New clothes!

You know you're getting old when...

1) you start buying all your clothes at Marks & Spencer because the stuffs at Forever 21, Cotton On etc. no longer appeal to you.

2) your casual wear = office attire

Today I went shopping at M&S Sunway Pyramid. Bought a red long-sleeved top and a black jacket.

Wedding anniversary

Our 1-year anniversary was on 21 Jan 2013, fell on a Monday (my least favourite day of the week). After work, we went to a Thai restaurant in Subang Parade for dinner. Food was great, but the service was slow.

The next day, we had dinner at Holiday Villa. One of our wedding receptions was held at that hotel so we got a complimentary anniversary dinner as part of the wedding package. Food and service was excellent. Bread, salad and tomato soup for starters, main course: salmon for me, lamb for him. Dessert: banana parfait for me and tiramisu for him. We didn't take pictures with each other because a) the place was dark and b)I felt really chubby and unattractive on that day. We took pictures of the food only. After all, isn't that what people always do during special occasion these days? Take pictures of food?

Y doesn't want anything as anniversary gift. He asked me what I wanted. I said I want a kebaya (can't fit into the existing kebayas that I have!). So yesterday, we went to Amcorp mall and I picked a white kebaya with purple batik. White kebaya is a wardrobe staple, you can pair it with any colours of sarong.

5 things I'm into right now...

1) Taylor Swift

Love all her albums! From Fearless to Speak Now to Red...

2) Smule Magic Piano

My sister-in-law introduced this game to me and I'm hooked! Most of the time I'm playing "piano" on my iPad, feeling like modern-day female version of Bach :-p

3) Avene skincare products

4) Pinterest

I could spend hours going through all the interesting pins and reading the links to those photos. Pinterest gave me a lot of ideas when it comes to home décor, cooking, travel, fashion and beauty.

5) Scarves

I'm into scarves right now. Since I have a lot of low-cut tops, scarves are great accessories to cover the chest area. I do get funny looks when I wear them in this hot humid weather but whatever.

My (expensive) new hobby

The next time I'm going to have to write a resume, I'm going to say I'm a member of the Thomas Sabo Charm Club under "extra-curricular activities."

I'm so obsessed with Thomas Sabo charms!

This is what I already have right now. Well, almost. Currently I'm wearing my charms with a necklace. I have the charm carrier, the aircraft charm and the dancing shoe charm. Next, I'm going to buy the lipstick charm.

However, the charm carrier could only hold up to 3 charms. Once I have 4 or more charms, I'm gonna buy the bracelet! And then maybe I can randomly mix all the charms into one bracelet, like in the picture above (aircraft, the letter 'N', lipstick, butterfly, pearl + butterfly pendant, gummi bear, bow, dragonfly).

Or maybe I can have a theme for the bracelet. Like in this one, the theme is SHOES! Ohmygod ohmygod so cute. Tak tahan.

I was thinking of collecting all the birthstones charms. The more colours, the merrier.

And since I'm a handbag addict, I can have a HANDBAG theme for my bracelet! But Thomas Sabo handbag charms are so expensive (more that RM200 each).

The choices are endless! The only thing you need is $$$.

My first Thomas Sabo charm

Bought my first Thomas Sabo charm at ISetan KLCC yesterday!

I bought the "Dancing Shoe" charm. I happen to own a pair of shoes which are very similar to the charm! I also bought the charm pendant (the large size). I want to wear the charm with necklace first. Once I've collected 3 charms or more, then I'll buy the bracelet.

It's only Wednesday...

Today my mum called me at the office THREE TIMES just to ask me...

1) ...why I didn't wear the charm bracelet that she bought me.

2) ...what kind of cereal to buy.

3)...whether I'm dating with my boyfriend this weekend cos she wants to go to Empire Subang.

Anyway, I'm so excited because I browsed the Dorothy Perkins website and maxi skirts are back!!! Can't wait to stock up my workwear wardrobe with them!

I'm one happy girl!

Why am I happy? Because today I'm on leave. In-lieu for YDPA's birthday. And I've got some of the things on my wish list crossed!

I bought an iPod touch with my first salary. With my second salary, I bought the Samsung PL101 2View camera!

