American Idol 10: The Top 11 (Recap)

I used to get so excited on Thursday but now not so much. The judges could do more than just complimenting on the performances as if they are one of the viewers. Constructive criticism please. I'm missing Simon!! Bring back you sounded like a karaoke singer or a broadway singer, utter rubbish, self-indulgent, total mess, kinda remarks. I'm not gonna hold my breath for the change though. Anyhow, moving along in this Elton John themed week.

Scotty Mc Creery - He's brave enough to stick to his country songs and I don't see any problem with that at all. You don't see Metallica doing country, do you? At this point in time, he's my favorite.

Naima Adedapo - While I respect the fact that she wants to stay true to her roots, she needs to remember that she's in American Idol and not in African one. I like the reggae rendition of "I'm Still Standing"but her voice was weak.

Paul McDonald - Do not wear that suit ever again! Paul is the kinda singer that I don't think could win American Idol but could gather enough flock to do a mini concert once in a while. Please don't take his guitar from him or we have to endure his gawky moves again.

Pia Toscano - Enough with the ballad alreadylah! Last week you promised to give something different, this week you said sorry to Randy because you have decided to do Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me. After the show you promised again to show something different.. how leh?

James Durbin - He is not as good as he thinks he is. What he did so far is normal. which you can see in many rock performances. I miss Glambert so much!

Stefano Langone - He sounds like a girl when he talks. Don't think of his tonight's performance is good but I don't think he's going to end up in the bottom three.

Thia Megia - Yawn!  Enough alreadylah this girl, send her back to her parents please, she looks sad all the time.

Jacob Lusk - He might be thinking that he had done a good job with Sorry Seems to Be The Hardest Word. But I'm sorry that I listened to him, really. He made my ears bleed....

Lauren - The gedikness has been toned down and the singing has improved but still I think she's holding back a bit. I think she can do better than this and please refrain from making any long comments when Ryan asked you onstage.

Casey Abrams - He is the guy who can be crazy at any time of the day unless you forced him to tame it down. And that's what he was told to do after his escape from elimination last week. He did pretty well last night with Your Song.

Haley - This is the best performance of the night for her, for me. You are in it, to win it! Yo! Yo! Or perhaps not. Anyhow, it's nice to hear her sing good.

My pick for the bottom three: Thia (long shot but yawn.. please take her out), Naima (need to improve on her vocal, a LOT!) , Jacob (Long shot but I so want him to go)


Two eliminations:
Thia & Naima

5 Things I Can't Live Without

I must have a cup of coffee to kick start my day. My choice is black Nescafe Classic. Some coffee lovers look down on instant coffee drinker like myself but in my defense.. there's no Starbucks around to get my cup of Caramel Macchiato!  (A cup of that now would be super awesome. Haha!) The truth is, I live and die for Nescafe classic.  I love my coffee just like I love my man. Dark is definitely my choice! :)

Who can say 'no' to cupcakes?? Definitely not me, lah. Every weekend I would beg my husband to stop by Wondermilk in Uptown for my dose of cupcakes. The best cupcake I've ever tasted is from Slice of Heaven. Awesome caramel creme on top. Aaaahhh... craving for it right now. 

It's so hard to find a lipstick to match my lips. I've found this Lip Glass by M.A.C, Viva Glam VI. Very subtle yet very gorgeous, I'm telling you. Definitely a must-have. I have two, one at home, one in my handbag. No other lipstick fulfills my need. Many have come after Viva but no one stays. This one is mine until I die. Hope M.A.C is not planning to shut down operation. 

This camera is so important in my life. I carry it around in my handbag at all times. My husband loves it too because we can snap photos anytime we like and the quality is closed to DSLR. My husband likes to do food reviews and the pictures turn out to look so succulent. I wouldn't trade this for anything though one day I might have enough money to buy a better one. Promise.

This blusher named Margin by M.A.C makes me look better everyday. The color is so natural, you feel energized when you apply it on your cheeks. I only keep this blusher in my make up bag and the rests I don't really care about. 


What are the 5 things you can't live without?

