First Day Of School In 2022

Today is the first day of school for missy.  It is her last year in this school as she is in Year 11 now.  She has to attend full physical classes and not hybrid classes because it’s her final year.  Missy must be very looking forward to today because she couldn’t sleep well last night and woke up a couple of times.

She has been sleeping late and waking up late during the school holidays.  This year she has to work really hard because of the IGCSE exam in October/November.  The last 2 years were dampening because the kids couldn’t go to school due to lockdowns.  I hope she will enjoy her final year in this school and have lots of pleasant memories with her friends and teachers.

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Happy New Year Everyone!

May 2022 brings lots of joy, great health and happiness to everyone!  Have a good year ahead!

1K+ Happy New Year Pictures | Download Free Images on Unsplash

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Guess What Happened During My Christmas Eve Dinner?

It has been nine months since I last saw my dad. He planned a Christmas Eve dinner at Noble Mansion on Xmas eve and we were so looking forward to it.  I wore a new dress and put on a pair of black heels which I have worn only once last year.

Everything was fine until I stepped out of the car in the parking lot and walked to the restaurant. My shoe is a strappy design slip-on and it has 4 straps on each side.  One of the straps came off. So I thought it’s fine because I still have the other straps to hold it together.  How wrong was I! The more I walk, the more the other straps came off.  Luckily the restaurant was not too far away from the lift.  By the time I reached the main door of Noble Mansion, all the straps on the right shoe came apart and sort of disintegrated.  Boo Hoo!  I blame Covid for this!  I haven’t been going out for the past 2 years so I didn’t have a chance to wear this pair of heels.

Luckily I have a pair of Fitflop slippers in the car and so I wore that to dinner.

I better be careful with my other shoes in the closet.

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Merry Christmas From Our Home To Yours

Have a Blessed Christmas and Happy Holidays Everyone!

Here is one of my favourite Christmas songs – One More Sleep by Leona Lewis.

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That’s A Wrap!

Every time when these Xmas newsletters make an appearance, it means that the time has come for gift wrapping.  Yes, I still have tons of these Christmas newsletter that were printed by Mid Valley a couple of years ago. These newsletters feature all the stores that were having Christmas promotions in Mid Valley mall and some puzzles as well.  My friends and I collect them when Christmas day got nearer and nobody wanted them. I love using these as Christmas wrapping paper for my gifts. Oh not to forget, I also use many kraft paper for wrapping gifts.

*Brown papers tied up with strings, these are a few of my favourite things*

The newsletters come with stickers as well so what I do is use the stickers to decorate gifts that I have wrapped using kraft paper.

I came across this trick on how to decorate a gift wrapped with kraft paper on Tik Tok. Please excuse my messy handwriting.

Here are some of the gifts that I have wrapped since Friday.  I think I still have 3 more left to wrap.  To bring in the Christmas mood, I would play Christmas songs on my Spotify while wrapping.  Such a warm fuzzy feeling!

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Gnoce Is A Great Pandora Alternative Jewelry

I have a number of friends who are huge fans of Pandora. They will buy all kinds of charms for their bracelet and every time a new design comes out, they will be the first to own them.  I would say they are really obsessed with Pandora. Over the years, Pandora has built a huge fan base. It is famous for its unique charms that come in different designs and themes.  The charms can be worn on necklaces and bracelets.  They celebrate special moments in a person’s life thus making them the perfect gift for birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Christmas.

Honestly, I wonder why it is such as popular brand.  Could it be their marketing strategy?  I find that their prices are really high too. Recently while browsing some jewelry online, I came across Gnoce, an up-and-coming jewelry retail store that is based in New York. Gnoce has a huge range of designer charm jewelry and in my opinion, will give Pandora a run for their money.

Bulldog Charm Sterling Silver Bead White and Black Enameled fit Bracelet

Gnoce’s pretty charms and exquisite pieces are available in an array of beautiful gold, silver and rose gold.  Gnoce shares the same passion for femininity and its fine pieces of jewelry are something that everyone will be obsessed with. Like Pandora, Gnoce offers an abundance of one-of-a-kind charms in their designs. As a matter of fact, Gnoce has more choices that can be worn by anyone and everyone. You can shop an array of jewelry styles, whether it be a necklace, bracelet or charms.

Cookie Soak Milk Charm Pedant Rose Gold Plated 925 Sterling Silver

Pandora has built its brand to be a luxury product by investing heavily in marketing,  production cost and hiring talented staff.  All this means high jewelry costs and they have to sell their products at a premium to make profits.  On the other hand, you can rest assured that you do not have to deplete your savings when you are shopping at Gnoce.  Their jewelry is so affordable, making them a great Pandora alternative.  Another good reason why Gnoce is a good choice is that their charms fit most European-style charm bracelets like Pandora, Biagi and more.

A simple search online pulls up many raving reviews about Gnoce. Designed with high craftsmanship, made with high-quality material, Gnoce focuses on producing unique and delicate jewelry at affordable prices. So if you are shopping for Christmas gifts or to buy yourself a charm bracelet this holiday season, you may want to check out Gnoce, the Pandora alternative jewelry.

Motorcycle Pendant Dangle Charm Sterling Silver

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Shopping For Christmas Gifts

Last Sunday, we made a quick trip to Bangsar Village for gift shopping and managed to buy a few gifts.  Although it is difficult trying to figure out what to buy, shopping is always fun.  Here are some of the gifts I bought.

