Open house =)

Taken at Juria Kamalia

What is in a maid

Having grown up with a maid throughout all of my life, I find that a maid is a cook, cleaner, helper, problem solver, lending ear, and much more all in one. Having a maid is much more than getting someone to clean and cook for the family; it's like having an additional member of the family; an older sister who's willing to lend an ear to your problems, a mother to comfort all your worries, a grandma filled with all sorts of traditional remedies; it's like knowing that there's always someone waiting at home for you when you come home.

The maid that stayed longest with us was Kak Gedu. She was with us for ten years, having literally watch me grow up from my high school years, then all through my university days up until my first few years of working. She taught me so many things about life and shared her life stories, so much so that I felt as if I know her all my life. Unfortunately she left right after being with us for ten years. I don't blame her though, we are not an easy brood to take care of.

She passed away in Indonesia just yesterday. I wish that I could just drive up to her home and visit her family but unfortunately I have to leave for Shah Alam tomorrow. I felt a deep sadness and grief for her passing and I know that Allah loves her more.

A maid is so much more than just a cleaner and a cook. They're family too =)

Al-Fatihah.

xoxo Fashionista in Action xoxo

The room where most of the action happens

Preparing the bridal suite in preparation for this wedding is no easy feat. There's color selections, color schemes, matching your color schemes, bedroom design, making sure the bed is not too big for the bedroom and the most important thing, making sure you do not exceed your budget. After much discussing, arguing, window shopping and googling, this is what we finally decided on:

1. The bedroom furniture

My fiancé earlier on had decided on a king-size bed. I wanted white English-style furniture. What we bought - white furniture and a king-size bed. What we didn't get: the English-style, and the headboard is a dark brown color. We decided to compromise on the style to make way for the huge wardrobe, an 11-feet wardrobe to be exact. Why the compromise? Well, getting married does not only mean that you'll be living with your future husband, but you'll also be sharing your wardrobe with him. So, make sure the wardrobe is big enough to fit both your clothes. Our budget: RM4k. Our price: RM4.5k. An excess of RM500 is acceptable to us as we got the whole furniture at a 50% discount. So, paying RM4500 for a RM9000 bedroom furniture is definitely a steal *happy grin*.

2. The quilt cover, bed sheet and pillow cases

This time we did not know what we wanted. We decided to do lot of window shopping and finally settled on a quilt cover set (with two pillow covers) at Aussino at tHe Spring. Price: RM250 (after 50% discount).

It was after this purchase that we decided that comfort is the most important thing to us in getting the best quilt, bed sheet and later the mattress.

After much googling and information searching, we settled on a microfibre quilt by Elle Deco at Parkson, tHe Spring, complete with a mattress protector, also by Elle Deco. Total price: RM420 (after 20% discount).

Why a microfibre quilt? As we are most probably going to use the quilt for the next 10 years (more or less) we decided on getting a soft, cushy, cool, comfy and breathable material, and after googling on quilts, we found out that microfibre quilts are highly recommendable as compared to cotton quilts. For the bed sheet, we settled on a cream colored cotton sateen bed sheet by Friven with a cotton thread count of about 450. Initially we wanted to get just any cotton bed sheet but after running our hands over the many different bed sheets offered by Parkson, and comparing between 250 thread count and 450 thread count, the latter one certainly is softer and cooler to the touch. Price: RM220 (after 40% discount). So, total price: RM250 + RM420 + RM220 = RM890. We haven't gotten our pillows yet but most probably we'll settle for Elle Deco's microfibre pillows (which is super soft, cushy and cool to the touch).

3. The Mattress

As this is most probably where most of the action happens, getting the right mattress is very, very important to us. I decided to google and ask friends on how best to buy one. It was later that I found out that you have to literally lie on the mattress and test it to see whether it's the best one for you. Preferably lie with your partner on the bed and test it by getting your partner (or you) to get in and out of the bed. After much lying around, we finally decided on Professional Star Pocket Mattress from Town Furniture which supports your back, with memory spring latex. The salesgirl even told us that the mattress is used in space by NASA and is currently the best selling mattress in Hong Kong. Our price: RM1700 (after a 50% discount).

Am glad to say that our search in preparation for our bridal suite is almost over. Will only be posting photos once the whole bedroom is fully set up. The only things that I haven't gotten are:

1. Day and Night Curtains (haven't decided on the color and the style yet)

2. Pillows (methinks it's going to be between two or four microfibre pillows)

3. Bedside lamps (I've found the perfect two yellow bedside lamps that matches the color of our wall)

4. Other decoration (framed photographs of us, a clock, maybe some flowers etc).

What did I discover from the whole experience?

1. Having a budget is important. Although we busted all our budgets, but it did let us know what we can afford and what we cannot afford.

2. Compromising on price might mean that we compromise on quality. Although we've gone over the roof on all our budgets, we decided to focus on the long term and look at it as an investment. We're looking at using the bed and furniture for at least 10 years so we'd better make the right purchases now (rather than regret on any compromise that we make today for the next 10 years).

