FIVE!!! A tag by Beatrice

Well, thanks to Beatrice who tagged me… heheh, I now have to share my answers to the “5 Questions” … I know this is rather delayed, but nevertheless, here I am! And, I am very ‘obedient’ too as I am posting this on the dot on a FRIDAY!

1. To watch or participate?

I’m a participating kind of person. Must be the exhibitionist in me *hyuk*hyuk* There is one thing I do not normally participate in; contests! I have no idea why, maybe probabilities are not my forte and I can’t remember winning anything from a contest, except an art contest, when I was in primary school!

2. Malls, catalog shopping, or the Internet?

I am a true blue retail therapy person, instant gratification is key! There is no greater joy than playing with products, trying on shoes and clothes, getting stuff in pretty paper bags and wandering aimlessly from one boutique to another! So it’s definitely the malls for me!

3. A bath or shower?

A hot shower is fast and nice. A bath makes my fingers and toes wrinkly and it’s a waste of water, so possibly a damper to the environment. But having said that, a nice Jacuzzi bath once in a while is a nice treat!

4. To talk to people by telephone, in person or by e-mail?

It really depends, chat is great, I can reply at my pace and time. I can express myself with cute emoticons and I can just shut off if I’m too busy, irritated or bored. I express myself with pen and paper better (or emails, figuratively speaking). Believe it or not but I do get tongue tied around new people. Of course, in the case of hubby, good friends and family, in person is the best! The closer the better!

5. Typing or writing?
I love to write, beautiful stationery, pretty notebooks and expensive colorful pens turns me on. However, over-reliance on ‘spell-check’ and 'auto-correct' at work on the PC is making my spelling horrendous!

And now is my turn to tag 5 more people …. here you go, the lucky 5 ….

1. Mrs Top Monkey
2. Baby Iguana
3. Golliwog
4. Cybermate
5. The Hobbit

Brisingr! Let the Flames Ignite!

Hold on to your dragons!!! Finally, after years of waiting, MPH announces that book 3 of the Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini is finally here!

Arrival date: 30th September 2008.
Hardcover list price: RM89
Pre-book online to save RM10 from 23rd May to 31st July 2008 only.



For the mortals among us who has never step a foot into Alagaesia, here's the low down; Christopher Paolini, born in 1983, wrote the first book Eragon when he was just 20! I believe the book was initially meant to appeal to teens and fans of the fantasy segment, but it has gained a huge following, especially for the new generation fans of Tolkien who needs a younger, more rebellious and feisty protagonist in Eragon. The trilogy is more than a fantasy story, it's an incredible epic saga, a heart wrenching account of a young village boy who discovers a secret identity and experience pain, loss, anger, vengeance and love, all together at the same time. But, like most fantasy books, it's only as good as your imagination. Keen to enter the world of Eragon? I would seriously advise that you read the first 2 books before Brisingr.

OK, I know everyone knows Eragon the movie, which is a disaster by the way *cringe* and I am sorry to say I wish they did not even attempt to turn it into a movie. Speaking of which, let's not even get started on how Prince Caspian the movie totally mutilated and destroyed Prince Caspian the book. I'll need a whole new post on that topic *sigh*

Let's get our claws on Brisingr fast....

My Absence, the Meaning of "Crib" and Renovations

A thousand apologies. Ampun seribu ampun.

Shortcake has been really bad for being out of the scene for so long, almost a month now! Bad bad, deserve a good hard spanking.

Well, the disappearance of Shortcake is mainly due to the fussing over the new crib, plus work, and fussing over the new crib, more work, more fussing over the new crib and a short weekend getaway to a nearby cool highland holiday spot. And back to fussing over the new crib.

Crib, by the way means "house" and it somehow surprised me that when i used the word "crib" on another site of mine, people started to congratulate me for being pregnant! Sigh. Crib incidentally is a slang for home or house. Maybe 'crib' is still not that popular in this part of the world. I shall refrain from being slang-ish from here onwards. Sigh.

So what have we been doing about the home....? Renovations has started and it's such a strange mix of agony, excitement and anticipation seeing the house being hacked and drilled and messed up. This illustrates that in order for anything to be beautiful the way it is intended to be, there must be a somewhat intrusive and painful remodeling and transformation process. Like the house. Like our lives. Such truth.

