Woot woot! I’ve finally bought my 1st song from iTunes. 
It would’ve been an album earlier by Linkin Park, but I bought that audio CD instead. So, yes, I’ve finally lost my iTunes-store-virginity to what I see is an oh-so-glorious and worthy song – which I’ve on repeat now!
Until the end, it was a never-ending battle between to get it from a local source or not. Less be said, this is now ticking the music beat in my heart. Woohooo!!
Me and Ariel just returned from watching the movie; Oz. It was an alright show and I could finally force myself to say “yes” to a movie night because I’ve been working like a dog the past few weeks – it was pretty noticeable by my peers.
When we reached home and I was replying to some friends on Facebook, a thought struck me; good things come with a positive vibe. It inspired me to create a poster style quote. So I sourced for an image, fired up Photoshop and picked a decent font.
This was the result and I’ve to say I’m very pleased with it.
My first ever poster style design quote
Inspiration really comes at the oddest hours. Either that or, I really needed a break from all my work.
Exclusive ‘Pink Heart’ pendant necklace on sale with proceeds donated to help abused women
26 February 2013 – In celebrating the International Women’s Day, Unilever has again teamed up with Guardian Pharmacy to raise funds for the Women’s Aid Organisation’s (WAO) Pink Heart Campaign 2013. The campaign seeks to generate money and support for WAO, as it continues to combat violence against women and their children in Malaysia.
The Pink Heart Campaign will run between 1 March to 30 April 2013, and customers who spend RM20[1] or more on Unilever brands namely Dove, Lux, Sunsilk, Clear, Lifebuoy, Rexona, Fair & Lovely, Vaseline and Ponds products, will get to purchase an exclusive ‘Pink Heart Foundation’ pendant necklace (worth RM19.90) for just RM2.90. All proceeds will be donated to the Pink Heart Campaign for WAO to help fund the organisation’s research, advocacy and public education programmes. The exclusive pendant necklace can also be purchased at RM9.90 from all Guardian Pharmacy stores, excluding KLIA and East Malaysia.
“Unilever is about inspiring people to take small everyday actions that can add up to make a big difference for the world around them. Via the Pink Heart Campaign, our consumers will be able to do just that. We are proud to again be at the forefront of an initiative that helps increase awareness about the problem of violence against women and working closely with Guardian Pharmacy and WAO”, said Ms. Tan Mei Yen, Customer Development Director, Unilever (Malaysia) Holdings Sdn Bhd.
“We must stand united in promoting women’s rights, here in Malaysia as one nation. It’s time to end violence against women and this partnership is vital step in our on-going commitment through the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan to improve health and well-being among all people,” Ms. Tan added.
“Whilst our business focuses on cultivating wellness among our customers, Guardian also advocates and is proud to reinforce our belief in Corporate Social Responsibility. Strategic partnership with our supplier’s such as Unilever allow us to collectively can get ourselves involved in efforts that help to provide care and comfort to those in need including the women and children of WAO” Ms, Soon Ai Lan, Guardian General Manager of Merchandising added.
WAO Executive Director, Ivy Josiah said, “As we enter our 31st year, WAO will continue full steam ahead to reach out to women and their children experiencing violence. In the long run, we want to make Malaysia safe for women of all backgrounds. Our work in changing mindsets and attitudes is critical and we need everyone’s help to fight against violence against women. A big “Thank You” to Unilever for their commitment and continued support in helping us reach our annual target of RM 1.5 million.”
The Pink Heart Campaign was first launched in March 2011 to an overwhelming public response. The Campaign in 2012 saw an increase in collection by more than 25%. This year, the campaign aims to continue increasing awareness and understanding among individuals, public and relevant agencies on the issues of violence against women and underlying gender inequalities.
My birthday this year had been nothing but eventful and memorable. The digit of 30 aside, I’m very pleased to know that my life is filled with true friendships and relationships. I can’t thank them enough for being there for me.
Seriously, I’ve never had a surprise party in my life. Not when I turned 21, not when I returned from Melbourne. Best part about the surprise was that it was thrown together by people whom I didn’t expect – my business associates.
A day before my birthday, all of them including my wife schemed to surprise me at Artisan Coffee. I only thought that we were going there for drinks since the weather didn’t allow us to go for our jogging routine. Then even when I arrived, I never thought that the orange balloons were for a party for me.
I was really stumped on how to react when everyone jumped out to surprise me. All I could throw back was a face of blur-ness. Lol. I guess that’s me.
Behind that smile is a WTF.
Then, my other mutual friends started to walk in and join in the party. It was this moment I thought, I really felt blessed to have them in my life.
I had decided to take a day to treat myself. No work. Just filled with what I wished to do.
So I started the morning with a full body massage. And then, it was off to Las Vacas for a juicy Wagyu steak for lunch. I’ve only seen the meat through the glass but never ordered it because it’s a premium meal. So I guess today was that right moment to indulge in it. And it was so awesome!
