Who is Uncle Jang?

It's been a while since I had a nice relaxing time with my girlfriends so we decided to do just that. Sunday lunch at a small family-run Korean joint sounds like a great hangout to me. Jasmine's birthday is also coming up so what better excuse to meet up and have good food? Deb's going to be leaving to Oregon for good in two months' time so I'll try not to say no to meeting her before she leaves :( Here I got to taste bulgogi for the first time. I must say that it's a much better feeling to eat the yummy pork bulgogi than having to cook it all the time while I play Pucca Restaurant. Haha!

Almost famous

This is what I wore to Chic POP Street Market a couple of weekends ago. Aside from running into a girl who wore similar pants *rolls eyes*, everything was fab because I got photographed *here* and *here*. Hey, I'm not pissed off that I bumped into someone who wore similar pants, but I was offended that she kept hovering beside me while I was trying on a pair of shoes and the fact that I arrived at the stall first. I even overheard her telling her friend about some "no-no in fashion". You can very well go eff yourself, honey.

I was told by the photojournalist from Style Snaps that I was due for a prize but I haven't heard from them till today. Wonder what happened?

Bitter heart

My chest is heavy with pangs of disappointment and regret. Disappointment that arise after realising how I am perceived in the eyes of others. Regret as I allowed myself for everything to run its course. Mask changing is not my forte and will probably never be. But now is a crucial time for me to really learn how to filter my thoughts. How did it turn out that the best quality that I thought of myself has now become the venom that could cause my own death? My mind begs for an answer but my soul is too fragile to handle the truth. I get too emotional when I'm criticized for being me. I'm still shaken from the awakening and trying to pick up my strength to move forward. I've been trying for years to move forward and become a better me but have always faltered. Could this be my last chance if I fail again?

I cannot let myself down anymore.

Go up or get out

I think I'm on the brink of a realisation here - My shelf life could possibly be up to about two years before I start asking myself the question, "Where do I go from here?" It's time for the dreaded chat... about moving forward or outward. I'm being hopeful and keeping my fingers crossed.

Lust, Caution

1. YSL Arty Ring

2. Hermes Constance Bag

3. Miu Miu Platforms

4. Alexander McQueen Skull Clutch

5. Chanel 2.55 Bag

6. Jeffrey Campbell Foxy

7. Jeffrey Campbell Lita

8. Alexander Wang Rocco Bag

Just some of the things that I will not hesitate to buy if I were a millionaire. Or at least married to one. They will forever stay in my 'can see, cannot touch own' list.

A trip to meet the king

Yesterday we took a drive to Raub, Pahang to one of Mr Bun's colleague's hometown. The guy's family owns an orchard so we were treated to a durian feast. We had the opportunity to sample one of the most popular and expensive species, the Musang King. There were only a few, as they were mostly kept for the selling market. The rest of the durian weren't bad - they were either of the D24 or D101 species.

Scenic drive into the villages of Raub.

What we came for... after driving for more than three hours.

Cracking open the prickly shell to reveal its tender flesh.

Nomming on some Musang King.

Here's a photo of Mr Bun looking a lot like Crayon Shin Chan :p

Took a look at the bunch of bananas lying around and thought I would never eat that much even in a year.

After all that durian, we made a stop at Bukit Tinggi for some sightseeing. I know this place well from my previous job, but some of Mr Bun's colleagues have never been here so we decided to come along. I must say, the place looks more decent now that the incompetent dog walker has left (insider's language).

Medieval warrior greeted our arrival.

Stupid goose that kept bopping its head up and down, not letting me take a photo.

Fat fishies.

Wish I'd have more time to take off on short holidays. Right now I miss being at a beach :(

你过得好吗?

伯母，已经过了一百天. 你现在过得好吗？希望你在新的地方可以安心. 我们依然非常想念你。希望你可以看到我们尝试继续生活，虽然你与我们不再。我想念你。

Stripes and Dots

Folks at work had a barbeque session during lunch today and it was a good opportunity for some relaxation and fun. Perfect time for me to squeeze in some camwhoring shots!

It's a no brainer that good food is always involved, especially here in Malaysia. My only complaint is we didn't have enough satay to go around :)

Now I'm sitting in front of my iMac trying hard to not fall asleep. It rained heavily midway through the barbeque and now the weather is perfect for an afternoon nap. Can't wait to get home to my bed.

Brunch at Hin Kee HK Dim Sum

Mr Bun and I made our way to SS2 this morning for my spine treatment and we had planned to have brunch at his favourite mixed rice stall at Wai Sek Kai, alas, it was not open. So we had to look for an alternative, and I spotted a new dim sum place right opposite. We weren't armed with high expectations as most dim sum places serve substandard frozen dim sum, but we were proven wrong as each of our orders came to the table. The food was absolutely fresh and made in good sizes as well. Price wasn't too steep and I felt it was worth every penny. To make it simple for you to know how good the dim sum here are, I'd say I might marry the chef if I was single and available, and if he lost some weight. I'd definitely be coming back. The restaurant is open every day from 8.30am till 12am, and is located at the same row as Kei Tak Sik.

