Luxury watchmaker Omega recently invited me for their dinner in conjunction with the release of the latest Bond movie Spectre.
Omega, Bond, and dinner at the Hyatt?
I would have been daft to say no.
Despite all these optimistic ideas on how i would get dressed and appear at the event to socialise in utmost perfection, that did not happen.
What did happen was an increasingly-typical rollout of my evening – work, work, work, just can’t get myself away from laptop cos of urgent projects, traffic jam, rushed to get ready in 15 minutes flat, left for the Hyatt, arrived late. (I won’t say how late.)
But let’s pretend that i spent my day having a facial and taking selfies, shall we.
Before i leisurely took my time to get ready as my butler steam-ironed my dress while i had an aperitif of chardonnay as i had my make up done.
TADA!
I’m wearing a long draped white dress from Love Bonito
Nana whatsapped me at the time of event guest arrival, “Mana u?”
I was so late i didn’t even have time to type a response :p I figured that my biggest responsibility was to get there safely and not text while driving.
I was happy enough to make it in time for the opening video!
Actors Steve Yap and Aenie Wong sat across me, but you know how bad i am with names and faces… only got their official names in the post-event email oh-so-professionally sent by the peeps at Omega
This year, i had the honour of being one of the first bloggers handpicked by Malaysia Airlines under their Influencer Exchange program, the first of any kind carried out by an airline.
I flew Business Class onboard the Malaysia Airlines Airbus A380 to London for 10 days, of which i spent 3-4 days at London Fashion Week. It was crazy tiring but oh so much fun! I filled every single day i was there up with constant activities, meeting new people, fashion presentations, eating and exploring.
Before i left for London, i went for fittings at some of Malaysia’s fashion designers’ showrooms so i could wear their designs while i was there.
Malaysia represent okay.
I packed with me outfits from Silas Liew, Pearly Wong, Jimmy Lim, and Mimpikita. Can i just say that packing for multiple events is a challenge… one has to strategically plan bags + shoes + accessories to go along with, not counting outfits for other dinners and outings for the rest of my trip there. I am slightly (but only so) ashamed to admit that i ended up flying there with 40kg. I figured that it may have been just as well not to shop since the RM was at an incredible low (6.9 to the £ at the time. Ouch.)
OK fine you caught me there. I did end up shopping anyway.
The night before my morning flight, i slept only an hour due to work and packing (what else is new…) but was cheered up at the thought of having nasi lemak for breakfast at the Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge in KLIA. I was starving!
My favourite place to sit at the Golden Lounge is further at the back of the massive area where the comfortable plush armchairs are. This might also be by default in my subconscious because it’s right next to the nasi lemak.
I always stuff myself with Malaysian food before i fly off for a trip anywhere. #AsianGirlAtHeart
If you haven’t yet signed up for Enrich, you’d better do so. It just makes sense!
Enrich is Malaysia Airlines Loyalty Programme which consists of two different types of Miles, namely Enrich Miles and Elite Miles.
Enrich Miles are points members can earn when transacting with Malaysia Airlines, its partners and special promotions, and then redeem for a host of travel and lifestyle products.
Elite Miles (which is used to track an Enrich member’s qualification towards Enrich Silver, Gold and Platinum status).
Every time a member flies with Malaysia Airlines or a oneworld partner airline, they earn Enrich Miles that are redeemable for award flights and seat upgrades. You should see me calculating where i can go with the Enrich Miles i have… my sights are set on South America or Africa. Somewhere far and exotic where i’ve yet to go!
I enthusiastically took a slew of snapchats of the Golden Lounge, in the A380, and at London Fashion Week but… i just discovered that the still pictures get rejected when uploaded on YouTube. 🙁 Well now i know… just vids in the future!
After having my breakfast, i leisurely walked to the gate nearby, boarded my flight, and settled down comfortably into my uber spacious Business Class seat.
Malaysia Airlines flies its Airbus A380 to London, twice daily; with each of these double-decker giants containing 494 seats in three classes. I was on the upper deck that flight, which holds 66 business class seats and another 70 economy class seats. On the main deck are eight first class suites, along with 350 economy class seats.
“First class is comprised of four individual seats and two double seats in a 1-2-1 formation.
The widely-acclaimed seats are 40 inches wide, have a pitch of 89 inches, and are convertible into an 87 inch-long flat bed.
Business class has up to 66 seats that all face forward and is arranged in a 2-2-2 formation.
Meanwhile, the Economy class with a total of 420 seats is placed in a formation of 3-4-3 on the main deck and 2-4-2 on the upper deck.”
