Watch the Burberry S/S2014 Womenswear Show Live!

It's always a pleasure to be able to livestream Christopher Bailey's collections from London :) Burberry fans will not need to fly all the way to London to watch his fashion shows coz it will be livestreamed across a few social media platforms and also on some selected blog sites. The show is only a few days away and I'm so excited! Watch the livestream here on 16th Sept, 2.30pm UK time (9.30pm Malaysian time). Let's countdown to the show together :)

Expanding Too-Tight Shoes

I bought this quirky pair of Fiorucci comic-print flats over the weekend and decided to wear them on the spot coz I just love them so much. One hour into walking around the mall, my feet felt like they were squashed in them. If feet could breathe, mine would have died. So reluctantly, I changed back into my old flats. It really bothered me that I bought them to small and would never wear them again... so sad, coz they're so pretty... They were in my size, but maybe my feet expanded just a wee bit.  

So I went home and google-d for tips to stretch shoes. Even went to the extend of going to Ikea to purchase the OMSORG shoe tree. I placed them in the flats for a good 24 hours before trying them again. Managed to stretch them by maybe a minute 2mm. Not good enough. 

I was quite surprised that the internet offers hundreds of tips to stretch shoes. Some involve Ziploc bags, water and a freezer, others require stretching liquid. One caught my mind that doesn't involve stuffing your  shoes in the freezer among your poultry and ice-cream *yucks*, so I decided to try - and lo and behold, it worked like a charm!

Here's what you need - a pair or two or really thick socks, a hairdryer and too-tight shoes. Put on the socks  (make sure they're really thick) and then stuff your feet into the shoes. This will hurt but it will be worth it in the end!

Next, take the hairdryer and heat up the areas that are tight for 5 minutes while stretching and flexing your feet. Let them cool while keeping the shoes on.

When they're cool, remove the socks and check the fit of the shoes. Mine fit like a glove! Repeat the process if they're still tight. It's a tried and tested tip, but only if your shoes are 1/2 to 1 size smaller than your usual size.

Perfect fit

I'm gonna do it again tonight to loosen it a bit more :)

My Chat with Cleo's Most Eligible Bachelor 2013

A long post, this one.

Since winning Cleo's Most Eligible Bachelor 2013 sometime back, Nicholas Mak's schedule has been swamped with shoots, interviews and castings. I witnessed him being crowned the winner at Stage KL and remembered thinking that he's definitely in it to win it. What I like about him is despite being rather young (mid-20s, if I'm not wrong), he exudes a maturity that belies his age.

Now who doesn't like a dude who's suave, amiable, easy on the eye and has a heart of gold? Nick pledged to donate his ALL his winnings to a charitable organization. So I approached him to have a chat with me, and he agreed. His answers made me lol... thoroughly enjoyed his sarcasm. Comments in parentheses are mine :)

Malaysia knows you as Nicholas Mak, the guy who set females’ hearts aflutter and won Cleo’s Most Eligible Bachelor 2013. Who is the real Nicholas Mak?

Who is the real Nicholas Mak? *looks into the sky and ponders* How about the common misconceptions about me?

1. Nicholas is an arrogant bastard. FALSE. I am just born with a stuck-up face. When I am not talking or looking at someone in particular I tend to send out an arrogant aura. I can't help it. I am actually a very nice person *bats eyelashes*.

2. Nicholas parties like crazy. FALSE. I am so lazy to party or go to a club, “free flow” doesn’t even tickle my fancy bone.

3. Nicholas is mixed race. FALSE. I am 100% Chinese. I love my dim sum and Bak Kut Teh as much as the next guy from Kepong.

4. Nicholas has no idea what else to write. FALSE. He has one more.

5. Nicholas had lip augmentation surgery done. FALSE. Its au naturel baby. *pouts* (just a few days ago I was watching Angelina Jolie in The Tourist and Rosie Huntington-Whitely in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Trust me, there's competition there.)

Has the fan craze started since you won?

My Instagram doubled its followers in the span of 4 days after I won the title. A lil secret, the “passionate” followers are not the girls... (ooh...admirers of a different kind... I like!)

What has winning Cleo’s Most Eligible Bachelor done for you?

Oh! The people who did not give a hoot about me is certainly much nicer to me now. They will be like “hey long time no see!”. Yeah right! You chose not to see me. Hahaha I kid! I kid! Jokes aside, it has definitely opened many doors for me in the industry. It has been a blessing.

What is the one defining moment in your life? And please don’t say winning Cleo’s EB!

LOL OK fine! It would definitely be the time when Dutch superstar DJ Sidney Samson loved my photography/videography crew’s work when we shot him when he was playing a gig here in KL. He loved it so much, he posted it all over his social media websites and official website. A defining moment in my life indeed.

What would be printed on Nicholas Mak’s t-shirt?

"I BELIEVE MY TATTOOS ARE LESS OFFENSIVE THAN YOUR STARES" (which means don't stare at him, just admire from afar, and if you want an autograph, smile shyly then faster look elsewhere)

If you were a character in FRIENDS, who would you be – Joey, Ross or Chandler?

I have actually thought about this in the past. Big fan of FRIENDS. I would be…*drum rolls* a mixture of all three! I am a bit of a geek when it comes to general knowledge and history. I love watching documentaries. So that’s Ross. I can be bloody sarcastic when needed to (I can vouch for that, after this chat). This is how I lose friends. So that’s Chandler. Last but not least, Joey. I am chasing a dream in the entertainment industry. I would love to have my own travel and tattoo show one day. I am definitely not blur like him though but I do love my food like he does.

