2009 Makeup Obsession: Part 1 - Makeup Brushes

I can finally announce that I really, really, really spent on makeup for my first time in my life this year. I know, it’s quite late for a girl to pick up on makeup but at least now I can confidently makeup myself. Lol (Shows you how “tom boy” or indifferent I used to be to the world of cosmetic and beauty.)

I used to own some lipsticks from mum and freebies from magazine (which I didn’t really use – regretting now) and a set of makeup brushes I asked my mum to buy from me – never knew how to use till this year.

Lets start with the tools first..


This is how my makeup brushes collection look liked. I got my mum to buy me the set of 4 makeup brushes from Beauticontrol. (At that time, I kept them and never used). The brush roll has started peeling; so I threw it away. I got those brow grooming brushes from pharmacist. The only proper tool I bought and used was the eyelash curler from Bodyshop for events.

2009
Came 2009 and my makeup brushes collection became like this:



PG Brush Travel Set from lowyat.net
I went into online shopping and was interested in getting a compact travel set makeup brushes. I stumbled upon this PG brush travel set for RM65 from the user hinale in lowyat.net. I decided on synthetic brushes after reading the comments there because it shed less, less smell and is very soft. (The smaller brushes in the black pouch)

Yet, I didn't really used it except for the blush brush. At that moment, I was busy googling about the different types of makeup brush and trying to figure out which is the blush or powder brush. (Noob here)

Stila brushes
Then I found out about Stila closing down sales and grabbed 3 brushes for myself at RM30 each. The remaining Stila Brush no. 8, 21 and 27 was obtained from a personal shopper, Miu around RM60-RM100 each.

Everyday Minerals Brush
I bought Stila Contouring Trio at this time and checked out YouTube on how to use it. Then, I looked for an angled blush brush as shown in the tutorial to contour my cheeks. I got the EDM angled brush from Everyday Minerals range (bought from www.lovingminerals.com) at RM36. It's really soft! Love it!

ELF Makeup Brushes

I noticed many people raving about this 1USD eyeshadow brush by ELF and got one myself to try. It's really fluffy and compact to collect the right amount of eyeshadow for me. Then, I started checking out online sprees and got myelf a few ELF Studio brushes range at 3USD each. I got myself 2 brushes to compare with Stila in terms of function which I have yet to do. I even got the Face Kabuki Brush which was given very good ratings online but have yet to test it out.

I was eyeing a few more other brands but thankfully, looked at the holes in my pocket and stopped myself..

In short, I only now use a blush brush (Estee Lauder blockbuster set) from my mum, Beauticontrol Powder brush, PG eyebrow brush, Bobbi Brown eyebrow brush (will demo the difference between the two), Stila eye liner brush, eyeshadow brushes from Watson and Elf. Looking into getting a lip brush.
(can't edit my pictures to show you which brush is which - next time)

I haven't used the other brushes because I "sayang" them.. haha meaning I'm willing to just keep them new and unused. Well, I think I will test the rest next year.

Not bad for a beginner? Haha Did I manage to catch up to you other “expert” gals out there? Someone is going to harp on me about spending so much for cosmetics after seeing this entry and the next!

P.S. Wanted to take nicer pictures of my makeup brushes but kind of lazy to arrange them... so you'll have to endure my mediocre photography using my handphone first. He he..

Next entry: 2009 Makeup Obsession: Part 2 - The Cosmetic Products

Katee & Twitch dances to Mercy

I've been following "So You Think You Can Dance" on Astro channel with my mum recently. Just googled and realised it was the previous season 2008. Anyway, today, there's this dance that's interesting enough to blog about.

Even though neither these 2 dancers win but they came in 2nd and 3rd later, I truly enjoy seeing them dance. This dance was nominated Contemporary routine choreographed by Mia Michaels. Enjoy! Oh yeah, ladies, don't go after a man like this. Lol!

Shopping Diet

I’ve been using this term for the past 2 months. My friend exclaimed, “You bought something? I thought you said you were on a shopping diet?”

I started reflecting on the term and came to this conclusion.

When a person goes on a diet (from food), he or she does not totally stop eating altogether. He reduces his intake and controls the choices of food he takes.

It’s the same with my “shopping diet”. I define it as discouraging myself to “binge” into shopping by avoiding temptation – don’t go to shopping malls or bring a grouchy friend who scowls horribly when you try to shop (ahem). Avoid shopping malls during PMS or when you’ve shopping-diet for a long duration.