My home today

I ventured out of home today for a baking class, obviously ignoring the fact that there is a scheduled demonstration in the city. It's not as if I was oblivious to it till the last minute, but we decided to go ahead anyhow. I managed to escape a massive roadblock, had to take a huge turn around to get to the road I was headed towards and got safely to our destination. We had a great time cranking out delicious apple pie and pound cake from the oven. In between the baking, we managed to squeeze in some very interesting comments about the state that we are currently in - 3 Malaysian girls with a German lady who has lived in this country longer than any one of us have. But sadly she is leaving the country very soon.

I was hesitant about reaching home safely but I managed to get my way. I guess being a typical Malaysian driver gave me a lot of training for days like this. Plenty of skillful and creative driving in order to reach my destination.

Catching up on news surrounding the whole BERSIH episode is absolutely amazing in this day and age. How could we have seen all the on-ground videos in just a couple of years ago? I appreciate the guts of those who have no fear and willingly march down the streets to share a piece of their thoughts. It's saddening to see how the government is overreacting to a rally, causing so much pain and inconvenience. Look at how the foreign governments are treating Malaysians living abroad who have also participated in the rally from afar. This just shows the difference in the level of maturity. It also pains me to see how some people are so gullible, agreeing that the rally supporters were the root cause of the inconvenience. Honestly I wouldn't ask for a chaotic country as much as any peace-loving Malaysian. I just want to see us living in a cleaner and fairer state.

I am anxious to see how Malaysia can grow out of this state and would love to see my children (and their children) grow up in a better Malaysia.

In case you were curious enough about my baking adventure today, here's the end result of our community effort. A delish apple pie and raisin pound cake. The cake didn't cool down in time for me to try a slice but I heard it tasted more than alright.

Had an apple today

Look what came in the mail for me today!!














Looking back the past week, I have to give it to Maxis for making up for the terrible customer service by their dealer. So far Maxis has been timely with their promised delivery dates and it would've been a smooth sailing journey if it wasn't for the rude a*hole. But hey, life isn't perfect and it hasn't been too bad this week.

Let's hope I don't turn into one of those people who hang on to their devices for dear lives. I also have this need to clarify that I still don't agree with the term 'smart phone'. I feel it makes some idiots suddenly feel like they've become smart asses after they buy one of these (note: show-offs). I'll probably be infatuated and busy with this baby for a couple of weeks and then the fever will eventually die down.

Excuse me while I go check with my friend, Mr Google on how to make it an even more awesome device.

tweet tweet

I signed up for a Twitter account today - because I was told it would work very well to make a complaint to Maxis via Twitter. So far I'm happy that the staff responded to my complaint from both Twitter and customer helpline desks. Now I just have to wait until my digital apple arrives. Follow me at @ashleylsc if you're interested to see if I have any updates over there. I should be slow often, but it might change when I have a less dumb phone. I can't wait to ditch this ancient Nokia phone. It has no camera and my contacts are messed up but on the plus side, it has a flashlight. If only Steve Jobs' engineers could pull off a flashlight on their iPhones...

How fragile life is

伯母，谢谢你欢迎我加入你的家庭。我会永远记得我们第一次见面的时候，你是很热情欢迎我。

您的逝世是非常突然。我非常难以接受。但我会为你的儿子坚强，我答应你好好照顾他。你安心吧。

我们会永远怀念您。

Gambate Japan

The social media network has allowed everyone who has an account to give a piece of their mind whenever something major happens. I mean, major like the 9.0 scale earthquake in Japan and not a punk abusing his pet dog. I've not made any comments about any of these trending topics on the blogosphere, Facebook and such because contrary to popular belief, I don't have something to say about everything. I feel compelled to say something about Japan now because there is a live broadcast of a charity concert in Hong Kong right now and I cannot bring myself to hear stories about the victims and survivors. It's too heartbreaking. It also scares me to no end, thinking what if the same situation happened here in Malaysia. We are nowhere close to having the discipline, kindness and patience as the Japanese. Even if I was a survivor of a 9.0 scale earthquake here in Malaysia, I will be attacked in the aftermath of the disaster by ruthless beings. That I am sure. In these past few weeks since the disaster in Japan, I only have one thing in mind. How could this happen to such a beautiful country? Of course I'm aware there is no one to blame, even if a certain well-knowned Malaysian lady thinks otherwise. There is one thing that I realise, along with many other people, is that the patience displayed by the Japanese during trying times are extremely respectable. Some haters may say this is the result of the Japanese nation being too disciplined since young, but all of these can easily go right out of the window after such crisis. Very few nations can be truly united during such times and it is indeed a graceful thing to come out of a natural disaster. I may not be visitng Japan anytime soon but I wish everyone good luck and may you be strong enough to move on forward.

