Hark! Who goes there!? 

A strange electromagnetic force must've swept through my residence because now there's…

Two of me.

I kid.  Was just playing around with a new photo editing app and realized it gave me this effect.

Pretty nifty, ey? I'll keep making better ones in due time!

My last seven days kept me rather occupied. With New Year's Eve parties, New Year's Day celebrations, running errands, heading out and about, blogging and so much more.

Before that, a shout out goes to my buddy Tammy, for turning a year older on the 1st of January! 

Two kittehs!  Your birthday cake is still in my fridge 

Happy Birthday gurlie! xoxo

For her birthday, she celebrated it with a movie treat – Les Miserables, the musical! 

I've always wanted to read the book first but looks like it'll have to be the other way around now.

Luckily, Konzy has that novel so I'm just going to borrow it from him! 

Loving the movie to bits!  Apart from reducing me to tears at the end of the three hour showtime, I walked out of the cinema hall feeling touched and inspired by its very poignant scenes!

Immediately after the show, I found myself talking to others in a sing-song voice and singing out my responses whenever someone talked to me – leaving them raising their eyebrows in bewilderment. LOL

Musicals, in particular, tend to have that effect on me. The bulk of Konzy and I's interaction throughout the day consisted of lyrical and melodious conversations as well as dramatic hand gestures.

I kid you not.

It started to get really funny at some point – until we ran out of lyrics and the effect, gradually wore off. 

By the lake in KLCC park

We decided to adjourn outside; towards KLCC park where it was hot and sunny.

Wouldn't want to waste a lovely weather like this, yes?  Lunch was at Chinoz on the Park.

His: Pappardelle Meatballs

Hers: Caesar Salad with Smoked Salmon

 It was decently tasty, but commanding such a hefty price for such a simple fare?

That's city living for you, methinks.  We were at the Petronas Twin-Towers KLCC after all.

Just a cute photo of us on the escalator. 'Nuff said 

We were fooling around, talking about everything under the sun as usual and he dared me to fist myself.

Now, now, hold your horses and don't let your thoughts wander off too quickly! 

This is his attempt at fisting himself which I found frightfully amusing 

I wasn't going to do it anyway, but Konzy showed me that it was humanly possible LOL

Over the next few days I was really caught up configuring, setting-up & syncing my brand new, shiny toys.

My new laptop runs on the new Windows 8! Geez, I felt so computer illiterate when I first laid hands on it. 

My new 15.6" ASUS laptop (where I'll be working most of my writing on)

& SAMSUNG Galaxy S tablet (as my PDA/organizer/planner)

This baby has such high-tech fluidity, impressive user interface, works with different commands, new features, new settings, a new Microsoft Windows AppStore where we can download apps too!

Plus, it has a dual OS (Operating System) where I can choose to switch in between Windows 8 and Windows RT whenever I feel like it.

Oh, sweet, sweet, technology.  

Dinner was at another one of my all-time fave restaurants – Food Foundry @ Section 17, Petaling Jaya

His : Wild Mushroom Soup and a Club Sandwich

Hers: Chunky Tomato Soup and Prawn & Eggplant Spaghetti

Regardless of where I live, I will never fail to pop in every so often just to buy my favourite Mille Crepe cake. So the Vanilla Mille Crepe cake you see above, was of course, mine 

It's just one of the things I can't – forgive me – share. Really 

****

Something triggered my motivation and my moods were clearly elevated when I was told that I was featured in the media again.

No, not in a cinema ad nor a billboard this time, but in a newspaper and a magazine :

In Kwong Wah Yit Poh press (a Chinese newspaper)

In The Opinion (a monthly magazine pull-out of The STAR Newspaper)

With me, it is no surprise. My seven days also included, the imperative gym sessions!

Ran 3.15 miles in 35 minutes and the usual weight-lifts & floor workouts

The next morning was a very early start for me – for a change! 

Who wakes up early on a Sunday morning anyway?

Being the night owls we are, it was a total spur of the moment.

But I soon realized that I actually liked waking up at daybreak! Konzy and I then headed out for a very hearty yet healthy breakfast at 8 o'clock in the morning.

To one of my fave food spots in Bangsar, Antipodean Cafe

which serves New Zealand & Australian coffee roasters & cafe cuisine

For him :  Big Breakfast with hash browns, sausages, a fluffy omelette, grilled tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms and a slice of wholemeal bread.

For her : Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, radicchio lettuce, cherry tomatoes, a slice of wholemeal bread, sauteed mushrooms, grilled tomatoes and a piping hot glass of skinny latte.