So anyway, there was a good does of furniture and appliances shopping every weekend in addition to the renovation inspection. Here is an interesting piece of furniture we found at Jalan University, PJ. I call it the Zebra Rocker! I wanted it at first sight... I knew it would be perfect for watching my Ugly Betty series. Hubby wasn't sure until the guy from the furniture shop said it's perfect for PS2! Hubby was sold! Now we probably have to draw lots if we wanna have it!

Hail the amazing Zebra Rocker! Quite kinky I must say :P

Another housey thing we enjoyed shopping for was wallpaper. See below damask-baroque design wallpaper from Goodrich we selected for one of our feature walls! Drool-worthy. Thank God our order arrived in time. We were told they might take 3 to 4 weeks. Thankfully they made it here in slightly over 2 weeks!

Wallpaper, Goodrich.

Well, here are some phone-cam pix of the house in it's "transformation" process. I do plan to record the weekly progress of the renovation of our first little love nest. These pics are from week 2.

Here's the brand new oven with which Shortcake will churn out fruitcakes and cupcakes of sorts.

Here's the plaster ceiling in process of being mounted.

What a mess!

The kitchen walls being hacked and stripped naked!

The extensive and complex wiring for hubby's mounted TV and sound system.

More housey updates to come ... :)

Did You Kam Tonight?

Pardon moi, the corny title is inspired by the show of the title “Kam … in your face!”

These 2 weeks, The Actor's Studio in Bangsar is dishing out local flavored randy cabaret, accompanied by a heady concoction of dance and song, served with a side of delectable signature juicy comedy. Wash it all down with a dose of cleavage. It'll have you panting for seconds .... really? Let's find out ...

Here’s the low down. The preamble. The appetizer. Aha. The foreplay … to warm you up before we hit the mains…

Title: Kam... In Your Face
Genre: Comedy + Cabaret + Musical
Venue : The Actors Studio @ BSC, Level 3, Bangsar Shopping Centre, Jalan Maarof, Bangsar.
Date & Time: Thu 1 - Sun 11 May 2008 @ 8.30pm (except Monday)
Tickets: RM102/ RM82/ RM62 (20% off for students & senior citizens)
Ticket Contact: 03-2094 0400 / 1400

The Show Poster. Click to enlarge.
(All press photo from Kakiseni & The Actor's Studio)

Synopsis (from Kakiseni.com) :

Joanne Kam Po Po, the Boom Boom Room’s queen of risqué humour, returns to the stage, after much persuasion from fans, with a louder, funnier, more mature (and still PG-13 rated) adaptation of the original Boom Boom Room show!

This comedy cabaret musical combines song and dance, stand-up comedy and skits with a generous amount of local wit and humour, a spoonful of intellect, a dash of Bollywood, a splice of rock n roll and disco, loads of fun and just enough risqué to spice up the show.

The always irreverent and hilarious Joanne Kam will be joined by Gavin Yap, Douglas Lim, Susan Lankester, Fang Chyi, Ho Soon Yoon, Ash Nair, Ina Fabregas and Malik Taufiq.

Malaysia's Comedy Queen: Joanne Kam
(All press photo from Kakiseni & The Actor's Studio)

What to expect for 2 hours:

Act One :::

1. Feelin’ Good / Steppin’ To The Bad Side
2. Joanne Kam (stand-up)
3. Whatever You Like
4. Sweet Dreams / Tainted Love
5. CSI Petaling Street (skit)
6. In Your Mind
7. Punjabi MC
8. Choli Ke Peche
   

Act Two :::

1. Disco Inferno
2. I’m Coming Out
3. Macho Man / You Can’t Stop The Music
4. Joanne Kam (audience participation)
5. YMCA
6. Streets Of Fire (skit)

The cast of Kam.... In Your Face!
(All press photo from Kakiseni & The Actor's Studio)

Well, I believe most of you are quite familiar with Joanne Kam’s risqué and raunchy brand of humor ... this round, our stunning and bold protagonist is bubblier, brighter and better than ever. She has come a long way from the Boom Boom Room era. If you’re a Kam-Virgin, never fear, there are more shows the coming weekend! Well, more about Joanne Kam in this interview by The Star.

The verdict by Shortcake & dear hubby….

What we liked ….. these can definitely make you “kam” ….

