Happy Mother's Day!

When I think of Mother's Day, I am always reminded by this quote by Abraham Lincoln:

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." 

Me and my mum in Yogyakarta. She came to accompany me for an academic conference because hubs wasn't able to join me.

As a mother myself, I am always reminded of all the joy and love I feel for my daughters. The hopes and dreams that I have for them, the prayers that I make so that they are not only be successful in this worldly life, but also be good and pious Muslims, and attain success in the afterlife as well. Which is why I was affected by a post on social media which I read a few days ago from a daughter who is obviously unhappy with the relationship that she has with her mother.

As Muslims, we learn that we should always strive to maintain a good relationship with our parents (especially to our mothers). This is apparent in a number of hadith by the Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h.:

A man came to the Prophet and said, ‘O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the most worthy of my good companionship? The Prophet (PBUH) said: Your mother. The man said, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man further asked, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man asked again, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your father. (Bukhari, Muslim)

A man once consulted the Prophet Muhammad about taking part in a military campaign. The Prophet asked the man if his mother was still living. When told that she was alive, the Prophet said: “(Then) stay with her, for Paradise is at her feet.” (Al-Tirmidhi)

On another occasion, the Prophet said: “God has forbidden for you to be undutiful to your mothers.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari)

However, not everyone are blessed with a good relationship with their mothers or even with their parents.  There may be times where we may not be at the best of relationships with our mother (or both our parents). For some of you, like the post on social media that I read, may be estranged or in a difficult relationship with your mother (or both parents or other family members).

Do you know that our Prophets also have been tested with strained family relationships? Here are some examples:

Prophet Adam a.s. had a son who killed the other.

Prophet Nuh a.s. who even as his son was in the water did not accept his call to Islam. His son later drowned.

Prophet Nuh and Lut whose wives are non-believers.

Prophet Ibrahim a.s. whose father threw him in the fire.

Prophet Yaacob a.s. whose sons had a hatred so deep against their own brother i.e. Prophet Yusuf that they would lie to their own father so that they could kill Prophet Yusuf.

Prophet Yusuf a.s. whose brothers conspired to kill him and threw him in a well with the hopes that he would die.

Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h. whose uncles (Abu Lahab and Abu Jahl) constantly mocked him and also conspired to kill him.

The thing that I've learnt from our Prophets is that, they have never wished bad things for their family members whom they are estranged from. Prophet Ibrahim a.s. tirelessly prayed for his father to accept Islam (Surah Maryam, verses 41 - 48) while Prophet Yusuf a.s. forgave his brothers and invited them to stay with him in Egypt (Surah Yusuf, verse 99).

We are not perfect and nor are we prophets. But we do strive to follow from the best example and the best example that we have is our Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h.

Let us take heed from this hadith by the Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h.:

"The best of you is the best to his family and I am the best amongst you to my family."

May Allah protect our Mothers (and our Fathers too) and make them among the people of Jannah. May Allah protect our relationship with our family and forgive us all for our wrongdoings and keep us on the straight path. Ameen.

Alexa's handwritten Mother's Day card which she gave to me yesterday. Thank you to E'en and Eqa for helping her with the card =).

Happy Mother's Day everyone!


xoxo Fareiny

Fashionista's Escapades: Climbing Broga

So yesterday we took the opportunity of it being a public holiday (it was Deepavali) and went on a hiking trip to Broga. Truth be told, I was quite apprehensive about the trip up until the last minute. We were scheduled to leave for Broga at 4 am and at 3 am I was texting Azima on whether we should go and that it would be dark during the climb up the hill and whether the environment would be safe for us (I mean, it is a jungle and there would be animals roaming around). Azima managed to calm my fears and we went off to Broga and this is how it went:

Broga is located in Semenyih, roughly about almost an hour away from KL so when you're making plans for climbing, do take note of the traveling time that is required. There's a parking fee of RM2 charged and there'll be parking attendants showing you where to park which is great because it will allow the cars to be parked properly and you can easily leave the area quickly after you're done with your climb.

