Face-kini: Bikini for your Face?

Apparently there is a new trend at the beaches of China (yes, only in China… or Japan lol) and it is called the Face-kini which is a bikini for the face.

[picture and info from Yahoo!News]

Firstly, upon looking at the pictures, I would greatly appreciate it if they use that same effort to cover their bodies instead of their face. =X

Secondly, these masks remind me nothing but NACHO LIBRE the movie or Luchador also known as Mexican wrestlers which is not that farfetched if you want to compare bodies too. =P

Hey, I do get it; they don’t want to tan their face. I am one of those people who try to avoid getting tanned too. I hate getting my face tanned and my makeup does not match my skin colour anymore. tsk!

Perhaps they saw this picture of the man who had only 1 side of his face exposed to constant rays of the sun and they got phobic of the sun. haha

Whatever it is, I don’t see this trend spreading to other countries, even if someone ever buys the face-kinis, they probably would use it to be part of a nacho libre costume. Tee hee!



   

Flash Photography: Irfan

Jhon is currently experimenting another type of photography which is Flash Photography.

He has a small setup with external flash, trigger flash, umbrella and light stand. I was suppose to be the subject of the photo shoot but I got lazy because I had to make-up and dress up. =P

Conveniently, Sis and family just came back home from shopping and little Irfan dressed up, suited for a shoot. He was recovering from cold sores on his bottom lip but it's not so noticeable.

Sis made a quick cameo although she complains about her hair being flat. I did some light photo editing to this photo, mostly on Irfan's cold sore.

Quick outfit change.

Model got thirsty but still wanted to take picture.

Jhon tried to make him laugh by pulling his bottle away (he found it hilarious for some reason) while snap a few pictures.

Not bad as I can see the difference in lighting but there is still room for improvement to make the picture stands out even more. =)

   

Syihab's 2nd Birthday

Took pictures with my old digital cam and there were lots of moving around so many pictures are blurred. Being used to good quality photos from the DSLR, it can be a sore eye but sometimes, it's not always about the quality of the photos but the memories it brings. =)

I can't help but smile because it was one of the most frantic and last minute celebration we ever had!

The basis was there, we break our fast with some food bought by my bro and cake cutting later but as soon as we finished singing Happy Birthday, my SIL remembered she bought some birthday stuff and forgot to take it out.

So we had to rewind and took out the decorations. haha I even insisted we put up the banners. =P

BEN TEN!!

I don't know why the kids wore their traditional outfits that night. Hari raya comes early for them =P Birthday boy is in yellow by the way.

 Commotion over the party hats and banners.

We sang Happy birthday the 2nd time lol Complete with dancing from mommy and brother.

Happy family!

The boys were well-behaved and the celebration was fun and funny! Who says unplanned birthday party always sucks? Happy birthday, Syihab!

   

Butt Aching Road Trip in Johor

My mom, ‘that guy’, Abg Jamil, Jhon and I went to Johor for Hari Raya shopping. Although the trip was fruitful but the main focal point would be the butt aches throughout the journey.

The itinerary was starting the day at 7am, head to Tesco Extra Plentong. Kota Tinggi, Ayer Hitam and Pasir Pandan to break our fast if time permits.

It was a decent plan especially with a seasoned driver; I would think it would be a smooth ride but NOPE! Journey to Tesco was fine. Most items bought were from Tesco, especially the groceries.

Towards Kota Tinggi was pretty alright too although it was a still a long journey because he made a wrong exit.. We didn’t buy any outfits there because they looked so ‘orbit’ with too much patterns going on but we did roamed around (under the merciless hot sun) to see if we could find other things. This is where mom bought most of her scarves and got flowers for our house.

I had already informed Jhon to be aware if he wishes to break his fast in the noon in Malaysia because I heard some of the Muslims there hold grudges if they see someone eat (even if they are non-Muslim) He just had to eat/drink in the car. Surprisingly, Jhon decided to fast the entire day which was a first! I was so proud of him and he was not cranky at all!

I digress.

So the journey to Ayer Hitam was disaster! We were lost beyond words. We kept asking for directions but they tend to say, “go straight…” but at different directions. -_- What could have been a short journey became a 3+ hour ride.

It was really not THAT bad because we were just sitting in an air-conditioned car and had short naps in between but what was disappointing, after every 2-3 hours ride when we reached our destination, we only spent 30-45mins at that location.

Ratio sitting to walking was crazy!

I kept on trying to be grateful but I can’t deny the butt aches. Not only that, we took the wrong turn again to Pasir Pandan and spent another 2 hours on the road. APE DAH!! Even my mom was in disbelief for a seasoned driver to get lost at locations he frequently visits. -_- Don’t know ah.

We ended up buying drinks and kaya buns to break our fast in the car while heading home. We made a pit stop at Geylang to have a proper dinner at Rex and ended the day.

Mom wanted to go Melaka this week.

After that ride, I don’t think I am that eager to follow again any time soon.
   

   

Prawn Fishing Fail?