I've said this over and over again, but Antipodean Cafe is certainly one worth recommending several times!

(You know, people forget…) 

I love this place so much that I even celebrated my last birthday here!

We even managed to have a quick chat with Kiwi-born Alun Evans, the owner of Antipodean Cafe. 

****

Throughout this week, I've also been consciously switching from radio channel to radio channel lately, departing from the usual, repetitive trashy tunes that they call contemporary mainstream pop.

HOW ON EARTH DID lil miss annoyingly-in-your-face Nicki Minaj, Flo-Rida who is apparently a pro at teaching girls how to "blow" his "whistle", a close-to-30-year-old singing bubble gum pop hoping for someone whom she just met to call her, superficial outlook to life of a materialistic "Primadonna Girl", and yes, let's not forget whiny, spirals of despair from Adele, permeate the airways?

Really. It's a million dollar question. 

Come to think of it, it might be the aimless commercialization and lack of substance in today's "music" that has put talented, real musicians and independent artistes to shame. 

Yup, what's new? It's all about the $$$.

Which is why I'm sharing five of my favourite hits from the 80's which I happened to come across during my radio channel surfing AWAY from the likes of contemporary – often unoriginal -mainstream pop music.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqTkxFJHrNw

Christopher Cross – Best That You Can Do

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsdj9NRzqC4

Starship – We Built This City

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFPajU-d-Ek

Belinda Carlisle Heaven is a Place on Earth

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDK9QqIzhwk

Bon Jovi – Livin' on a Prayer

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up

Like it?  I do. Despite mocking "oldies" music as a rambunctious teenager back in the early 2000s, I now I finally understand how mom, dad, my uncles, aunts and late grandfather came to love and appreciate the music of their era, even till today.

As for me, I wouldn't be proud to say I came from the Justin Bieber-Adele-Nicki Minaj era. 

I don't rant very often on my blog, but when I do… it's about the garbage they call music now.

I ended my weekend by sending my third round of recycling materials/recyclables ever since I embarked on a lil personal project of being more pro-environmentalist and taking the green initiative whenever possible.

To reduce, reuse and recycle! 

I carried four boxes of recyclables – paper & cardboard, plastic, metal and glass.

They took everything BUT ACCEPTED NOT EVEN A SHARD OF MY GLASSWARE!

HEY! If you didn't already know, glass IS recyclable too! 

I was visibly upset but still wasn't given an answer as to why glass is unpopular in recycling efforts

On another note, it's already the second week of 2013!

Schedule's looking pretty busy already.

Have you been keeping to your New Year's Resolutions so far? 

If not, it's not too late! Endeavour to succeed in them throughout the next 51 weeks!

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!

It's here! It's here! It's finally here!

When the clock struck 12 midnight on the 14th of December 2012, it marked the exact moment the iPhone 5 began its official launch in Malaysia.

Wowza!

The start of the weekend had barely begun, but Apple fanboys & fangirls had already started queuing up outside even before the outlet opened its doors for business.

That was what I saw at the Blue Cube outlet in Pavilion KL when Celcom launched the iPhone 5!

So many people? No surprise. Celcom is Malaysia's best network with the widest coverage after all

I made my way to the city for a lunch date with Konzy and couldn't help but to pop by the store first to see the iPhone 5 in the flesh with my very own eyes. 

The queue!

Played with both the iPhone 4S & the iPhone 5 in the store and did a quick physical comparison.

Hey hey, look what we have here! 

Compared to its predecessor the iPhone 4S (above), it is physically thinner, lighter, longer and more solid

Holding it in the palm of my hand was a thrill in itself… and you know you're carrying the world's most sought after Apple iPhone 5! But unfortunately, it wasn't mine 

Kinda makes you a notch cooler, methinks 

Yes I am a convert.

I used to think iPhones and Apple products were a tad overrated (maybe I was jealous that I didn't own one at the time?) but the moment I got one to call my own, I could finally see why it was THAT popular 

One of the many new owners of the iPhone 5 in Malaysia!

Why don't you get one from Celcom Blue Cube for yourself? 

If you get your iPhone 5 with Celcom, you'll be in for :

BIGGEST savings of up to RM1,921

HIGHEST data volume of up to 6.2GB per month

BUNDLED USAGE up to 1,500 in minutes/SMS/MMS

FREE 1GB Celcom First WiFi access

Get it get it get it! 

Cool, eh? They have the best rates & offers the most savings too.

