Pack light? Me? Please.

There are some things in life, try as I might, I am not able to do:

1. Wear a push-up bra without looking like I had surgery

2. Eat duck and go, "Oh my god, this is DELICIOUS!"

and

3. Pack light.


Yes, my bag is on the right. The H's is on the left. I don't pack light. Never have, never will, simply because I can't. To quote Sel en route to the gym one day, "Oh my God, are you moving into the gym? What's in your bag? *opens bag* And you don't even have your gym shoes in here!!!"

So yes, I don't pack light. There are several very valid reasons why.

1. Over-prepared VS under-prepared - Seriously, I'd much rather pack a spectacular evening dress that I'm not sure will be put into use rather than showing up at an impromptu dinner event in jeans and yesterday's checkered shirt. No amount of accessories will dress you up in that.

2. Toiletries - I'm not a snob but I'm not a fan of hotel toiletries. I've been to hotels that provide L'Occitane shower gels and yet I'd still rather lug my RM5.50 LifeBuoy anti-bacteria body wash. See?

3. Make-up - Leaving my make-up bag at home is as good as leaving my wallet and passport. Are you kidding me? Face the world bare-faced? Trust me when I say I am doing the human race a favour by putting on make-up before I step out everyday. Scary. Oh and the basic fact that I'm vain of course. No apologies there. (What, you don't know me yet?)

4. Underwear for every occasion - I categorise my undies. Sleep undies, walk-about town undies, nights-out undies, gym undies. And then there are bras....

5. Shoes - On average, I bring 3 pairs of shoes per trip. Walking, heels and flip flops. And if there's a gym, my running shoes of course. So that's four.

6. Variety - ....is indeed the spice of life! I cringe at the thought of being photographed in the same blue blouse throughout a trip. If there's space in the suitcase for a little black dress, a little green dress and a little pink dress, they're going in.

7. Shopping space - You mock me and my large suitcase but I usually have the last laugh when other people are trying squeeze in their last minute shopping into their chihuahua sized bags. Bodo.

and of course...

8. I'm a woman - Ok so it's a stereotype but women generally pack more than men. My husband can fit five days worth of clothes into his backpack. Go figure.

Good thing we have 30 kilos a piece for this trip.

Buzz.

Behind a quiet blog is a busy blogger, no? And I can prove it:

Haw and I have been blessed with projects aplenty but one of our most enjoyable one has been a stint on Mabul island last month. Haw provided most of the design work and I did the copywriting for the proposal (a company hired us to help with their Island Wedding set-up). And to make life easy, they asked us to model for their marketing brochure and website! Ok la, so we’re not exactly Brad and Angelina material but hey, a job is a job. To top it off, they let us keep some of the shots – which were taken professionally by Melvin Ho (check him out at www.melvinho.com).

Before the sunset shoot on the deck. Haw and I taking a moment to say 'Cheese!'

Okay it's NOT what you think. Melvin and Haw getting the lighting right before the main shoot.


All work and no play? Not my style. Gearing up for my snorkelling session. See that smile on my face? Moments later it's going to be wiped away thanks to an encounter with dozens of baby jellyfish.

Perfecting my pout. Statue-style.

While in Mabul, I got a call from my former employers about an emceeing gig in Brunei. Would I take it, they asked? Hell yeah. I spent some 5 days in the kingdom of Brunei and although the currency exchange rate is a killer (2.3 to 1 ringgit! It’s like going to Singapore) and ‘night life’ pretty much means having shots of coffee at Starbucks (“Woo hoo caffeine high I’m a WILD child!” *dancing on Starbucks table*), my trip wasn’t too bad.

My standard dinner as I watched re-runs of 'How I Met Your Mother' in my suite. Beef lasagne. I also had a lot of kebabs because it was the quickest, easiest and most affordable thing to grab on the go. I highly recommend Hungry Joe's in Brunei.


The 4th Sabah Travel Fair at The Mall, Gadong. Crowds were aplenty every night. We had a total of five cultural shows, which was the highlight everyday.

Emcee on standby. Yes, of course sempat to smile at the camera.

In action AND you will be super duper impressed to know that I emceed completely in Bahasa Malaysia! Fuyoh. Although my friends said I sounded like a TV3 News Presenter (no that wasn't a compliment), I think I did a decent job and no one went, "Apa dia cakap tu?" ("What is she saying?")

I was told that The Mall in Gadong is one of the most happening places to be in Brunei. It's not bad but the ceiling distracted me. I can't decide it the plane is flying into the mall or out of it.

Oh i probably should mention that we literally battled several elements during our trip: There was a fire in the mall the day before the launch (which delayed our rehearsal), there was a crazy monsoon storm the DAY of the launch and I ended up having to request for a driver to pick me up from the hotel even though it's only a 3-minute walk away (i don't think the soaking baju kurung look suits me) and the next day, the heavy rain caused major leak which drenched the carpeting of the event hall. Jeng jeng jeng. All we needed was a landslide and we would've covered almost all of the Captain Planet elements (earth, wind, water, fire...and heart -but please, that's not even a real element).

Flew back on Royal Brunei. I love flying on RBA. Always a pleasant flight. And it doesn't smell like instant noodles.

I've also been busy helping out SPCA here in KK. The obstacles are never ending but the rewards are priceless.



And when I'm not busy helping save other furry friends, Haw and I are occupied with another furry friend who will be moving with us when we move to our new home. Meet the over-enthusiastic Peanut. He acts like he's won a million bucks everytime he sees us. Bless him. But if he starts eating my heels, he better have damn effective puppy-dog eyes.



My cousin Chombe and her husband Lulut welcomed so-not-camera-shy Alullah Sawayo Gom. Ready to be spoiled silly by your gazillion aunts and uncles?

And last but not least, ladies and gentlemen, I have a VERY important announcement to make. After trying not once, not twice but thrice, I have succeeded...............















....in acquiring my CANADIAN VISA!!!! Vancouver-bound for three weeks, bay-beh! Cold weather be damned, here I come.

Gazundheit.

Back from Brunei. And i caught a nasty cold. All that damn air-conditioning - I put it at 30 degrees, it still felt like I was camping in an igloo. Only in this part of the world do you put on more layers of clothing indoors than outdoors. Go figure.

In the meantime, am still too drugged up to be blogging about my trip. But stay tuned!