Wednesday 28 September 2011

Bits of my Weekend:

The best (and only) snowy ice- beer in Malaysia 

Pretty hand-painted nail art 

Can't wait to eat my cornflakes with these ! 

Spagetti mee noodles made from scratch at one of my aunt's restaurant 

Every colour and architecture has a unique story as old as the town itself. 



My mum's family is originally from Ipoh - the capital city of Perak state. Calling it a city is quite far off though - touted as a great place for retirement, the refreshing thing about it is how coming here makes you feel time stops, if only for a while.

"That's the convenience store I used to go when I was in school," exclaimed my 40-year old aunt (?!)

Things I learned:

* short trips back home means you wont be able to see your loved ones nearly as much as you'd like to, so make sure you spend every moment with the few people you do not see. 
* good food is always a suitable back-up plan for self-medicating terrible OCD panic attacks.
* everyone could use a mini-getaway once in a while 
* a place surrounded by hills makes any direction you are looking at lovely. 




Thursday 22 September 2011

A big turquoise Chinese wedding

Last weekend was my uncle's wedding! It looked so beautiful I thought we should take a closer look at the festivities and many, many traditions.

Chinese weddings are as complex and varied as the culture in China itself. The date of the wedding must be picked months in advance where the couple gets to pick an auspicious date of the Chinese calendar.

A week before the wedding, the bride and groom send out gift baskets filled with different goodies to each other. Each of these items carry meaning or are a symbol of prosperity, happiness, love or luck. This is equivalent to the idea of dowry and betrothal. 

Cans of ham, a number of oranges and peanut candies are just some of the many gifts that are included in the wedding baskets. Red is the colour for any Chinese traditions, which is why the basket is red too as well as the small money packets for tokens of wealth. (hong pau) According to the tradition, only when both sides have accepted, is the engagement official ! 

The night before the wedding, the bride and groom must take part in a 'combing hair' ritual. After showering with water infused with pomelo or pomegranate leaves, then each must change into new clothes and shoes. The combing must be done by a 'good fortune' member of the family (usually elder) and with each combing means a different thing: 

1. First combing : Togetherness 
2. Second combing: Harmony 
3. Third combing: Blessed with many children and grand children 
4. Fourth combing: Blessed with longevity



Sweet pink rice ball soup is served after this to wish the couple a sweet and happy marriage. 

On the big day one of the biggest traditions is the bride's journey to the groom's house. This rite of passage first comes with the 'surrender' of the bride after her side is satisfied with the groom's party offerings or acts of endurance !

This is where the bride's party prepare tests for the groom's party to pass.

Cockroach-filled jelly. Wasabi-chilli-mustard-crackers. Hair-waxing with duct-tape. Fishing keys out of raw fish / random pink bras. You name it. I saw it.





On the day of the wedding the couple performs the traditional Chinese tea ceremony. 

The bride and groom bow in fornt of the parents , grandparents and (elder) extended family to offer them a cup of tea. In return, the family elders give out packets of money (hong pau) to help the couple in their new life. The mother in law also gives gold jewellery to the bride as her dowry.

The reason behind the tea ceremony is to show final piety to the elders in the new family and to find your place within the family hierarchy. 

A new bed purchased the day before, will have been prepared scattered with red dates, oranges, lotus seeds and pomegranates as an omen of fertility. Part of the fun is watching young boys and girls jump on the bed for the same reason - the more the merrier!


 Compared to the actual pre-wedding preparations, the wedding ceremony is actually quite simple! A Master of Ceremonies acts as a host for the event.

Needless to say Chinese weddings are a lot more lavish than what they used to be  like a 'Be our Guest' soundtrack while a line of waiters waltzed in with huge silver trays in their hands, 10 course-set menus, live jazz band, and a turquoise theme since the bride loved Tiffany jewellery so much!

But just like everything in life:


it's about the little things that made their wedding unique & memorable.







*The groom and his 'Belle' made a short video about how much they mean to each other, their thoughts and reflections on marriage and their relationship so far.

*They decided to make the wedding favours interactive too. a Starbucks-inspired mug with a ClickMagicCode on the back of it, guests can use their smartphone to scan the image and watch the couple's wedding videos! They even have their own website called www.paletteoflove.com where friends and family can be updated with the couple's updates!


*The couple having met at a painting class based their video-reel, souvenir,and wedding album around the art theme. How cute is their pre-wedding shoot?


Romantic, with the right amount of cheese and a hell of a lot of love, it was truly a beautiful wedding!

Pass me the tissues. 



Tuesday 13 September 2011

If the Streets could Speak

In between work errands and countless emails, these pictures of awesome NYFW S/S 12' street style make work doldrums a little more exciting.:















Because we all know real fashion happens off the runway.


What do you love about street style?




via fashiontoast, streetpeeper, jakandjil, motilo, whowhatwear

Sunday 11 September 2011

Bits of my Week:

I'm really overwhelmed and excited about a new project I have coming up for the new year, which I can't wait to share with you once I get more details about the whos, the whats and the wheres.

In other news, it's been a crazy crazy week, what with the closing of the magazine's October issue etc which means long hours at the office / loaning / returning / garment steaming / running around KL like a rat.

I had the privilege of going on set for one of the GWOTA (Great Women of Our Time Awards) fashion shoots for our upcoming issue, met some truly inspiring Malaysian ladies who have done done something great for the country and society in general.. AND got to interview a couple of them for a short video clip!

Oh, and also got to write for the October, November and December issue !!!

It's moments like these that make me realize, damn, I really love my job.

Oh look, pictures:

Japanese Indie bar 

one of the best Sangrias I've tasted 

KL traffic !!!

Brazilian Night with Polka dot + Moonbeam 
How can you not when it's called 'Winter Romance?'

Byzantine - inspired bauble - Forever 21


Monday 5 September 2011

Bits of my Weekend:

Cupcakes make everything better 
my first and definitely not last Thai massage & spa 
The 'Big Gift' basket for Chinese traditional weddings 

My favourite Dim Sum yet { literally called 'Liquid Sand'} 
New Buys: Étoile Isabel Marant top, FCUK dress, T-Joue dress 

A leaf of Irish clover in Kuala Lumpur 

I could take pictures of pretty shoes all day!




A short, but perfect amount of family time as well as making better friends with acquaintances, right before kicking off the start of the new week! There was a lot of eating, shopping, spa-ing, drinking and preparing for my uncle's looming wedding! All in all, I discovered a dainty little designer outlet in Bangsar Village for ridiculously cheap prices !!!! Diane Von Furstenberg, ETRO, Vanessa Bruno, 3.1Philip Lim! It's worth spending some time there to get a good look around ! 


Do you know any life-changing stores or city secrets that you'd like to share? 


Hope you had a wonderful weekend y'all! 


ex oh ex oh.