Ugly

Went to Johor last week and found this book, Beyond Ugly by Constance Briscoe. Read the first book entitled Ugly by the same author a few years back and it moved me. I felt compelled to pick the book though it's twice the price of any regular titles. The book is about a person who has to battle her own insecurities caused by her own family members particularly her mother. She's told that she's ugly since the day she could remember. Throughout her adulthood, she looked for ways to tackle her ugliness issue though she's never ugly to begin with. She went under the knife several times to 'correct' her flaws but the hardest thing to repair was the damage that's done to her inner self and strength. 

People are mean. When I was in school, I was told that my nostrils' shape was triangle and that I have a round nose. Everyday I would look in the mirror and tried to figure out how to make my nose sharper. We don't have any Caucasian genes in the family, how to get a nose that can open a bottle cap? My late mum told me I had too much bulu roma. It's kinda funny because she asked me a few times to shave the hair. I was lost for words but at the same time I wondered what would happen if I shaved it all clean. I was lucky to have a zitless teenager decade but when I entered my 20s, pimples decided to set up a village and staged a circus on my face. The thing which I couldn't comprehend is when people think I don't have my own mirror. If you don't like seeing pimples on my face, you think I do? Idiot. 

I'm lucky to have a very understanding man in my life. Since the day I met him, never once he highlights any of my flaws. Never at all. Not on the days that I have bloated tummy or on the days when my pimples wanted to play Burlesque. He would never say anything that would hurt me. When I asked him of my most outstanding feature, he said my cheekbones. I was surprised by the reply because all these while I thought it was my nose that's pretty obvious. Then I realized that my mom had those cheekbones too, which made her looked so pretty when she smiled. And my nose, he thinks that it is a cute one (don't puke please :P) We are entitled to feel good about ourselves and nobody is entitled to make us feel bad about our body. 

Lesson to learn -- If you don't have anything good to say, please don't say anything at all, you'll make the world a better place. Trust me. 

American Idol 10: The Top 12 (Recap)

Last night American Idol was B to the O to the R to the ING! What's to be excited about? Nobody performed like a winner. The theme was to sing the song from the year you were born, and I don't know why the theme's relevant. If you can't sing the song from that year, you are doomed!! How about to sing a song when you were 16 years old. So for Naima, I'd be the year 2000 and that time, those tunes should have been in their CD player or something. 

Naima (1984) - What's love gotta do with it. I didn't think that she delivered. Pitchy, pitchy, pitchy but as usual it's beautiful for uncle Steven. She's got the look, she's got the style but she needs to work on her vocal. Not that bad if you are in a karaoke joint. I say bring back the african costume!

Paul (1984) - The little Paul was so cute but the older Paul has balancing issue! We know that he had flu but was it too giddy for him? Look like it. He chose The Blues by Elton John and JLo thought he sounded good, that he has so much soul. I think he'd sound good in album, I'd love to listen to his record but not so much his concert.

Thia (1995) - Colors of the Wind. Only now the judges realized that this kid is so zzzz i could doze off just looking at her. Come on kiddo! We need you to start moving on stage and act like your age. If you don't know how to calculate, 2011-1995, that's how old you are. Act like one. Taylor Swift's number might be a good choice.

James (1989) - I'll Be There For You. Thanks but no thanks for butchering this song for me. I am a Bon Jovi's fan and I don't like the way you sing Bon Jovi's song! JLo loves it and Randy thought it was tastefully done and I thought... Really?? My husband sings better-lah!

Haley (1990) - I'm Your Baby Tonight. First, don't wear your mum's vintage top and a fully covered attire if you understand the lyrics of the song. Randy was a little confused because of that and Steven questioned her song choice. She might be in danger tonight. 

Stefano (1989) - If You Don't Know Me By Now. Yes!!! The competition just started when Stefano's done with his performance. The voice was crazy beautiful. Randy got it right when he said that was the best performance of the night so far. And Steven, as usual, over the top beautiful, which is a different level of beautiful in his beautiful dictionary. 

Pia (1988) - Where the Broken Hearts Go. I was really distracted by the jumpsuit and didn't really concentrate on her performance. Now, my question is, can she move on stage? So far, not yet. 

Scotty (1993) - Can I Trust You With My Heart. And a lot of country chicks voted yes, yes, yes!!!!!! He looked so charming on stage and asking people that question...of course, he's safe!

Karen (1989) - Love Will Lead Your Back. Yeah baby, love will lead you back to your home town. The outfit was terrible, like a cheap version of JLo. If you wanna wear a wig, find one that matches your hair color please. Randy loved it when she broke into Latin. Translation: Maybe you are not an American Idol, love. 

