Zyra Collection for Muslim Women

One fine morning when I was minding my own business, someone Skyped me with this link. Nattalina Zainal! Why did you??? Why?? The name of the shop is Zyra. And being me, I have to buy. And today I purchase two items from this online store. The purchasing process is quite professional I must say, kudos to the business owners, three lads from Kuala Lumpur.

They offer quite a number of payment methods including Credit Card via Paypal, bank transfer and best of all Cash On Delivery. That's what good online store all about, offering variety to your clients. Delivery tracking system, guide and tips of hijab wearing and all are complete but my only comment is lack of product variety. I browsed only a few minutes to get all of the products covered. Looking forward to a larger collection.

Nonetheless, it is a good start! I wish they grow and become a well-known online boutique for Muslim women in this region. Me, in support of far-sighted Malaysians. Malaysia Boleh! Woo hoo!

Stage Five Shade Shadow Palette

Last week I did quite a bit of shopping. Went to MNG and got myself my first bell-bottom denim which I love to death plus the new tudung (in pic), and a few shirts but the one that I wanna talk about is Stage Eye Shadow. I've been using M.A.C all these while and it's great, but it's a bit pricey, isn't it? One color costs me RM65. Does it worth it? Yes it does but do I want to have an alternative? Yes I do. I have tried Dior and Bobbi Brown as well but Stage is the bomb!

"You don't apply it directly, you dab it," so said the sales girl and I obliged. Nice finishing and the color is awesome! Bobbi Brown shadow smears. I have four colors and rarely using any of them. Dior is nice but the color is very subtle. I like vavavoom-vroom shades.. and look at the gold.. gorgeous.

They don't have a lot of selection for palette, I think they have only 4 readily available palettes. The price is RM135 and now they have a discount of 30% off if I'm not mistaken because I just paid RM94 something. If the palette colors do not match you, try the other palette. The palette of 8 colors which you can choose and one color is RM35. If they have 30% off, the total should be RM196. Not bad at all for a lot of colors.

04 Scandal palette

I love makeup. It saves me. Haha! I'm no Nurul Shukor but I can do okay for myself. For those who are looking for gorgeous eye shadow, you can try Stage. Bought mine in Pavillion.

Lomo Mono

iPhone is kinda normal phone if we are not talking about apps. But with apps, iPhone is a super phone. At this moment, I'm updating my phone to OS4, lamanya but i'm sure it's worth it. Coming back to apps, I have been buying games for Tia and myself and installing some tools. Some good, some not but with the price of USD0.99, USD1.99... nasi bungkus is expensive than that.Yesterday, I have found More photo products named moremono and morelomo. A pretty cool apps for fun! Habislah saya lomo monokan pictures while watching the lame French running around the field.

Do not really understand photography jargons, I only understand my eyes. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

Using More Noel, Tia's pic looks lively and magical.

This is my favorite photo so far. My hero jumping in the woods using more lomo. I don't welcome comments from photography experts.. haha! I say this is good.

Any good apps lately? Tell me.

Jatuh Cinta Dengan Johor Bahru

My husband is a Johorian and his heart belongs to Johor. Well, his heart belongs to me but you get what I mean. Every year we drive to Johor about four times to visit his late parents' house and graves, and to savour the hometown. Last week was another journey but this time it felt different for me. I kinda falling in love with Johor in this visit. I felt good all the three days we were there.

We had dinner at Tepian Tebrau, near the popular English College (his college) and let me tell you, the chilli crab was out of this world yummy! It's tad pricey I supposed but yours sincerely didn't care much about the price. Combination of garlic, ginger, chilly paste and eggs made that dish heavenly good. We also had sotong kangkung, ais kacang and lala. A very satisfying dinner. I asked the lady.. ais kacang sama dengan ABC ka? And she looked at me puzzled. I wasn't sure la.. why looking at me like I'm an alien?

We stayed at the Puteri Pacific on level 12 facing Persada Johor. Quite an old hotel this one but still a good place to stay. Next visit, we are going to Thistle.

The best thing to do in JB for me is .... shopping, baby!! RM100 in JB worth so much more than in KL. I bought many tudungs in Kotaraya. Kebarung costed me RM197... and with lining! I love shopping in JB, it suits me. Perhaps not for some cosmetics brands or shoes but for tudung and traditional dresses, JB is the place. Kotaraya is just a walk away from Kotaraya so when I arrived at the shop at 10am shop, the lady was like "Pagi lagi dah sampai??" haha! Tak beli baru tahu.

My husband bought a Tissot in JB and was served by not 1, not 2 but 3 sales persons. One even holding a standing long mirror in case my husband wanted to see himself wearing the watch. To us, that was good service! And after a long day of eating and shopping, he bought me a nice ring. Thanks bang! You know I love bling blink blinking! The dinner at Rumah Limas also was cool. The food was so-so but the ambiance, excellente.

Next visit will be in September, raya time! And I need to save some money for that as well to buy again some tudungs.. berapa banyak tudung la??!!

Planless Life?

I don’t have any plan for myself the next 5-year. Do we need one in the first place? A well-accomplished person must have some plans, right? I wish to buy a house by next year. I made an attempt to buy a condo but I pulled out when we didn’t see any workers on site on working days. But apart from that, I really do not have plan for myself! When I was in college, organizers were like my friends’ accessories but I didn’t have one because I did not know how to use it. Shall I start making plans or shall I go with the flow?

