Wearing black to weddings.

My knowledge on traditions is pretty limited but I do know for sure that black and white are (or were) the colours banned on guests in weddings. Black is classified as a no-no by Chinese tradition because it's associated with bad luck, depression and sadness. White is also a no-no simply because the colour white belongs to the bride and the bride alone on her wedding day. Wearing white would be like upstaging the bride, which equals to disrespectful.

I attended two weddings of my childhood friends in the past one month. One trend I noticed was increasing was people wearing black to church ceremonies and dinners. I guess the modern mindset is taking over. As long as...
(1) they turn up for the wedding,
(2) look good and presentable
(3) there's angpow.

But wearing white to weddings is still a no go :)

I wore a dress I bought from Treats, Midvalley branch. It was grey. Nearly black. Haha. I still don't dare to venture to wearing black dress to wedding dinners, although the little black dress can never go wrong and makes one look very classy. But all black is quite boring leh. And for the fear of offending the parents and grandparents. Friends sure won't mind but their parents, you don't know.

But hey... There're so many other colours out there, why not wear them instead?

Discovery of BB Cream

Only just recently, I've incorporated BB cream into my morning skincare. After seeing so many threads in Lowyat Forum selling BB cream, my mischievous self did not allow me to sit quiet quiet and not go check it out.

Excuses... Yah, I know. I'm just saying that to make me feel better, can or not?

Anyway, BB cream actually stands for Blemish Balm and, as you can tell from the name, it's a cream. According to what I've read, you can use it as a foundation base before applying makeup, (2) conceal all your dark eye circles, ugly zits, big zits, small zits, blackheads, whiteheads pimple/acne scars, uneven skintones and improve complexion, and (3) it also has healing properties as a blemish balm and it lessens or get rid of zits.

So if you wake up in the morning and discover that you have a horrendous zit, what better option is there than BB cream? You can just apply it all over your face (by patting, not rubbing like moisturizer) AND conceal the ugly zit AND heal the zit. Better than applying the other blemish gels which have zit-healing properties but no zit-hiding properties. Better than risking the risk of worsening your skin condition by wearing foundation which has zit-concealing and skin-hazard properties.

Oh, while foundation cakes at the end of the day, BB cream doesn't. To read more about it, click here. Oh I love this product.

So far I've tested three different BB creams because there is no ultimate BB cream that will work wonders for everyone. You really need to try them to see which one suits your skin the best. Recommendation can only go so far. Seeing positive results is way better than just hearing this and hypothetical statements. Just like science :)


I admit that I was a bit skeptical to try out different products like this because I believe that you'll be murdering your skin for trying too many different things at a time. And I still stand by it. Different products contain different chemicals. Then if you're trying too many at once, too many chemicals would be involved and that'll be too harsh to your skin. That's just my belief lah. I don't know whether this is scientifically proven or not.

BRTC Perfect Recover Balm - Bought this from someone online for about RM90++ for 30 ml. This is a higher end product manufactured by a pharmaceutical company (and I think has medicinal properties) so it'd be a bit pricey. The coverage was pretty awesome and it gives me a warm undertone. The texture was pretty thick for my taste but it seemed to blend in well with my skin after a while. Am not too sure about its oil control though it specializes in oil control. Still have to blot once or twice a day.

Skin79 Super+ Pink BB - Got this in sample size, which can also double as a travel size. So far I love this one the most. The texture was more liquidified than BRTC Perfect Recover and easier to apply. The coverage was good in my case. Not as great as BRTC but will do. The oil control seems to be better, and it gives me a healthy glow. One bonus point about this one is that it also contains SPF 25 which BRTC Perfect Recover does not have (you'll have to buy the Perfect Protect for sunblock). With its slight pink tone, my skin looked very natural after application. I might just stick to this one.

Skin79 Super+ Gold BB - This one differs from Super+ Pink that it contains gold and caviar extracts which apparently sooths and moisturizes your skin. The coverage was more or less the same as the Super+ Pink and it also has SPF 25 which is awesome cuz I like to minimize the amount of stuff I subject my skin to daily. Because this is more suited for dry/combination skin, the oil control was practically non-existent. So this is a no go for me.

Honestly speaking, my complexion has improved quite a lot since I've started using BB cream. I find my skintone now to be more even and less weird when I look at myself in the mirror. It also gives a glow to my skin that looks healthy and less oily. I have oily/combination skin, so that's my main concern when I choose facial products. I don't wanna look like I have enough oil on my face to deep fry a Garoupa.

I don't have problem with acne but I do have pimple scars... sigh. My pimples (when it comes) seem to be blooming at my chin area for some mysterious reason. Once upon a time it was at the forehead. Then it was my temple. Now it's traveled downwards to my chin. Maybe I should STOP TOUCHING MY FACE!