Casey (1991) - Smells Like Teen Spirit. I love the fact that he did his thing but JLo thought that he's screamy screechy.. unlike Cobain. Randy loved that he took risks. Singing Cobain's song is definitely a risk but at least he's not boring like Thia.

Lauren (1994) - I'm The Only One - She's super gedik! Everything she did yesterday onstage screamed fake to me. I think she's not gonna be long but she's not gonna be out this week either. 

Jacob (1987) - Alone. Lusky screamy screetchy scary over the top bursting your lung type of performance and somehow JLo thought that he is in it to win it. What's with your ears Jenny? Go see a doctor, please. 

Bottom three: Haley, Karen and Thia - Haley will go home. 

Bag Review: Long Champ Arbre de Vie

On our way back to JB, my husband asked me one question, nonchalantly.  He wanted to know what other color of Le Pliage that I think is nice. That question was translated to "he is going to buy me another one!" And of course, yours truly can't wait for the surprise to happen so she (kinda) chased for the surprise.  

 Surprise!!... we are going to LongChamp in Pavillion today! He had the plan to buy one for me through his friend who's going to Paris next month but since I insisted to go to the shop, he didn't reluctant at all to make me happy.

 Thanks, love! 

There're many to choose from but of course my choice is...... the much talk about limited edition Arbre de Vie, the tree of life. It's a bit more expensive than the normal ones but I think it's so worth it. Don't you? 

Fresh catch from the shop. I choose long/medium in white. The Arbre de vie is available in dark blue and white only

The size is just nice, you can put almost all your things inside with a bit more space to spare

The button and zip are silver plated 

The embroidery on the canvas is exquisite, subtle, not overwhelming

The bird is gorgeous, isn't it?

It's gonna be her bag one day. :)

American Idol 10: The Final 13 (Recap)

What a beautiful night last night! The judges would agree with me on this one. They said the bloody word time and time again I'm beginning to think Beautiful refers to One star. If you got 3 beautifuls, you could move on to the next round. How beautiful! The night's theme was the song of your idol. 


Lauren Alaina - She went with Shania's Any Man of Mine, I was in the kitchen making coffee for my husband and it sounded really blah!! Where's the power, babe? But of course the judges were not harsh on her or she'd throw tantrum on stage. Steven said she kicked ass or translation "I wanna kick your ass, if you keep singing like that". Randy reminded her that she doesn't know how talented she is. Well...  that is not our problem, is it? But the most irritating bit of all was her pout during the critique session. Again, you are 16, not 6! 


Casey Abrams - He chose Joe Cocker’s “With A Little Help From My Friends” and he did get a little help from some friends onstage. Jennifer didn't know what show she was watching... probably caused by the medicine she took last night and Steven told Casey that he's a rainbow of talent. Perhaps, Steven also took something last night that filled his eyes with rainbow. Casey did okay from many others and I say he'll survive. 


Ashthon Jones - The hair wouldn't give you Diana Ross's power, girl! Why in the hell that she picked When You Tell Me That You Loved Me when she could pick something upbeat to show her personality. Randy liked it (cue: roll eyes). Steven still have some confidence in her. You are not his grandfather, Steven! You can actually say something she doesn't wanna listen. And JLo was right. She needs to sing a song that people can sing along with her. And I'm saying this time.. we don't love you, baby. 


Paul McDonald - I love the jacket!! And who is Ryan Adam? I shouted a little at first when he said Bryan Adam, but my husband gave me the look and shared a scary trivia. Ryan Adam and Bryan Adam share the same birthdate, but in different years. Paul has sick moves on stage and somehow the audience liked it, I think. Steven loved the character and the rasp in his voice. JLo thinks he's unique and hopes that America gets it and Randy just love Paul the way he is. There's no short of love for Paul McDonald from the judge's table and I think he'd survive another week. 


Pia Toscano - There's not much difference than last week's performance though the voice sounded great!. She sang All by Myself by Celine for her father. JLo thought that she topped last week's performance while Randy said she hit the song dead on. Steven wished her Happy International Women Day a few days late and thought she's beautiful...beeeeeauuutiful!! Yeah, we know she is, Steven.... say something else! No problem, she'll get through this week but please please please give us something more (different) next week. 