I still think Malaysia Airlines has one of the best stewardess uniforms in the world. My admiration for the creation of an outfit that has spanned decades yet manages to remain elegantly modest and visually arresting is warranted.
It’s also extremely comforting (to me anyway) to interact with flight crew who are wearing them. It’s like having a bit of home despite not actually being on home soil, you get what i mean?
I was sure to sample the signature satay, a gastronomical delight from the “Dari Dapur Istana” menu- a result of a collaboration between Malaysia Airlines and Her Royal Highness Tengku Puan Pahang, Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah AlMarhum Sultan Iskandar AlHaj, wife of the Pahang Crown Prince.
“The Princess embarked on a 10-month culinary journey travelling to every district of Pahang, literally cooking up a storm. Some 500 recipes were gathered but only 155 recipes that best represent the authentic cuisine of Pahang were chosen to be published in her cookbook Air Tangan Tengku Puan Pahang: Masakan Tradisional Pahang.”
Thanks to this delicious collab, i got to feast on favourites from the Royal household like the satay and the dish below which i wiped clean.
Behold the tastiest meal i’ve ever had on a flight. Any flight.
What you see above is the Udang Masak Merah – prawn sambal and basmathi rice with steamed ladies fingers.
I shocked myself by finishing it because i’d had the nasi lemak before taking off, the satay, the starters below, and THEN that.
My plan was to eat half so i wouldn’t overeat… but the sambal was just too freaking good i couldn’t stop myself cos WHO KNOWS WHEN i will have that in my mouth again!?
If there’s one thing I’ve done right in my life, it would be investing in really good bras. Ever since I hit puberty and my chest started to grow, Mima (my mother) took it upon herself to be my lingerie guru up until I was 26 years old. She insisted on tagging along whenever I went bra shopping, including following me into the fitting room to fuss over everything from how I should bend over when putting on a bra or how there shouldn’t be any overspill. That’s how serious she is about greatly maintaining an all natural pair of hooters. With that, I would like to say thank you, Mima. You DO know best!
I was assigned to go for Triumph Malaysia‘s “Find The One” fitting and naturally, I was excited (as always!) because I’m a long-time fan of Triumph. I had my first Triumph Maximizer when I was 14! And back in June I got the Magic Wire gifted by Joyce. It is still my favourite bra. Big fan!
I went to the Triumph boutique in Mid Valley to meet up with Nicole who began me on my “Find The One” experience by taking me on a tour around the boutique. She explained to me about each product and what it does to your body. I was particularly interested in the Forever Young range, designed for support. As we age; loss of tissue and fat, and decreased levels of collagen make our breasts lose their fullness. Our breasts age faster than the rest of our body due to the amount of exposure to hormones and other factors – gravity, UV rays (think twice or more before you decide to go all European at the beach), lifestyle, hormonal changes and genome structures.
There are three stages of breast-ageing:
Stage 1
Your breast will start sagging at the age of 25 because that’s when collagen in your body starts to decrease.
Stage 2
Your upper bust starts to lose it’s fullness (noooo…) and nipples start to point downwards (ewww…).
Stage 3
Your nipple will begin to move outwards due to the weakening of muscles.
(nature is soooooo unfair!)
Everyone can stop panicking! Triumph has got this covered with the Forever Young range designed specifically for a timeless, youthful look with perfect shape and SUPPORT at every stage of your life. It is guaranteed to give you extreme comfort, superb fit (I can vouch for this), non-slip straps (at last!) and lasting support to provide the assurance that you need. Just take all my money now, Triumph!
And then, it was time for my fitting where I was introduced to the Master Fitter, Miss Roha. A very nice lady with an extensive knowledge about bras and breasts. She didn’t make me feel awkward at all stripping my bra off in front of her. In fact, she made my whole “Find The One” experience a jolly good one. Her humour made it easy and comforting. Do look for her if you want to go for a fitting at Triumph, Mid Valley!
We started with her taking my measurements.
And she chose the bras that best fit me, which as you can see… are a lot!
[On a side(boob) note, I’m wearing my Magic Wire in this picture. Pretty good, huh?]
One evening i joined Josh, Cammy and Kenny for the Hennessy dinner at Zebra Square. Josh picked me up in the evening and it was the first time in ages since i’d managed to catch up with him. It was such a pleasure to chat leisurely in the traffic (maybe not as leisurely for him driving) and delve into deep personal perspectives about work and relationships. I tend to thrive more on drawn out one-on-one conversations these days. Age showing? Oh stop it, age is but a number, i always tell myself that.
We were ushered through the red carpet entrance of the venue into a greeting area where glasses of Hennessy, chocolate, and ice made from pu erh tea were carefully laid out next to headphones. The host gave us an introduction to appreciating Hennessy, via the headphones (good call on decreasing distraction!).
