Being a fitness/sports enthusiast & a gym junkie, I do own several pairs of running, hiking, sports & gym shoes which I often wear for the different workouts I do.

More often than not, our feet is the most neglected part of our body; which is why I am a firm believer of investing in the best pair of workout shoes so as to give them the comfort they (and we!) deserve.  

Stay back!

I have the kick-ass power of Adidas' new adiPure 360 on my feet 

This multi-purpose & super-bendable pair of shoes is something every fellow gym bug would love to own

Adidas threw several roadshows around Klang Valley & East Malaysia to celebrate its launch!

When Adidas first launched it's brand new adiPure 360 training shoe,

I was invited to attend their official launch held at the main concourse of Pavilion KL.

This was what I was wore that afternoon.

I decided to come decked in my favourite gym-wear as I was also heading to the gym right after.

Jessicat wears : Top -to-toe by Adidas

Clearly, I'm an Adidias fan, eh? 

I was excited to see what Adidas has in store for us with the launch of their new footwear range.

Surely it was going to be something that all gym enthusiasts would kill for! 

Maggy and I. We both love working out real hard & nasty 

The afternoon kicked-off when the team from the Adidas management shared with us some very detailed product knowledge on conceptualizing the technology for the shoes, crafting of it and all the way up to the results.

It was set to give rise to an amazing user experience when gym junkies (like me!) put them on during our workouts. 

She explained to us more about the adiPure 360 design-wise

While he explained more about the dynamics and the support it gives our feet

You know how most sports have footwear designed specially for the sport itself, right?

Basketballers wear basketball shoes, runners have their running spiked shoes, hikers have their hiking boots

Well, Adidas' new adiPure 360 is designed primarily for gym usage!

Two of my favorite colours from the adiPure 360 range!

These shoes uses super light and flexible materials; featuring the latest in technology to support multi-directional movements, like lunges, squats, leg curls, aerobics and so on. 

Fitness & wellness instructor Yu Jin sharing how this shoe works best for gym workouts

The anatomically designed shoe provides comfort and support throughout every move we bust in the gym.

adiPure 360 allows our feet to move as nature intended – almost as if barefoot! – but still giving our feet the protection it needs during our strenuous workouts.

This allows us to get the most out of our workouts by helping us in natural strength building, agility and balance. Muscles work harder that way! 

They now have a Men's version & a women's version too!

Combat fighters, dancers and gym instructors were present during the event to showcase the dynamics of the adipure 360 training shoes on stage!

They performed an energetic workout demo which included Yoga,a Body Combat and MTV Dance.

You can watch the action right here :

httpv://youtu.be/Vuap3of9wAA

OPPP OPPP OPPP!!

Clearly, the design and overall flexibility of the adiPure 360 helps in promoting unrestricted movement and harnesses the body's mechanics, also aiming to strengthen the muscles in the feet, toes, ankles and lower legs.

   The Adidas team with their bright-coloured Adidias gym attire and of course, the adiPure 360

I love how their feet come together in such a haphazard manner, uniting all the colours of the adiPure360 into a wonderful image of teamwork.

They were such an active and lively bunch too! 

When it was lunchtime, Adidas Malaysia gave us all a lovely treat at Dome's Cafe directly adjacent to the main concourse. 

My Spicy Prawn Aglio Olio

Some friends I bumped into that afternoon! 

With some more fellow fitness enthusiastic friends at the event!

Looks some lovely photos with Amber as well

Maggy, Yu Jin and I

They've even had an interactive game for us to play to test out the adiPure 360! 

I was supposed to step on each correct answer (something like Dance Dance Revolution!)

Haha! So much fun 

Prior to wearing these amazing pair of training shoes, I always fear my sports shoes would give way at the part (it has already started to fray!) where it is bent to the maximum when I do my warm-ups, lunges, interval hill climbing and squats. 

Finally, a shoe that is born for the gym. I can do all my workouts in peace

I went directly to the gym with my new gym shoes and put it on immediately.

Was so pleased with it! My kickbacks, lunges, squats, jumping jacks, burpees, core planks, leg curls, crunches and even running on the treadmill was a breeze like never before! 

Putting my new adiPure 360 to test… it sure was worth it!

I'm this much closer to my goals. Come on.. you can do this, Jess! 

For once, I felt like I wasn't wearing a thing! 

The adiPure 360 was light and unobstructing, yet gives me a very good grip when I lift weights or run on the treadmill.

It felt so soft when my toes rubbed against the interior of the shoe and its material hugged my feet like second skin. 

Loving my brand new adiPure 360 gym shoes 

Thanks Adidias! 