My friend complained that I did not fulfill my shopping diet because I bought a few items. I guess it’s learning to differentiate between needs and wants. It’s also important to priorities which needs are more important and so forth.

Hence, the things I bought which my friend complained are 2 books during a book launch (which I didn’t read at all). My other friend didn’t stop me from buying.. (you know who you are).. lol.. Tempted me with the buying 3 at a discount rate… ahhaha But the most important person to stop myself should be me. Not saying I regretted. It’s a nice book on my shelf. Haha Plus autographed by the author (Another excuse to myself)

Other items I have bought since then are skincare (I need it and the price is going up next month), working shirts (50% off and the cutting fits me perfectly), Christmas presents, makeup items (it’s on sale!!) etc.

Doesn’t this sound familiar to you all? Notice the excuses I tell myself in brackets? Anyway, to make things worse, my goal of throwing/reducing my stuff to 50% is moving very slowly… hopefully forward and not backwards! I’ve even reduced my dateline to end of January 2010. Wish me luck! Yikes!

P.S. Anyone interested in my collection of books? Been slowly “snail-pace” selling them off in lowyat.net.

Movie Review: Princess and the Frog

Oh dear... I didn't save my review I wrote earlier. When I rewrite my entries, I feel that it is not as good as my first.

Anyway, as I've mentioned before, I'm a huge fan of Disney animations/cartoons. I try my best not to miss any of their movies but I have to say, this time, it was not up to my expectation.

The Princess and the Frog is loosely based Grimm brother's fairytale, The Frog Prince which tells the story of a prince magically transformed into a frog. The magic spell can only be broken by a kiss from the princess.

In Disney's version, there's a twist whereby the heroine, Tiana gets turn into a frog instead when she kissed the prince. Click on the link for further details and spoilers.


Why was I disappointed with this movie? It feels so familar with similar scenes and styles that I feel Disney could do more. Try to check if you noticed any of these:

1. Beauty & the Beast

In the introduction scene of little Tiana and Charlotte who was playing together, there was a little tea party table with a teapot and a tea cup. Well, that's Mrs Potts and Chip from Beauty and the Beast (this appeared in another movie too) Feels like playing "Spot the hidden Mickey". Haha

2. Hercules

The day-dreaming song of Tiana's new restaurant in the future reminds me of the graphics and style of the song in the Disney movie, Hercules whereby the ladies were singing "Hero to zero" of a summary of how Hercules grew up and succeeded in defeated more monsters.

3. Aladdin

The float scene during Mardi Gras is reminescent of the arrival scene of Prince Ali in the movie Aladdin.

4. Jungle Book

Louis the Jazz-playing alligator strongly resembles Baloo of the Jungle Book.

What else did you notice that reminds you of the other Disney movies?

Personally, I didn't quite like the introduction of black magic and spirits in this movie as a children's movie. In fact, I find that there is no specific target group currently for Disney movies as it does not have lovable characters like those in Disney-Pixar animations or more interesting storyline for adults. A new thing to note that Princess Tiana is the first black Disney Princess.

Please buck up! I miss the magical world of Disney.

In short, I would not really recommend Disney fans to watch this in the cinema because non-fans have told me to wait for the DVD release. However, as devoted fans, go ahead and watch it for old-times' sake! :)

Post-Christmas 2009 – Part 2

Christmas Dinner

My cell group had a little get-together this year over a member’s place. It was pot-luck night and I, being single, got the easiest task of bringing fruits. Lazy me bullied my dad to buy a watermelon and helped me cut it too.

Images are not of the real events. Googled them up to liven up my entry. Hehe

Gosh – should have taken pictures of the food, will get some pictures from other members who did take some. We had a very Malaysian array of food: nasi lemak with spicy and yummy sotong sambal (even though it stings my mouth – I continued having seconds of the sambal… hahahah), fried mihun, chicken curry, beef rendang, chai kueh, stuffed taufu, fried meat rolls, fried fish ball, pineapple jelly, chocolate cake, fruitcake, watermelon and a few others I did not try.

We started the night with dinner then ice-breaking games. I wasn’t involved in organizing any of the events for the night so this is a guest’s point of view. The guy in-charge brought a bedsheet – I was puzzled.