James Durbin - Choosing Paul McCartney's song, James convinced Randy that he can sing. "This man can sing!!", said Randy. Duhhh! Steven knew that this man sang from his heart. I was not impressed though he sang good... I don't know why but there's no love from me for James!


Haley - Blueeeeeeeeeeeeee uuuuuuuuu...left Randy feeling sleepy but Steven loved the yodeling. The song is titled Blue.., of course you are not going to be all orange and sunny. I think Haley's rendition of Lee Ann Rimes was quite entertaining. She'll proceed to next week. 


Jacob Lusk - Choosing I Believe I Can Fly by R Kelly, Jacob was clearly over the top of cloud number 17! What I don't understand is the fact that Steven loved it and Randy referred to it as Jacob having a signature sound. Yeah ha!! We can hear him from two mountains away! He will be in the bottom three... take it down 16 notched if you survived this week. 


Thia Megia - Oi... how do I start with this one. Rave reviews for last week's performance couldn't be sustained by her rendition of Smile by Michael/Charlie Chaplin. She's so boring, I nearly doze off and missed the other contestants' performances. Randy and Steven both agreed that there're some pitchy problems but all that didn't matter said JLO because..... apparently she sings like an angel. Then, go to heaven already, leave this competition to the mortals!


Stefano Langone - Stefano chose Stevie Wonder's song and he got a double beautiful from Steven! Wow! Double beautiful! Jlo thought he sounded great and Randy told him it's not easy to sing Stevie. All in all, they all loved his performance.. much love last night on the judge's table. 


Karen Rodriguez - She sang "I could fall in love with you" by Selena. The whole performance was underwhelming though she looked great with the hair pull back and edgy make up. JLo hoped that she could make it through to the next week. Randy felt sleepy again and the dawg needed some excitement... and Steven felt the same way too. Don't bore the grandpa, y'all!


Scotty McCreery - Sticking to his roots, Scotty chose Garth Brooke's song. Randy said "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!" JLo sensed that Scotty has opened up himself to the audience, which is a good thing. And Grandpa Steven muttered something that nobody could understand. Scotty has charm on stage that no other contestants have, I think.


Naima Adedapo - I don't think that her Idol is Rihanna but the fact that she's clever enough to play with the theme was genius. Umbrella ella ella was made a bit reggae. I love the dancing bit though it's too short. And Naima needs to workout! Steven thought that Naima brought a bit of flavor that nobody else brought. Randy made it public that he cares about the pitchy problem, JLO please take the hint. All in all, it's all good for Naima. 


My pick for the bottom three are: Ashthon Jones, Karen Rodriguez and Jacob Lusk, and Ashthon is gonna get the boot this week. 

BMI - Are You Kidding Me?

I am 37 years old and I am overweight. Well at least, that's what the BMI say. I scored 26.1 on the BMI index table, meaning that I need to lose quite a lot of kilos to maintain a normal weight. I do need to lose a few kilograms but I don't think I deserve to be labeled overweight!! And at this age, having a kid, I think I look okay!

Who invented this BMI? There are other factors that should be taken into consideration also i.e. age, quantity of kids, type of job, race, etc.... there must be some other determinants other than height and weight. This calculation is a very simple math, which I want to contest! To all the geniuses out there, please introduce a more complicated BMI, please. This BMI could cause stress and lost of self-confidence in many out there. 

As we grow older, our metabolism decreases. I consume like I used to when I was younger but the weight is hard to maintain now than ever. I don't want to go through life not enjoying food! That's crazy! I love good food. I do.

Nonetheless, I still do not take this fact lightly. I will try to reduce a few kilograms in the next few months but at the same time I don't want to be missing out on good food. I hope to be normal in June and somebody has to take care of the BMI calculation because as at today, the whole office is overweight! :P

Check your BMI here. 

Inspired or Copycat?

It's becoming a trend lately that people use the word 'inspired' to justify plagiarism. I wanted to do my search for Maysaa's scarf recently and found out a lot of people out there mentioned "Inspired by Hana Tajima" on their marketing. Hana Tajima is famous for her Chiffon Scarf Snood and the Bonnet, of course, many are 'inspired'. There's another site which sells a suit that looks like Chanel's famous tweed jacket and called it Chanel inspired. What does that mean? The workmanship is terrible and while it looks like Chanel's tweed jacket, it is definitely far from the original and kind of an embarrassment to use Coco Chanel's name at all. And as I'm writing this, on my FB wall, someone posted "Inspired by Coach" and they are selling Coach knockoffs at RM80. You are not inspired, you are using their logo and their designs! Shame on you. You see, you like, you stole (the idea)? 

