Chinese New Year 2012 shopping!!!

Me, my sis and mum went to Hatyai for bra shopping. It's freaking cheap there. Triumph bras are selling for RM39. In Malaysia, it's like at least RM60 after discount. In Hatyai, we went to Central to buy bras and it was a high end place and you can try the bras there. After that, we went to Odeon, which is not so high end but you can't try the bras there. The bras in Odeon are piled up in 2 huge baskets, like a real sale. You have to dig the whole basket to find the bras. So in conclusion, to go Central to try on the bras and go to Odeon to buy them because Odeon has more varieties. In Odeon, the toiletries are so cheap, like half the price compared to Malaysia because toiletries are manufactured in Thailand.

Here are the clothes I bought:

Jeans from Dorothy Perkins, RM96 or RM98 each, can't remember. I can't get student price because it's only available on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There's this woman, another customer lend me her Dorothy Perkins card so there's a 10% discount.



Loose top from Cotton On, RM25. I just love the printed lace design, real lace is even better. Hehe


Leopard print top from Cotton On, RM30


Loose fitting top from Hatyai (bought from a stall), RM20


Polka Dotted chiffon top from Hatyai, RM20. The shop keeper wanted to sell at RM39 but my mum helped me to bargain. The shop keeper didn't even let me check it and chuck it in the plastic bag. The lining came out of the stitching so I had to stitch it back.


T-shirt from the streets in Hatyai, RM10


Cute little octopus t-shirt from F.O.S. This and the next two white T-shirts for RM45


http://inlinethumb44.webshots.com/46827/2444959470089174857S500x500Q85.jpg

Top from reject shop. I only bought this because the side of the sleeves have ball ball, RM20


2 tank tops from reject shop. Can't remember how much but it was cheap


Cardigan from Seed in Sunway Pyramid's Jusco, RM39.


Colourful dress from Hatyai, RM25. Couldn't haggle more.


Polka Dotted dress from Hatyai. Only RM35. The quality is not bad, and it is double layered, at least it's not a cheapskate dress.


La Senza bras from Parkson in Subang Parade. 2 for RM100. This is the cheapest I've found at that moment. Other places don't sell this cheap at that time. It was I think early December. Now there's sale in La Senza, buy 2 free 1 I think.


Triumph bras from Hatyai. Only RM39 each. It will never be this cheap in Malaysia. I hope the quality is good. Some are not very good. Some bras are available in Malaysia and it's freaking cheap in Hatyai.
The sales lady and my sis asked me to buy the blue bra because it's nice and the sales lady said the original price was RM90+.


Triumph panties from Hatyai. Only RM9 each. Triumph and Wacoal still have the best panties. La Senza panties look nice but not as comfy.


Triumph panties from Jusco in Mid Valley. The beige one is RM10 and the black is only RM15!!!!!!

Best calf workout

The best calf workout is to walk up the stairs without skipping a step. I stay at the highest floor in hostel which is the 4th floor (G, 1, 2 ,3 4) and I feel my calves burning walking up the stairs. Another way to workout your calves is to walk fast to class. This also works out your calves. But going up the stairs a few times a day really makes my calves less flabby and it's hard. Haha. If you skip steps, you will workout your thighs, which is also a good thing and it saves time but I don't have that much energy to skip steps because I go fast and I will be out of breath.

Diet

To start, my diet is nothing like those fitness enthusiast. Malaysia has so many nice food and Malaysian food are actually quite healthy if you think of it. Not everything is deep fried. Most chinese food are stir fried anyway.

For many weeks in the past month or so, I haven't been feeling full. Of course my family will think that I'm eating so much and all. They will do their best to discourage me from working out and want me to gain weight so I look exactly like them. I know they can't stand the fact that I'm the slim one at home and the only one who workout to keep fit. So many people are jealous of me because I eat alot and still don't grow fat.

I told my friend that I haven't been feeling full. She gave me a really really good point. She said that means I'm not eating right. I'm not eating enough for lunch because I used to cut my portion so that I will lose weight. It doesn't work at all anyway. I have to eat more for lunch because after lunch I will have to go to class and after that rest then workout. I can eat less for dinner because I'm not going to workout after dinner. What she said was really a good point. I'll take her word because she used to be an athlete in school and her fitness advice are really useful.