I got a Mona Lisa tee, a shopping bag and waist bag from Uniqlo, and a packet of Beeswax food wraps from one of the shops in BV. I am surprised to know that Nala has collaborated with Uniqlo and came out with some shopping bags. I googled and found out that the collaboration took place in 2020. “Themed “Saku”, the collection features a range of T-shirts, tote bag and 62 exclusive individual stickers – all inspired by Southeast Asian cultural elements”.  Would be great if I can get my hands on Uniqlo x Nala T-shirts. I still have several gifts to buy so I hope to get my Christmas shopping done by this weekend.

The best part comes next which is gift wrapping.  If you have been following my blog, you would know that I love to wrap gifts.  You can read more from here, here and here.  I love using recycled paper or kraft papers for gift wrapping. 

While scrolling FB, I came upon this hilarious post from Sarcastic Mama. How very true! 

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What I Use Every Night To Moisturize My Face

Recently while browsing Shopee, I discovered that we can actually purchase items from Korea and ship over. I quickly check out the list of ‘shops’ and saw my favorite Laneige Water Sleeping Mask from this store – Yaocos.my (https://shopee.com.my/-LANEIGE-Water-Sleeping-Mask-EX-5pcs(Sample)-i.129224129.6517080404)

It has Laneige Water Sleeping Mask in little blue travel pack size of 15ml. This shop is selling 5 containers at RM21.50.

 

I believe this is a very good buy because one 7oml Laneige Water Sleeping Mask cost RM135.  What I am getting with 5 tubs is 75ml and they cost a total of RM21.50.

This sleeping mask provides overnight recovery of skin balance and it is very convenient to use.  After I washed my face, I would slater on the overnight mask before going to bed.  It keeps my dry skin moisturized and I love how it feels on my face. So if you want to give this a try, check out the shopee store – Yaocos.my.

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Pavillion Bukit Jalil Is Open

The long-awaited shopping mall in my neighbourhood is finally opened. It is Pavillion Bukit Jalil, a lifestyle shopping mall that is similar, if not larger than its sister mall, Pavillion KL that is located in the Bukit Bintang area.  Pavillion Bukit Jalil is the biggest shopping mall in this part of the city.  As of today, only a few stores are opened like Parkson, Mr. DIY, Toys R’ Us, Hohn, Harvey Norman, The Food Merchant supermarket and a few other restaurants.

This mall is huge and has high ceilings just like Pavilion KL.  Walking around is a bit confusing because we still haven’t got our bearings together as this is so new.  We went to check it out on Monday evening to avoid crowds on weekends.

This is the center of the mall facing the main entrance. It is similar to Pavillion KL where you have to walk down a flight of stairs to reach this area.

Then there is this giant golden rooster at the main entrance surrounded by water fountains.  I think this is something to do with Feng Shui. It is a nice place for photo-taking.

I heard that all the stores will only be fully opened by next March. I cannot imagine the traffic going to this mall when that happens. As of now, the road from my place to this mall is already jammed especially during peak hours.

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Cafe Hopping In Ipoh

When we were back in Ipoh for 4 days, we spent our time stuffing ourselves silly with Ipoh food that we miss very much.  Of course Ashley is not into Ipoh food very much and she only looked forward to visiting the different cafes.  Here are some photos of the cafes we went to.

First Cafe is Mykori, a Japanese cafe that is famous for its shaved iced desserts – Kakigori.  My sisters and Ashley shared these 2 big shaved ice ball desserts.

The second cafe we went to is the Badaimu Japanese Soufflé place at Paloh. This is a Taiwanese-based cafe Not sure what flavor they ordered. Looks like caramel top with lots of pearls.

The Badaimu Cafe is just next door to the famous Fujiwara Tofu Shop. It is a themed-cafe that sells tau fu fah (soya bean) following the famous Japanese street racing manga series, Initial-D.  Spot the iconic cars outside the shop.

The next day, we went to the Red Mountain Sin Yin Loong cafe/restaurant in Lahat. This eatery is in a former wood factory, I think and is located in the industrial area of Lahat. My sister found out about this place after reading it online and since it is a fairly new place, we decided to check it out. We were attracted by the rustic look of the place when we saw it online.  This is what we ordered – kaya butter toast, roti goyang (half boiled eggs on toast), wrapped chicken, 2 half boiled eggs for me and Sin Yin Loong famous white coffee.

Missy of course have to try the dessert – Croissant with ice-cream.  The verdict? Food is mediocre and not very cheap. The environment is not very comfortable for dining.  We sat outdoor and there were flies.  We actually didn’t enjoy eating there. Would prefer a kopitiam instead like Sin Yin Loong in old town.

On the same night, we checked out Chakori in Ipoh Old Town.  This cafe is famous for its waffles and instagram-worthy decor.

The reluctant poser

This is the waffles with ice-cream that my sisters ordered.

Our cappuccinos and water

Missy wanted to go for a boat ride in Kek Lok Tong but it was drizzling so we have to cancel that. Instead, we head over to Etre Patisserie in Canning Garden for some pastries and coffee.

The coffee was good.  We ordered a Pain au raisin and Duck quiche but did not take photos of the food.  That’s all about our cafe hopping in Ipoh.  Will post more about what other food we got to savor in my next post.

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