Oops, went off topic. So yeah, after applying BB cream, I find my scars hidden and out of sight PLUS my scars even became lighter and are healing more rapidly after using it for 2 weeks. God bless the person who invented this! The inventor is one smarty pants. I know I sound very commercial-like. Sorry, but it's really works! Good things must be shared right?

Did I deserve it?

4239687289357 things you gave me to do while you were away, I got two mixed up.

I'm sorry that I got them mixed up.

I'm sorry that I didn't execute all the 4239687289357 things you asked me to do perfectly.

I'm sorry that I am not a perfect daughter as you wished me to be.

I'm sorry that I screwed them up.

But do I deserve to be called stupid just because I forgot 2 things?'

Do I deserve to be reminded that I forgot those 2 things and be called stupid again and again?

I'm sorry I burst out angrily at you the last time I heard "stupid" from your mouth.

But I couldn't take it anymore.

Why couldn't it be "Aiyah.. why are you so forgetful?" or just "Ask you to do few simple things also can't get it right"? Just like that.

Of all things you could have called me, it was "stupid" instead?

Why did I have to be called stupid?

I wanna know coz it hurts, 妈. It really does.

Ramblings of a former tomboy

When I was in primary school up till junior high, I was (or always thought of myself as) a tomboy.

Had short hair. Don't like to wear skirts. Don't like pink. Not bothered with appearance. Not bothered with taking care of my face, skin, etc. Don't like playing with barbie dolls, although I had one which I snipped her hair short because I hated the long blonde superficial hair she had. Sadistic, ain't I?

Preferred playing legos and computers (I grew up in the early 90s' where girls do not play computer). Scraping my knees and my hands was my second nature until my mom got so sick and pissed with me coming home from school so frequently with cuts, wounds and bruises. Most of which I had no idea where they came from. But I liked stuff animals. And I hardly play rough with others. I guess those were the only indication of any girliness at that age.

I also had this superficial mentality that I would never want to dress up, or need to depend on any skincare products to have a good skin. Kids! Sigh. Haha. Oh well, nobody knew what was in my mind at that time though. Except for maybe my 姐姐. I hated the hassles of all those things. I still hate hassles now. But it's more towards hassles caused by things which are unnecessary, insignificant, not worth your concern, and small little things.

Looking at myself now and comparing with me back then, I think it's really a laugh. Now I have long hair, refuse to cut it short EVER again. Still a clutz, but not as clumsy as I was before. Loves to go shopping and window shopping. Looking at pretty clothes and shoes, and trying them on. I don't hate wearing skirts anymore. But still prefer jeans, shorts and pants to skirts. I'll wear skirts and dresses to wedding ceremonies and dinners lah. It would be so rude and disrespectful if I were to wear jeans to a formal occasion.

I STILL love sports. Haha. I may not be good at a lot of sports but... That hasn't changed.

Anyway, now I go through the daily skincare routine. For the sake of taking care of my skin's health. With all kinds of harmful things and chemicals roaming around invisibly and floating mysteriously in the air we breathe in, I think this has totally become a necessity. I pretty much agree with the saying that there is no ugly girls, just lazy ones. Can't recall to whom these words of wisdom belonged to, but what she said is so true.

I do thank God for my parents who gave me good complexion... although I'm not quite sure which one of them. My guess is my mom. But I have pink undertone (not yellow) which is definitely inherited from my dad. Maybe a good combination of both? Wah seh, perasannya aku.

Hey, for those of you saying that I'm lucky because I "never" had an acne problem, I'd like to say that you are so wrong. Perhaps it's not wrong for me to say that I was blessed that I never had much pimple breakouts since my teenage years. However, if I was not wrong (and I'm pretty sure I'm not), I had my fair share of breakouts when I was 10-12 years old, which was around the time when the dreadful auntie paid her first visit to me and my hormones started going crazy.

You know, at that age, nobody knew what pimples were. Even when my sister told me that I had pimples, I was fazed... apa benda tu? So by the time I entered junior high, my pimple problems were greatly diminished while most others started theirs. So by the time people started noticing pimples, the annoying little zits had already gone.

I really hated everytime people kept indirectly implying that I was going to have skin havoc in college since I had none in high school. A teacher actually said this out loud during class. She taught me History in Secondary Two. Don't know if it was out of jealousy or out of envy. Or trying to make the others feel better by pronouncing hell on others. Why is it that one can't make others feel better with some method that does NOT disparage or offend others? So nice to feel good by comparing with others ha? So childish.

Emergency Festival

While Suzan was in neighbouring Singapore birthday-feasting, Malaysia was having an Emergency Festival (By the way, I know I already wished you via sms BUT happy birthday Suzan! Happy things must be celebrated!).