My portion is quite big because I need the energy to workout ok. I will not have enough energy to workout if I eat too little. I also found out that I need meat and/or protein in my diet, especially lunch so that I will at least have enough energy to workout. If it's all carbs (such as pasta without meat), omg, I will feel full for a while and then super hungry later and in the endm I will not have enough energy to workout at all.

New Workout

During my internship, I gained some inches around my belly, arms and thighs. It's like generally my whole body because I never workout. I just had my dinner too early so I didn't workout right after work. I have my dinner right after work. Now, I'm staying in campus so I have all the time in the world to workout and of course study.

I totally changed my workout. I do not have a routine anymore because Routine is the Enemy. This is because if you keep on doing the same workout, you will build muscle and that workout is effortless. It also means that your body is used to that workout.

If can, do not repeat the same workout in two consecutive workout sessions. For example, today you do bicycle crunches. Don't do bicycle crunches for the next workout session. Do it for the subsequent one. Or even better, don't repeat for 1 week.

Last time I keep on using my dumbells until it doesn't feel heavy anymore. I then stopped using it for like 2 weeks and now the dumbells feel heavy. I can get  good workout with my dumbells now. 

Besides that, some workout are really simple. I haven't been pushing myself enough because I keep on doing simple workouts which are not high intensity. I remember when I was 14-15, I went for karate classes and the training is really high intensity and I had 2 packs from once a week, 2 hours karate lessons. 

After I stopped, the weight started to come. I was 45kg at 14-15 and I was 50kg at 16. I gained alot of weight and my clothes don't fit anymore because I gained weight and grew a little bigger. It's impossible that I'm the same size at 14 and 16. My mum obviously doesn't believe me because she believes that I'm fat and I didn't grow. 

Even at that time, my BMI was only 20. I wonder how's that near to fat. Many people just can't accept the fact that I eat so much and stay the same size. My biggest secret is that I workout now. 

I never workout when I was 16-18. When I was 18, I was the fattest in my life. I weigh 52kg at that time. So at 19, I started working out, doing alot of strength training which was wrong in getting 2 packs. It took me like a year to reduce my belly fat. 

I then found out that I had to do cardio in order to lose fat. Once I started jogging in order to lose my belly fat, wow, it took me only like 2 weeks. My weight didn't change because there's not that much fat in the first place. I still wear the same size clothing since I was like 18. 

I found this youtube channel called BodyRock.TV. and their website is http://www.bodyrock.tv . Their workout is really intense and the host, Zuzana is really muscular but not buff. Checkout her workout. It's a killer

I really like workouts these days, it looks so fun and new. I'm not really into old fashioned workouts such as sit ups. I never do sit ups. Many coaches will say it's bad for your back if you go all the way down. For more modern workout, you should visit this youtube channel called DietHealth and the host of DietHealth has her own channel called SarahsFabChannel . There's another youtuber called Cassey Ho and her youtube channel is called blogilates. She's famous for pop pilates. It's really tough abs training and she keeps a real poker face or it's effortless to her. I've tried doing her workout and I can't keep up.

If you find workout a hassle and think that it's so hard to maintain, then just don't workout and grow fat and go on diet in hoping that you will lose weight. Eating a less rice and have alot of junk food for snacks does not help you lose weight. Unfortunately, many people do that. To avoid snacking, think that you do not have enough money to buy snacks and snacks are a treat once in a while. 

Don't say contestants in the Biggest Loser now have to restrict their diet like mad and can never stop exercising. This is the life they chose, to never stop working out. I also chose the life to never stop working out so that I'm always fit and not fat . I always believe that Fitness = Ease of Movement. I remember I can move easily when I did karate, unlike now with my low intensity workout.

Nobody should ever stop working out. If not, why are there so many public service announcement saying that one should have regular exercise? Having regular exercise means that one should never stop workout.

Keeping fit, working out regularly and eating healthy is a maintenance. You should workout to maintain your body. Only idiots will only say that Biggest Loser contestants have to workout  for the rest of their life. Who doesn't? It's such a stupid statement. Even after the show, in order to keep their weight, they have to workout vigorously. That can be changed to suit their daily and working lifestyle. Control their diet, gain a little weight because of the lack of exercise then start losing the weight again and depend less on exercise. 

