Last night, I went for the launch of the #EhWauBulan Art Showcase @ White Box, Publika cos Claudia asked for a date. The last time we spent time together was during our birthdays where went for a quick dinner together, and before that… maybe not for a year. I do miss her, and a part of me feels annoyed when she makes flaky plans that don’t happen, so i was almost ready to throw in the towel if she ffk-ed me on this one. :p It turned out to be an awesome night where we just hung out like old times and laughed a lot.
We both wore pointy silver shoes that day! #MFEO No pic oops but i just wanted to remember that. Paulius (always) at work on the left.
Organised by Red Bull, the #EhWauBulan Art Showcase features 59 artworks in honour of the nation’s 59th year of independence and will be open to public till 7th September 2016.
“Held in partnership and with the support of The National Visual Arts Gallery, Red Bull’s #EhWauBulan art outreach aims to cultivate Malaysia’s art scene and to empower local artists with wings to document their journey through art. An avid supporter of society and culture worldwide, Red Bull’s local efforts carries the ethos of its global art initiatives such as the Red Bull Art of Can and Red Bull Doodle Art.”
The pieces were chosen in a blind selection process from over 332 unique submissions by a panel – street artist Fritilldea, contemporary artist Ivan Lam, and National Visual Arts Development Board trustee & artist Phillip Wong – who were quoted on being “pleasantly surprised by the number of submissions, varied artistic styles, as well as the experimental energy in subject matter.” Of the work selected, one standout artist will benefit from a bespoke artist programme.
‘Sure and Uncertainty’ by Aleff Ahmad
Industrial paint, spray paint and acrylic on canvas.
“From his sembilan Art Residency’s ‘Reborn’ series, this artwork focuses us on, first – our current being, and second – to reflect on how our future existence can be directly influenced by our daily choices in life. And since we make choices every day, the opportunity to be reborn therefore exists every day.”
‘The Perfect Moment’ by Sanuri Zulkefli
Chinese ink on paper.
“A perfect moment is unpredictable. It can occur at any time, unexpectedly. The glory of an artist, will appear when the time comes.”
‘Tapir’ by Haris Rashid
Acrylic colour pencil on solid pine wood.
“I have always been inspired by nature and animals and my concerns of their conservation for future generations. This is a Tapir, an animal native to our lands, it’s fading away.”
Me: I LOVE the one on the left, i think it’s my favourite
Clouds: That one *points to one on right* is like inside my head…
Me: I can totally see that
I rarely go for food / drink reviews cos it usually clashes with work. I had a really nice evening where there happened to be a food tasting sess, AND a whisky tasting sess right after, that was on our way home, AND i happened to be free.
It seemed a plan aligned by the stars to me – eat food, line stomach, then drink contentedly!
First off, the food tasting was at Tiki Taka, Hans Gill’s new place he opened with his wife Chef Carrie Scully. Hans is an old friend of mine- we grew up in the same neighbourhood and he’s one of few people who greet me with my full name followed by variations: “Joyce Wong, how’s it going?” “Joyce Wong, long time no see!” “Joyce Wong, what are we drinking tonight!?”
Hans used to run dLegends in TTDI – which i used to patronize lots around 2010 before even finding out he ran it, Claudia and i threw a birthday party there in 2011, he garnered it an award for Perfect Tiger Serve at the prestigious HAPA – GAB awards, and then sold the bar to open Tiki Taka. I’m proud of him!
His work experience in Melbourne opened his eyes to the F&B industry in which he focuses on quality, creativity, service and cleanliness; and he’s totes into new challenges and ideas. Together with Carrie, they’ve opened Tiki Taka on Jalan Kasah (behind Jake’s, same row as La Risata).
Inspired by the food culture in Barcelona, Tiki Taka serves “unique interpretations of the eclectic flavours from around the world with the fusion spices of Asia” in the Spanish-inspired formats of pintxos and tapas.
“A pincho or pintxo is a small snack, typically eaten in bars, traditional in northern Spain and especially popular in the Basque country and Navarre. They are usually eaten in bars or taverns as a small snack while hanging out with friends or relatives; thus, having a strong socializing component.” [source]
As for its name, Tiki Taka is a Spanish style of football. Figures. Hans loves football (as do 2394820989 other guys in Malaysia). You can find at least three screens in the restaurant (i didn’t count) so if you wanna catch a game (or something else like the badminton finals) it’s a great option.
Havana cocktail with rum, mango and vanilla (RM 30).
I love being able to order small portions especially if i’m out drinking cos somehow one’s appetite dissipates in place of excitement :p And it seems the older i get, the smaller the portions i eat… i feel like i get full more quickly nowadays. Give me 4 pintxos and i’m done for the night, really! I like not causing food wastage cos the portions are small, and spending less but tasting more!
Tomato & Serrano Ham with Balsamic Glaze, RM 6
The Salted Egg Crab Bun is a decadent combination of salted egg crab meat, curry leaves, birds eye chilli, and salted egg cream sauce that comes oozing out of a mini charcoal brioche when you cut/bite into it. RM 9.
This Nutella Bacon pintxos with banana on bruschetta is one of my favourites there.
It’s so good i shot a side view and aerial view.
When brow embroidery became a new trend in beauty years ago, i wasn’t sold on it. The downtime of 2 weeks for unnaturally dark eyebrows seemed too much to bear, and i didn’t find its results desirable either. It looked like someone had painted on their eyebrows with a marker pen… that’s not my idea of how i want my brows to look!
