What’s In My Makeup Bag - My 17 Luxury & Drugstore Beauty Essentials

“There are no ugly women, only lazy ones”

‘Ain’t that the truth? You only have to look as far as my ‘morning face’ and compare it with my ‘public face’ to fully appreciate the transformative powers of cosmetics. My close friends jokingly call bare-faced me ‘Maria, Jasiminne’s humble and homely maid’ and love to ask ‘Maria’: “Mana boss kau yang cantik tu?” (Where’s that lovely boss of yours?) to which ‘Maria’ would reply: “Puan sedang sibuk, ma’am. Dia datang sebentar lagi, sila tunggu sekejap. Nak minum apa, ma’am?” (Madam Jasiminne is busy but she will be here presently. Would you like a drink while you wait?) Yeah, I have great friends. *furtive glance*

February 29, 2016

What’s In My Makeup Bag - My 17 Luxury & Drugstore Beauty Essentials

“There are no ugly women, only lazy ones” ‘Ain’t that the truth? You only have to look as far as my ‘morning face’ and compare ...

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Instagram Wife

Shoot others as you would have them shoot you

Maybe my shooter of choice - Canon 6D, 85mm f1.8 (see the contents of my camera bag here) - elicits less knee-jerk reactions than Henry’s arsenal of AK-47, PPSH, and Mosin Nagan; but I’m a sharp shooter all the same. It’s a widely-accepted opinion that the formula for successful fashion blog/Instagram = photogenic girl + well managed eating disorder + credit card + photographer boyfriend. Hence the rise of the ‘Instagram Husband’ - that oft unmentioned accessory in the ‘Shop the post/Buy the look here’ section in, like, every fashion blog ever.  

So in the interest of gender equality - and I don’t mean jumping on the OMG FEMINIST bandwagon - I thought I’d share with you how mine and Henry’s relationship goes both ways. Yes, he does follow me around and takes marvellous photos of me for my blog but I also happily return the favour. Because like body pleasure, stoking the flames of vainglory is so much more fun when you have a partner. 

Here are some photos I took of my Instagram Husband bearing arms in Wanstead Park, because every healthy relationship should also have an Instagram Wife. 

PHOTOGRAPH & EDIT BY POSH, BROKE, & BORED
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February 25, 2016

Instagram Wife

Shoot others as you would have them shoot you Maybe my shooter of choice - Canon 6D, 85mm f1.8 (see the contents of my camera ba...

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Fartypants

Eye see you over there baby, shaking that thang…

(See more Knitwittery here and here) 

Flatutent leather culottes! Questionable tan lines! Sequinned eyes on the world’s most impractical compact satchel! That’s what you get when you combine jet lag and Shoreditch douchebagg-ery because this sort of award-winning ensemble should be best left to the clamourers outside Somerset House this time of year, the pages of Grazia, and fashion blogs. There’s a disconcerting breeze around my shins - and not just because my leather culottes make the most embarrassingly realistic fart noises when I walk (it’s my trousers, guys, I SWEAR) - yet my top half is toastier than the Brick Lane bagel shop. My ankle boots cover my weird ankle tan lines from Malaysia but not the remnants of my gold flash tattoos (which now look like odd scabs on my shins, ugh). Also, my handbag is as adequately-sized as my self-awareness is ample (in other words, not at all).  

And this, kids, is why you don’t attempt any sort of sartorial statement right after landing in London at four in the morning after a 13 hour flight.   

At least this hot mess kinda sorta photographs well…? No? Yes?  

PHOTOGRAPHY BY HENRY RIDLEY-COOK. QUESTIONABLE SARTORIAL CHOICES ALL MINE.

-

February 24, 2016

Fartypants

Eye see you over there baby, shaking that thang… (See more Knitwittery here and here )  Flatutent leather culottes! Questio...

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Idaman House at Janda Baik, Pahang

THE SIMPLE LIFE AMIDST THE RAINFOREST TREETOPS OF JANDA BAIK, PAHANG

Idaman (Malay, Indonesian) - n. ideal, craving, desire. 
How wonderfully fitting, as Idaman House was my family's choice for a weekend of fresh forest air.
The Malay kampong (village) of Janda Baik - literally 'the good widow' - is, according to local folklore, named after a kindly widow of local folklore who tended to a wounded mercenary passing through the town. My party of ten enjoyed similar hospitality - a 5-bedroom villa in the mountains tended to by a staff of three who took care of our every need, leaving us free to relax and enjoy our verdant surroundings.

February 22, 2016

Idaman House at Janda Baik, Pahang

THE SIMPLE LIFE AMIDST THE RAINFOREST TREETOPS OF JANDA BAIK, PAHANG Idaman (Malay, Indonesian) - n. ideal, craving, desire.  How...

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Ipoh Bites - Where To Eat In Ipoh Old Town

What to eat & drink in Ipoh that isn't chicken rice or Old Town coffee

While I'm all about the adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" - or rather "I'll fix it if I only need to use duct tape or WD40" - I am not at all adverse to introducing crazy newfangled ideas to areas where the classics have already stood the test of time. So, in the spirit of the 'something old, something new' of Ipoh Old Town's new retro revival and the 'modern treehouse meets historical house of decadence' of Sekeping Kong Heng, I'm rounding up my Ipoh blog posts with five alternative eateries beyond the city's already-established street food and hawker stalls. 

February 20, 2016

Ipoh Bites - Where To Eat In Ipoh Old Town

What to eat & drink in Ipoh that isn't chicken rice or Old Town coffee While I'm all about the adage "if it ai...