I know my family doesn't believe in my eating habits and think that my workout is unnecessary. I don't eat white bread because I will bloat and then my tummy will be so fat. So now I only eat wholemeal bread. When I was doing my Foundation, I never eat white bread or buy buns almost at all. My dad thinks that white bread n wholemeal bread is the same and don't believe me when I say that I will grow damn fat from eating white bread. If I eat white bread 3 times a week, my tummy will be fatter and it's obvious. 

Aloe Vera Face Mask

I tried aloe vera face mask yesterday. I got the aloe vera from my neighbour's garden. That neighbour migrated to Australia and left the house and car for my family to take care. 

I cut the aloe vera nearest to the root, because that was what I saw in youtube. You can store the aloe vera in a container and don't close and don't refrigerate it. 

I found a very easy way to apply this mask. Take the aloe vera and remove the outside (the green part) and take the gel and place it on your palms and mash it with your fist or with a fork. Then you will the very gooey gel. Rub the gel between your palms and apply it on your face and neck like as if you are washing your face.

Leave the mask on for around 1 hour or overnight. After washing off the face mask, your face will look like it has less scarring and your face will glow (on other words, shiny).

Egg White Face Mask

Egg white mask if good for cleaning your pores. You can use it on your entire face and neck or on selected areas. all you need is egg white, baby powder and facial tissues. You don't need to use the whole egg white for this.

To make this mask, just simple take the egg white and beat it until it's abit foamy and add a little baby powder. The baby powder will help the face mask to stick on your face better.

Next, take the tissue and separate the layers of tissue. You only need 1 ply. Cut the tissues into smaller pieces to it's easier to stick them on your face. You can also take the whole tissue and put it on your face and then cut holes  for your eyes, nose and mouth.

Take the egg and powder mixture and apply it on your face with a brush or your fingers or anything else. Then apply the tissue on your face. If the mask doesn't stick well, you may apply more egg white n powder mixture on top of the tissue.

Once you're done with putting tissue on your face, leave it to dry. This takes quite long so I recommend using hair dryer with cold air or a fan. Once the face mask is really, really dry, hard and stiff, you are ready to remove them.

For me, I did not see must pimples on the mask but my face feels smoother after that. Good luck trying!!!!!

PS: You can try the honey mask on your lips as a lip mask. You can try other edible stuff but I won't be responsible for them.

Homemade Face Mask

It's been a super long time since I've blogged. So here's my new post about homemade face masks. I will share with you the homemade face masks I've tried. I started using this because I wanted to try them and these ingredients are always forever in my home.

If you google all these homemade masks, the recipe is like 1 teaspoon of each ingredient. It's such a waste because your face is not that big. In total 1 teaspoon of face mask is all you need. You wouldn't want to keep your face mask in the fridge and then use it again.

By the way, it's not that hard to make face mask. It's somehow like making Milo, tea or coffee. Homemade face mask is also super cheap. You need like a quarter of a teaspoon of each ingredient for 1 application. You can just calculate yourself how cheap is it to make homemade face masks.

My mum always say to put face mask overnight. All my friends said it's really bad because the dirt that come out from your face will stick to the mask and if you leave it on for too long, the dirt will go back in. It's true. There's no such thing the longer the better. So I recommend to put face mask for 15-30 minutes.

My mum also teach me and my sis to never neglect the neck because if you age, you neck will not look nice. So put all your facial products on your neck as well.

For all these masks, you can try to use a plain sheet mask if you like but i personally don't like sheet mask, especially the packet mask because it's so messy.

Honey + Yogurt
I find this mask ok because I put more yogurt than honey. This mask makes my skin more moist and soft. It's really good if you want your face to be moist but it doesn't make your skin less bumpy.

Honey + Milk
For this mask,, use more of honey and just a tiny splash of milk. It's ok if the honey is cold and not runny because you are going to add milk and it will mix easily and can stay on your face. If you put too much milk, it will be too runny and it will start dripping from your face. If it drips, you can try using plain sheet mask for this, or just wipe off the dripping parts.

This is so far my favourite mask because your face will glow and become abit shinier. This mask does not leave your skin mat like clay mask. Now I like face masks that makes my skin shinier because I feel it makes my skin glow. Hehe.