You've come up with such a brilliant idea! So glad the adiPure 360 was designed with the gym in mind – it is music to the ears of my fellow gym rats and I! 

It was so snug and flexible, adapting to all my movements to the maximum 

You can get yours at RM350 from all Adidias stores.
They were so quick, I checked it out on the day itself..it was already launched & ready for sale!

Christmas has always been one of my top few favourites in my list of annual celebrations.

I feel blessed for being able to be grow up celebrating the love, warmth & the festive spirit of Christmas.

My first Christmas dinner of the year was an intimate party thrown by GUINNESS® Malaysia!

That evening at Dirty Nelly's Pub @ KL Life Centre was a warm and cosy one. 

I was glad to gather amongst my good friends & associates (some of which whom I've not seen for a while!) for a delightful buffet spread of a Christmas dinner and of course…

unlimited pouring of a perfect, frothy pint of GUINNESS® draught.

Apart from chugging it, my favorite thing to do with my pint of GUINNESS® – the frothy moutstache! 

During dinner, we were each given a little Christmas gift from GUINNESS® Malaysia!

It was a miniature snow globe with the GUINNESS® mascot, the iconic toucan inside. 

There are three different variants altogether. Might wanna keep all three as a novelty collection, no? 

Limited edition snowglobes!

You can get yours by purchasing your GUINNESS® at participating outlets/pubs

Drinking more GUINNESS® & giving myself more moustaches!

Guess who was the special guest of the night?

It's local singer-songwriter-music producer, Vince Chong! 

Vince Chong serenading us LIVE with certain selections from his new album

Several covers of traditional, classic Christmas songs like 'Silent Night', 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus', 'Winter Wonderland', 'When A Child is Born', 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas amongst others, were performed for us.

He also included his original track, 'With You This Christmas' as well. It was co-written by himself (and legendary local jazz artist Michael Veerapen's son, Daniel Veerapen!) 

Congratulations on the release of your debut Christmas album CD, 'With You This Christmas'!

The songs were lovely. Those interested can get it via CzipLee Bangsar and CanaanLand Bookstore for RM28. It's also available on iTunes & Amazon! 

Thank you, GUINNESS® for having me. I had a great time with good company! 

***

Year in and year out, a typical, traditional Christmas celebration was something that my family & I never fail to organize with other friends, relatives & loved ones.

We used to have Christmas carolling, stuffed turkeys, home-cooked traditional Christmas fare, Christmas tree decoration, massive gift exchange, hanging Christmas stockings up for Santa, exchanging Christmas greeting cards, candy canes, wearing Santa hats and reindeer horns during our family Christmas dinners and more.

This year, we decided to do it differently 

For our Christmas eve dinner, we celebrated the countdown and gathered together for a…

Chinese Seafood dinner LOL

I know, how odd! LOLOLOLOL 

But we still did have some strain of tradition left in us! Certain things will always remain.

We blasted Christmas songs at home the whole day and had a small gift exchange – sorry for my dreadful present-wrapping skills! It's what's inside that counts, right? HAHA 

The lovely Christmas cake that mom decorated 

Our Christmas tree at home!

Here's a close up

And some of the presents under our tree!

The next afternoon, we took a trip downtown to TAO Japanese Cuisine restaurant in located in Penang Times Square for our Christmas lunch. 

Japanese cuisine to celebrate Christmas? Ummmmm… what?

I know, this is so unbecoming of us!  I really hope we don't go out on a tangent like this next year.

Surprisingly, that was all the photos I took. There were at least ten times more the amount of food on our table, but I decided to put my iPhone down to actually concentrate on my family lunch 

Ever since the advent of smartphones and Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and others, I don't want our family mealtimes to end up like this –

HAHA. Guilty?

Some of us at the table! I don't know where the rest went LOL

With mom & godmom 

Best grandmother in the world! 

My series of Christmas celebrations ended with a couple of beer pints & cocktails; Killkenny, Guinness & White Russian 

BestieJoyce, Konzy, Mike and I headed to Zenzi Bar @ Upper Penang Road with a few others.

BFF and I 

With the boys Konzy & Mike

Drinkies! 

And that wraps up my unconventional Christmas this year. 

To be honest, I do miss the good ol' traditional Christmas celebrations my family and I used to hold annually without fail. Hmm… maybe I'll take over the plannings next year.

Move over. It's my turn! 

After all, I'm pretty big on Christmas.

Plus, it gives me an excuse to make a perfect roast with plenty of stuffing, bake some amazing pies, puddings & desserts as well as wrap pretty presents that my family won't ever say no to 

Here's to hoping your Christmas was well-spent with warmth around the people closest to you!