Wah-gi-yuu
The next thing I wanted to do was catch a movie. I was looking forward to maybe watching Beautiful Creatures or Parker, but cinemas only had them at midnight. In the end, I just settled for Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. It was pretty interesting and makeup was really done well. Why I noticed the makeup was that for the dark witches, they had cracked faces and it looked really well done.
When night came, me and Ariel headed to my friend’s restaurant; Top Shelf, for a dinner I organized with friends of mine.
I got jagerbomb-ed
It was a great way for me to wrap up my eventful day, accompanied by my friends, filling the air with laughter and smiles.
Why did I go for it, I don’t know. I know I could’ve just left, but I went.
I joined one of my friends at Tom, Dick and Harry’s for 1 drink after dinner. Ariel headed back first so I went there with my 2 other friends.
Never again I tell you.. NEVER!
Again, I know I could’ve picked a safer drink. But I guess I wanted to be adventurous that night. Or, just be plain stupid. So I got a friend to choose my drink. And to no surprise, I was to drink the legendary Graveyard. Plus, because it was my birthday, they had me drink with a bong!
I managed to finish the drink and hold up for awhile. But the ride home killed me. I threw up the moment I got to my house gate and threw up some more when I was inside.
Instead of the toilet bowl, I chose the kitchen sink as my best friend. Guess it was because I instinctively knew I needed water to wash it away. Ariel comforted me and asked if I needed help heading to bed. However, I waved away the option and stuck where I was. She brought over a chair for me to sit down by the sink. Thanks dear.
Zzzzz..
I fell asleep by the sink, but then woke up when my sister in law came home. Not noticing me as I sat up, she got a fright when she saw me sitting there. I must have had a very drunk look for her to tell that I had thrown up and I was asleep there.
I forced myself to leave the sink. There wasn’t anything else on my mind except to crawl into bed. That was about 4-5am.
What a night. What a day. Thanks everyone for making it a really memorable 30th birthday for me.
Compared to the Big Bad Wolf Sale last year, I would have to say this year was an improvement. One of the better parts is that we didn’t have to drive all the way to somewhere out there on yonder. Thank you event organizer!
Although I couldn’t believe it, there were actually crazy persons who went to the Big Bad Wolf sale in the wee hours of the morning after 2am. 0.0 And I think one of them was my friend. Just because she said she had a hard time sleeping?! Wha?!!!! *facepalm*
We weren’t as crazy, being a Sunday and all. So we just decided to go to the Big Bad Wolf sale this year at 8am. Not that crazy, right? 
Pictures taken near 11-ish
Now, if you’re planning to head to the Big Bad Wolf sale, here’s my strategy of browsing. Obviously, it would only work if you’re looking at the similar genre I was browsing – business.
What I did was circle each table of books in the business section from a right to left position. Once you’re done with 1 row (because you’ll notice the next table not having business topic books), you move to the next lower table. Here’s a quick illustration of what I mean.
Once you’ve circled a table, move on to the next table and circle again
Of course, the biggest challenge of browsing only 1 section is that you’ve to be not distracted by the unrelated books on the other table, attractive lady at another table or detour from your path because there’s an OCBC credit card agent eyeing you.
Once I was done with the business section, though not taking back some books I thought I’d get, I thought to myself that I shouldn’t be just reading this genre and mix it up with novels. Problem is, I’ve not known what I like reading.
So I picked up some fiction novels, read from the beginning and flipped to a random page of the story to continue reading. I found myself falling in and out of a sleepy state. To me, this meant it wasn’t my cuppa tea.
Then I paused and started thinking back about the last book I read completely – Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. What was it about the story which made me read it. My guess was that I preferred stories with a mystery to solve.
With that thought in mind, I happened to pick up a novel by Michael Connelly, flipped to the back and found that it’s a story of a detective. Started reading a few pages in, flipped to a random page in the middle, didn’t fall asleep.
My haul back
Why the phreak did I buy so many Michael Connelly when I never knew what I liked reading other than business books? Well, it was only RM8 per novel, so it would’ve been a real waste to only get so few. If I found myself finishing 1 book, then it’s a bonus since I’ve got enough to keep me reading. LOL!
Besides, I only bought the titles which weren’t too old because I noticed that some were republished. So I got the ones between 1998-2002 about there.
And by the way, if you’re planning on going, make sure to bring either a luggage trolley or borrow your Mum’s market trolley (after washing it). This makes it much easier carrying your selection around than a box. Or, alternatively, use a large sling canvas bag. I saw someone using the blue IKEA bag, that works.
If there was 1 improvement I’d like to see next year; designated area for patrons to filter out their selection. This way, all books discarded before purchase are in 1 central area than having them left on tables or in boxes on the floor, disrupting others from walking.