• The energy! Amazing energy makes you teeter at the edge of your seat.
  Joanne Kam of course! She's the reason I went to BSC a day ahead to secure my tickets! I need my dose of no holds barred nonsense and who else better to do it than Malaysia’s Comedy Queen?
• The merciless dissection and humiliation of several Cleo bachelors! ‘ooouchh’ … *applause*applause*
• Well put-together, flawlessly choreographed dance moves, even the non-dancers did great.
• The gorgeous, versatile and barely clothed dancers with big big hair.
• Dazzling costumes; the array of elaborate costumes were downright dizzying!
• Pole dancing! No kidding. Not just the pro-dancers, catch Susan Lankaster on a pole.
• The stunning Ina Fabregas who crooned beautifully.
• Ho Soon Yoon, reminds me of the boy-next-door whose wide smile reduces his eyes to adorable slits. Ho is talented, cuddly, real and everything Malaysian, effortlessly.
• Douglas Lim trying to be Jay-Z; the guy is a real comic and indeed talented. The rap wasn’t half bad either.
• Very excellent rendition and choreography of Tainted Love.
• The Bollywood flavored dance segment was superb.

Turn offs, or not so “kam” inducing ….

• The show started off like a Bangkok Cabaret show (but DUH that’s what it is, a cabaret show! Oh, righto!)
• One of the joke during stand-up was something I read (several times) from email spam. No doubt it was funny and I guess most people do not mind (or did not notice, or politely pretend not to notice), but to me it’s a glaring banner shouting “recycled!” and that, I must say, was quite unexpected.
• I did not quite appreciate the Petaling Street CSI skit.
  
• I felt that Disco Inferno was blah blah bland in comparison to the superb first set before intermission. It’s a good thing the pace picked up somewhat after that.

Should you spend the 60, 80 or 100 bux? Yes, if you nod to most of the below:

• Fan of cabaret (think Vegas, or even Bangkok! Think feathers, glitters and fishnet stockings)
• Fan of musicals, song and dance
• You get a kick out of raunchy naughty jokes
• You like a big strong woman telling you what should do with your life
• You like stand-up
  
• You like the Village People
• You like crazy short skits which don’t make sense
• Pole dancing, whips and leather *oooooohhhh*
• Sexy girls dancing dangerously on stiletto heels are your cup of tea
• You have never seen a combination of all the above and you are bloody curious

Save your moolah and do not bother if you say yes to all of the below ….

• You only watch literature in it’s unadulterated and undistorted form
• You only speak and listen to the English language in it’s purest
  
• You cannot bear risqué and naughty humor
• The ‘F’ word makes you cringe
• Comedy is not your cup of tea
• You’re a staunch homophobic
• You're easily offended (aaaww.. boooo)
  
• You are below 18
• You are below 18 AND a virgin (!)
  

And nope, thou shalt not bring thy children, especially those of school-going age (i.e. below 18). I don’t recall any age limit being imposed here, but this is Boom Boom Room stuff, so you get the idea, right? There are no holds barred on language nor topics. Need I say more?

It was full house last Sunday and the seats for the coming were filling fast when I bought my tickets .... so hurry up if you don't wanna miss this! I had my dose and truthfully I am not a great big fan of stand up, but I'll admit, once in a while I'll need my laughs. For those who know better, Shortcake is really more game for melancholia, mysteries and dark moody plays.

Gardener's Secret

Stumbled upon perfectly fabulous deals at Crabtree & Evelyn at Bangsar Village over the weekend; they had several promotions happening; all out to leverage on the Mother's Day commercialism. Well, the more competition, the better for us consumers right?

Beautifully packed coffret sets for mums ....

Pretty looking goodies up for grabs if you spend loads.

The handcream promotion really caught my eye: Get a small-sized handcream (50ml at RM43) free when you buy a large-sized one (100ml at RM73). This deal is applicable across all variants of handcreams; from Lavender to rose to the popular Gardener's Therapy. I snapped it up immediately seeing that this deal was almost too good to be true! My choice? The award-winning Gardener's Therapy of course!

Lookin' good, smellin' good, feelin' good ....

Details on the back.

An intruder! Who is this mutt who covets my handcream and interrupts my photo shoot ???

Why I love Gardener's Therapy handcream? Well, for a start, they claim that it is created for "gardener's hands"! That's some heavy duty claim! This formula features "intensively healing shea butter to sooth, nourish and protect work-roughened hands". Work-roughened hands! I like that! So serious. Not that I can claim to be a victim of domestic chores, but if this is good enough for gardeners (hard core) then, hey, it's good enough for me (kia-su)! Above all, I love the scent and the texture is rich. It might be rather heavy for those who likes a lighter touch but not as heavy as the L’Occitane Shea Butter (which I keep for pre-bedtime use as it’s heavier and richer).