This question was asked repeatedly at the Cleo EB Finale but it wasn’t directed to you. Now is your chance to share which part of a woman you find most attractive...

I know when I answer this, some of you will go “eh pegila lu!” but honestly I find the eyes the most attractive. A pair of beautiful eyes can just stun me and make me go speechless. If you really want the “juicy” stuff, I can never decide if I am a boobs guy or an ass guy. How can one choose? It's like forcing me to choose between chocolate or ice cream! What does one do? Mix both with a nice equal balance ;) (no one's asking for the juicy stuff, dude, but good advice nonetheless)

Which era would you transport yourself to if you have a time machine?

The 60s! Definitely '60s without thinking twice. The music, the fashion, the girls, the hippies, Woodstock69 and did I already mention how hot girls used to be back in those days? (you mean nowadays girls not hot enough for you ah?)

What are you most thankful for?

Friends. I am blessed enough to have come across people that have helped, motivated or even changed my life in a certain way. There are the messed up ones but like they say “learn from your mistakes”. I am thankful for them too. Wouldn’t have learnt otherwise.

Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? Why?

INSTAGRAM 4 LYFE. Why? Because there are no emo status updates like every 5 seconds, couples talking to each other on Twitter and Facebook like BBM and Whatsapp don’t exist, girls taking selfies and putting a deep philosophical caption or even a poem (how does that even relate to your duckface and half boobs sticking out photo? HOW?!) and people tagging or trying to sell me “GREEN SHAPE & GREEN DETOX TEA: The best solution for slimming”. Seriously? (now I scared to take selfies)

Mum's "Popek Saturday" Birthday Dinner Party

Exactly one week after my birthday was my Mum's birthday. Like mine, 14th May 2013 fell on a Tuesday, so we celebrated on the Saturday before at Alexis, Bangsar Shopping Centre.

Violet came up with the "Popek Saturday" theme, coz we all like to talk so much. When both families come together, we make hell of a noise! So to be in sync with the theme, I DIY-ed some photobooth props to add cheer to the dinner party :)

Because "popek" means chatterbox, I downloaded various lip and moustache shapes from the internet, printed them and stuck them to disposable chopsticks. I even made a "welcome" signage to be placed on the table. This is event planning on a budget.

I love the tiramisu at Alexis! Nobody makes them as soft and nutty as they do :) Do you like my gigi jongang photo prop?

 Honestly, I think the highlight of the dinner was my photo props, rather than the food... lol!

Happy Birthday to Me and Happy 1st Anniversary to My Blog!

I turned 30 about a week back, and boy, what a celebration that I've had! Now I truly know why turning the big 3-0 is such a BIG deal. Weeks and weeks of eating and parties started on Labour's Day eve with a bunch of crazy friends, then dinner with the family and then Sunday roast with the hubby. These are the people that I'm glad I have in my life - people who love me, and whom I love in return. Moments like these make me feel that I'm so blessed. Plus the long weekend for Election Day made it all the more worthwhile...

On another note, congratulations to me! I started this blog in May (after my 29th) last year to document all the stuff I did and will do, and I'm glad I've been able to maintain it for a year now, though not as regularly as I'd like. Scout's honour - I will try to make it more consistent :)

Labour's Day eve dinner and party with gorgeous girls Pam, Rachel, Vanessa, Christina, Wai Ling, Fiona at Ciccio and later on at Establishment at Changkat:

Saturday dinner at Lima Blas Nyonya Restaurant along Jalan Mesui with family. So in love with the old skool decor:

Sunday Roast with my favourite man in the whole wide world at Albion, also somewhere around Changkat:

 Next celebration will be in Da Nang to cap it all off! It will be epic! Stay tuned :)

myBurgerLab

This is quite an outdated post, but myBurgerLab deserves a quick review. We came back from Seremban after the Cheng Beng prayers, and decided to pop by myBurgerLab for the much-raved-about burgers.

There's nothing funny about the queue - Violet and I lined up for more than 45 minutes to get to the order counter. I ordered the Jammin' with Elvis which is an unusual concoction of peanut butter and beef patty while Violet ordered something else with a quirky name I can't remember. We ordered four different burgers (I can't remember their names) coz mum and aunt were there too. I do remember A Beautiful Mess just because it really came in a beautiful mess.

A bit blurry, but I thought the chalkboard menu was interesting...

 

A Beautiful Mess

The menu!

We loved the bread coz it's charcoal bread and really soft. But what I really truly enjoyed was the fried portobello mushrooms at RM15.00 a basket. Reasonably priced for a reasonable portion. It has never crossed my mind that peanut butter really goes with beef :) Lol!

Just looking at the pictures below make me want to go back again.

Patrick J. Adams

Last Friday I had a superstar drape his arm casually over me - no big deal... right? Wrong! Coz it's Patrick J. Adams from Diva Universal's Suits! Cute, suave, charming, unpretentious, handsome, tall, friendly... all that a girl could ever want. Except that he's taken. By Troian Bellisario. Another star. From another TV show. It's called Pretty Little Liars.

Adams was here to promote Suits and came over to 21 Tables + Terraces at Bangsar Shopping Centre after the press conference. Thank you Vanessa for the invitation! I'm forever indebted to you... But as the invitation came at the last minute, I was wearing a cheongsam and I felt so out of place. Half way through plenty of cupcakes, mini burgers and wine, I didn't mind so much anymore.

A-line Cheongsam, Arthur Yen / Earrings, gift from Penang