shop till u drop


I've been spending time at home reading the shopoholic series by Sophie Kinsella that along brought back from UK... I know, i know, its so last decade ago, but i've never been really keen to read it coz i knew that it came in a series.. so u can't sorta just read one, you have to like read all five of em and since no money no talk, hence the never read one before...

so i started of with the first one, the secret dreamworld of a shopaholic.. but i kinda skipped a lot of it.. my first impression was, man, this Becky Bloomwood was really mental... not like she was crazy lunatic mental, but the constant lies, i mean, how much could one person actually lie in a day? and the shopping... OMG... some of the brands were even unknown to me.. i mean, naturally i myself am not an avid shopper, but talk about addiction... so i kinda skipped, to the next one the shopoholic abroad.. this time around she had a more stable relationship with Luke Brandon, a PR boss.. i gotta admit, as a sucker for romance, i was more keen on reading not because of Becky herself but because of her relationship with Luke actually... then, i went on to read Shopoholic ties the knot, shopaholic and sister and the last one, shopoholic and baby before doing a u-turn and read the first one again...i think the one i loved the most was the last in the series, shopoholic and baby, because again, as a romantic, i just loved it when Luke stood up for Becky against the red-haired bitch, Venetia and finally when they had their baby in the most intense situation ever (well, thats not so true considering i've never been in labour myself so i don't really know how intense it gets)...

the whole series

reading through the life of Becky, I realize how fortunate i am to dislike shopping.. its not that i hate it, i mean, shopping is an essential form of live survival (ha... being philosophical again) but the tedious process of having to dress up to go (ladies out there will understand what i mean) then getting there, and then once there having to choose, get the right size, the affordable price (most important note here) and the one i hate the most, the having to try it on in the fitting rooms (if not before that wait in line first) with no hooks and sometimes just a flimsy curtain separating your oh not so decent self and the world... if it doesn't fit or just plain ugly on you, you gotta repeat the whole process again... don't get me wrong, once in a while, yeah i like to go out with my girls, have a fun day at the shops... but to spend more than 3-4 hours, thats just torture...

the movie version

and talk about the price... prada, gucci, louise vuitton, tiffany's.. i mean... have you ever been in one of these stores... its just mind blowing... i once stumbled (i'm loosely using the word stumble because honest to god, we really did accidentally got there) on the highest floor in Chadstone (its like one of the biggest shopping centers in Victoria) where the whole floor was dedicated to these high-standard, price-blowing stores... and in front of each store was one of those barriers you see at concerts, and people were lining up just to get in (apparently only like 10 customer were allowed once a t a time).. i was seriously taken away at the price tags.. well, i didn't actually get in the store ( i was carrying a cheap mychemist bag where you get perfume for half price) but from the glass window, it was outstanding... i mean its not like i'm a cheapskate like Becky's sister Jess or something despite abah nicknaming me taik hidung masin (i won't brother translating that), but 20 AUD for a dress is my limit and even then i usually only buy them when they're half price...

but i guess each to its own... maybe because mama n abah brought us up, not to look for brands but rather the quality of money, but for other people, well its up to them.... who knows maybe i'll meet a guy who owns a big gigantic company and can afford to spurge me with all the luxury in the world.. ahhh... in my dreams :)

p/s i loooove my new layout

home sweet home

wow.. it feels like ages since i had the urge to pen down something here... well lets see, first of, i'm back home, Malaysia home not Melbourne home.. so i guess i'm home home... gosh, it just feels so damn good... i mean, the moment the flight attendant announced 'and to fellow Malaysians, WELCOME HOME' i was like feeling super giddy inside.. like i wanted to smile really wide and be like jumpy and stuff but the guy sitting beside me was totally like so what... so i kinda had to just gaze out the window, pretending to be enjoying the beautiful landscape outside when there wasn't really anything that cool to be looking at... ok, bad Malaysian.. sure my country's beautiful and stuff, but you know what i mean right... LCCT isn't that much of a sight if i'm being really honest..