The path is on an earth trail which gets muddy if it rains, so do check the weather forecast before you leave for Broga because if it rains, the trails can be slippery and quite treacherous. Please don't climb when it's raining, or if it starts to rain when you're already halfway up, I would actually recommend for you to stop climbing and start your descent instead.

Breaking dawn over Broga.

Most people would start climbing at 5 am, and when we got there at 5.10 am, there were already quite a number of cars parked in the parking lot. Do bring a torchlight to light your path, there's no streetlights to aid your climb and whatever light that the stars and the moon beamed on us was definitely not enough to light the way. And yes, the handphone torchlight would be enough to light your way. Do also bring a small towel or some wet wipes, you will get sweaty and slightly muddy along the way. A small bottle of water is necessary and maybe some dry biscuits would be enough to tide you over if you're hungry.

The trail. This would most probably be a 30 degree incline (or decline, depending on how you look at it).

In terms of the trail, most of the time it was roughly a 20 degrees incline but there are some parts where the incline was 45 - 50 degrees so that can be quite daunting, especially for first time climbers. Don't worry, there are ropes to help the climbers along the way, especially when the terrain got a little bit steep and be mindful of your step, as you might slip and stumble if you aren't careful. The whole climb took perhaps about an hour and a half for us and if you're fit, it would most probably take you about an hour. We actually stopped many times along the way to catch our breath and to me that made all the difference, I was able to enjoy the whole climbing experience in a more relaxing manner.

The first two peaks.

There are three peaks, the distance between the first peak to the next is about 10 minutes walk and similarly the distance from the second peak to the third is also about 10 minutes walk. The first two peaks are flatter in nature and offers a great 360 degree view of the town and its surrounding areas below while the third peak is covered by some trees and huge boulders. However, once you get on top of the boulder, it definitely offered a better view than the first two peaks.

Climbing down from the third peak. The first peak is at the far end and the second peak is in the middle.

Do bear in mind that there will be a lot of people on the hill. I expect perhaps roughly 50 - 100 people were on the first two peaks while the third peak looked like there were perhaps 40 over people. So it will be crowded (especially during the weekend and public holidays) so if you don't like the crowd, come during the weekdays. Personally for me, I prefer having a huge crowd around me simply because I am a novice climber and there's safety in numbers.

As we were climbing down, there was still a large crowd making their way up so if you prefer, you can always pray fajr first and then climb up the hill. 

If you're wondering about fajr prayers, most people actually prayed fajr at the peaks so just bring your praying mats (or whatever material that's comfortable for you) for prayer. Some groups even prayed jamaah together so there's absolutely no worry of you missing out on your prayers.

Me, Azima, Lin, Ariff and G with the wonderful bright early morning sun ray behind us. Blessed, Alhamdulillah. 

And for parents, if you're wondering whether you should bring your kids along, just so you know, some parents brought kids in their carrier (hint: kids would be below 3 years old) and kids older than that were climbing their hearts out. I do believe this would be a good activity for kids and it would definitely teach them about perseverance, hard work and enjoy getting themselves dirty.

Broga. 1312 feet or 400 meters above sea level.

Waiting for sunrise. 

The sun peeking from the horizon.

This shot was taken from the first peak at 7.30 am while we were climbing down. 

I would definitely recommend the climb for most people, the view is breathtaking and the climb is absolutely worth it. I loved the whole climbing experience and would not mind another climbing trip, inshaa Allah.


xoxo Mrs Fashionista

Thank You to the Medical Staff at Sarawak General Hospital

Last Saturday, my mother-in-law suffered a heart attack. She had suffered a few complications a few months earlier arising from various factors such as a weak heart and diabetes and this caused her to be on medication and regular check-ups with the hospital. 

My view whenever I am with her. 

Am extremely thankful to all the medical staff of Sarawak General Hospital.