We had a game whereby the bedsheet separated 2 groups of people like the badminton net. Then a random few would be selected to hide behind the sheet. When the sheet is dropped, the person who shouts out the name of the other person over the sheet first wins. Laughter filled the air with slow response or naughty participants who change their name tags.

Images are not the real events. Googled to liven up my entry. Hehe

Few games later, we sang Christmas carols with the cell leader, expertly strumming the guitar. A fellow member shared his testimonial on how God has helped him through his tough times. Never knew that about him but I hope his sharing has touched some.

We ended the night with a last Christmas carol “We Wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” and present-exchange sessions. :)

I hope my friend enjoyed myself somehow and will be a little open this kind of events. I wanted her to experience herself how a Christmas get-together by cell members was done. :)

Post-Christmas 2009 – Part 1 & Mini Food Review: Roasted duck - Restauran Sunrise

How was your long weekend? Enjoyed eating out with family and friends? Shopping for gifts? Receiving gifts? Giving gifts? :)

Christmas Eve Dinner

Well, Christmas for me this year is rather fruitful with activities. My family and I had a simple Christmas dinner with roasted turkey, lamb shank, sushi (my mum likes this), otak-otak sticks (brought directly from Johor by my brother) and a few other side dishes.

Roasted turkey was pre-ordered from Bandar Botanic Clubhouse (which ordered elsewhere) and it was dry.. dry.. dry… It was accompanied by mushroom sauce (which doesn’t taste like it) and cranberry jam. Don’t really like the turkey this year. Oh well… Sorry no pics – too lazy to take. Lol. I know the combination is very “rojak” and Malaysianised.

Christmas Morning

On Christmas day, brought a few friends to church with me to listen to 3 Christmas song sung by our 1st Malaysian Idol, the lovely elegant lady dressed in the traditional sari. One of my friend happily told me that she announced to her friends that she’s going to a concert in a church.. Lol.

Sr. Pastor preached about searching for things in life. He even showed images of this one person who placed a signage right in front of his bungalow saying something like this, “I don’t like you. Don’t come to my bungalow. I will call the police” (paraphrased by me as I don’t have photographic memory) He relates about how important it Is between relationship with one another and ultimately, with God. Material wealth can never give the inner peace and joy we all long for.

Mini Food Review: Restauran Sunrise, Seapark, PJ

After that, we had a lovely lunch despite queuing (and being ignored) at Restaurant Sunrise, Seapark to eat the roasted duck. I think we waited for more than half an hour just to be sitted before even getting to order. Luckily, my friends found the wait worth it to eat the duck rice or in another friend’s words, “It’s the company which makes the meal good.”

It cost us RM59.80 for a whole roasted duck, 5 plates of rice and 5 drinks. (RM49 for the whole duck.) We were served with a bowl of soup each (rather salty but appetizing) The roasted duck is rather greasy but the crispy roasted skin is worth the wait. Yummy. The meat is tender and easy to slice with fork and spoon. It is served with the chilli (which is more sour than spicy) and the dark sauce.

Other detailed reviews can be found here.

Some site gives this information:
Tel: 03-7876 9689
Business hours/days:
11:30am to 2pm (or until sold out)
Closed every Monday

Got my friends a little gift each – please don’t have to get me something back in future! :) Just want to pass on the spirit of giving.

2010 Resolution

They say “young people” feel invincible. Why?

Somehow, “young people” perceive they are immortal with reckless behaviour and daring stunts. Some might event say they throw caution to wind and dare to take risk. They think they still have many years ahead in their lives to live seriously and boringly in a routine job.

However, despite the advent of new technologies and better medical treatment, the life span of this generation is not as impressive as our grandparents’ era.

For example, my friend’s grandparents who owned a laundry shop are now in their mid 80’s and going strong. Even her grandfather still drives around (I was surprised they still renew his license) but he is healthy, fit and independent. Unfortunately, my friend’s mother passed away a few years before.

Parents now outlive their children. Some cannot even “reap” the benefits of raising their children who suddenly stroke by a heart attack at the tender age of 17 years old or killed in a tragic drowning accident.

Wondering why I’m so “sober”?

A young actress named Brittany Murphy passed away yesterday at a tender age of 32. I personally feel that her acting career would go further if time allows. There are so many other examples and cases which show people are no longer living the ripe age of 75 years old.