Honey + Milk + Ground Rice
To make the ground rice, take the rice (I suggest use only a little to experiment) and put it in the blender grinder. The grinder actually works on small amount of rice because once it starts, the rice will fly everywhere in the grinder. I tried pounding it but the rice flew everywhere. You can use food processor or anything else for this. Grind the rice until it's like fine sand. I don't have the patience to grind it until like powder.

The grinder is the one on the left.

This is a scrub mask. Use more of honey and only a tiny bit of milk. Add as much ground rice as you want. Leave it on your skin for around 15-30 minutes and before washing them off, wet your fingers and gently massage your face. The ground rice works as a scrub or in a fancier term, exfoliator.

This scrub mask will leave your skin feeling smooth and shiny at the same time. Masks with honey cleanses your face and it also mositurizes your face.

Bedak Beras  + Water/ Milk
I used this mask and it is actually like a clay mask. This mask cleanses the skin and makes it mat (no shine), reduces bumps and tightens the skin. My friend told me once that rice starch tightens pores (not permenantly of course). Unfortunately, this contains fragrance and it is itchy and makes it red for a short while but the effect is good.

I will make this mask in a super thick paste so it will look like a clay mask. I also found out that this will only dissolve in water, not milk. So if you want to mix with milk, be sure to dissolve the mask in hot water (it's faster to dissolve in hot water and it's sterile) and add a tiny bit of milk. The milk actually has no effect so just use water.

My dad told me every woman will use and make bedak beras in the olden days. My mum said every household will have this. To make this, the ladies will soak the rice in water for months and change the water every few days. They cannot pour the water out, but scoop them out. I'll just do the shortcut and buy a bottle of it. It only cost RM4.80 for a bottle and it's a glass bottle. I bought this from Herbs and Food. I think it's available in those chinese medical shop or those really old fashioned shop.

Potato Mask
This is the most simple mask anyone can do. It's so easy. You don't need a whole potato for this. Take a potato and remove the skin for like half of it and wash it. Take a slice of potato (you can use the peeler for this) and rub all over your face. If the potato ran out of juice, just take another slice.

My sis saw this in Cleo Magazine last time and they suggester to cut half a potato and rub it on your face. It's really wasteful because you don't need half a potato for your face and you wouldn't want to eat the potato that has been rubbed on your face. My mum suggested to slice the potato and stick it on your face. Not very convenient because the potato will drop. Hahahah.

This is a real good face mask for clearing the skin and reducing bumps. Your face will feel soooooooo smooth after this. You can leave this mask for as long as you want because it's not visible. But don't leave it for 1 whole day and sweat all over your face. It's just dirty.

Rice Water Toner
My friend told me that her mum and aunt used to use rice water as toner. To get the rice water, put the rice in water and the water is then rice water. Tada!!!! If you eat rice everyday, take the water that is used to wash the rice.

Take the rice water and apply on a cotton pad and rub it all over your face and neck. The rice water feels soooooo smooth and it also makes your face sooooo smooth. It's really good!!!!!

 The disadvantage is that the rice water will stick after like one night. I once soaked the rice and kept the water as well, it stinked so badly on the second night. I bet it will stink without the rice. So. if you eat rice everyday, be sure to save some of the rice water. I stopped this after the rice stinked because the smell was badddddddddddddddddd so I used back my Clean n Clear toner.

Applying Toner and Moisturizer
There's actually a technique to apply toner and moisturizer. My aunt taught me. She taught me to apply toner on my face in an upward motion and from the middle of your face to our ears. And for moisturizer, apply in circular motion and massage the face as well. I never massage my face while applying moisturizer but it's important to because the moisturizer will work better.

I also watched Michelle Phan's video where she tap her face and gently slap her face so the products will work. It really does make the product work better and it's really good. One of my previous roomates also gently slap her face after applying toner so that the skin will absorb it faster. So, remember to tap and gently slap your face after applying toner, moisturizer and other facial products.



Last but not least, you have to sweat everyday so that the dirt from your face can be removed. During my internship, I spent most of my time in the air-cond room and never sweat much and it was really bad for my face. My face became bumpy and rough and dry. I also changed my products thats why.