Emergency Festival? Yes, Emergency Festival.

No, not the emergency with doctors, paramedics, nurses, really cool ugly wounds and bandages, ambulances, fire fighters, drippers, morphines...

Emergency as in Darurat. Where there is curfew, food and water ration, Britishs, communists/revolutionists, I shoot you you shoot me, I kill you you kill me... you get the picture. Apparently this year marks the 60th anniversary of the Emergency Period. Seriously if it wasn't for this exhibition, I wouldn't have remembered.


Activities during this Festival include exhibition and walkthrough of events, dramas, documentaries and even an aftershow dance floor called Disco Darurat. The sound of it is odd right? Oh, but they play really cool songs from that era remixed. Man if they play this kind of music in clubs here in KL, I think I'll be there every night.

And I'll be very broke.

And my parents wouldn't be too happy. Haha. I guess they pray really hard. And God is a prayer-answering God.


The festival was held at the building next to Central Market (Or was it Central Market itself?). The bunch of us didn't know such place existed until then. So much for being KL-bred.

The exhibition exposed us to the lifestyle of the people in Malaya back then. Which, of course, you don't learn about in high school Sejarah and it's only small pieces of a bigger picture. You know, I wished that teachers would really make the effort to have these kind of interactive learning instead of spoonfeeding and lecturing us. I can guarantee that I learnt more about Malaysian History in that one night alone than the five years in high school combined together.


These papers lying scattered all over the floor of the exhibition hall were actually examples of flyers the Brits distributed (by flying all over the place and throwing papers off the plane literally) during the period to brainwash the Malayan people, portraying Parti Komunis Malaya as blood-thirsty criminals.

Look at how much paper was used by the Brits back then! Global warming culprits.

OK. Here's the deal. In school, History textbooks taught us that: (1) PKM members were bad people with bad intentions and personal greed; (2) they have no god; and (3) mereka merupakan golongan yang terjerumus ke dalam ajaran sesat.

Now, here's a fresh perspective. A different one. We actually get to listen to the stories from the other side. Yes the very people who were accused of treason to the country - the members of Parti Komunis Malaya. While the Brits and textbooks call them Communists, they call themselves Revolutionists.


Here's a picture of the director of the Revolusi '48 documentary (long hair guy) interviewing a former PKM revolutionist (old man) who selflessly shared his side of the story. The one story which had been hidden from us.

Back then, Malaya was rich with rubber and tin resources. The British brought in plenty of manpower from other places, e.g. India. With greed, comes abuse of power. With abuse of power, comes abuse of rights. With abuse of rights, comes the establishment of PKM by the labourers as a movement against the British colonists and as an association which fights and defends for the rights of the labourers in Malaya.

Unlike popular belief (or rather the belief a particular group of people wants us to believe), PKM was not a Chinese party. Neither was PKM a racial party. They were revolutionists who were fighting for freedom and independence from the Brits.

Oh, and one of the rules of PKM is to respect and not degrade women. Anyone who is found guilty of raping a woman will be shot to death on the spot. Fuiyoh! Good right? Haha.

Anyway, the documentary we watched was just a first draft. Can't wait to see the final version!


The hanging boards are actually pictures of life during the Emergency Period. There was also a picture of the very first Identity Card (modern day MyKad). Do you know that as Malaysians, the only proof of our Malaysian citizenship all around the world is our MyKad? If we lose our MyKad, then that's it lah. Aliens we become.

Oh, and Identity Card was introduced by the Brits during the Emergency Period to identify PKM members from the neutral (or seemed neutral). I think this was taught in high school, but I never got around liking Sejarah. Let alone remember facts. I remember Year 1511 as the year Malacca got colonized by the Portugese because 1511 was the Jaring internet dial-up number back then. Hehehe.

Now I know why I always get headache and fever whenever I had to study Sejarah back in high school. I'm allergic to bullshit. So, food for thought... the Sejarah we learn in school - is it Sejarah or Sastera?

All Things New

New Study Table

After I've graduated -_-;

Nevermind. At least now I can mark reports in my room while blasting music on my pc. Actually, this picture was taken few months back (I bought this with Suzan. Yes, while she was still here. Yes, I know it took me a few million donkey years to post this up. Yes, I am getting old. Yes, I am getting slow. Yes yes, whatever...)

Never got around posting it up. It was saved as drafts though. This picture is rather old now. Most of the stuff has changed. Although the positions remain the same. And it's messier. But of course, for picture's sake I'm gonna clean it up a little because I paiseh wanna show you the messy true me.

My room looks very different from the one I've been living in during the years I was roomies with my sis. Well, now she's married with her own house, I am the only mistress of the room and I get to do what I want with it. Muahahaa. Space. I love it. Even my mom was saying that it's easier for her to sweep the floor now.