Rizalman Ibrahim, one of the few famous Malaysian designers have stressed this calamity time and time again, copying someone's idea or work just because you like it doesn't make it right. He came out with glamorous kaftan, and lo and behold.... every 'designer' in town went for that look with some twists here and there. Some looks cheap and some looks cheap. Nothing beats the original i would say but it's an eyesore and heartache to see your creative idea stolen. He came out with a concept of hantaran, put them on his blog and many out there sharpen their skill to copy just exactly. 

You are inspired by a certain thing, for example a building in KL and you design your clothes based on that inspiration. You like your mom's vintage handbag details and driven to create something that reminds of you of that particular object. Your little sister's crazy for hairband inspire you to make hair accessories. You are inspired to create your own work based on a certain idea or subject but you cannot downright plagiarize just because you think it's okay that you mentioned the designer name in the line. It's just does not make it right! 

Words can be manipulated, for example... second hand Benz is called pre-owned.. but using inspired by for plagiarizing is so low, at least in my humble opinion. 

Dance With My Father

Dance with My Father by Luther Van Dross is such an impactful song, reminding a man about his father who'd already gone. "Back when I was a child, before life removed all the innocence, my father would lift me high and dance with my mother and me and the spend me around till I fell asleep. Then up the stairs he would carry me and I knew for sure I was loved...."  It's such a beautiful song with a beautiful lyrics.

The song touches my heart, reminding me of the experiences I'd never had. I was born and he left. I still have a father but it's better to leave it at that. I don't want to judge him for what he's done to us. I believe he has his own reasons, but at the same time I'm entitled to feel what I feel about him for I am his child. Every time a car passed by my house, God knew how I wished he'd come home to meet me, missing me, hugging me, telling me that he loves me. And most of the time, my heart broke into pieces and I was just a little girl, barely knew the meaning of reality. Birthdays were just numbers, my achievements in school were just normal, nobody even cared to congratulate. And as years gone by, I accepted the fact that I'll never recover those lost times with him and this heart succumbs to numbness.

People always say that independent is my strong suit but do I have a choice? When there's no wall to lean on, you only have your two feet to stand firm. 

My daughter's life is so different than mine. She is so lucky to have a father who cares so much about her, he could move the world to prove her that. Whatever he does, Tia is his center. In fact, this little girl drives him even more to achieve success. Love is so special, so abstract; you couldn't see it, you couldn't buy it but God knows you could feel it if it's there, if it's given, if it's shared. When a child kisses a father without being told to do so, that's love that comes from inside her. I love to see them together. The way my husband cares about his daughter really touches my heart. The way his heart melts when he sees his little princess is priceless. My girl is the luckiest person in the world, she doesn't even realize it yet. :)

Father is an important figure in one's family. Never underestimate the importance (of a father's love). Husband and wife could quarrel and argue til they turned blue but don't use the kids to punish any one of you. That's the greatest act of selfishness a human being could commit to the world. Don't think just because they are men, they don't have hearts, they don't have feelings, they don't love their kids. I have came across many couples who cut the fathers from their children, just because they can. You might hate the fathers but the children are forced to (be away from their fathers). And many kids don't dare to argue because they love you. 

I really appreciate the love my husband has for his little girl, how could I ever deny that love from both of them. To mothers who think that you can raise your children by yourselves, perhaps you can but there's no replacement for the need of a kid to love her father.  

American Idol 10: The Final 13

Quite many of my predictions hit and there are also a few misses. Yesterday Ryan Seacrest announced the final 13 contestants for this season's American Idol.. and the first 10 are...

1. Scotty McCreery - Country record producers are eyeing for this guy and American Idol knows that. JLo wants him to be in his lane, to showcase his voice's range but not to go overboard and try something crazy i.e hiphop. What would happen in disco week with Scotty? Interesting.