So here are the packages/plans available on the Celcom network :

I've did the math. The total payment upon registration for each iPhone 5 is as follows:

iPhone 5 16GB : RM2038

iPhone 5 32GB : RM2338

iPhone 5 64GB : RM2638

Ready to unbox these brand new babies?

To know more on how to get your hands on the iPhone 5 with Celcom, head on to www.celcom.com.my

Hello hello! It's Sunday again & I'm feeling so energized!

All pumped up from today's gym session but my legs feel like complete jelly at the moment. 

I'm a work in progress. 

Well I guess that's whatchu get from insane, merciless core trainings & floor workouts of crunches burpees, front planks, leg-lifts, push-ups, lunges, sit-ups, squats yesterday and straight on to today's high-intensity Body Combat session as well as more crunches & planking. 

I think I over-exert myself sometimes 

Which is why I only drink Horley's Sculpt protein shakes to restore the protein I need from all those mad workouts

Today's choice of gym shoes: Adidas Adipure 360 for Body Combat & floor workouts! Thanks Adidas Malaysia 

I need a massage to relieve my tired muscles. Pronto! 

Oh and I think I've said this before, I eat like a pig but I train like a hunting dog.

I can never say no to mamak food. Oh the delicious curry, tandoori chicken, spices & thosai

We all gotta reward ourselves sometimes. Heh. heh. heh.

My treats include chocolate, milkshakes & cheese cakes. 

So if you're feeling kind or want to fatten me up with anything like how the 'Hansel & Gretel' witch tried to do to Hansel, you can make me a happy girl 

Which was exactly what the wonderful peeps at Pizza Hut Malaysia did last Tuesday.

I was invited to the Pizza Hut Cheesy 7 Red Carpet party!

They blindfolded me while I sampled the Cheesy 7 pizza – which was a much-speculated comeback.

(Full blogpost coming soon!)

What I wore for the night! 

After sinfully good food, I always I burn off what I eat – if not at least half of the consumed calories.

Let's kick some arse.

And the gym has always my second home since 2007 

Yes, I'm emphasizing the year I became a gym rat, because lately, I've had many people asking me "So what made you so into fitness & gym all of a sudden?"

  You asked the question five years too late, baby. 

My answer would be – NOTHING. Because I've always been into health & fitness.

Throughout all these years as a fitness junkie, I've never shared my routines nor workout photos before. (I think the most obvious is my constant tweeting and Foursquare check-ins into various gyms and parks).

So, I hope you guys don't ask me the same question anymore pretty please T__T

Here's a Thai restaurant I'd like to recommend – Restoran Aroma Thai @ Damansara Perdana

Tom Yam Seafood soup, Pineapple Rice, Thai-style Curry Beef, Pandan Chicken & Cashewnut Prawns

They all tasted authentic and each were reasonably priced around the range of RM8 – RM20

Attended the Topshop Members Day party on a Thursday night

Major love for polaroids! Always wanted a polaroid camera 

My Thursday was quite eventful. It was spent undergoing a very special procedure for my hair.

It is the Brazilian Keratin Treatment  This is only available at A Cut Above hair salons!

I daresay it was the best & most professionally done treatment for my recently-damaged hair

(Full blogpost coming soon!)

The gorgeous & talented Winnie Loo also gave my hair a magical touch with her expertise at haircuts

She gave me a very bold & edgy new asymmetrical hairstyle – just the way I like it

Can't wait to blog about the entire experience at A Cut Above!

I had so much fun with dearest Winnie experimenting new & unconventional looks for me.

Dinner Thursdate with boyfieKon at Chilis Bar & Grill @ Mid Valley Megamall right after

He had the Jalapeno Steak Quesadillas while I had the Chicken Club Tacos 

More healthy homemade goodness when I stormed my kitchen as usual.

Take a look!

Fresh garden salad & Thousand Island dressing

Fluffy omelette with Old El Paso salsa & lots of ground pepper!

Friday's breakfast!

Cornflakes with fat-free yoghurt & apple slices

It's Friday night! Off to shimmey down & usher in the weekend with some electronic music at Zouk Club KL!

Feeling a lil punkass tonight 

KLCC hey hey!

I don't know about my fellow Malaysians but even after living in this country all my life, I never fail to be amazed at our very own iconic KLCC Petronas Twin-Towers, which was once the world's tallest building! 

Partied my Friday night away at Sidney Samson LIVE in Malaysia at Mainroom, Zouk Club KL

RIVER! RIVER! RIVERSIDE… *bleeeeeep*!

Had so much fun with the buddies 

Sidney Samson dropped beats from Swedish House Mafia, Skrillex, David Guetta, Zedd, Steve Aoki apart from his very own original tracks. Heck, he even surprised us with several old skool, hip-hop/rap music!