It has dual LCDs. Now I can camwhore easily. Yay!


Bought this camera yesterday at Sunway Pyramid. At RM699, it comes with a pouch, strap, 2G memory card and tripod! What a bargain!

Today I went to Ampang Putri Hospital for a medical check up. Everything's fine with me, alhamdulillah. Just as I was about to go home, the doctor asked whether I'd received my vaccination for cervical cancer. I haven't, and I've always wanted to get it, so I told the doctor I wanted the jab immediately.

Just as he was about to plunge the needle into my forearm, this thought crossed my mind: How much does the injection cost? I can't believed I've agreed to a medical procedure without asking about its cost beforehand!

So I asked the doctor, "How much does this vaccination costs?"

He said, "Err...it's not the cost that matter. This vaccine is really good. Don't think about the cost. It's better to prevent cervical cancer. If you get cancer, the cost of curing it will be much much more than preventing it."

I've known this doctor all my life so I knew right there and then that if he didn't give me a straight answer, it means that thing is bloody expensive.

The vaccination costs me a freakin RM300.

That's not the end of it though. I have to come to the clinic again for my second and third injection. Total cost of the vaccination is RM900.

That is approximately my one week's worth of salary.

But the doctor was right. Prevention is better than cure. I'm willing to pay that amount of money and do whatever I can to protect myself from cervical cancer. But there's this Swatch that I've been eyeing on for quite sometime, and I had to forget about buying it this month. And by the way, it's so unfair that schoolkids get the vaccination for FREE! I wanna be in school again dammit.

After the medical check up, I went to Uniten with my parents to pay the convocation fee and submit the convocation attendance form.

Then we went to KLCC. This must be my lucky day because my dad bought me the Swatch (as a graduation present) AND gave me RM300 to reimburse for the injection. Oh how nice of him! I graciously accepted the RM300 and went crazy at Dorothy Perkins.

Present for graduating. 'Me & My Shoes' watch by Swatch.

The black work pants. Need to alter its length. Man I'm so short. I've bought this in petite size already. Maybe Dorothy Perkins should come up with 'Dwarf' or 'Midget' sizing.

I don't know how many times I've mentioned this in my blog but...I love Dorothy Perkins so much! It's like, their clothes are designed specially for me or something. If people ask me what's my style like, I won't say things like "Rocker chick meets classy lady bla bla bla." I would simply say, "Dorothy Perkins." That's my style.

I bought a pair of black work pants, black striped blazer, and a grey skirt. All these for RM330 only. I paid additional RM10 and I get to sign up for their membership. Now I can get 10% discount off normal-priced merchandise at Topshop, Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins. Awesome!

P/S: Took these photos using my new camera and the pics are blurred even though the camera is 12.2 megapixel. Will make a point to spend some time learning the user manual (and overcoming this shaky-hand thing) during the weekend.

Tumblr and Formspring

Everyone has their own Tumblr and Formspring page nowadays. I pun ada! People who has Tumblr and Formspring are mostly teenagers or college students. I don't wanna feel old and left out so I signed up. Actually I've created accounts in Tumblr and Formspring a long time ago, but I'm not an active user (will be active after this).

I created my Tumblr page because I wanted to sell my books, but I'm not business minded and I don't know how to promote that page, so the blog was deserted.

I created my Formspring page at almost the same time as I created my Tumblr. But I have zero friends and I've only answered 3 questions generated by Formspring. So I abandoned my Formspring page as well.But now I want to be an active user in Tumblr and Formspring. Do read my pages ok! And add me. It's compulsory for cousins who have Tumblr and Formspring to follow me. If not, you're not getting any duit raya from me this year.

http://norliyana.tumblr.com

http://www.formspring.me/norliyana

Wow...I have Blogger, Twitter, Tumblr, Formspring. I've figured a way to manage all these pages:

- Twitter will be used for short updates (less than 140 characters? 120?)
-Tumblr is for medium-length updates. Updates that are short but not short enough to be published on Twitter (yeah Twitter is annoying for the number of characters limit).
-Blogger is for long entries which I hope won't bore any of you :-)-Formspring is for answering any questions you have for me. But I doubt that any of you will ask me any questions.