2. Lauren Alaina - This one is an easy pick. Her talent is effortless. Kelly Clarkson's tweet is kinda of an insult for her, IMHO. Kelly Pickler???? Puhlezzzz... Lauren is miles better.

3. Pia Toscano - Great choice America! This former make up artist will color the music industry beautiful. Her rendition of The Pretenders, "I'll stand by you" was awesome you wanna download it from iTunes even though you can't do it and you wish that you're living in America right now.

4. Karen Rodriguez - Every Spanish being in the United States of America voted for her including Penelope Cruz and hubby, Dora the Explorer and Handy Manny. Mucho Gracias everybody! But, please don't attempt Mariah again. Me no likey.

5. Thia Megia - You have worn that ABC sweater a few times already, hand it over to your unwilling sister please. Thia needs to be cheerful sometimes. She has this melancholy look and feel to her that makes me wanna offer her counseling.... for FREE!

6. Haley Reinhart - I missed the mark on this one, did say she's good though. She needs to discuss with the hairstylist, her do makes her looks older than her real age. Not cool.

7. James Durbin - I couldn't deny the fact that he performed well but there's something about him that makes me think he will NOT be an American Idol. He likes to squint his eyes, is that a condition related to his sickness/syndrome?

8. Paul McDonald - Woohooo!!!! I love this guy's voice and style. Jlo is a fan of his smile and I couldn't agree more.

9. Casey Abrams - He's hilarious and he doesn't look like a star but the minute he opens his mouth and sings, the world turns into a sexy place. Many thought that growling is not singing but who cares!!! We just wanna have fun.

10. Jacob Lusk - Praise the Lord!!!! His grandmother was spotted raising her hands to God..and so did the other church group members. His voice is powerful, when he screams, make sure you have put your glass down.

11. Ashthon Jones (wildcard) - Oh boy, she really didn't want to go, did she! And she pointed to each of the judge.....and You! You! You! You gonna love me... and guess, it worked girl!!! You're through and now, send a bouquet of flowers to JHud.

12. Stefano Langone (wildcard) - Unlike Ashthon, he asked straight to the divine power and with that beautiful of a voice, the judges knew they needed to let him in or lightning could strike on their way home.

13. Naima Adedapo (wildcard) - Naima sang from the crust of her heart like there's no tomorrow. I dropped a few tears, very good for my dry eyes. Thanks, love. And it touched Steven Tyler's heart that's covered in hot pink ruffles also. She made it.

So.... For those who didn't make it:
1. Robbie Rosen - You need your piano, dude. 
2. Jordan Dorsey - Go back to teaching kids piano, o-kay! If you still have kids to teach.. muahaha!
3. Tim Halperin - You would regret your song choice for at least 5 years.
4. Brett Loewenstern - Try again next year, kiddo 
5. Jovany Barreto - You looked defeated before you were lost. Really. 
6. Clint Jun Gamboa - Haha!!! In your face, man!!! This one's for Jacee. If your friends like you, they already broke the glasses into two.
7. Kendall Chantelle - Quite sad to see her go. 
8. Ta-Tynisa Wilson - Errrr.... ta ta? 
9. Julie Zorilla - Baby, it's one song, one chance.. Why were you asking for two? Get with the program! 
10. Lauren Turner - who? 
11. Rachel Zevita - We know you didn't make it but did you have to show your long face on stage? And your skirt with ALL ACCESS sign disturbed me.

Couldn't wait for next week first round.. And judges.. Please step up your game. We need juicy comments-lah, enough with you're beautiful, it sounded beautiful, you look beautiful kinda feedback. 
Until next week, tata!!

Bag Review: Long Champ Le Pliage

Women are going ga-ga for LongChamp Le Pliage. I think the designer of this bag is plain genius. He/she created the simplest design but focused on the quality of the materials used and workmanship. This bag is full of room, you can even carry two cats around in it. I am lucky to have the pleasure of owning a Le Pliage when my wonderful husband brought one back from Cannes, France. Straight from Cannes, ladies and gentlemen. 


Now don't go green with envy, Pavillion also has a LongChamp store where you can buy it at regular price.. I think around RM600+, anybody knows the actual price, tell me please. This bag is so popular, it has become the target of copycats. Fake Le Pliage are everwhere and if you don't know how to spot the fake, you could be the victim of these conniving people. So, if you plan to buy Le Pliage online and at a cheaper price, this is how you spot the fake, read here. Perhaps they won't put the fake pics online but you'll find it out when it arrives. It's better to spend the right amount of money for an original. Well, that's my opinion. 


