. I told Cloey of Paper Goodz that the kids ranged in ages from babies to teenagers so she arranged general type of games that would suit most age groups. I think Fighter and Chase are still too young though so they mostly danced around hahaha.
Dancing Fighter hahaha.
Then time for cake! I assigned our baker a Hansel and Gretel themed cake and expected a gingerbread house la like the witch’s house.
We got this.
OMGGGG. This is not a cake, it’s a work of art! Hahahahah. Our baker really cake making skills level Asian wtf. Not only is this a gingerbread house, they decorated it with real candy! Got those sugared gummies, marshmallows, macarons, candy canes, gingerbread men and even Hello Panda please. And there were little figurines of Hansel, Gretel and the Wicked Witch.
Hansel and Gretel, whom Fighter likes to think of himself and Penny as. Some more he thinks it’s Handsome instead of Hansel LOLOL.
Family photo!
With this little girl who Fat Her fell in love with, Angel. She was so cheerful and smily the entire time. These kids really can be happy with so little. 🙂
Overly ecstatic birthday boy couldn’t stop laughing before cutting cake I also forgot why hahahaha.
Blowing out his three candles.
His teacher Dheepa’s dog was also there and Fighter was super tickled (literally cos the fur so fluffy wtf).
Fighter’s not the only happy one hahaha.
Wei Zhi also hahaha.
Okay me too hahaha.
Shiokness is eating fried chicken.
The party packs prepared by Paper Goodz.
Put in this picture because Fighter is damn adorable here!!!!
We asked him to help give out the party packs to the kids and all the older kids just layan him hahaha. But check out Fighter’s expression! He damn sincere ok, every pack he gave out, he’d look into the eyes of the recipient and hold eye contact hahahaha.
My beautiful little boy.
Thank you Lighthouse for letting us party with you hahaha.
I wanna talk a bit about Lighthouse though. They are a privately own and run children’s home in KL and survive entirely on people’s kindness. The lady who runs it, Auntie Jacinta, is the mother of Fighter’s school teacher and they’re both amazing people who are so passionate about children and education!
When Fighter’s teacher went to teacher’s college at 18, her mom was studying for her education degree right next to her. And then in 2005, Lighthouse was set up.
Right now, they currently house 58 kids ranging from a six month old baby to 18 year olds. Some of the kids are orphans, some have been abandoned or abused, some just have parents who cannot take care of them. They don’t kick out children when they turn 18 but make sure they’re schooled and financially independent first before letting them leave the home. The kids are of different races but most of them are Indian or Orang Asli.
They don’t have a license though because our government dictates that welfare homes must have a certain quota of Malay children before the qualify. -_- I don’t understand why charity also must have a discriminatory element to it but whatever.
In fact, they told me that some Bumiputra companies are not interested in sponsoring or donating because there are not enough Malay kids. -_- Same goes for Chinese run companies – because there are too few Chinese kids. I hope you guys are proud.
That doesn’t seem to bother the kids too much cos they’re still so cheerful and content. Someone asked some of them if they felt resentful that parents came to visit their children at the home, and they sincerely said no. They were all so well behaved too and even prepared a dance for us after they finished playing games.
Some of the kids, especially the Orang Asli come from appallingly poor backgrounds too. Auntie Jacinta said when they get to her, they are shockingly skinny. And when asked what they used to eat, they’d say things like sup katak (frog soup, I doubt it’s the delicacy kind, but the black frogs they catch in waterways).
Their expenses amount RM40,000 a month to house, feed and school 60 kids. The home is doing their best but they’re just scraping by every month. 40K sounds like a huge amount, but that’s only RM750 a child a month, if you think about it. If everyone could pay for a child or even partially every month, I’m sure it would be a giant help to them.
If you would like to help, please do! You can contact Jacinta Steven at 016314 1789 or view their FB page *here* or email me at fourfeetnine @ gmail.com and I would be happy to explain more and connect you! This is not an ad wtf but just something I want to help with after meeting the kids and the amazing people who run Lighthouse. Thank you!