Lest you forget the real meaning of Christmas, it is the spirit of unparalleled love, great joy and togetherness.

Mary's boy child, Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas day.

So Christmas, is basically our celebrating God's love to us all – the birth of Christ.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, DEAR READERS! 

May your days be merry & bright! And may all your Christmases be white 

(As you know, Malaysia doesn't snow… so.. fake snow will do for now)

One of the most memorable (yet highly nonsensical!) things I'll never forget about 2012 is the incessant, unnecessary buzz about how the world will come to an end on the 21st of December 2012.  

Who are you fooling, really?

Believe it, if you must. The end-of-the-world apocalypse was torturous… but I made it out alive.

How about you?

It is beyond me how moronic the world can be, for taking the prediction of the Mayans so seriously, spreading this prophecy like wildfire, sharing sappy posts on every social media channel possible about their impending last day on earth 

Doomsday you say? I shrugged it off the moment I first heard a breath of it. 

Anyway, the point of this post today isn't about the ridiculous end-of-the-world shebang, but rather… to share how I celebrated Halloween 2012.  

Decorations came in abundance by the week of Halloween!

This enormous pumpkin was taken at one of the concourses of 1 Utama, while I was waiting for Konzy to buy his Halloween outfit  

Lot's of choices at costume/party shops It was pretty last minute, but turned out great!  

My gym, Celebrity Fitness had their fair share of fun doing up Halloween decor at the towel shelves too

The moment we got home in the evening, I got straight down to business.

Dressing up and giving myself a bloody, ghoulish makeover  The result?  

Since this is an incredibly rare occasion I managed to finish getting ready before he does, I had some extra time to selca until he was done.  

Wore a wig & stabbed myself in the head with a kitchen knife too

LOL How do you like it? 

I'm that girl from your nightmares.

You might have seen this on my Facebook & Instagram

After almost an hour, he's finally finished preparing for the night! 

Took longer than I expected, since he had to cut open his robe, slash it and stitch it back.

Hello! Meet Ghostface and the Fallen Angel. How do you do?

When the rest of our partycrew for the night were ready, we took a one way trip down to Zouk Club KL!

Let's tear up the bloody night! 

With bestiePam during the ride 

Three of us at the back!

We arrived Skull Island @ Zouk Club KL by midnight

Great how they went all out with the decorations!

Almost all the ground staff of Zouk were dressed as pirates. 

There were fire-twirlers, fire-eaters, fire-breathers & snake enchanters dressed in pirate gear too!  

One of the pyromaniacs in action

Mingled outside at the patio with many fellow partygoers who were all dressed up as various characters.

Photos soon ensued. Being strangers doesn't quite stop us from taking photos with one another!

Extremely tall pirate men in stilts and I!

Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro (I think?), werewolf in chains with Konzy and I

The said fire-breather and I!

And of course, my one and only date for the Halloween night. Mr Ghostface LOLOL

So are we ready to ravage Halloween like never before?

Kon and I wanted to bar-hop around all 5 of the party-chambers of Zouk.

First stop: Phuture!

Us girlies! 

The boys! 

It was extremely crowded, which proved impossible for us to dance nor even squeeze through the sardine-packed crowd. For those not in the know, Phuture plays mainstream, contemporary pop, RnB and the American Top 40 chart toppers. 

Not exactly up my alley anymore, but hey, I used to be a fan of those genres in my late teens LOL

Next stop : Mainroom!

Our resident DJs were dressed up too! I think they were: a nun, jesus and a friar

The music was a lot more to my cup of tea. Mainroom plays a mix of electronic dance music, such as trance, house, electro, dubstep, big room, progressive and more.

I had heaps of fun there headbanging and jumping non-stop! To those that accidentally got their clothes caught on the feathers of my wings, I'm sorry! 

Our partycrew for the night! 

That's also when my date and someone else's date of the

same kind found each other and "cheated" on us HAHA

Third stop: Velvet Underground!

This room plays mambo jambo, contemporary and good remixes of blasts from the past

Thanks for the photo, Jaz!

Didn't take much photos, as we were too busy partying on an equally packed dancefloor! 

Next stop: Barsonic!

One of my two most favourite rooms of Zouk, Barsonic plays more underground, harder bass, techno, hardstyle, drum and bass, jumpstyle and more. 

Mr. Nasty and GanjaGuru (dressed as Jigsaw from SAW)!

The room saw Halloween revellers dressed to impress! Or should I say, to scare, in this context?

We made plenty of new friends and captured some more memories! 

Anyone wants their hedges trimmed? We have Edward Scizzorhands in the house 

We partied hard with some Japanese kimono girls and a chef with a severed hand!