Why do I like Le Pliage?


1. It has room! A LOT OF ROOM to store a lot of my things. 
2. The color is awesome! Mine is purplish.
3. When it rains, I don't care because it's waterproof
4. You can fold it into small bag and easier for storage. 
5. Because I know that it could turn you into green anytime of the day. Haha!
You can view a range of Le Pliage here. 

American Idol 10: The Top 12 Girls (Recap)

JLo is a good enough reason not to miss American Idol - Image from Google

Since they'd only select 12 contestants for the final, I have to drop one name from the guys and I am torn between Brett and Jovany. I think Jovany has an advantage here as he would get the Spanish votes.        
Okay, moving on to the girls. 

Pia Toscano - She belted out The Pretenders' I'll Stand By You with so much conviction, you wouldn't have any hesitation to dial the phone and vote for her. At this stage of the competition I don't think it's necessary to work the stage so much like Ta-Tynisa unless you are really sure you have Beyonce's superpower, which without any doubt, you don't. Pia knew what to do and she blew us away! You go, girl! My Verdict: IN

Thia Megia - Randy equates her to the early voice of Michael Jackson. She chose Out Here on My Own, started off acapella and sounded great until the end. While many are left blown away by Thia, my heart is not with this girl. See how it goes.. but for now she's America's Sweetheart. My Verdict: IN


Ashthon Jones - This girl sang Love All Over Me by Monica and I love it. She looked comfortable on stage, worked the judges and I feel like she belongs there... so much better than Ta-Tynisa na? I would be disappointed if she's not in the final Top 12. My Verdict: IN


Lauren Alaina - This girl is born to sing. At the age of 15 she can sing like nobody's business. Yesterday she went with Reba McEntire's Turn On the Radio and sounded great all throughout. However, Steven wanted more and obviously she has more and I couldn't wait for her to bring it on stage in the next few weeks. But please don't talk much on stage. It's a turn-off, dear. My Verdict: IN


Ta-Tynisa Wilson - Ta-ta Ta-Tynisaaaaa..... hope NOT to see you again next year. What were you thinking wearing that dress with that boots and went crazy on stage with Rihanna's Only Girl? You are not at that stage yet, my dear. And what's with that face when the judges were giving their critiques? You thought you did good? Please watch YouTube and tell me you didn't cringe. My Verdict: OUT


Naima Adedapo - Okay, we've seen a lot of the same dress already. It's time to upgrade your wardrobe to the mainstream's fashion. A happier version of Summertime was a bit loungey as Randy put it but she has a good voice and she sings well. It's definitely not a good song choice when somebody else had done a fantastic job in the same show. My Verdict: IN


Kendra Chantelle - This is my best female performer in American Idol 10 so far! She did Impossible much better than Aguilera, IMHO. Very controlled and awesome! She will definitely make it to the final. My Verdict: IN


Rachel Zevita - The boring girl wanted to hype it up with a broadway kinda performance and it felt flat on the screen of my television. She had committed crime with Criminal and there's no way she could be forgiven for that.  Sorry my dear, you're going to be sentenced to home soon. My Verdict: OUT  


Karen Rodriguez - How many times do Simon has to tell you.. .DO NOT CHOOSE ANY SONGS FROM MARIAH CAREY, KELLY CLARKSON, WHITNEY HOUSTON AND ALICIA KEYS?? It seems like many have never watched the past seasons of Americal Idol. And the mixture of English and Spanish in Mariah's Heroes was rather odd for me. Maybe America would like it, I don't. My Verdict: OUT  


Lauren Turner - I still didn't get this one! She sang Seven Day Fool and I didn't buy it. Not interesting at all.  My Verdict: OUT  


Julie Zorilla - Refer to my comment on Karen Rodriguez. Do not choose Kelly Clarkson's number. Breakaway is not an easy song even though it's easy to listen to Kelly. JLo asked her.. do you really want to Breakaway? haha I thought that was funny. She didn't look the part, didn't sound the part and definitely is not gonna be a part of the top 12. My Verdict: OUT  

Haley Reinhart - And this girl chose Alicia's Fallin, a tune that many had tried and failed. However, she did bring a good amount of personality in the performance and the voice's amazing. If it's up to me, I'd say yes but I think America would say no to her. Sad. My Verdict: OUT  

American Idol 10: The Top 12 Girls

The top 12 girls are going to perform tonight in Malaysia tv and I couldn't wait. But the problem is, I think the girls are less memorable this year. I still have to type the names and look in Google the face of these contestants. Well, half of them are gonna be gone without you even noticed them.. so here are the contestants for tonight.