On the other hand...today I went to KLCC with my mum. Bought a necktie for my dad as Father's Day present. And I bought this amazing Dorothy Perkins black cardigan for myself. I have a thing for cardigans,by the way. Yes, call me grandma, but whatever. The cardigan I bought today was just sooo figure-flattering, I love it! Sorry no picture.

Dorothy Perkins has gorgeous cardigans. I'm waiting for this puff-sleeved cardigan to arrive in Malaysia. So cute right???

Day 8: My phone is functioning as normal!

Went to Sg. Wang with my parents to repair my phone. The dude said that it's a memory card problem, not a phone problem. He told me to format the memory card. So I bought a card reader and format the memory card at home, and my phone is OK now. Yay!

Had lunch at Nandos. I'm sick of Nandos. Couldn't finish my food. But the peri wedges was still yummy though.

Went to ISetan. Bought a maroon-coloured shirt to wear to work, and a pair of grey pants. My mum used to complain about the fact that I always wear jeans to work. I didn't exactly wear jeans. The design of the pants was like a jeans (with the label at the waistband and all that) but the fabric isn't denim. It's curduroy (do I spell it right?). But whatever, it's pointless arguing with my mum about fashion so I bought a pair of formal workwear pants just to satisfy her.

I've found some ways on how to motivate myself to enjoy my job. Whenever I'm facing an obstacle, I will just remind myself of:

1) The pay... Always remember that you get paid five times more that what your father used to give you!!!

2) Free flight tickets

3) Free medical plus insurance

4) Free dental

5) The job market is highly competitve nowadays, so you can't quit! Else you will tanam anggur for the rest of your life!

6) There's always weekends to look forward to! And dates with my bf.

7) ...and public holidays.

8) I have my annual leave...plus that in-lieu leave thingy.

Honestly, I don't know for how long money and benefits can motivate me. People say in the long run these things won't matter anymore.

Hats

When fisherman hats were huge when I was in secondary school, I bought one for myself. However, it doesn't suit me! Instead of looking chic and cool, I ended up looking like a real fisherman.

After that, barets became famous after those R&B artistes started wearing them. So I bought one for myself too. But it made my face look chubby. I have a picture of myself wearing it but I don't like how I looked so I'm not gonna post it here.

Next came the cloche hats. Or bell-shaped hats. Or whatever you may call it. Popular back in the 1920s. And popular again now thanks to Blair Waldorf.

Guess what? I bought one! Heehee. Compared to the fisherman hats and barets, the cloche hat looks OKAY on me (in my opinion lah). I don't know what other people think, and I DON'T WANNA KNOW and I DON'T CARE. Coz I like the hat so much! Hehe.

Blair looking tres chic in a cloche hat.

Oh Blair, I want your wardrobe!

But I don't want Chuck Bass as my boyfriend. Haha Chuck Bass pun taknak kat I!

Marie Digby

Need new clothes

I always feel like I need new clothes, constantly feeling like I have nothing to wear, even though my closet is already...ermm...overflowing and cannot be shut properly now.

Now I'm in my final semester, and I'm going to have presentations EVERY WEEK. So I need a few suitable attire for the presentations.

In Uniten, we have to wear formal on Mondays, and I usually stick to wearing baju kurung. But now every Tuesday I will have Integrated presentation, and I don't want to wear baju kurung all the time. I need more formal clothes.

At the moment I have only 2 long sleeved shirts (peach and white), 2 short sleeved shirts (black and pink) and 2 very classy but uncomfortable formal wear which I bought for my internship.

I like Dorothy Perkins' shirts. The colours are interesting.


Purple! My favourite!

Is this too bright? But it'll look great if worn with a black cardigan.

I like the belted waist! And the sleeve!

Another favourite of mine!

Actually I want all the items listed under "Formal Shirts" on the Dorothy Perkins website. Hehe.

One thing on my wishlist...crossed!

Went to Jln TAR with my mum and aunts, shopping for raya clothes. It was fun, but tiring. We stopped at almost every single store on the street. My mum and aunt bought lots and lots of tudung, some material to make baju kurung, and much much more. As for me, I had no intention of buying anything, but if I happen to find a kebaya sulam with a reasonable price, then I might buy it (I’ve always wanted one).