What do we do?

Do we become paranoid and health conscious all of the sudden? Do we wrap our little children in bubble wrap to protect them and lock them at home? Do we cut red meat and eat only vegetables?

Whatever is it you decide – remember this, life here is temporal. The bible says we should not be too attached to the worldly ways.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)

I guess there’s why there is so many movies showing spirits unwilling to ascend to the next world with “unfinished” business to attend here like this movie: Over Her Dead Body.

I’ve decided a new resolution this year: nothing big or new to some but a little step out of my shell for me.

I shall put myself outside my comfort zone and try new things. I shall keep making myself uncomfortable to adjust to new surroundings and conditions. I shall learn to be more bold and daring to make choices which are no longer just convenient. For who knows, what that long windy, rocky path might lead me.

It’s enough of smooth sailing in my life now. I shall try to steer this ship into that scary darkening stormy waters. Wish me luck.

*Gulp* And whatever happens, I shall remember this one important word: Immanuel (God is with us) and feel comforted. :)

Someday my Prince will come...

Remember the song sung by Snow White in the Disney animation: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?

Someday, my Prince will come... la la.. la la.. la laaa..

Well, I had a funny dream last night with a glimpse of the silhouette of my Prince.


The term "prince" appeared in my dream because I was watching this TV series, Kings which was about a fictional Kingdom of Gilboa, a modern absolute monarchy. More details can be read about it from the link but basically, I just remember watching a tyrannial "Queen" who did her best to protect her son, the "Prince". It was my first time watching that series - so I didn't quite knew what it was about.

My dream was a modern-age daily event whereby I knew my Prince was nearby and we were about to do something wonderful together when I reluctantly forced myself to wake up.

Siggghhh.... when I woke up, I couldn't really remember the dream and the details but I remember the silhoutte of my Prince as in the lingering presence in my mind... Sighh..

Then reality sets in and I was late leaving for work. Lol! Thankfully, traffic is good these days.

My heart thumps trying to recall my dream which I cannot remember but hope to dream again someday. Lol

No more silly romantic love stories for me these few days! ;)

Online Shopping Review: Acmamall.com

I’ve read some negative reviews(Malaysia Crunch & Pin's Malaysia Online Biz) on the delivery of this online store, Acmamall.com but I wanted to get a book which is not sold here. Hence, I took the challenge to try out personally shopping from acmamall.com

I first read about this store from the book forum: LYN Literary Lounge.

1st Order
I actually attempted to order from them in August but I couldn't use my credit card to pay for it. I had to registered my credit card with the bank for online shopping first. (First time buying with credit card... creeepyyy!!)

Weird enough, no one tries to contact you via email or phone to enquire about this pending transaction which stills appear in my order history after months. I checked my credit card company to ensure the transaction did not go through too.

It was so convenient to buy online with credit card once you have tried. My advice is to avoid shopping with credit card online unless you really have to!

2nd Order
My second attempt was on 13 November 2009. This time I was lucky because they were doing a free delivery promotion and the credit card 35% discount was available too. I controlled the urge to buy more books as I wanted to test out their services first and decided on 2 books.

Transaction history (based on the website order details which you have to log in personally to check)

13 Nov (Friday) - Ordered online through website
15 Nov (Sunday) - Processing (Authorised by Credit Card company)
26 Nov (Thursday) - Packing
30 Nov (Monday )- Delivered

I received my package on my door step on the 2 December 2009 (Wednesday). The courier service used was Securexpress.inx. The books were plastic wrapped and packed in a brown cardboard package as shown below.

It took roughly 2 and a half weeks from the moment I clicked the order button on the website to receive the book. The website states delivery for books take 5-14 business days for Malaysia.

Hence, yes, they have delivered the books on time but as some other reviews might point out - it is quite slow. But since I have read the reviews and anticipted it, I didn't really felt the "lateness". I just needed to make sure the books arrived.

I was reading somewhere that this online store operates by drop shipping from overseas. Hence, the longer duration for delivery and lack of feedback from any parties.

My personal advice:
- Do try this when there's a 35% discount off and the items are not available on the shelves in your local bookstores.
- Do try if you're not in a hurry to get the books.