Oh, by the way. Three computers kaput-ed in my room. It's one problem after another. My old pc hard disc konked. So all my data (including my convocation pictures) are gone. Shit man. Should have burned them into the CD after I got them. Not wait until I finished my honours. Haiyah. So yeah, Suzan, I might need to take the pictures from you again the next time I see you. Haiyah haiyah haiyah.

Then, took my brother's old pc (after he got a new one). Something also went wrong with it. Forgotten what though. I think it was RAM or motherboard problem. Celaka betul. That pc only lasted a month or two.

Then, took the study room's pc. My mom seldom uses it anyway. And if she needed to use any pc, she can just pop into either my bro's room or mine. Still same house, same floor wat... Where got far?? ANYWAY. That one was working fine. In fact, my dad's friend helped us fixed that pc and assembled new hardware. And he has been fixing our pc ever since I could remember. Then came virus attack that ate some of the files required for Windows to run. Yes, as you've guessed it, the computer cannot start up and CRASHED!!

THREE IN A ROW YOU KNOW!! THREE IN A ROW!!!!!

You tell me, my luck with computers very the jia lat or not???

My bro and I were discussing on what's the problem, as my dad just bluntly put it, "Forget it lah... the computers are old and probably condemned."

Now my study table is a house to 4 pcs (as you can see).


Three old and condemned pcs sitting beneath my study table. My room's a computer morgue! At least they come in useful as leg rest and pinter paper storage. Haha.

And the fourth one is a New Computer!!! Huehuehue. I got a new toy from Lowyat.


I think everything is different. Except the printer. And the mouse. I curi-ed the monitor from the study. No logic to me to let this bigger Samsung flat screen monitor to lie there and collect dust, while I have to squint my already-small eyes to see stuff on my old smaller LG monitor hor? :P

Even the speaker's changed. Seems to me that everything changed from white to black. I think I am getting into the dark emo phase.

New Handphone
Now this is really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really old news. I had changed my handphone in uummmm... June? Or July. See, it was so long ago, I don't even remember!

I had been using the same white Nokia 3100. The one who had been with me so faithfully for as long as 4 years. It's worth so much that when I traded in the handphone, it was valued at only RM 40. Hahaha. Yes, that old. Anyway, I traded the old Nokia 3100 for Samsung Slider E950!


I liked the phone because of the design and its features initially. It had 3.2 Megapixel camera... I think it must be the old habitual thing because I don't even remember that I have a camera in my handphone until months later. Seriously. Usually when people have a new toy, they tend to happily explore everything. I, on the other hand... I think I am strange.

I liked it also because it slides. I wanted either a slide phone or a flip phone. But none of the flip phone looked ideal. I don't know why flip phones in Malaysia look so odd. Why can't they be nice and flat and not boring?

It can also play mp3 songs as ringtone while my previous phone can only take polyphonic ringtones. My first ringtone? Super Junior's "Don't Don". Heheheh. My ringtone now is an irony - "Wrong Number" by Dong Bang Shin Ki. When people call me, I hear Changmin singing something in Korean, then DBSK telling me "You got the wrong number, you got the wrong number, you got the wrong number, so don't call me no more". Would be awesome as a caller ringtone right? Hehe.

What I didn't know was the square thing right in the middle of the phone under the Samsung logo was a touch screen that rotates function with different application. Sometimes it'll be arrows up and down, left and right. When I'm using the mp3 player function, they'll be stop play pause, etc. I also stunned. Haha. It is true that I am a pure bred city gal. But technology is moving way faster than my brain can take. But it's cool man. So cool.

P.S. Now I'm thinking of a 4GB mp3/mp4 player.

Jokers

Just when I thought I've seen everything, and that my job was starting to be a little mundane, I see these random things written by some students in the works they submitted. Really. I am not making these up.

They just make me laugh out loud and be happy in the midst of the brain-stress while marking.

Words of wisdom #1

The aim of the experiment was to determine the concentration of ascorbic acid in vitamin C.

O.o A perfect example of blindly doing their reports. The last time I checked, vitamin C and ascorbic acid are the same thing. Sigh.

Words of wisdom #2

Paprika is made from bell pepper.

HAHAHAHAA. That is equivalent to you telling me that strawberries are made from blueberries.

Words of wisdom #3

(First lines in introduction) Why are most plants green? Why do the leaves of some trees turn from green to orange or yellow in autumn? This experiment will help shed some light on this subject.

Speechless. Beyond. Words. Plus, the experiment was focused on chromatography rather than colours of the plants and different types of pigments. Sigh.

And this one has to be the best.

Words of wisdom #4

The chromatography plate developed into a watchglass.

Omo omo! Magic show!!!