3. Shopping around for the best price is very, very important. Prices vary between one store to another, so you might as well stretch your money by making sure you've found the best bargain.

So far, total expenditure for the bedroom: RM7,090. I'm looking to spend another RM1,000 for the pillows, curtains and bedroom decoration. Initial budget for the bedroom furniture is RM4,000 and decoration is RM1,000. I am definitely running out of budget *sigh*.

Til my next frazzled bridezilla entry, have a great weekend peeps!

xoxo Fashionista in Action xoxo

Ramadhan

Today marks the first day for Muslims all over Malaysia and all over the world celebrating the start of the fasting month, Ramadhan. This is an excerpt the I have gotten from the net on fasting and the holy month of Ramadhan which I found to be very interesting. It is a dialog between our Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h. and the devil (my apologies to those who do not understand Malay, the whole dialogue is in Malay):

Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h. asked,

"Jika umatku berpuasa kerana Allah, bagaimana hal engkau?"

The devil answered,

"Ya Rasulullah! Inilah bencana yang paling besar bahayanya kepada hamba. Apabila masuk awal bulan Ramadhan, maka memancarlah cahaya Arasy dan Kursi, bahkan sekalian Malaikat menyambut dengan kesukaan. Bagi orang yang berpuasa, Allah akan mengampunkan segala dosa yang lalu dan digantikan dengan pahala yang amat besar serta tidak dicatatkan dosanya selama dia berpuasa. Yang menghancurkan hati hamba ialah segala isi langit dan bumi; yakni Malaikat, bulan, bintang, burung, dan ikan-ikan semuanya siang malam mendoakan keampunan orang yang berpuasa. Satu lagi kemuliaan orang yang berpuasa ialah dimerdekakan pada setiap masa dari azab neraka. Bahkan semua pintu nerakan ditutup manakala semua pintu syurga dibuka seluas-luasnya serta dihembuskan angin dari bawah Arasy yang bernama angin Syirah yang amat lembut ke dalam syurga. Pada hari umat tuan mula berpuasa dengan perintah Allah datanglah sekelian Malaikat dengan garangnya menangkap hamba dan tentera hamba; jin, syaitan dan ifrit lalu dipasung kaki dan tangan dengan besi panas dan dirantai serta dimasukkan ke bawah bumi yang amat dalam. Di sana pula beberapa azab yang lain telah menunggu kami. Setelah habis umat tuan berpuasa barulah hamba dilepaskan dengan amaran agar tidak mengganggu umat tuan. Umat tuan sendiri telah merasa ketenangan berpuasa seperti mana mereka bekerja dan bersahur seorang diri di tengah malam tanpa rasa takut berbanding bulan biasa."

For those who are interested in reading the whole dialogue, here is the link.

Selamat berpuasa to all.

xoxo Fashionista in Action xoxo

| The month of Ramadhan is the month in which the Quran was revealed; a guide for the people, the most authoritative of all guidance and a criteria to discern right from wrong. Anyone of you who knows that the month of Ramadhan has begun, he must start to fast. Those who are sick or on a journey have to fast the same number of days at another time. God does not impose any hardship upon you. He wants you to have comforst so that you may complete the fast, glorify God for His having given you guidance, and that, perhaps, you would give Him thanks. |

Al Baqarah, verse 185

Everyday Portraiture with Edwin Lay

I attended another photography course at Alvin Leong's Academy of Photography. This time it's a talk by Edwin Lay on basic everyday photography, which is basically what I've been looking for (since I practically take photos on an everyday basis, and my photos are nowhere near those shown on the advert for this talk).

So, this is Edwin Lay. This photo is kinda blur and I didn't bother taking any better photos of him simply because I was too busy jotting notes. This everyday photography thingy is not as easy as it looks!

So how was the talk? Well.. the best part, for me, was that I get to learn lots of cool new stuff that I didn't think that I'd learn in a course like this, i.e. how to pose, for instance (I thought we'd just be clicking our heads off, or something). Anyway, back to the course. For a supposedly 5-hour session (the program was supposed to start at 1 pm and end at 6pm) it is a superbly jam packed session with lots and lots of simple basic knowledge (that you are supposed to know, duh!, but you didn't know, apparently). And for another thing, we didn't end our session at 6pm. And no, we did not end early either. Our session ended somewhere around 7.30pm (surprise! surprise!). And it wasn't because we were overly inquisitive students who had lots of questions to ask. I think the session ended late because Edwin is such a committed teacher who'd wish to impart as much knowledge as possible onto our teeny, photographer-wannabe brains.