The book I got was a novel to complete my collection of Judith Mcnaught books (which after I ordered online - I realised finally MPH.online was carrying that particular book). The 2nd book is a Christmas present which will probably never make it to our shelves so I'm happy with my purchase. (image of the book blurred for obvious reasons since it's not Christmas yet!)

Till then, I hope my friend will love the book! :)

On-going "renovation"

I've collected some images to edit for my new banner but my pc is sick and I have no Adobe Photoshop to use! *sniff*

I've resorted to using Paint.net but I am having problems finding a way to rotate the images (like transforming it through skew, free transform) which I normally do in Photoshop..

How? *Wailing*

Now this is the temporary banner I have with shabbily pasted imaged into it. Oh well.. .stay tune till my pc recovers. Sniff... How? Can this do?

I don't intend to put a picture of myself in. Need to model my 'Lil Piggy in front of a sumptious meal soon for the 3rd picture.

Explanation of the pictures:(from your left to right)
1. 'Lil Piggy playing with Elf makeup
2. 'Lil Piggy reading comics: Little Lulu
3. Me eating yummy dessert - to be replaced by 'Lil Piggy!! ;)

To be continued...

Party anyone?

I’m dying to throw a Christmas party but my place is still being constructed and the other units are still wall-less. Have to wait at least 2 more years? *Sniff*

I’ve attended some nice get-together over friend’s place and dinners for festive celebration or just for fun. Imagine holding a barbeque or just having simple pot-lucks with close friends or family in your own place (don’t think about the backscene of preparing and cleaning for now)

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a nice big well-equip kitchen like all those chefs (Jamie Oliver, Martha Steward , Nigella, etc) and cook lovely delicious meals for your parties? (assuming whatever you cook turns out yummy).


Then like the series: Party Planner, you create a theme to decorate your place with the right colour for napkin and baubles plus nice door gifts. Then you even have time to create handmade invites in lovely cardboard with nice stenciling… Don’t forget those cupcakes that it’s in the craze now. Perhaps you can even whipped up a few dozen of those delicate cupcakes. If only..

Now, I’ve resorted to eating in posh-expensive restaurants (which are over-rated sometimes) with my friends to test the food and have a nice time together. Besides burning a hole in my pocket and leaving such a huge crater, I sometimes wish for a simpler dining setting which is friendly to me and my pocket.

Mind you, eating out is great with the nice ambience – no frills of preparation, cooking and washing. But sometimes, I wish I can try it out myself. I admit, I’m not really a cook – the last I cooked was when I was in university just for myself and occasionally for some friends.

I have only cooked Chinese food which is normally food I like to eat. I have yet to try others – as students, it’s mainly to fill your stomach and cravings. I had a craving once for eggs – so I bought a dozen and cook all sort of egg dish for that week. I had fried egg, half-boiled eggs, French toast, scrambled egg, egg salad, etc. and not all in a day, mind you! ;)

I wonder, when my place is finally ready, would I really sit down and prepare all those just to throw a party? Hmmm… in the meantime, keep those invites coming and I’ll be honoured to be your happy guest to contribute to the fun and noise! ;) (Thick skinned enough to self-invite… haahaha) Merrry Christmas!

Postal Woes

I seriously think postcards just don’t like me or there's a crazy underground syndicate out there just to torment people like me by delaying the arrival of my postcard. Or even worse, they bring the postcard around for a ride and interoggate the poor 'lil card in a dungeon somewhere. Ha! Sorry, imagination running wild. *grin*

I’ve just received a second postcard this year from my friend who went overseas for holidays. I use the term second because the "first" postcard took a few months to arrive too (refer to my previous entry on this).
My friend sent the postcard to me on 10 October 2009 from Turkey. I just received it 2 days ago on the 15 December 2009. Unlike my previous postcard, this friend put sufficient postage but it took 2 months to reach me.


Weird….Is this a case of unsolve mystery of delayed postal services? I know, some will say "At least it reached you!" But still...

Anyway, I shall throw out a challenge here: Does anyone else want to test how long it takes for a postcard to reach from your country to my place? Just drop me a message for my address and post the card to me! We'll test it another time! :)

Christmas Shopping: Tealight Candle Holder

‘Tis the season to be jolly.. Fa la la la lah… la la la lah..

Are you in the Christmas mood? I dread this season. It’s raining all the time, money flies out my pocket and I have to eat lots! Sound like a pouting child?