On second thought, it's pretty obvious that he's a fan. He even had a Snoop Dogg T-Shirt on 

Oh did you know (or even bother to know) that every Saturday is NO PLASTIC BAG DAY at Tesco?

Well, now you do… and you better be prepared!

The last thing you'd wanna do is to lug all your groceries by hand, all the way to your car LOL. For the first time, I actually remembered and brought along two large non-woven environmental friendly bags with me 

Spent my Saturday night being Bob the Builder with bestiePam

Was busy fixing a new shoe rack for our my collection of shoes!

Hey, they need a nice pedestal to sit prettily too 

Let me introduce to you my (now) neatly displayed, happy family of 55 pairs of my favorite footwear!

High-heels, wedges, stilettos, flats, peep-toes, slingbacks, boots,

sneakers, high-tops, runners, gym shoes & flip-flops! 

Will be sharing a panorama photo of both mine and bestiePam's shoe collection soon!

I know, don't freak out.

Some girls collect handbags, make up, perfume, stuffed animals, soap bars… and the list goes on.

I told you I'm a caterpillar. I have too many feet & all of them want a pair of shoes to wear 

httpv://youtu.be/zXspm7k7juE

Song of the week that came just in time! That's some epic dubstep right there

BoyfieKon is blasting it in our living room right this very moment & totally got me hooked 

Another thing I did this week that I just have to share is…

HAHA! I TRAILED A SPEEDING AMBULANCE FOR THE FIRST TIME!!

You know how people follow/tailgate ambulances because every vehicle will make way for them?

Well, I've seen lotsa motorists do it, and since I've always wanted to take advantage of the ambulance's emergency lane, I did. It was cool how everyone gave way to me too  (It works. I arrived my destination in half the usual time)

That's all for this week. G'night, dearies. Dream of unicorns and rainbows tonight, aight? 

Make sure you're well-rested to tackle your next seven days with gusto!

Much love,

Jessicat

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

The Sunday Times is a new once-a-week series; published every Sunday night to recap the highlights of my week, capture what piques my interest and to share recommendations for to-go places and to-eats throughout the week.

Check out the entire series here : The Sunday Times edition.

Some of the photos are posted instantly on my Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr & Facebook on the go.

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

When it comes to alcoholic beverages, guess what comes up at the top of my list?

I most certainly do prefer my whiskeys, cider, champagne & liqueur when given a choice.

A while back, I received an invitation from Lord Somersby to attend the launch of Somersby cider in Malaysia.

The other half and I taking a swig of the delicious apple cider by Somersby!

The event took place at a historical venue – the magnificent & colonial Carcosa Seri Negara 

Boasting Neo-Gothic & Tudor Revival styles, these mansions were home to the British High Commissioners back in the day and the official residence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on her visits.

One of the mansions – the Carcosa

The venue was a perfect place to hold a garden party for the fully imported Swedish premium cider.

I loved the entire set-up! 

It was celebrated in a form of a garden party. Apples & garden parties are an amazing combo!

As it was a garden party, I decided to follow the theme.

I wore something casual & light, with a hint of nature/floral motifs.

((STYLE OF THE DAY))

TheJessicat wears : Red camisole by Forever 21 |

Assymetrical/Mullet skirt from an online blogshop | Bowling bag by Roxy | 

Floral headband from a push-cart store in KLCC | Leaf earrings from a local night bazaar |

Dreamcatcher neckpiece from a bazaar in Singapore | Straw wedges by Aldo | 

En route to the Somersby garden party!

When we arrived, we were ushered to the garden venue

I saw hoards and hoards of apples lined up at every corner possible – it made me a very happy girl!

As I love apples (both red and green), I did not hesitate to munch on what ended up as 4 apples that night!

Cheers to a more refreshing, lighter & sweeter alternative to beer! 

The press conference began and Soren Ravn (Managing Director of Carlsberg Malaysia) shared some

interesting information and insights regarding the new Somersby cider in Malaysia

A toast to Somersby's launch!

To be amongst the first few to taste the Somersby cider upon its launch in Malaysia is truly an honour 🙂

I must really commend its taste! It was flavourful with so much zest, yet not too overbearing!

So refreshing… and healthier too!

Somersby cider is made from fermented apple juice, natural ingredients and only 4.5% alcohol content!

It promises easy drinking refreshment with sparkling bubbles that makes every sip exciting.

If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, I hope this counts! 😛

Theboyf and I approves! The cider was absolutely marvellous

Best part is? 