A month ago, I was invited to a Leica x Huawei workshop led by photographer Nadirah Zakariya.
That’s her!
I’m totally not a photography person so I hadn’t heard of her but omg I took a look at her photos and I wanna kill myself wtf. Cos like I told her, I really need this workshop; my photography skills are erm to put it nicely… atrocious. Hahahha.
Once some friends and I actually had a photo contest when we were traveling — we each took a pic of the same strawberry dessert and posted on Instagram and asked people to vote whose is the nicest. The winner was hard to pick but everyone unanimously voted my effort as the ugliest HAHAHAHAH.
The Huawei P9 is a very good phone, not least cos of its camera. The famous camera on the P9 comes with dual Leica lenses. In very simple terms (I totally had to read up about this fml), it means that with two lenses, more light enters the camera, resulting in sharper photos.
But hor, good camera doesn’t = to good photographs hahahaha. Take me for example. *shifty eyed
Anyway here are some tips that I picked up that I may or may not be putting to use in my photos wtf. *shifty eyed again* Guys please learn ok! Very important for the Instagram generation wtf.
- Take five steps and snap
Key point – we need to experiment with different angles and composition yo! Take a picture from your usual angle and distance. Then take five steps in front and snap again. You might be surprised to find a new cute angle that you can work with.
Though if you’re taking a selfie, five steps closer doesn’t really work wtf.
2. Use lighting from different angles and play with light colors
Okay this is something I’d never thought of at all. Normally I’d strive to avoid backlight so I’d stand with my back towards wherever the light source is. But Nadirah opened my eyes up to new possibilities! Backlight isn’t bad – it means you can take artsy silhouette photos that have a whole other beauty.
Nadirah’s backlit photo.
Mine wtf. Um why mine not as nice ah? Oh yea it’s cos I have floor mats hanging behind HAHAHAHA.
Like this photo that Nadirah took as well. Sorry I’m showing a lot of photos of hers that I took from her website and IG but I was very in awe! She put that torchlight there then a mirror inside the book to get this photo. :O
Before I’d always looked for white light too cos I hate yellow light photos. But think beyond that! Nadirah just randomly threw a sheer pink scarf over her light fixture in her toilet and bam, she got this gorgeous photo. :O
3. Cropping and framing
Instead of normally just taking close ups of my fambly and friends (what! Cos I love them so I wanna see their faces wtf), Nadirah taught us to play with cropping photos differently, not just focusing on their faces or making sure their whole body is in wtf but playing with the space around them too for a more interesting photo.
Keeping in mind her advice, I took this photo of Nadirah when we were practicing our photo skills. NUBBAD HOR 😀 (this was my best attempt wtf)
I also took this photo while I was in Manila and was pretty happy with it! Although I think it’s got to do more with the gorgeous skyline and colors, and the P9 camera more than my skills hahaha.
Another one using the P9 monochrome function of Emma from Huawei. 🙂
4. Add something of interest
If the photo looks too ordinary boring uhh standard, don’t be afraid to shake it up by adding something! In a sample shot she showed us, she got her friend to put on a hat to make it more interesting.
Tried that here, not sure if it works hahahaah. Maybe the hair accessory, bracelet, necklace AND one Croc shoe is a bit overdoing it hahahahaha.
This is Nadirah’s take on adding interesting (and themed!) items into a photo.
5. If all else fails, find a cute subject
Um this one is I say one hahaha. Cos like I know all these useful tips already but I’m bad at applying them FML. So when all else fails, distract people with cuteness. Hahahaha.
Can? Pass? Hahaha.
Anyway that’s what I learned. Thank you Huawei for organizing the workshop! I need to tattoo your photography tips to the back of my brain thx.
Note: Photos by Nadirah were captured from her website and Instagram.
This post was written in collaboration with Huawei.
Hello everyone!
Yes I’m aware I haven’t updated my blog for a while. I was in New York for a week and when I got home, I’ve just been getting caught up with errands, work and spending time with Fatty and the kids.