Well, just kidding.. Obviously, I like this season especially now… It’s the end of the year!

Usually, we have a number of public holidays in December i.e. Christmas & New Year! Coincidentally, a few public holidays fall on every Friday in 4 weeks in a row this year! :) My ideal figure for a weekend – 3 days!

Everyone is busy shopping for presents, preparing festive meals and going for long holidays. I regretted not buying extra stuff to be given as Christmas gifts…

I’m keeping all these 3 tealight candle holders for myself. I got them in one of the shopping malls in Singapore (can’t recall which as I was too tired carrying my luggage and shopping).

Isn’t the painting of the Christmas scene just "divinely lovely and Christmasy"? (sorry, out of adjectives.. haha) I was taken by the cute little angel. Santa could have been cuter but I guess this one seems more artisy.

But pause for a moment, didn’t we celebrate Christmas not too long ago? Another year has gone by? It’s time to check my list of resolutions to see if I have accomplished anything. If not, I will continue to carry forward my resolutions to infinity...

I know a few resolutions I have been carrying forward… will reveal next time!

Earring Organiser – Part 2

Here’s a Christmas gift idea for you all! You still have time to order it and get it delivered directly to your house!

I’ve been eyeing this kind of earring stand for almost a year. It's because you can put quite a lot of earrings and rotate it around (like browsing in shops) to pick the one you like!

Normally, these stands are used by the accessories shop selling earring. However, some kind soul-cum-business women/men out there have started selling the stands directly to consumers.

So far, I’ve noticed this seller in lowyat.net is selling a wide array. I’ve bought a butterfly earring stand for my friend’s birthday gift. Hope you like your gift, Alina! :) We even enhanced the "butterfly" theme by buying her additional items: butterfly earrings and butterfly bracelet!

This is the chronological event of the transaction:
20 Nov - Paid item to seller
23 Nov - Seller posted item
24 Nov - Received item

I find the process efficiently done after payment and speedy delivery with the courier service. However, be clear when you place your orders. I couldn't really order with the chinese characters as I've never learn Mandarin.
Back to the earring stands - My personal concern initially was the material it was made of. I wondered if it would create some sort of reaction to the earrings. Hence, I’ve asked some of the earlier buyers who assured me that their earrings are still fine.

Next, I didn’t have any flat surface left to display my earrings – let alone this stand. Lastly, I was worried about dust on my earrings and the moisture.

Hence, I’ve still stored my earrings in the colourful pillboxes I’ve blogged about earlier.

However, I still wish I have the space to put such lovely-looking-earrings stands because it’s way more convenient to pick and chose your earrings in front of a mirror! (unlike pillboxes which require you to open it up). It’s beauty versus functionality!

*Note: Pictures are taken from the thread selling the item. I do not get a commission for promoting the seller's thread. Just wanted to share my gift ideas here and I noticed the price is reasonable*

Shopping Bag

As everyone gets more "environmental"-conscious, a new range of products fill the shelves in retail - the shopping bag! The alternate to plastic! Say no to plastic and bring your own shopping bag.

Gone are the days you would collect lovely thick, beautifully-designed paper bags from department stores. Now, people would love the reusable cloth bags. About 2 years back, I remember visiting the bookstore in Singapore and I noticed a number of magazines were giving free cloth shopping bags to encourage people to bring their own. Wow.. that's nice.

In fact, some places have started to encourage shoppers to bring their own bag by charging plastic bag. Cold Storage has a no-plastic-bag day on Thursday if I'm not mistaken. Bodyshop does not provide plastic bag on the few occasion I visited them and they suggest I place the item into my bag. Aeon Jusco sells reusuable shopping bags to encourage shoppers to recycle as shown in this article.

Another new breed of bags is the foldable "umbrella" bags. Some have conveniently designed that it will be folded into another smaller pouch while others can fold into a small piece. I've seen one shaped like a little strawberry - so cute! It's RM9.90 in stores.

Why do I call it "umbrella" bags? It's because of the material used which reminds me of the umbrella material. Not too sure if it's the same but it feels like it - light weight and waterproof? Have yet to try if it's leak proof. Ha!

I got myself a few of these "umbrella" shopping bags today. It's only RM4.95 from Guardian pharmacy with a few simple designs.