If this is what people say are one of those 'signs' of the world ending soon, I wouldn't be surprised and as scared as I was a couple of months back when we first read about mysterious massive deaths of birds and fishes. I've decided that the most important thing is to have my mom and Mr. Bun next to me when the final moment arrives. But if that doesn't happen then there's nothing I can do about it because everyone is dying anyway. I've come to terms that our civilization might end in this century and it's perfectly normal. It's not like we're the first and only human civilization that is wiped out from the face of Earth by a massive flood. We've got plenty of artefacts to show us that many other civilizations before us have also been through this before. It just makes it scarier for us as we are now able to see very clearly and sort of predict when 'the end' is coming. I know, it's not lovely knowing how and when you might die. But if it's going to happen then it will happen. It's just a cycle of life. A few thousand years from now, some highly evolved human beings might find artefacts of our civilization and start researching about us, as how we are researching the cavemen. I hope they find my blog and love it.

He put a ring on it

Today marks the fourth anniversary since we started dating. Tonight he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I've already said yes before but tonight I'll say it again. Out loud. Because it feels so good to be filled with so much love.

We celebrated our anniversary with a sumptuous dinner at Xenri Japanese Restaurant earlier tonight. Gotta love those giant grilled scallops that we had. We drove home and realised that out of the tens of thousands of houses in this godforsaken place, it was only our little cluster that had a blackout. I got so pissed off I had to pass on some of that anger to the not-at-all helpful bitch from TNB who answered my call. Then I had to go upstairs to help the man look for candles. I bet he was silently cursing at TNB more than I was. Maybe more nervous than angry, because he had a sweet little surprise waiting for me in my room...

I walked in to find roses and my absolute favourite Korean in the world, waiting for me. Poor man had to shine a light from his mobile phone so that I could see them. Not to mention he had to shine a light on the ring as well. Then the moment came. He got down on one knee and popped the question. There was no other answer than "yes". Truth be told, I would never dream of any other answer to that question from him.

It takes a real man to love me so selflessly and only ask for my love in return. It takes more than a man to have the courage to open his mouth and ask a woman to marry him. Tonight my lovely boyfriend got upgraded to be my fiancé. I'm very lucky he chose me to be his fiancée. I love you, dear.

In today's materialistic world, I know some of you might be curious of how my engagement ring looks like. Don't fret. I'll oblige soon enough. My finger's not as dainty as my fiancé imagined it would be, so we'll have to go back to get it adjusted.

We're so filled with love that we're floating on cloud 9 right now. Fate brought us together as a couple and we promised each other that we'll always cherish this bond. It's not easy finding your other half in this complicated world but when you do, there's absolutely nothing that can come close to it. I love my love.

Shibuhara Girls

MTV has just launched a new "reality show" that is based in Japan, and it's called 'Shibuhara Girls'. People are saying this is the Japanese version of 'The Hills' and I sorta agree, although I never watched 'The Hills' (but I do know what the show was about). I watched the premiere episode and found out what Shibuhara meant. I'm not that great about Japanese culture but I've always found it intriguing. I have a feeling that I'll be watching all 12 episodes just to get a dose of the Japanese culture. I will visit Japan someday (fingers crossed!), so these might come in handy :D Oh, in case you're a nut like me, Shibuhara = Shibuya + Harajuku. The show revolves around the lives of four leading girls; Sun Wei, Marie, Kozue and Shion.


















Here are some facts I found on the Internet:

Kozue Akimoto
Kozue Akimoto is a fashion model who has already achieved a great deal of success since stepping onto the scene back in 2009. Of course, she’s also known for another reason, as the daughter of Chiyonofuji, who is perhaps one of the most successful sumo wrestlers of modern times. She faces the pressure of stepping out from under her father’s shadow.

Marie Ishikawa
Marie is a 22 year old native of Tokyo who is on the verge of breaking into the pop scene. She’s released a few songs but has big hopes riding on the debut album she’s currently putting together.

Shion Miyawaki
Shion Miyawaki is probably best known for her single BOY, but since her early success she’s seen her stardom fall. Originally from Nagasaki, she’s lived in Tokyo since her teenage years and currently faces the pressures of choosing between her declining career and her boyfriend.

Sun Wei
Sun Wei was born in China, but raised in Japan. She’s a successful model for the magazine Pop Sister, which has already exposed her to a giant audience. She’s also an internet hit with a very popular blog and over 8,000 followers on her Twitter account. However, despite her legion of growing fans, Sun Wei is still single and looking.

Although I don't understand Japanese, I can easily watch the show because of the subtitles. What keeps my eyes glued to the TV screen is the fact that the girls are super stylish and pretty. My favourites are the models, Sun Wei and Kozue. It's too early to tell who is THE favourite but I have a feeling it's going to be Sun Wei. Because she's Chinese and I thought it was really interesting to watch a Chinese who is so Japanese. You know, given the history between two countries.

It's also interesting to watch the possible rivalry between Marie and Shion, who are both managed by the same company. Record labels in Japan operate in a very distinct manner and it would be great to get a better look into how artistes are managed through this show. But it seems Marie is leading the race as the show's title song is sung by her. Poor Shion just can't catch a break.

Here's a teaser and hopefully you will be piqued to watch the show too.



p/s: Dammit if I get addicted and the show ends after just 12 episodes, what am I going to do? Will MTV launch Season 2 for the show? Ughhh