Jhon and I suddenly had a craving to go prawn fishing. Our first time was on February at Punggol Prawning. We really enjoyed our time there. The prawns were big and for first timers, we managed to catch quite a good amount. [click here for the outing]

The problem is that going there is such a chore where we had to change several MRT interchanges besides taking their shuttle bus from our place. We don’t mind the trip to there but going home is discouraging when we are tired.

So we did some research and found a considerably commonly mentioned prawn fishing farm at Pasir Ris Farmway 2, Happy Fishing Prawns Farm. There is a direct bus (58) from our home and a 1km walk in. For us, who love to walk, was not an issue so I suppose it depends on your fitness.

Unfortunately, despite the multiple researches on the web, the information was not accurate only because the sources were from 2009. Sources says Happy Fishing Prawns Farm opens 24/hrs, even the banner says so.

But apparently, since June 2012, it opens only from 11am. We were there at 10am. -_- We thought we would try walking another 1 km to another prawning farm at Pasir Ris Farmway 3 but it looked fruitless because all we saw was empty lots. Filled with doubt, we decided to drop the idea and waited at Happy Fishing Prawns Farm which also called Tagline Fishing. Confusing right?

We were the first there but just a few minutes after buying the rods, a few others came in.

We didn’t fully enjoy our time there. Mainly because we hardly get any bites. We grew impatient, bored and jealous as we saw a lady kept catching prawns as if she was dangling high end bait or something (she was not)

We thought it was us but I kept track. 3 out of 10 people had good success rates and they are evenly spread out so what does that mean? I don’t know! It’s the only 2nd time we did prawn fishing. It’s just that our first time was quite good so didn’t expect to do this badly. Especially on the web, people were saying they caught 2-3kgs of prawns here and I thought, “okay lah, if can catch 1kg is good enough”

How many did we catch? 7 prawns in 3 hours. Kwang kwang kwang… Bye bye money lol

Perhaps it was just bad luck or something but one thing for sure, I still prefer Punggol Farming because every single prawn was massive. At least it’s not so disheartening when we catch only a few. =p


   

Food and Fireworks Galore with Mum

My initial plan was to go out with the entire family. I intend to treat them to eat at Swensons and spend our evening watching the National Day Rehearsal with fireworks.

10 people became 6 which eventually turned into 3 people. So it was just my mom, Jhon and me.

First stop, was late lunch at Swensons (this outing was obviously before Ramadhan =p).

For some apparent reason, the food on that day was superb!! As in more delicious than before.

We ate until we were full and mind you, we ordered a lot of dishes.

We had chicken salad,

Jhon had Dory Fish which I thought the only dish that was not that great.

Our standard prawn dippers,

My medium-well Ribeye steak which was nicely done on the day.

We unanimously agreed that the Tiger prawn was OMGDELICIOUS!!

And a couple other dishes..

Right after lunch, we deposited some 'chocolate cake' lol

Afterwards, we headed to Esplanade, my favorite spot to watch NDP

When we reached there, it was drizzling! We didn't give up though. We found a perfect spot but drizzling became heavy rain. It some how did not damper our spirits (perhaps good mood from the good food lol) and waited patiently until the rain subsided.

There were no pictures of the evening performances but you can click here to see on my previous outing.
By 7pm, the rain stopped, I took out my mat and we waited while eating cup corn, bottled drinks and 'longan' that my mom brought. My mom was so sweet. She even made friends with a tourist couple and offered our 'exotic' fruits. lol Why am I not as sociable as her? She can barely speak English yet she engages conversation with 'Ang mohs' while I who can speak well refuses to make small talk. =P

Everything went well and smoothly and most importantly, mom thoroughly enjoyed our outing. Too bad the rest of my family could not join us.

   

Fasting

It’s been 14 days since all fellow Muslims started to fast on Ramadhan. We are half way through!

So far, I have not missed any days yet but I am due for my ‘red tide’ soon. It sucks when my schedule is never on the dot. It comes and goes as it pleases. The problem is it is all thunder but no rain. Get what I mean?

Anyways, I am not sure about others but lately my days have been challenging. I don’t know whether it was the PMS or what but suddenly I am surrounded by annoying people!

So far, I have not exploded yet but it’s hard to take a deep breath with gritted teeth and feel that searing heat in my chest.

Other than that, Ramadhan has been smooth. Good home cooked food, plenty of rest and family bonding. There was even a time I applied leave from work just to take a break from the office and help mom around the house by playing with the 3 boys at home.

If you guys are curious about Jhon on whether he is fasting or not, well, he has been fasting half a day since day one. So technically, he has fasted for 7 days now which is the longest he ever tried fasting. Must train you know? =P It will nice to know if he accomplishes the entire Ramadhan even it’s just half a day.

I had never forced him and he did it out of his own willingness and sincerity which makes it much more special. At least I can see he is making an effort and the future of us is clear.

That is pretty much it. I just hope the days go smoothly.

Abrupt end.