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Birthday Babies

February 16, 2016

Birthday Babies

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Sekeping Kong Heng, Ipoh

INDULGING MY INNER PETER PAN AT SEKEPING KONG HENG, IPOH 

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I've slept around. Literally - I've stayed at 5* hotels, country piles, cruise ships, Airbnb's, and then some. I'd rate myself reasonably well-travelled, even so my recent trip to Ipoh ticked off a first for me - sleeping in a treehouse. A treehouse! You may already know about my dinner party childhood dream plans in progress but what kidult doesn't still nurture Neverland fantasies? Ever since Sekeping Retreats burst onto the Malaysian scene with their dreamy 'back to nature' getaways, sleeping al fresco has never been so en vogue, an especially commendable accomplishment given the tropical climate with all its nuisances.

Sekeping Kong Heng sealed the deal for me when I contemplated making a trip to Ipoh for Henry's birthday. The latest addition to the Sekeping family is a glass and concrete treehouse in newly rejuvenated Kong Heng Square, the heart of Ipoh Old Town's revival. The 3 storey neo-classical building was once a hostel for theatre performers who performed in the adjacent theatre building that was burnt down in the 50s. True to the spirit of celebrating Ipoh's rich heritage and history, Sekeping Kong Heng has preserved as much of the character of the existing building as possible - evident in details like reclaimed colonial shop windows used for the rooms. The result is edgy and hip yet respectful to its surroundings' history: an exhibit you live and breathe - from the heady aroma of white coffee to the cacophony of Cantonese banter between hawkers - in a real Old Town setting. 

______

February 12, 2016

Sekeping Kong Heng, Ipoh

INDULGING MY INNER PETER PAN AT SEKEPING KONG HENG , IPOH   ______ I've slept around. Literally - I&#...

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The New Old: the Retro Revival of Ipoh, Malaysia

Ipoh Old Town, revived with vintage flair 

I chanced upon the most remarkable sight last November when I was in Ipoh to review The Haven.  

In its heyday, the North Malaysian capital of Perak was an icon of the riches of the Empire. But when the mining boom ended, its star faded as the Town Built On Tin became a shell of its former self. All that remained of Ipoh were decaying colonial mansions and shophouses whose weathered bodies whispered of its glory days of British Malaya. As my father did, many of the city’s young emigrated to Kuala Lumpur for bigger prospects, leaving behind a sleepy hollow seemingly inhabited mostly by those old enough to remember pre-independence Malaysia.  

Ipoh, whose star once shone as brightly as Singapore, was now an Adele lyric: “that town where nothing really happened”. Or so I had remembered from my family’s annual Chinese New Year returns to my paternal hometown - it was usually a stopover between Kuala Lumpur and Penang, albeit one boasting some of the best Malaysian culinary fare. Although in recent years Ipoh has become a family-friendly destination for wellness and relaxation, it was not a place I associated with a burgeoning arts and culture scene, and certainly not with the trendy young. 

I was about to proven so satisfyingly wrong.

February 10, 2016

The New Old: the Retro Revival of Ipoh, Malaysia

Ipoh Old Town, revived with vintage flair   I chanced upon the most remarkable sight last November when I was in Ipoh to re...

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Welcome, Monkey!

Gong Xi Fa Cai, Wan Shi Ru Yi! Wishing you all prosperity in the year of the Fire Monkey!

February 08, 2016

Welcome, Monkey!

Gong Xi Fa Cai, Wan Shi Ru Yi!  Wishing you all prosperity in the year of the Fire Monkey!

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The Joys of Flying Long Haul

Survive? What is this, Bear Grylls and The Chamber Of Secrets?

Let’s be real - there’s nothing to ‘survive’ on a flight, long haul or otherwise. You’re being fed, watered, and oxygenated; all you have to do is sit down, shut up, and not be a cheese-eating racist. Clickbait articles titled otherwise would have a generation of advice-seeking fliers believe that a long haul flight is an epic journey to Mount Doom when really it’s the biggest first world problem of all: Oh, you’re enduring the indignity of travelling thousands of miles over a relatively short space of time and degree of comfort to an exotic destination? Awww, poor thing, does somebody need a waaaah-mbulance? 

Let’s all not lose our heads but rather count our blessings. Not even regard a long haul flight as a means to be justified by the end, but the reasons why the experience is something to be welcomed as a privilege. 

These are the three things I love about flying long haul (not included - squealing WHEEEE! during turbulence).

February 07, 2016

The Joys of Flying Long Haul

Survive? What is this, Bear Grylls and The Chamber Of Secrets? Let’s be real - there’s nothing to ‘survive’ on a flight, long...

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A triangle bra for even the most bosom-y of wenches

From my new saviour - B by Ted Baker

 The love that dares not speak its name. That’s my euphemism for ‘titties too big for this bullsh*t’ - the collective cry of bosom buddies with more than a handful to spare. Myself, being the ambivalent bearer of an ample chest (all the more astonishing given my South East Asian ethnicity which tends to come with automatic admission into the itty-bitty-titty committee) have accepted that my DDs are persona non grata at the triangle bra party. Those underwire-less, ethereal, wispy lace handkerchiefs held up with nary but a spaghetti-slim strap? No chance in hell. How about this eggshell-coloured feat of support engineering that bears a passing resemblance to a chastity device?

February 05, 2016

A triangle bra for even the most bosom-y of wenches

From my new saviour -  B by Ted Baker  The love that dares not speak its name . That’s my euphemism for ‘ titties too big for th...

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Knitwit II

(...and it's not just because I might have crumbs in my bra)

PHOTOS BY HENRY RIDLEY-COOK, EDITED BY ME

Heavens to Murgatroyd, it finally happened - I've hit all the high notes on the beauty scale.   

February 03, 2016

Knitwit II

(...and it's not just because I might have crumbs in my bra) PHOTOS BY HENRY RIDLEY-COOK, EDITED BY ME Heavens to Murgatro...

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