Didn't make it to the final room, Aristo 

It was already 4AM and we were beginning to feel a tad too woozy for our own good.

Another great night to add to the crazy Halloween parties I celebrate every year!

Till next year, all you ghouls, vampires, draculas, demons, zombies, souls, devils & monsters!

May the undead arise from the underworld to party once again! 

Writing this from my lovely lil Penang island as we speak.

The past week has been almost entirely focused on family, friends and almost all my loved ones!

Let's take a ride in the car 

This week saw an emotional roadtrip for me as it marked the last time I'll ever drive my good ol' faithful white Perodua Kelisa which ferried me everywhere throughout all my years as a college kid & a university undergraduate.

Yup, six years with my lil one. 

It's now time for a change to something more powerful, stylish & cutting edge… one that befits me better

I present to you, my new precious, big baby, the Ford Fiesta Hatchback Sports Edition in Red.

Full story up soon! A shoot is in progress

What else is new? My hair.

Thanks to the amazing team at A Cut Above, I had another unique technology done to my hair – called the relaxer rebonding process. It's not straightening, nor relaxing, nor rebonding. It's.. a combination of all three!

Winnie dearest and I catching up over some snipsnips! 

Before and after! I'm loving the results! Professional & well-done

*full story soon!

While I was getting my hair done, Konzy bought some cakes from Just Heavenly for us to share

(Honestly I think he hates me and has evil intentions to fatten me up LOL!) I kid. 

Left: Cappucino Cupcake | Right: Death by Chocolate

I personally didn't like the Cappucino Cupcake, especially hated the icing on top.

But for people who love eating cream or icing, that's your treat right there 

Death by Chocolate, on the other hand, was more my cup of tea.

It was rich with dark chocolate mousse with a velvety layer of melted chocolate engulfing it whole

Oh geez, I wouldn't mind having ten more of this!  FULLY RECOMMENDED 

Triple Expresso Brownie

It had the perfect texture, chunky and fudgy but it wasn't as moist or as warm as I had expected it to be.

The taste, on the other hand, was great – coffee and the walnuts were a good combo! 

Lunch at La Bodega @ Bangsar Shopping Centre :

Smoked Salmon with Baba Ghanouj sandwich for me & Chicken Bocadillo sandwich for him

I loved mine. Healthy meals are always my first option, and this proved to be quite a good choice!

His was a little to bland and dry. Only tasted a lot better after layers of tabasco sauce 

Random photo in my new, sweet, sweet ride 

A world phenomenon of an American TV series – Gossip Girl – has finally come to an end.

Initially I was totally against watching something that was titled 'Gossip Girl', thinking that it would be some pretentious girly girl drama show. But I was wrong. Watching it got me hooked since 2010!

After six years/seasons of this, fans never wished this day would come. 

SPOILER ALERT : IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE CONCLUSION – FINAL EPISODE YET,

SCROLL SWIFTLY PAST THIS SECTION OF THE POST

I was so happy that my favorite on-screen couple, Chuck Bass & Blair Waldorf got married! 

All's well, ends well.

When I got back to Penang, my weekends included spending time with old friends, new friends and more friends, left, right, and center.

First up, my high school Class of 2006 reunion gathering at Suffolk House.

We all had to wear 'name tags' lest we forget how each other used to look like. Who is this girl? 

I haven't heard this name in a long, long, time. 

I'll be dedicating a full blog post special for this! A major 'then VS now' photos 

You'd be amazed what six years can do to a girl. We all looked somewhat different than we were since the moment we took our final walk out of the iron gates of our high school premises.

Off to Golden Screen Cinemas @ Gurney Plaza to watch The Hobbit

Overall, I thought it was a good movie, despite falling asleep in the first quarter LOL.

It had many witty punchlines and good ol' humour. Plus, having watched all the Lord of the Rings movies as a kid, I would certainly not give the prequel of it all a miss! 

I also had a dose of my usual Milkshake Factory obsession.

Tried the new Rio Coconut Shake for the first time with Ferrero Rocher in it.

It was absolutely delightful! The shaker recommended this to me and since I was a fan of coconut drinks, I thought, "Hey, why not?" Glad I decided upon it.

The chunky chocolate bits from the Ferrero Rocher blended in fresh, pure coconut water was a sip of heaven.

FULLY RECOMMENDED!! 

When dusk descended, it was time to let our hair down and party like the rockstar Penang-ites we are.

Buddy Minny introduced SOHO Gastro Pub @ Precinct 10 to me!

I'm still a loyal & a frequent at MOIS No 1 Upper Penang Road – my pick amongst the pool of Penang clubs!