Word of a new and better eyebrow enhancing technique started going around, where eyebrows would be filled in by tattooing single hairs, making it look natural. I was intrigued and wanted it. When Browhaus opened up the opportunity for me to experience it to blog about it, i was all yes yes yessssssss!!!
For years my sparse eyebrows have plagued me.
Lack of time or energy to fill them in on certain days had ex-bosses asking if i was sick. -_-
It’s my Chinese brows.
I don’t have much bodily hair so if i don’t draw them in, people think i’m pale / unwell!
And then there were the times i drew them in a little too hurriedly causing unbalanced brows *cringe*
Thoughts of not having to fill in my eyebrows for two years = save time, and i will look pretty in my sleep and no-makeup days!
In the couple of days leading up to the appointment, i was kinda excited.
It was like getting a tattoo but not.
My eyebrows were gonna be drawn in via vegetable dye inserted into little cuts made into my skin to look like actual hairs.
I’ll explain the steps throughout this blogpost, but here are the final results:
TAda! My new brows!
All the hairs you see on the inner brow are fake… nicely drawn in!
Brow Resurrection is a signature semi-permanent treatment at Browhaus that boasts a more detailed and natural stroke. Involving 5 years of dedicated research to perfect; this patented technique is exclusive to Browhaus and achieves brows that are 3 times finer than normal brow enhancement techniques.
Brow Resurrection uses a range of needlepoints- 1, 12, or 15 – for flexibility and customization depending on each person’s preference for type of eyebrows they want.
Browhaus found a way to reduce the depth of the tool insertion, which makes the procedure less traumatic on the skin with shorter recovery period. Even though the depth of the cut is shallower, the dye will still be able to penetrate at an optimal depth to effectively create each strand of hair.
The whole procedure takes around 1.5 hours (30 mins consultation and shaping, 20 mins for numbing cream to set in, and 30-40 mins for brow resurrection tattooing). I got Rachel to come with me to snap some pix.
Consultation with their Brow Architect, Sharon, starts with discussing the brow shape i wanted – which is thicker, fuller and not too curved.
Sharon told me she regularly attends special training in Singapore by Browhaus… and when i asked her how long she’s been doing brows, she said 7 years!
Brow Architect Sharon tuses a pointy eyebrow pencil to deftly draw in my brows to make sure i’m completely happy with the exact shape before starting the treatment.
This took a lot longer than i expected cos i’m super anal and ok find a bit OCD. I was staring and staring at my brows to make sure they were completely balanced on all sides, observing them under the best light angle, shutting my eyes and then opening them again to get another look, telling poor patient her that one of my eyebrows is higher than the other, and to make up for it.
Thank god for Rachel there cos i totes trust her to give me an honest opinion when i was getting googley-eyed from it.
Friday of KL Fashion Week – I had a hair shoot with Centro Hair Salon just before making my way to Pavilion for KLFW. Because it’s in Gardens Mid Valley, i figured i’d schedule two other fittings there before the shoot. That proved too ambitious. There was just enough time for me to get my face on, and figure out what to wear with the Khansa Kimono from Sazzy’s resort ’16 collection for her show later that day. I threw pieces of clothing around the bed before deciding on a vintage swimsuit i picked up from Amsterdam 6 years ago.
This outfit is so tak halal… i thought
Hair: Han, Centro Hair Salon
Photos: Ikwan Hamid for CHS
Turquoise slip: Khansa Kimono from SF by Sazzy Falak Shorts: H&M
Watch: Malaya & Co Jacket earring: Thomas Sabo Lippie: Diorific 002 Lady Boots: Steve Madden (er they’re quite a few years old XD)
Necklace: bought years ago from Singaporean accs brand Vice & Vanity (think they’ve shut down)
I arrived at the entrance in the nick of time 4:55pm, with the show scheduled to start at 5pm, but the whole slot was late. Sazzy whatsapped saying sorry, but i already knew the previous day’s shows were ALL delayed so it wasn’t a surprise.
Found myself standing at the main entrance of the mall with Reezal and Fendi. Walked off to take some pix with Charis, and came back to find ourselves standing there doing nothing, again.
“I think we should get ourselves a glass of white wine while we wait. Might as well,” i chirped.
The rest agreed that all they needed was a little nudge, and we adjourned to the bar :p We got Charis’ manager Jee to message us when the show was starting so we knew when we could leave at the last min. #smartlikethat
I drink a lot a night before but surprisingly I manage to get up at 10am and get myself ready for a meeting at 12! Matt was telling me about some problems with the shop, so I’m ready to face it and solve it! 😀 Luckily the meeting was a quick one, because I didn’t take breakfast and I’m hungry. ( I can imagine Goddess nagging me : Andrew! That’s so unhealthy!) LOL.
Baby: Hey, let’s go for the restaurant!
Andrew: Which restaurant? U mean the buffet?
Baby: No! The fine dining one!
Andrew: Are u sure we can access that?
Baby: Yes! Why not!
YES! So far I never try that restaurant yet and I guess Theodore and Keiron sure totally forget about this restaurant ! ( They really forget, and they had the same buffet restaurant for whole trip! LOL)
Love their salad and is super big portion, I almost can’t finish my main because of the salad!
Me and baby decided to skip dessert. First, we are very full. Second, is working time! ( We’re here not just to party! We’re working too!)
As expected, the weather is super hot. After meeting up with person in charge Andrew at St. Tropez area, it’s time for us to throw another batch of floats to the pool!
Here comes the problem when you’re in the middle of the sea, communication! We don’t have any phone signal to gather the others guy. We did asked them to meet up with us at 1pm but we’re late to the meeting place so I have to look for them.