She has yet to recover from the heart attack and the past week have seen me flying back to Kuching and helping out the family with taking care for her at the hospital. Usually our shift would entail us (me and hubs) to take over the graveyard shift as hubs has to work during the day and he's only able to be at the hospital after office hours. During my stay with her, I have seen the staff of the Sarawak General Hospital doing their work with the highest level of efficiency and courtesy. Despite working until wee hours in the morning (usually I'd be awake from 9 or 10 pm until 3 - 4 am in the morning to make way for hubs to sleep so that he'd be able to work the next day) and even then the medical staff have been very attentive and professional in conducting their work. Despite my mom-in-law being unconscious, they always greeted her before doing their work on her (from changing the sheets to checking up on her vitals and feeding her). They would always tell her before hand what they will be doing to her and warning her beforehand that it might hurt a little (this is especially true when they are changing her tubes, taking blood sample for tests etc). 

So this is our thanks to the doctors and medical staff at Level 8, Ladies Ward, Sarawak General Hospital. Thank you for being so attentive to our mom, thank you for your proficiency, efficiency and all the help that you have provided and may Allah repay your deeds with the best of rewards. 

My mom in law still has a long way to go in terms of recovery but thank you for making her recovery as comfortable as you can. May Allah grant her the best in this dunya and the hereafter. Ameen. 

xoxo Mrs Fashionista

Happy New Year 2015!

Uh oh, hullo there!

*cough*cough*

*dust*dust*

*achoo!*

Oh well, I haven't been active lately, and there are many reasons for that. And there are a lot things that have happened the past year (2014 I mean) for me to share, so I am at lost on which news do I share first...

So just a brief update on what's been happening in 2014:

We cancelled our trip to Japan last April due to my father-in-law's passing just a day before the trip and we weren't able to reschedule our trip to another date due to many other events that happened in the second half of the year.

Our last family photo together during Eid 2013.

We traveled to Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) at the end of August (until early September) and got robbed by a cab driver (a fake cabbie, actually). I will definitely update a blog on that so that all you out there will be able to recognise the signs of a fake cabbie. That is the first time we've been robbed on our trip overseas and it got me spooked because Alexa was also in the cab with us and I was afraid that the cab driver would harm her. However, on the bright side, inshaa Allah I will post a blog on halal food in Vietnam soon =).

Us in front of Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica

I've enrolled as a student again! Weehooo! It's always been my dream to pursue a PhD and I've enrolled at an institution called INCEIF (will do a review on INCEIF soon) and have been approved to pursue my studies full time by my organisation (the institution at which I am employed) and inshaa Allah will be at INCEIF until September 2016. Do wish me luck in my studies ya!

With Prof. Zubair Hasan after our final class for Islamic Economics.

I've bought another apartment (I don't know what is it with me and real estate, but I do love owning properties and the rental in Kuala Lumpur is so high that I guess buying an apartment is a better alternative for me). So this apartment (it's nothing fancy, just a studio apartment that suit my current needs as a student) is for me to stay while I'm doing my PhD and unfortunately for privacy reasons, I won't be able to disclose the location of this apartment until it's ready to be rented out in the future =).

Attended the Divine Speech seminar by Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan. His talks are even more impressive live and if given the chance, I would love to attend future sessions with him as the speaker (the only other speaker that I would love to listen live would be Dr Zakir Naik, inshaa Allah).

The venue, PICC, was filled to the max, wow!

I have also enrolled as a student of Al-Maghrib Institute and this is one of my personal development goals and one of the ways I would be able to enhance my knowledge in Islam. Considering Al Maghrib's courses are only conducted once every three to four months, I don't think this course will in any way interfere with my PhD inshaa Allah. Here's a post on the first program of theirs that I attended [click here].