Don’t know if you guys know about the recent “blogger saga” wtf but yea that happened too which caused me to take a short break off social media platforms which requires me to actually write. But I’m back now and you can read my thoughts on it on Dayre day 265.
But in the meantime, here’s a vlog that I made before we went to NYC!
Click bait title: Fighter takes off his pants
HAHAHAHAH I promise you it’s not as it sounds. Or is it?
WHAT SORCERY IS THIS WHY LAST TIME I SO PRETTY ONE. WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?
Oh yea. Age. FML.
I was going through Google Images looking at old photos (what? Don’t tell me you don’t do that wtf) and mourning the loss of my youth hahahaha.
But then my youth also came with outstanding looks like these:
Bam.
Bam.
BAM.
I wasn’t that ugly la right. *lying to self
But I definitely needed work done. Hahaha.
This is the story of my makeover.
Me at age 11 or 12. At this time of my life, the epitome of high fashion to me was this faded Flintstones tshirt that used to belong to Mummy Ooi, and a psychedelic pair of bicycle tights.
Growing up, all through high school my definition of dressing up was a large tshirt and some shorts or knee length tights. *grim smile. I don’t remember what made me like that combo so much, but I really liked it and wore that for every tuition class hahahaha. It’s not that I didn’t care about fashion though; it’s that I really thought this was damn fashionable hahahaha.
However, I had very little in the way of vanity back then. The only time I was slightly vain was when my best friends got their ears pierced when we were 12 and I so badly wanted to do mine too. We were standing outside Poh Kong already, all ready to go pierce. But at the last minute, when Fat Her Ooi heard about it, he balked and absolutely forbade it. I don’t remember what his reasoning was but I do remember crying bitterly all the way home and sulking about it for days. Hahahaha.
(I ended up piercing my ears at 16. Because Ooib went out one day and got his ears pierced WTF. #rebel. It was beyond Fat Her’s control then and would seem horribly unfair if my brother could pierce and I couldn’t. So I finally got my earrings.)
So what made me change? What made me get into makeup and dressing up?
The answer is: boys.
Or to be specific, one boy. Hahahaha.
We started dating at 17. In high school hierarchy, he was one of the popular kids and I was a happy nerd wtf. He really liked me for my awesome personality but he was also embarrassed because his girlfriend wasn’t hot.
So I tried. I bought new non-tshirt clothes. I started wearing skirts. I learned how to walk in heels.
When we broke up, I was heartbroken but a part of me was relieved. I’m not a hot girl. I’m not Bobo wtf hahahaha and I never felt comfortable with what I was wearing; I only wore those outfits because he liked them.
However, that experience opened me up to different styles of dressing up. I started to look beyond my usual big tshirts and learned how to coordinate trendier and unslutty outfits wtf. And when my family hosted some Japanese exchange students, they taught me the basics of makeup.
I started with just mascara and tweezing my eyebrows, but over the years my repertoire of makeup expanded to what it is today.
I started with beauty and makeup and clothing for the wrong reasons – to impress a boy. And puttering around with makeup and hair products may not be up everyone’s alley; you should do what you’re comfortable with.
But for me, dressing up well gives me confidence. I broke up with my first boyfriend right when we started college. I was devastated but by then I had already figured out my personal style, and I uhh didn’t look so bad anymore. And guys started noticing me. *heart flutters wtf
What I’m saying is… looks are not everything. But looking good can make you feel good, and nobody should judge you on that. 🙂
That said, here’s the ad part of this blog post. 😀 A TV show called How Do I Look Asia which focuses on giving makeovers to ordinary women for that extra boost of confidence is currently in Season 2 right now! It’s sponsored by Marigold Yogurt Drink, a brand committed to looking good and feeling good, and they’re running a weekly contest on Facebook.
If you can recreate the #MarigoldYogurtDrinkDance and upload a video of yourself dancing on Facebook together with the hashtag, you could win weekly prizes of full day pampering spa sessions.
Do you have a makeover story to share? Leave a comment 😀
New vlog!
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