Maybe I should have some plans. What do I need to achieve in the next 5-years.

On Savings – What if I save RM500 a month in a specific account and not take it out until 5 years. By 5-years I would have a sum of RM30,000 for myself to shop in London. Hmmm… that sounds like a good plan.

On Accomplishing Something by Myself – This idea is too general; I have to specify this so that I could achieve it. Who would want to read my book? I just finished reading “Sh*t My Father Says” and I think I have stories to tell but why haven’t I started on anything? I read an article about Wardina and she said, “we are what we read”. Really? Haha! I read a lot about family, unfortunate kids and women, I don’t like chic-lit so what could you tell about me? But my big question is….what am I good at? That is the question I couldn’t answer at all. I’m not convinced that I’m good at anything. I can do many things but to be good at one thing, you have to surpass the mediocre level.

On Acquiring Material Possessions – I don’t really care. Seriously. Materials give you a brief period of satisfaction and that’s it. I am not even bothered that I don’t own anything grand; life offers so much more than that.

On Being Closer to God – I have to do this. I’m not getting any younger na?

I’m still wondering what to do in the next 5 years. Someone suggests writing. Not particularly confident on that one. But perhaps, the more important thing is, I give it a shot!

My Niece is Officially Married

Nina a.k.a Natta a.k.a Natt is officially marrief (as Tia puts it). The lucky guy is a Batu Kurau lad named Qaf, the shortest name ever discovered in Malay community. A few days leading to the wedding was quite stressful yet enjoyable with so many trivial things being made by us, the crazy Melaka peeps. Nina created the hantarans and as if there's no other things to do she decided to put the dots on the boxes. Yeah!! Good decision, girlfriend!! And you burned your fingers in the process. Haha! But the hantarans looked g.o.r.g.e.o.u.s!!!!

The ring for Qaf was beautifully placed by Shaxu using only 3 pins, "It's all about the foundation!", she said at 3am in the morning while the rest of her crazy friends looked on. At least the ring was sternly placed... unlike the other side's. Haha!

It's all about the packaging! In the last minute attempts to find good cookies, the mum brought back something that looked like mini Chipsmore but with less chips and less appeal. And ta da!!! With a little touch by sincerely yours, the mediocre cookies looked magical. Unsur perasan mesti ada...

I made several attempts to steal one cupcake but unsuccessful. Damn it, too many people around. Farah did some touch up on the box to make it wowwy and it looked yummy! Still dendam because Natt did not order extra!

On the wedding day, she looked gorgeous. With one lafaz by Encik Qaf, she's officially his. But the "microphone incident" with kampung morten tagline was unfortunate. Gila glamer pakcik baju hijau pucuk pisang. And Qaf's side learned the use of pins next time to avoid the falling drama. haha!

The nite of berinai besar, Natt and Qaf looked stunning! The groom arrived on time and the fireworks actually worked! Woo hoo! During merenjis, Qaf's family seemed lost. Yeah!! Melaka peeps are crazy people!!

The reception went well, many guests came, and the cake was heavenly, sponsored by her best friend, Fozz a.k.a. Farah. Everybody wore purple, the music was fine, the food delicious, she couldn't ask for anything more.

This is the start of a journey for Natt & Qaf and I wish both of you the best things in life.

Congratulations GIRLFRIEND!! XOXO.

It's Been A Colorful 8 Years

(Taken by Tia Sofia Mohd Zulkifli, the prettiest girl in the whole wide world)

The love I felt for you was so strong even before I met you. I could feel those butterflies in my stomach when I talked to you and the pain in my heart when you were not around. After 8 years of being your wife, I still feel the same way. Your love makes me a stronger person, and your believe in me makes me a better person. Thank you so much for Tia Sofia, thank you for your love and care, thank you for being my biggest support in life. I love you with all my heart and I can never imagine not having you in my life. Happy Anniversary, sayang.

Contemplating A Vacation

We have to bring Tia somewhere during this school break. The first two weekends I'll be busy with a wedding so we are left with the third week of June. Would she mind if we don't bring her anywhere? I don't think she would but it feels right to bring her somewhere, right? Langkawi, Penang, Johor, Singapore? Which one is the best destination for us? Or should we save the money for London next year. I would love to go somewhere and do nothing. That's my dream destination right now. I don't wanna do activities, I just wanna enjoy good food and good scenery and relax. Therefore, island vacation would be excellent for me, I reckon. I wanna talk for hours with my husband, exchanging ideas, stories, etc etc. Anyhow, this is not about me. This is about my little girl who obviously would love to spend time in a pool and meeting some new friends. How about..... staying at a nice hotel in KL and just chill? haha!

The Awesome Notebook

I watched the movie 6 years later and let me tell you, it's a tear jerker! The Notebook is a romantic drama produced in 2004 about Noah who had nothing, fell madly in love with Allie, a well-to-do girl during summer vacation only to find out that Allie had to leave him when her parents decided to move to the city sooner than expected. He wrote a letter everyday for a year but didn't get any reply from her but his heart remained for her all the time. A few years later, Allie who was about to be married saw an advertisement of Noah standing in front of their dream house, and the romance sparked again.

When my husband bought the DVD in London, I couldn't care much about the title because I've never heard of the film. But he has a good taste in movies I must say. Noah's persistence is sexy regardless of Allie's decision. He's always there, waiting and ready to love Allie with all his heart. Those who are not moved by this story might need to check their hearts, perhaps they are made of stone :-)