Me, mum and my sis-in-law, Izzah attending our first Al-Maghrib seminar =)

We got our paper published in a journal, a collaboration effort of three academicians, my friend Erimalida aka Ayon, yours truly and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Song Saw Imm. All praise be to Allah for the opportunity =).

So in a nutshell, 2014 have been a very interesting year and am looking forward to an exiting 2015. Here's a sneak peak of what's in store:

So far my plans are only up to January and February so I still don't know what's in store for the other ten (10) months in 2015...

January - a short trip to Penang to visit my Pakistani friend Azima followed by attending Al-Maghrib's Fiqh of Chillin' course the following week. Then a weekend trip to Singapore to attend another of Al-Maghrib's course: Deception, Study of Shaytaan. This month will end with a much-anticipated holiday to Xi'an, China with hubs and lil' bub, Alexa =).

February - we'll be back from Xi'an in early February and I've bought tickets to attend a Marriage Conference on the 14th of February (which I'm excited to attend due to the impressive line up of speakers who are scheduled to speak in the conference).

So here's my plan for 2015. There's not much activities/ events planned out as I plan to focus on my studies and would need time for my coursework and research. But I am hoping (if possible) to present (my papers/ research) at two conferences this year, one in March and another in June, inshaa Allah =).


Here's to a fantabulous 2015! *clink*

Cheers!


xoxo Mrs Fashionista

Jom Ubah! (Let's Change!)

The Malaysian general election will be held this weekend on the 5th of May 2013. Indeed both sides (the government and the opposition or at least their supporters) seems to be at each others' throats in trying to show which party is more corrupt (which I find to be quite an interesting strategy) and not to mention the huge array of sex videos leaking out from both parties (which kinda makes me wonder how sex-crazed or sex-deprived Malaysian politicians seems to be).

Anyway, what most interested me is the tagline that the opposition has chosen for this election (and do bear in mind that I am not a political analyst and your opinion could be different than mine, but that's cool with me). So, the tagline is, Jom Ubah! Ini kalilah. It basically means, Let's Change! This time. I find this to be very interesting because the tagline seems to insinuate that we haven't changed since the government coalition have governed our country. Or on a basic note, it seems to say, let's change to a new government (which is also interesting for we do not know yet how good or not this new government that they are proposing will be - what scares me is how some members of the opposition seems to be at each others throat when they're supposed to be working together as a team, but that's another story).

So, back to the tagline, Jom Ubah! Now, let me just say that I was born in the '80s (yup, I'm definitely not as young as you might think I am). In the '80s, the roads in Kuching was practically free of vehicles (on most days that is) as people were not able to afford them then. Traffic jam is an alien concept to us then. Going from one place to another would mean using public transportation (to us back in those days it would be either the Chin Lian Long blue bus or the Sarawak Transport Co green bus) but we managed to get by. Then a few years later the first national car, Proton Saga was launched and this made cars affordable to Malaysians and that was what most Malaysians decide to purchase (it was also what most Malaysians were able to afford then anyway). I still remember when my dad decided to get his first Proton car (the Proton Saga aeroback and how proud he was of the car). So, life was changed for the better and our quality of life improved (at least transportation wise it did).

When I went to primary school, I still remember we had the teeth brushing campaign (if you think about it now it does seem kind of unusual that the government had to play such a big role in making sure we had good dental hygiene) and there were dentists who came to our school to give us free dental screenings and other free dental services. Indeed that taught us that taking good care of your teeth is very important (growing up in the '80s, good dental hygiene is not one of the things that people focused on; in those times some even relied more on Bomoh or witch-doctors for medical help rather than medical doctors). There was even Kempen Susu Sekolah (School Milk Campaign) where we were given the opportunity to get milk at only a few cents per carton. Back in those days, some of my classmates had actually grown up drinking sweetened condensed milk because not everyone was able to afford formula milk. Even my mum told me she grew up on sweetened condensed milk (and this could be the reason why she's quite small in stature, but that never affected her thinking ability though, she did grow up to become an associate professor).