The kebaya sulam sold at Jln TAR are exactly like those sold at Amcorp Mall, Ampang Park etc. Those kebaya were priced at around RM200-300. And then...I found this shop called “PORTOBELLO” (haha as in Portobello Market, London) and they sell kebaya sulam for RM120!! That’s a good price to me, coz usually for kebaya sulam, just the top will cost around RM150. The kebaya sold at Portobello cost RM120 for the whole set (top, bottom and even a shawl!).

I bought one in peach.

Had lunch at this place called Restoran Insaf. Fattening, high cholesterol chicken briyani. When I got home I weighed myself and I had gained 2 kg. Sumpah I insaf tak nak makan kat tempat tu lagi.

What I've always wanted

I've always wanted a kebaya nyonya.

But it always cost a few hundreds and out of my family's Raya budget, and even if I can afford it, it's hard to find a size that fits.

For this year's Raya I hope that I will own a pair of kebaya nyonya. I don't want the see-through one (I might as well go out wearing kain batik and a tube top!). I want the sopan one. Hehe.

The purple kebaya is sooo gorgeous!!

Wanted!

Fitted pencil skirts!

I like the black one the most. It's from Forever 21.

I want to go out so badly! But I have no choice but to quarantine myself for two weeks. For two weeks I cannot set foot in a shopping mall. For two weeks I have to study.

I'm feeling awful.

Today is that time of the month and I feel so weak! =( I'm blaming iron deficiency. I think I'm anaemic now, coz I lost a lot of blood. And I don't like to eat iron-rich food, like kerang, and all those organs. Eeeyurgh!How am I going to study like this??

Gossip Girl fashion

Self-potraits of me trying to copy Blair's style.

I just love the Gossip Girl fashion...the whole "pretty meets preppy" winter style. Tweed, beanies, blazers, checks, coloured stockings and headbands--all worn at once!
Some of the outfits Serena, Blair and Jenny wear might not be suitable to be worn here in Malaysia, but every girl should have a bit of Gossip Girl glamour in her wardrobe!
Glad I still keep my headbands. I have LOADS of them. I used to wear headbands all the time, during my first year, it was my trademark. At that time, headbands weren't cool yet. Now that Blair made headbands cool again, I'm glad I still keep them!

Handbag charm bracelet

This lovely rhodium-plated charm bracelet is featured in the latest Malaysia Airlines' Temptations catalogue. I love the little handbag-shaped pendants. Price: RM78. Plus free necklace. In the catalogue, the free necklace is a cute silver necklace with a handbag pendant too. But on the Temptations website, the free necklace is a plain silver chain with two interlocking rings. I want this charm bracelet!!! It's so cute, and it reflects my personality (I'm addicted to handbags).

Went to KLCC. Got a RM10 Kinokuniya voucher so this is what I got for myself! My third recipe book!

I know the previous recipe book that I bought is also on Asian rice dishes, but this one is different. Perfect book for beginners coz the recipes are simple and basic.It features more rice recipes...Chinese fried rice, Malay style fried rice, kai lan with oyster sauce, fried rice with salted fish, tomato rice, all kinds of fried rice lah..Got recipes for nasi lemak, chicken rice, lontong (rice cakes with vegetable curry) and chicken briyani also. OK,OK, enough, I'm fasting and it makes my mouth water.

Right now I'm craving for expensive food. I want premium ice creams (Haagen Dazs), I want choccies like Fidani, Godiva...I want all the pastas at Dome Cafe, and those chocolatey drinks they have.

Anniversary

Today is our 2 year anniversary. Celebrated at--of all places--Great Eastern mall. Exchanged souvenirs. I got accessories from two different countries.Yeay.
SHOULDER BAG FROM SOUTH AFRICA & SLING BAG FROM NEW ZEALAND
CRYSTAL BRACELET FROM SOUTH AFRICA & PAUA SHELL BRACELET FROM NEW ZEALAND
CRYSTAL NECKLACE FROM S.AFRICA & SILVER NECKLACE FROM N.ZEALAND

Sunnies!

From the Topshop website. I want them all!