Somersby Cider is free from all artificial flavourings, sweeteners and colouring 

Cheers to that!  So much love for Somersby 

Somersby's light-hearted and entertaining disposition brought us fun, laughter & unpredictable moments

We were also shown a very peculiar and amusing video footage of the excited Lord Somersby upon discovering the crazy amount of apples here in Malaysia.  

The CCTV footages were filmed in various hypermarkets and grocery chain stores.

Lord Somersby filling his trolley with apples!

Right after that, was the gambit of the whole event.

*drumroll*

We had a very special guest in the house today! Guess who?

None other than Lord Somersby himself!

It was great seeing his cheerful demeanour and deep, hearty laugh!

He waltzed and twirled around on stage with his bevy of ladies

Lord Somersby giving us a warm welcome and sharing his story

It's like history brought back to life! 

Lord Somersby is the father of many great discoveries – but the most famous of them all is probably Somersby cider, which was once known as the favorite drink of celebrities like Napoleon, Cleopatra and Newton.

Lord Somersby, his gorgeous ladies and Soren giving a toast to Somersby's successful garden party launch!

With that, it was time to serve MORE Somersby cider to all the guests present

Theboyf and I clinking our glasses in celebration! 

Managed to grab a photo with Lord Somersby at the photowall too!

Thank you for a lovely time, dear Lord Somersby 

It was a great pleasure to have attended this party and to celebrate this eventful evening with you!

Congratulations on an apple-rific launch of the Somersby Apple Cider in Malaysia 

Good Friday and Easter Sunday has always just been a memorable occasion for me.

Well, we get public hollies and commemorate the resurrection of Christ. What's not to love?

But the whole idea of Easter Bunnies & chocolate eggs never really got to me

Until I landed in Australia, for my first ever REAL Easter.

Back on University rez, we even had an Easter Egg Hunt game! Anyway, for the week-long Easter Break, I decided to fly to Sydney to sight-see and pay a my extended family a visit 🙂

And I'm thankful I came; for they gave me the best Easter ever!

Chilling with couzzies Sam and Nick before dinner

Thanks for picking me up at the city, Krizzy! 🙂

I was taken away when I first entered their house.

It's beautiful! Have I ever mentioned that I love the architecture and layout of houses in Australia? I've been into some 7 houses now, and it's really different from the ones back in Malaysia.

Anyway, spotted a pretty candle holder hanging on the wall!

People here actually celebrate Easter.

Most of my friends here were busy with their own family Easter dinners today as well.

I simply adore Lindt's Easter Bunny chocolates! 😀

On to the foodsies! Prepare for noms ahead.

Not for the hungry 😛 I was amazed how we managed to stuff ALL the dishes into our tummies

But first, some appetizers & tid-bits before dinner!

Nachos, chick peas, feta cheese, pistachios, cookies and more

"Did I hear food? Can I come in too, pretty please?"

Dinnertime begins!

We were all helping out with the preparation and plating the food on the dining table

Caesar Salad!

Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni!

More cheese! Popped it into the oven again LOLOL

Potato Au Gratin bake!

Roast Lamb!

Roast Pork!

My uncles took to carving of the roast meat

Yay! And then its time to drizzle the gravy all over

Easy now, slicing & cutting up the pieces of the pork chunk by chunk

Devour the scrumptious delights before they are all gone too soon!

Coincidentally, the 3 of us were wearing black tonight

On the dinner table with couzzies Adie & Krizzy

Here's my platter

Looks rather messy but who gives a !@#$%? Let's eat!

Eating medinner! Want some?

It was a fabulous home-cooked meal… without a doubt!

After dinner, we gathered at another table to chill and catch up 🙂

T'was so nice to rekindle with all my aunts and uncles again after quite some time.

We downed a few shots and neat drinks over our chitchats too

That's the way our family roll, no pansiefansie mixers – nadah!

Oh, how I love gathering together and reminiscing lotsa old-times!

Yes. I'm talking to you

After a few hours, it was time for  yummy cake!

Aunt Yi Ling baked us an Apple Tea Crumble for dessert

It was so good, this time with extra nut & cinnamon toppings!

Fancy a slice?

with ice-cream to jazz things up? Yes, please 🙂

Pastry dessert & vanilla ice-cream… delish!

It finished rather quickly as you can probably tell!

Now, how's this for pretty dessert?

Uncle Danny played around with the food and voila! haha

Needless to say, I had a fantastic time with the family.

Here's a piccie of my cousins and I… for the road!

Happy Easter 2011 folks!

Much love