I'd say in those days the standard of living is not the same as it is today, although people would say things are pricier now (to which one could blame inflation, but I'd say it's probably due to time value of money and other stuff) but the standard of living has increased thus, people can afford more stuff now. So things have changed, there are more cars on the road, people no longer had to rely on the government to provide dental services to schools, we have government clinics that charges only RM1 per service (and most prefer to patronize private clinics as they could afford them) and some parents even insist of getting the best (and most expensive formula milk for their kids). It's amazing how our lifestyle has changed, our standard of living is definitely a LOT better today that it was when I was growing up.

I've traveled to a LOT of countries. And some of them are third world countries. I've seen the houses that these people had to live in, their standard of living and how difficult life is for them. And just to show you how fortunate we are, I'm sharing some of the photos that I took from my trips to some of our neighboring countries:

A small toddler having lunch next to a mosque.

Some kids begging for money next to a shopping mall.

A row of squatter houses underneath a bridge. 

A typical village house.

Some of the parking attendants enjoying their lunch by the side of the road.

Ox carts. A prominent feature in one of the countries that I've visited.

Public transportation. Even in the '80s I've never seen Malaysians using this mode of public transportation.

The photos are not intended to brag on how modernized we are in Malaysia, nor does it serve as a purpose to belittle our neighboring countries (and you might have noticed that I didn't even mention the name of the cities and countries that I've visited on my photo captions).

Indeed in the past 55 years of independence, Malaysia and Malaysians have changed, changed for the better. I know for a fact that my parents lives are a LOT better than my grandparents, and my life is also a LOT better than my parents. So, the question is, Let's Change you might say, but I say, we HAVE CHANGED. Changed for the better. And in fact, we will continue to change from what I've seen from the government's transformation plan and economic roadmap.

So Malaysians, be careful of who you vote for; what you get might not be what you had wished for.

Be informed. Research your facts before you vote. Make sure you have VOTED for the RIGHT leader.

Happy voting peeps!


xoxo Mrs Fashionista

Birth Plan

So *ahem*.

*dust*wipe*clean*

I haven't been updating my blog much now have I? *shoo! spidey shoo!*

Initially there were so many things that I wanted to share and update but since I can't update any photos to go with it, it wasn't any fun blogging. So...

I kinda stopped blogging. But in my defense, I was kinda tied up with a lot of things (and when I say a LOT, in the past few months a LOT have happened but I'm not going to share them, at least not yet).

Anyway, let's start the update =).

One of the things that kept me busy is my preparations for the upcoming birth of my first child. Yup, the Fashionista is pregnant and expecting her first baby and hopefully by the end of May, the baby will pop (to put it mildly) out of my womb (and I'm actually kinda excited about all this myself).

To get ready for birth (since I've never experienced one and all), I've decided to get help from the web and turn to sites like Babycenter, What to Expect and many more for help and advice. Some of my mommy friends have also lent a helping hand (and ear) and gave me plenty of maternity advice during my pregnancy. So (since I'm a newbie in all of this) and also learning from my friend Farhah (who's also a first time mom) sharing with me how confusing and dazed one can feel (especially when the contractions keep coming) how chaotic it can be in the delivery room, I've decided to come up with a birth plan. And here it is:

Fareiny’s Birth Plan

Please discuss with gynae prior to giving birth.

Birth Companion             :               Husband; Raden Chekra Muda

Positions for labor          :               Walking (if possible) before heavy contractions. Be upright for as long as possible prior to labor.

Aromatherapy                  :               Lavender aromatheraphy or essential oils (in the room but not in the delivery room) for relaxation prior to delivery.

Pain relief                           :               Relaxation and breathing techniques for as long as possible, then gas and air, followed by epidural (in that order).

Monitoring baby’s heart rate:    Intermittent monitoring is preferred.    

Delivery position             :               Standard. According to what is practiced at Normah Medical Centre.