The Scent? Love it! Fresh green clover, lavender, sage, rosemary and thyme. Damn, sounds good enough to eat!

I plan to get this cute set (pic below) with the 'stand' for the new home .... soooo pwetty .... will look so good in the guest bathroom, or kitchen ....

Well, for the uninitiated, Crabtree & Evelyn is not limited to just personal care such as lotions, soaps and scents. They have a wide range of home-y stuff like drawer liners, candles, cookies, tea bags, honey, preserves (jams) and even bathrobes and towels.

Apparently the cookies are really yummy though I have not tried them.
Oh but Beatrice has tried them, click here to see what she has to say :)

To find a Crabtree & Evelyn store near you, click here.

Pet Penguin?

We adopted a Penguin. Seriously.

I have never really bothered much about home-y stuff, but now that we are about to build our little love nest, we are actively sourcing for home-y stuff. So we went to HOMEDEC 2008 at KL Convention Centre last Thursday ... and lookie here .... we picked up an adorable Penguin, new pet for new home! *aaawwww*


What is it? What does the Penguin do?

It's a water filter! *hahaha* A pretty one as far as water filters go. I say, since you are gonna have this huge block of a thingy in the way at the sink area, it might as well be pretty to look at! Right?

Anyway, it's not just all pretty, here are what they say about the fella, see below ... the lil' fella can do helluva lot for a Penguin :P

Pic taken from: http://www.nesh.com.my/en/

Diagram taken from: http://www.nesh.com.my/en/

Want a cute lil' penguin too??? Happyfeet love comes at a price of RM2688, including installation. (minus RM500 HOMEDEC discount! Yay!)

Visit: http://www.nesh.com.my/en/

Paint Me Pretty!

I finally managed to book an appointment with Color Culture... I chose BVII as I was planning to get my hammam at the same time. It was a complete relaxation cum pamper-me-silly weekend!

Here's the verdict:

Good:

• When I called them, they were pretty efficient; they even asked if I wanted a ring in advance as a reminder. And they asked if I have a preferred 'Color Artist' (which is what a manicurist here is known as)
• The uniforms, name tags, appearance of all the artist connotes a high standard of professionalism and seriousness in what they do here.
• The OPI color selection here far exceeds any other nail salons! Seriously.
• This is the first salon I went to who had 2 strategically mounted TVs! They had on Discovery Travel & Living which was superb.
• I was impressed with the Color Artist servicing a lady next to me; eventhough you can gauge that her spoken English was not good, she explained in decent English (complete with technical and medical terms) on the lady's nail fungus condition. Speaks of good training.
• My artist was a gentle girl called Joey who did a good job and was not overly pushy to try to sell me too many things.
• A good selection of services on their "menu" plus various "packages" to suit specific needs and budgets.
• The freebie! I got a mini set of stuff worth RM90 upon signing up the package!

Love watching TV while I get pampered!

The free gift worth RM90 which comprise 2 cleansers, one lotion and one full sized Avoplex Cuticle Oil. And a pretty pouch!

Not so good:

• They forgot to give me my receipt at the end of it, I had to turn back to ask for it.
• I signed up for a package which makes me a 'member', I would prefer to have some sort of card so I can track my appointments, colors used, purchases and the name of my artist. To rely on my memory alone is rather daunting.
• Lack of space within the salon to put my handbag and shopping bags.
• The place is really small and may not be able to accommodate too many clients at a time, and it gets noisy when alot of people come in at the same time.
• They are not as affordable as most neighborhood salons, but they gave me a certain level of confidence. Also, they use all imported OPI stuff, even the foot scrub, nail sanitizer and tools, which adds up to the slighter uppity price.
  

The end results .... see pictures of my pretty done-up nails!

For my manicure, I chose a pearlized nude shade.

For my toes; a shimmery pink, a drastic change form the usual deep vampish toe-colors I am used to.

Find out more about OPI colors at Bee's Reviews Galore.

Details for those who are keen to doll up your digits here ....

Colour Culture, Bangsar Village II
1F-11, 1st Floor, Bangsar Village II,
No 2, Jalan Telawi Satu, Bangsar Baru,
59100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2287 5129 / 2129
Fax: 03-2287 8129
Email: colourculture.bv@opi.com.my