Nibbling on branded morsels of chocolate in between sips of Hennessy opened up my eyes tastebuds on how marvelous an unassuming yet delightful concoction it could be. If you haven’t yet tried chocolate with Hennessy, do yourself a favour! The sweetness of the choc opened up notes in the cognac that took me over by surprise.
We entered a larger decorated area made to look like a garden, where we met Cammy and Kenny, and bumped into a few more friends. Cammy and Josh started taking vocal jabs at each other, and i had fun taking Josh’s side (just cos it’s amusing to observe Cammy’s annoyance haha). They’ve known each other since school so the sibling-like bickering is typical. There are stories of Josh being chased by Cammy’s dad in a car when they were teenagers, being reiterated.
Kenny, Josh, and Dennis trying to give a smooch.
Josh is all ‘please don’t’ and shuts his eyes while the pic is being taken in the process.
Wongs and the Loh-Lohs
To celebrate 250 years of appreciation, Hennessy flew down Chef Victor Liong of Melbourne’s Lee Ho Fook to prepare a contemporary Chinese dinner to complement our Hennessy drinks for the night. A nominee for best new talent in Gourmet Traveller 2014, Chef Victor loves using locally-sourced ingredients, modern techniques and an innovative style from previous fine dining training teamed with his passion for the rich history of Chinese food and culture.
Ordering Urban Decay online and waiting for a month to have it shipped here is a thing of the past. The much sought-after makeup brand first made its presence in Malaysia in Sephora stores nationwide where their Naked palettes sold like hot cakes. As of this month, they have opened their first ever flagship store in KLCC – filled with even more stuff, straight from the USA!
“Every 5 seconds, a Naked palette is sold around the world!” – R&D department, Urban Decay
Other than that, Urban Decay is also known for their amazing eyeshadow primers that lasts all day long, and their series of liquid eyeliners that comes in glittery versions too. I have to admit, their liquid eyeliners are my favourite! They do not smudge and they have a long-lasting power that makes it the best beauty product for raves and wild parties.
The #KinkyBlueFairyTeam were supposed to hit this party up together, but Baby had to go on compassionate leave due to a passing in the family and Andrew got bitten by his cat (cat-scratch syndrome exists, believe it or not), so it was down to me and Joyce to conquer the night. The celebration was held at the relocated Zouk Club KL, which now has made its home in a brand new premise. At the entrance you can see throngs of guests queueing up for the Fotobox HELLO GIF booth which creates popular GIF photo-video that can be uploaded immediately onto Facebook or Instagram with music included (look at Joyce’s).
The Phuture room was transformed into a purple wonderland. Icicles with moving lights hanging from the the ceiling emitted a purplish glow. Urban Decay’s bestsellers were displayed on a long table, aptly named the Top 10 Obsessions from Urban Decay, from the iconic Naked Palettes and primers to lipsticks and makeup brushes. The table was beautifully decorated with bright purple balloons and colourful bouquets. Along the walkway into the room, there were cubes with products on display, and a wall about Wende Zomnir (co-founder of Urban Decay).
All of the guests present al enjoyed mini makeovers at the Urban Decay artists to get the UD edge. We get to choose from three themed looks: FEMININE – finish off the eyes with some glitter, DANGEROUS – a dramatic winged eye or a smoky smudge of liner and FUN – a hit of colour with a bold, bright lip.
The night started off with our emcee, Timur Gabriel, introducing Lau Sook Ping, the General Manager of the L’Oreal Luxe Division to give a speech. Following that, we were all introduced to Steve Kassajikian who is the international brand ambassador and makeup extraordinaire for Urban Decay. “Founded by a make-up junkie for make-up junkies, Urban Decay encourages beauty with an edge by taking risks and playing with colours to express yourself.”
He showcased three looks he created for the event:
Look 1: Iconic ‘Beauty With An Edge’ UD, which uses a pop of purple for the eyes and cheeky red for the lips
Look 2: Naked Smokey, showcasing strong smokey eyes and sexy red lips
Look 3: Colour Unleashed, a pop of colour with electrifying green eyes from the new Vice 4 palette
Later on all of us were thoroughly entertained by the melodious voices and sizzling dance moves of Hunny Madu, Kayda, Supa Mojo, Al Caponey and Nadhira. SonaOne took on the stage to belt out some of his popular hits that we are all familiar with and love to dance to. I am amazed by Hunny Madu’s performance and her whole squad – so much girl powerrrrr! It got everyone dancing almost immediately. Later on, the double trouble DJ team of Twinkies (Arabyrd & DJ Nadia) took over the set to drop some snazzy beats.