Pia Toscano - She's gorgeous, she sings well and her name is easy to remember. The most memorable performance for me was when she wore that stripe top in group night. 

Thia Megia - My daughter likes this girl just because their names pronounce the same without the h. I think she's mellow and boring. The judges have been saying that she's special but I don't see it yet and the fashion sense is kinda terrible. 

Ashton Jones - Don't let her sing a duet with Brett Loewenstern. One big hair on tv is okay, two could be a nightmare. The body is smokin' hot though and we need to see her moves on stage. 

Lauren Alaina - I say stop fooling around with Steven Tyler or you'll lose a lot of votes. And please leave the tutu dress and the pink boots at home, you are 16, not 6. The vocal is powerful but hopefully she won't oversing. 

Ta-Tynisa Wilson - After looking at her photo in Google I still couldn't figure out which one is Ta-Tynisa. The name is unique enough and since AI has only two black contestants, she's the one after Ashton.

Naima Adedapo - I have so much respect for this girl. She has a dream and she's going for it! She's not ashamed to tell Idol that she's cleaning toilet and collecting trash. But after she's made up, she looks like a star. Naima's proud of her African roots, look at the dresses!! The vocal hasn't blown me away, but I think she's made an impact somehow.

Kendra Chantelle - Her beauty is model-like, and the voice is amazing. I am waiting for a great performance from her tonite.

Rachel Zevita - She looks boring to me. This is her fourth try and if she failed this time, just don't try again please. 

Karen Rodriguez - I've never heard her sing at all. She's a fan of JLo and I think she'll inject some Spanish in her performance. 

Lauren Turner, Julie Zorilla, Haley Reinhart - I don't know what to expect until I've seen them sing tonight. 

American Idol 10: The Top 12 Guys (Recap)

So, after the show last night, here is my review. I think this year's contestants are different from the Idol we used to watch and I must say I love it. The judges need to get some juicier comments than "it's beautiful".... give us something to talk about, please. 10 out of 24 are going to get the boot by Friday so my pick for the 7 guys....

Clint Gamboa - He gave us "Superstitious" and he looked like a little boy who wanted to impress his parents in front of the tv. Lose the glasses! My verdict: OUT


Jovany Barreto - This heartthrob sang "I'll Be" and JLo thought he did it and so did other women out there. My verdict: IN

Jordan Dorsey - OMG... you really didn't think that you're Usher, did you? You butchered that song good and OMG did you screw up. My verdict: OUT

Tim Halperin - He chose "Come On Over" and to me, the performance was bland. And I don't think people can remember who he was after this. My verdict: OUT

Brett Loewenstern - Brett did "Light My Fire". He didn't exactly light MY fire but the audiences definitely are going to root for him. The hair should be tamed... seriously. And I'm sure he couldn't dance. My Verdict: IN

Robbie Rosen - He is a ballad guy and "In the Arms of An Angel" suited his voice though there were some pitch problems here and there. But, he has that likability factor so My Verdict: IN

Scotty McCreery -  He'd done justice to the "Letters From Home". He sang effortlessly to this country tune and I must say that I was impressed. My Verdict: IN


Stefano Langone - "Just The Way You Are" was his choice and often times he sounded like a woman and that's not good. My Verdict: OUT


Paul McDonald - Predictably he took one of Rod Stewart's songs "Maggie Mae". I loved it!! I think he's cool and quirky. My Verdict: IN

Jacob Lusk - Mr Lusk went with "A House Is Not A Home". What's with the eyes, man? And I don't think he has a problem moving to the final 14. My verdict: IN

Casey Abrams - Rumors had it that he's not well and nearly couldn't get to perform but "I Put A Spell On You" was da' bomb. Imagine if he's 100% healthy. Haha.. he'll go far with guidance from the Idol pros. My Verdict: IN