Feeding the baby            :               Would consider breastfeeding first if there is milk after delivery but if not, then formula feeding. Please let me know first.

Cutting the cord               :               The doctor to cut the cord.

What happens next        :               Let me hold the baby after the doctor checks her.

Unexpected situations :               If emergency arises that makes it difficult/ impossible for me to give natural birth, please conduct a caesarian to deliver the baby.

Do bear in mind that I haven't discussed this in detail with the gynae yet and when I first mentioned to her about having a birth plan she was kinda against it because she said most pregnant moms don't even know what's going on during labor (especially for first time moms, to which I do agree with her) but I do feel that having a birth plan would make me (and hubs especially) better prepared for labor and I'd say it's better to be prepared than to arrive at the labor room clueless and all.

Let me know what you think =).


xoxo Soon-to-be Mommy Fashionista

Eid Mubarak

Wishing all my Muslim readers Eid Mubarak. Have a blessed Syawal everyone =).

If you're wondering about the fabrics, these are two of my Eid outfits (Eid is a big thing here in Kuching) that I will unfortunately not be putting on. One does not fit me well and the other, well, let's just say that there was a slight mishap with the fabric I chose to accompany it with.

However, Eid is a time to be thankful and I am definitely thankful for all I have (even the wonderful country that I'm living in and the wonderful family and friends that I'm blessed with). Alhamdulillah. 

Love and positivity always *hugs*.

xoxo Mrs Fashionista

Just for Today

Just for today, I will be happy.
This assumes that what Abraham Lincoln said is true, that "most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Happiness is from within; it is not a matter of externals.

Just for today, I will try to adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires.
I will take my family, my business, and my luck as they come and fit myself to them.

Just for today, I will take care of my body.
I exercise it, care for it, nourish it, not abuse it nor neglect it, so that it will be a perfect machine for my bidding.

Just for today, I will try to strengthen my mind.
I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.

Just for today, I will exercise my soul in three ways; I will do somebody a good turn and not get found out.
I will do at least two things I don't want to do, as William James suggests, just for exercise.

Just for today, I will be agreeable.
I will look as well as I can, dress as becomingly possible, talk low, act courteously, be liberal with praise, criticize not at all, not find fault with anything and not try to regulate nor improve anyone.

Just for today, I will try to live through this day only, not tackle my whole life problems at once.
I can do things for twelve hours that would appall me if I had to keep them up for a lifetime.

Just for today, I will have a program.
I will write down what I expect to do every hour. I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it. It will eliminate two pests, hurrying and indecision.

Just for today, I will have a quiet half-hour all by myself and relax.
In this half-hour sometimes I will think of God, so as to get a little more perspective into my life.

Just for today, I will be unafraid, especially I will not be afraid to be happy, to enjoy what is beautiful, to love, and to believe that those I love, love me.

by Sibyl F. Partridge

Happy New Year!!

For those who are not aware of the Chinese lunar calendar, Happy Chinese New Year! Or as they say in Mandarin, Xinnian Kuaile =).

This year, being the year of the Water Dragon, brings forth a lot of luck and prosperity (depending on your astrological birth animal) and it's also been predicted that there'll be a baby boom in China this year. For the article click [here]. For me, a Metal Rooster, I'm predicted to have good luck (not extremely well, but having luck is good enough for me) however me being me, I've never really depended on lady luck but if you'd like to read how your year to be like, the article is [here].

Fireworks show courtesy of my neighbors. The new year celebrations started with fireworks (and lots of it). The rain certainly didn't damper the mood of the festivities and living in a Chinese community, I heard (and saw fireworks) from 10 pm until way after midnight. 

I was still awake at midnight for the fireworks (I'm like a kid, I know) and since it's midnight, I went online to purchase another Sereni & Shentel headband; there's a Chinese New Year promotion, you see...