But since SOHO was quite a new one and a fairly crazy place to party at, I thought I'd join in 

Ready for some party photos? I always look forward to my Penang homecoming! 

Don't mind us, we were semi bonkers by the end of the night. 

Lin Chong aka crazy dragon, Minny & I

 My babe Minny and I

All of us! We go a long way back… think, 2008? 

Flanked by Jon & Kon

Drunk-selcas with my childhood pal, Jon! 

With Thean Sim  It's been too long, girl!

And Lionel.. again! 

Theresa from our college days 

More of us at the table! 

My date for the night  Konzy & I

After the night was over, we trudged out into the patio to take a breather or two before finally deciding to go straight on to breakfast at 4AM. Why so late, you ask?

Well, it is morning after all. Very, very early in the morning 

This was the only photo I took during breakfast. Was I really that smashed? 

Breakfast was Chiow Lin Steamboat Restaurant at Abu Siti Lane, Georgetown.

We had a private room to ourselves (with the Empire State building framed up LOL) and the steamboat was served with an authentic Zhong Qing soup, which, to me, was unsurpassable by any other steamboat outlets I've dined in. 

Being out of touch from Penang for several years, I can only trust my Penang buddies to bring me to the best places nowadays! Thanks ya'll! xoxo

Massive seafood by the seaside dinner with the family at Hai Boey Seafood Restaurant @ Gertak Sanggul

Amongst the hoards of flags, I caught sight of something fairly interesting.

HAHAHAHAH. Smart.

The flag of Germany & the flag of Japan hung next to each other on the ceiling?

Now everybody knows your political stance! I see what you did there… but don't worry. People who don't know their world history will Nazi it. (Get it? Get it?)

Mom & I. One of the few photos I have of the night. Thanks for the photo, dad! 

Caught Life of Pi in cinemas with the family!

I loved every bit of the movie. It was so personal, eye-opening, reflective and deep! I felt very inspired and had a better perspective at life and its many meanings upon leaving the cinema.

If you're tired of the same ol' Hollywood drama, this movie offers a good alternative.

It made me appreciate the gift of life so much better. Go watch it! 

Decorated the interior of my new car a lil bit.

Recognize this lil red octopus? Once upon a time, it meant the world to me.

And it still does. Some things never change. I guess I'm just sentimental like that 

Thanks for the gift Glad you recognized it on my Instagram haha!

Life is always full of surprises. Isn't it always?

But never run away from your past, it made you who you are today. In some strange way or another, all the memories of my past were beautiful, and I've never regretted a single thing I've done.. ever.

Neither should you. 

Much love,

Jessicat

———————————————————————————————————————————————–

The Sunday Times is a weekly series; published every Sunday night to recap the highlights of my week, capture what piques my interest and to briefly highlight my recommendations for to-go and to-eat places!

Some of the photos in this edition are posted instantly on my Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr & Facebook

Do follow to get instant updates and pretty photos of the sights & sounds all around me!

Relationships. Don't we all know the drill by now?

Apart from love, the key to it all is communication (and trust, of course)

A brief but torturous a Long Distance Relationship

Prior to this, I've personally been in a Long Distance Relationship (LDR) too and dang, it was tough to only stay close when you're online/connected to data. I practically depended on mobile data all the time! 

After almost three years, I couldn't do it anymore 

Spotted this interesting short film about a couple named Nick & Amy. Watch it.

httpv://youtu.be/FCnNYgrEw7c

So… he left. What's next? And as they say, LDRs never last 

What happened between them? They seemed like they were in it for the long run, right?

And umm.. who's that new guy she was ranting to? I guess we'll find out on the next web-isode.

Did they fight or did they run out of data to continue instant messaging each other? LOL

Well, at least it's a good thing that they have data to continue their relationship virtually, ey?

But then again, this would mean that without mobile data connection, they would lose it all.

Ever since I've got my Blackberry and iPhone, keeping in touch and communicating with my friends, family & loved ones has been a breeze. Why?

Because with this powerful thing called MOBILE DATA on my phone, apps like Whatsapp, Skype, FaceTime, Viber, WeChat, Facebook Chat allows me to chat & call for free.

Constant communication with the people that matter the most! 

Thanks to data, we could virtually be together

Our LDR days are over. We're finally in one place at the same time now.

We made it through, most importantly! 

We've had our fair share of LDR for… a 100 days I think?

I dreaded the mere thought of it. But thank goodness for data.

After all, everything is on the internet now and it costs almost nothing at all to stay in close contact.

Dial *128# to sign up for any pack to have it all 

More information at on the XPAX official website