well, let's see... the change.. wow.. i mean, i kinda knew that when you're like 9 or maybe 10 (i always get the months wrong) months away, there's bound to be some difference at home, but talk about change.. where do i start.. hmmm.. well, the house isn't red anymore, its yellow now.. not like highlight yellow or sunny yellow.. its pleasant yellow, kinda nice.. then there's the bathroom... ok, scratch that all 3 bathrooms (or jamban as we call it here) transformed.. like hotel standard... i mean not to say it was gross when i came home last year, totally not, but this time its like super duper cool and we have hot water now, which come to think of it is really quite funny considering how hot it is here... oh, abah drives a new estima now.. and its black, with tinted windows.. totally feel like your siti nurhaliza or someone important like that.. mama no longer has a car, she's driving along's... and there's this gigantic massage chair in our living room.. i was totally jakon and had like a few goes on it the moment i saw it, but honestly on your 4th round it starts to get even more sore than before you tried it on.. so, 3 rounds max i'll say... and... wait for it... yes, my house now has an exercise machine... which comes to a total shock at first, because my family, exercising..lets just say, not that keen on it (if you've seen me, you have the picture) but its kinda cool coz its not one of those fancy running ones or the cycling ones, but it sorta vibrates like really fast, i haven't got my head around how it works yet, but i guess it kinda shakes all the fat out.. sort off...

that's all physical...on the personal change.. hmm... nah... nothings really changed much.. my family is still the same whacky family i know and love.. aww.... how sappy is that.. but its true... the most obvious, kak chik and adik (my two little sisters if you can still call them little) still fight all the time.. operative word here ALL the time.. the first few days back i kinda just smiled and enjoyed it, relishing how much i missed the bickering..but all good things must come to an end.. days after that it i kinda was hoping that the law will forgive me if i accidentally shot them both..haa... kidding.. but yeah, you get the picture... abah still uses the same MO of trapping us in the car before giving hours of lectures...ooo and the jokes are still as hilarious as ever... and mama, is still mama... worrying about her kids 24/7.. when you think about it, i kinda feel guilty that she has to worry so much about us.. but she's mama, and we love her... and.. oooohhh... along is busy getting engaged... kinda out of the blue... still can't believe she's getting married...its weird actually.. you know it will happen some day, but you never think someday is today (hypothetical today, not like today today).. she's still my big sis in all senses and now she's not just gonna be along, she's gonna be like someone's wife and mom... it's got my whole family buzzing... i mean, it's kinda funny... watching mama n abah go full wedding mode.. they went to this wedding this weekend and came back with tonnes of ideas for along's majlis...some really good, some were just...hmmm...so i guess were just missing out kak lang... she's been in egypt 2 months now.. its kinda sad when we all sit together to eat or gossip and someone's missing and this time around its kak lang... i haven't seen her for months now, and i really do miss her...not forgetting, we have a new addition to the family... ENCOT... forgive the name, but he's a really cute obese cat that mama, my sisters and even abah are sooo obses about...

introducing the infamous ENCOT

i'll be home for the next 3 months.. thats a long time of doing nothing at home.. that's true really, i don't really do much at home except the daily routine of waking up (at 9.30, latest :p) doing laundry, prepare lunch blah blah blah.. things that i've been doing like forever... i mean, its been kinda the same routine each time its a school holiday since i was like form one, so now years later, even when i'm home from uni break, it still feels the same... its kinda like one of those hate/love things where u hate doing it but because you do it all the time you sort of love doing it now...not sure if i'm gonna be doing my intern... i want to, but not really putting my hopes too high... i'll try to find a new hobby this time around rather that lazing myself out but again not putting my hopes too high... lets just say, i'm allowing myself 3 months of blissful family time before that vicious time of studying comes again next year...yeah, right... :)