(Poster courtesy of Sereni & Shentel)

Buy two Blairs for the price of one! Yeay! My heart went into summersaults when I saw the promotion days earlier. Quickly went to Sereni & Shentel's website to decide on which Blair and also called up a friend (to share the promotion with). The headband is inspired by Blair Waldorf, a character in the popular tv series Gossip Girls.

(Photo courtesy of Sereni & Shentel)

And this is what I ordered. A Kiwi Blair. My favorite shade of gadong (gadong is a Sarawakian word for green).

(Photo courtesy of Sereni & Shentel)

And this is what I ordered for my friend. Can't wait for the actual thing to arrive soon. Yeay!

And in the true spirit of 1Malaysia, we went visiting for the whole two days (and ate all sorts of nuts, curry and satay in the process).

Spotted while visiting:

Mr Ibrahim and Madam Hazami's family at Madam Dorothy's place on the first day of CNY.

Mum, in Über-red (channeling CNY prosperity and wealth aura) with Assoc. Prof. Iris, also on the first day (lucky for us, AP Iris shared two amazing recipes for health and how she lost 12 kilos in 3 months). She looks amazing and I am going to follow her recipe for success *positive thoughts*.

On the second day, we went to Jason's and this is where we met this amazing couple who shared with us the places to see when visiting India. He even drew us a map! Now, India is definitely on my list of places to go to.. Hmm.. Agra.. Goa.. Chennai.. Delhi.. The list is endless! Thank you for your kind info sir and we will certainly bring your map with us =). 

Here's hubs in his red Armani Exchange shirt channeling the CNY spirit. I couldn't find any proper red attire to wear so I settled with a hot pink shawl topped with a black Ice Ice Baby Sereni & Shentel headband, pink nurse's outfit by Nicole and dark maroon pants by Benetton. 

My first day CNY outfit: abstract orange and brown shawl topped with a gold Mandy Sereni & Shentel headband, black Armani Exchange shirt, orange striped pinafore by MNG, jeans by Esprit, gold (for prosperity and wealth) wedges by Carlo Rino, and striped gray and hot pink Guess tote. 

Now that my visiting days are done, I am looking forward to our family makan besar (reunion dinner) on the 26th of January 2012 at Telang Usan Hotel. Will blog about that too! =)


Gong Xi Fa Cai to all!


xoxo Mrs Fashionista

New Year Resolution 2011 Revisited

I actually forgot that I made a New Year resolution last year (how could I? *gasp*). So, let's see whether I've managed to achieve those resolutions or not:

#1 Travel to another country or two

Last year I went to Indonesia twice:

1. Palangka Raya for Konferensi Internasional Antar Universitas Se Borneo Kalimantan (KABOKA) organized by the Institute of East Asean Studies, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)

2. Konferensi Antarabangsa Islam Borneo (KAIB) organized by our very own Pusat Islam Borneo, UiTM.
(Unfortuntely, I didn't make a post about this one. Don't worry, I will do the post in the near future and PIB will be organizing another KAIB conference this year in Brunei *yeay*)

And then I went to Macau, Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China for my much-anticipated pre-wedding photography session and a holiday with friends and family.
(Now I realized that I also never posted my photos in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Terribly sorry, my bad. I'll post them soon ASAP)

And post-wedding, I went to accompany hubs (short for hubby) to Singapore and Thailand.

All in all, four countries in one year. Not bad at all. No wonder my purse was empty most of the time (too much traveling = too much spending = empty purse). However, resolution #1, success!

#2 Rejoice in another shopping spree

This is a complete success! Went shopping in Bandung and Jakarta (in May), then in Hong Kong (in June) and ended with the Singapore year end sale (in December) and a shopping spree at Bangkok's biggest weekend market, Chatuchak Market =). And I am officially broke *sigh*.

If you're ever in Hong Kong, and you love shopping, I'd suggest taking the MRT to Tung Chung station, there's a mall right above the station that sells branded items (read: Guess, Armani Exchange, Calvin Klein, Coach, Hugo Boss) at factory prices. Wanna know more? Click [here].