Why I want these? Not just for shopping (which I hardly remember to bring along as I don't carry handbags all the time) but I noticed that it works well to carry dirty laundry! It also gives me the impression it should be waterproof that I can carry my wet towel and swimsuit after a swim. Will try that soon! Plus, I read somewhere in the newspaper that this bag would be useful for additional carry-on during rough travels.

Hence, go grab yourself one of these and stuff into your bag to join in the season of "environmentally"-consicous citizens! ;)

Psst.. I think it'll make cheap convenient and practical Christmas present too if you're really out of ideas. Lol!

Ipoh Food Review: Foh San Restaurant

Makan-makan trip! Here we come! The long waited weekend to Penang to attend my dearest friends’ wedding! :) But before that, here's food review during our pit-stop to Penang.

Food Review: Dim Sum Lunch in Foh San Restaurant, Ipoh

Picture showing the old Foh San

Armed with online research, we headed down to Ipoh to look for the famous dim sum restaurant, Foh San. We were misled by the map online (as shown below) which led us to the old location.
However, the new location is just over the main road. The building was exactly like the picture – a four-storey high open-aired building with generous floor to floor height to create a grandeur feel.
Reaching at noon, we managed to get some bites with a number of items out of stock. Oh well, most of the tables were occupied but we were lucky to get an empty table immediately. (Going late has it benefits. ;) )

We ordered our poh leh tea and waited for them to serve us the dishes. We got a plate of 3 char siu pau (BBQ pork bun) which was tasty and fresh. I find it okay as the pau was not dry and still fluffy. :) See... too hungry till we forgot to take a picture of the pau.

Then we got our first fried dish: “salad prawn”/ shrimp rolls. It was still hot; showing that it was just fried. On the first bite, the crunchiness of the newly-fried skin with the juiciness of the fresh prawn inside was delicious to my tastebuds. It was the “freshest” salad prawn I have eaten. Most of the “salad prawns” in Klang valley are cold from being left out too long and dry. This dish still had the prawn’s juiciness mixed with the crispy fried skin. Good selection at first bite!

The white sauce accompanying this dish looks a bit more yellowish than the normal mayonnaise served by most restaurants. I wonder if it is mixed with something else but I didn’t linger long to taste it .. next dish!

We ordered our dim sum : siu mai, har kau, braised chicken leg and a few others I don’t know the name! We also ordered 2 plates of chee cheong fun to share out.

Being rather hungry, I have to admit I didn’t really savour the next few dishes. Ha! But the siu mai is not so dry and the portion is just nice for me. Too bad there was no dark sweet sauce (normally found in KL) to dip my siu mai. Siu mai is a dim sum made from pork.

I find the har kau (prawn dim sum) not as delicious as I expected. The prawn in the salad prawn was tastier. The skin was not too thick or thin – just nice but as I am not apt with chopsticks (boo-hoo), I still drop out the prawns from the thin translucent skin! Need more practice!
Oh yes, on a side note I love seafood! Hence I usually choose the prawn-type dim sum! :)

The chicken leg was okay… no complains but I never expected to eat more in Penang later! (Wait for next review!) Sorry blur picture!

Chee cheong fun was served with a little of veggie (Arghh what is this veggie call? I’m not a fan of veggies) I find this dish so-so as the “skin” was not very thin and there was not enough sauce. Hence, the dish was rather plain, dry and not tasty! Not really my style. The “belacan” served with it was just okay. I prefer my chee cheong fun to swim in the sauce with more dried prawn belacan and thinner “skin”. I still think it should be delicate and not a mouthful! (I still miss the chee cheong fun in the food court in Yaohan, KL many years back. The skin is thin yet strong enough to hold the prawns within its folds)

We wanted to order loh mai kai but were told it was finished. Then we ordered a bowl of century-egg-porridge and a bowl of fish porridge. Then we waited and waited… the guy didn’t even have the courtesy to come back and tell us it was also finished. Sigh… less crowd but mediocre service. Oh well… it gave us time to digest and had another pot of tea before our dessert next stop.

Other dim sum we ate (which names I can't remember now)

Foh San Dim Sum Restaurant (new location in blue)
51, Jalan Leong Sin Nam, 30300 Ipoh, Perak.

Tel. No : 605-254 0308.
If my review is not detailed enough: do check out Motormouth's. I only found their review after I came back from Ipoh. Looking through it, makes me want to try the other food in Ipoh!