Another surprising part on the session was that we had an outdoor photography session and an indoor photography session. So we get to feel how it's like capturing candid photography (which I majestically failed at, due to my self-conscious and super-shy nature, rightttt). Really, it's not easy when you're walking at the sidewalk and minding your own business and everybody's looking at your DSLR looking as if they think you'll be whipping your camera around and start taking candid photos of them at any second (which was my main intention anyway) but can they just be cool about it. It's not everyday that people want to take candid photographs of you, can't you just accept that and follow in the footsteps of Kim K or Paris H for a while?

So these are some photos taken from my outdoor session..

No, this lion is not trying to be candid. It's just made to look like that. I think this is my best candid photo of the day *cheeky grin*.

I tried taking his candid photo many many times, but at the risk of being accused as a stalker (no, I do not have a crush on this guy, I don't even know him) I decided to leave before he starts whacking my head with his video cam.

This is a participant of our session. I know where I got this photo wrong. I'm supposed to use the rule of thirds and she's supposed to be a lil' bit more to the left. The one that I took (that complied with the rule of third had my subject blurred, not as easy as it seems, that is).

Anyway, I left that course with my knowledge and hope to put in practice all those tips and tricks that Edwin has taught me. I came home with added knowledge, a certificate of attendance and a photo of me (which looks totally cool, I must say) as a memento of our studio session.

Can't wait for the next course that I'm planning to attend, travel photography which will happen somewhere in October this year (if I'm not mistaken). Anyways, if anyone of you out there is interested in photography classes, just visit Alvin Leong Academy of Photography here.

Cheerio!

xoxo Fashionista in Action xoxo

Another Wedding Update

Bride - Check!

Groom - Definitely Check!

So am I missing anything in preparation for this wedding?

Ah well... The return of Bridezilla? Should any blushing bride-to-be who's only got less than 6 months start screaming under the stress of not enough time, too much to do and not to mention, everything seems so overpriced that you feel like it's impossible to keep to your budget (and not mentioning the fact that the budget in itself is already bursting at the seams?).

So, what have I achieved so far?

Pre-wedding - Check!

Wedding venue - Check!

Akad nikah dress - Check!

Wedding gifts aka hantaran - Check!

Doorgifts - Check!

Wedding boudoir - Check!

Photographer - Check!

Hair, makeup, and wedding gown for hotel reception - Check!

Bridesmaid dresses - Check!

Pelamin - Check!

Seems like quite a lot, right? Let's see the unchecked ones:

Mattress for the boudoir - Uncheck!

Videographer - Uncheck!

Wedding gown for persandingan - Uncheck!

Invitation card - Uncheck!

Comforter - Uncheck!

Caterer - Uncheck!

Bedroom decoration - Uncheck!

*sigh*

So much to do and so little time. And not to mention those that I've forgotten to list out right? These unchecked items might set us back another 20k (if my guess is right *despair*)

Ahh.. Tomorrow is another day and I have less than four months to make sure all those unchecked stuff gets checked.

Cheerio!

xoxo Fashionista in Action xoxo

Fashionista's Travels: Macau

Macau-Hong Kong-Shenzhen. Who wouldn't be excited, right? Let's start at the beginning shall we?

This is the Lisboa Hotel and Casino. All hotels and casinos are brightly lit so that you can't miss it =P

Our trip initially brought us to Macau, since we landed there. I totally did not know what to expect. Having never been to Macau (and only a handful of my friends have been there before), we decided to just wing it (with the help of a lot of downloading, useful websites and webpages that is).

Arrived at around 8.30pm we decided to hail a cab and went straight to our hotel, Metropark Hotel Macau, checked in and immediately left our bags in our room to scrounge the streets of Macau. Within walking distance are row and row of hotels and gambling centers.. What can I say? Macau is Las Vegas of the East.. As I am not in Macau to gamble my lifesavings away, then there is only one other option (other than sightseeing that is), that is to shop my lifesavings away (haha! ain't that ironic).

Ponte de Amizade bridge (Portugese for Bridge of Friendship) connecting Macau Peninsula and Taipa Island.

Macau tower.

This is the shopping complex at The Venetian, Macau. It is a superbly beautiful place. FYI, all these buildings are actually indoor and the sky is actually a painted ceiling!

Love the architecture. Super nice.

There's a canal inside The Venetian, which actually mimics The Venetian, Las Vegas.

There are performers all over the shopping complex, giving us plenty of free (but very impressive) performance everywhere!

The painted ceiling. Beautiful, isn't is?

My fiancé =P

We went next door to The City of Dreams and dropped by at Hard Rock Hotel for some souvenirs. Finally got my Hard Rock t-shirt *yeay*.

This is us on the way to Hong Kong. There are daily ferry services from Macau to HK. The ride only took us about 1 hour.

Had to fill in the immigration form as Macau and HK are governed separately (Macau being previously under Portuguese ruling and HK under the British ruling).

I really adore Macau, those bright lights, the casinos and the shopping complexes are super nice (and not to mention cheaper than Malaysia). But then again, HK's pretty awesome too. I'll do an update on HK soon, ya..

Til my next update, cheerio!

xoxo Fashionista in Action xoxo