#3 Lose that fat (read: lose 8 kilos)

For this one, I am not going to lie. I spectacularly failed at losing my weight and I even gained a few more *sigh*. I have to be firm on this one and that's why this year, no more losing weight resolutions, I'll focus more on getting healthy and the fat lost will follow, right? (I sure do hope so *wink*).

So, resolution #3, fail!

#4 Adding new brands to my wardrobe

Remember when I said that I have Guess watches but absolutely zilch Guess apparels. Surprise, surprise, now I have two apparels by Guess, one a cappuccino colored vest (slightly hippie-ish) that I bought at 50% discount in Subang Jaya and another is a shirt (see photo below) that I bought from Bandung.

This is the one resolution that I'd completely forgotten and still, without realizing it, I managed to achieve it. Hurrah for writing down resolutions *yeay*. 

And I also got myself a Guess handbag (something I'd never thought I'd do). Ah well, as the French would say, c'est la vie =). 

And a shirt from Marc Jacobs, Save the Birds! Will do, MJ *grin*. I've always loved MJ's designs but feel like they're a lil' bit pricey for me, so purchasing MJ's must be done in a very restrained manner. Slowly, but surely it is *positive thoughts*. This photo is taken at Madame Tussaud's Hong Kong (the post that I said I was going to do but never did, I will, soon, I promise) and I'm loving my lopsided crown =P.

So, resolution #4, definite success!

#5 Get confirmed. 

And I did! I got my confirmation letter sometime in September last year. Hurrah! Another successful goal achieved.

4 out of 5 goals; an 80% success rate. Hip hip hooray! I never expected to have achieved my new year resolutions; truth be told I've actually forgotten about them. It was only after I'd posted my new year resolutions for this year that I remembered to check whether I'd done any for last year.

I think it's going to be a great year ahead of me *smile*.

Lots of love and lets be positive!


xoxo Mrs Fashionista

No More Bad Hair Days

I've been very, very busy the past weekend; sourcing for hairdressers, hair products, brainstorming sessions and designing advertisements. So, back to the consulting business, *drumroll please* I am currently managing what I would call a turnaround project on my mum's salon. Hairdressing salon, to be exact. I've appointed myself as the turnaround manager, and also proposed my plan (and marketing strategy) to make sure that in three months, the salon would double its sales. All those business undergraduate courses and experience as a marketing manager at my dad's college would certainly be handy, now wouldn't it? Anyways, I am very, very excited at the prospect. Why? You might ask? Well... The thing is, I don't know a single thing about managing salons and this would mean that I'm starting at the very bottom, which is the most interesting part. And, for another thing, I'd be helping out my sister in law to jumpstart her make up and bridal business. That'd be a win-win situation, don't you think?

So, a bit of info on the salon. It's called Abiey Salon (based on my sis-in-law's name). It's located right next to JnJ Cafeteria in Jalan Stutong (near Tabuan Jaya area). Currently the salon is sharing its space with a reload center (owned by my brother). I think most people have been or at least know of JnJ but maybe haven't yet heard of Abiey Salon. Well, I'll soon take care of that. I have plans to make it more prominent in the future. But, I certainly won't disclose my plans yet.

This is how it looks from the outside.

And this is from the inside. 

I'm planning minor changes (i.e. rearranging of furniture, new coat of paint etc. etc) in this coming three months and if all goes as planned, I'm going to look forward to some major renovation by the middle of this year. That's why I think I am so going to love this year. I am the kind of person that looks forward to change and I'm hoping that this year, the change will be a good one *amin*.

We've strategically repriced our services;

And also added a Chinese New Year Promotion for our friends who are celebrating the New Year =)

So, watch out my blog for more future interesting promotions. The ladies will certainly like the promotion that I have in mind for the month of February 2012 *ooh la la*.


xo Mrs Fashionista