To greater days ahead

My mind is usually filled with tons of topics that I'd love to blog about but as I write this, there isn't only one that I can put my mind on. The past year has been a roller coaster ride, consisting of ups and downs, turnarounds that you would never expect and that final stop that brings up a huge smile on your face knowing you've managed to go through it. Some despise their high school years and some say those years were the best they've ever had. Just recently, I finished my IGCSE examination and also graduated.
As I was constructing part of my class video that was played on the graduation night, I went through so many pictures and videos of me and my classmates. I had mixed feelings as I felt both sad and happy. All the priceless memories that I would never trade; the inside jokes and the teasing, the uncountable arguments that blew my mind off, the terribly hilarious falls and scares that we go through daily. To know that we may not easily have that quality time with each other often breaks my heart, but to know that all of us will go off into pursuing our own dreams and making them into reality, bringing us immense joy, makes my heart flutter with excitement and happiness. As each day passes, the reality that I would not be seeing and spending each day of my school life with all of my classmates as well as schoolmates, hits me. On my graduation night, gallons of tears were shed but none belonged to me. Do know that I truly do appreciate every one of you and everything that you've done. From helping me up when I fell to sitting me down and cracking my head in order to bring me back to who I truly am, and even constantly reminding me in ways I could never imagine, to stay humble even at times when I felt like I was on top of the world.
As all of us go on with our lives, be wise and choose the right path as we have been greatly blessed to have such opportunities within our grasp. Our parents have played such big parts in our education and life and so I urge that you never forget to thank them, thank them for loving and caring for you, for never giving up on you and for always being by your side even at times of disappointment. To all my friends that I've known despite being in my first few days of preschool up to the most recent days of secondary school, words cannot express how much every single one of you mean to me and so, thank you. I wish all of you the best and nothing less. 

How was your holiday?

I don't know about you, but the past two weeks of school holiday was the most productive for me. My holidays started off with an after school frisbee practice session with friends and the DC.Spartans Jr. 

Sunday, my family and I went to Johor to pay my grandmother a visit. My uncle had then a pet squirrel. I don't know the full story behind how he got it but long story short, his friend found it while it was still a baby and he took it in as his pet. 

Tuesday was family bonding time. Cousins, aunts and my family went down to Melaka. In Melaka, we of course ate the famous chicken rice balls and chicken, walked the jonker street,etc. 

Went for frisbee practice on Wednesday morning. Then came the Ultimate Frisbee Tournament held by SMKDJ's prom committee. Team Arrows went in with 0% of confidence whatsoever. Turns out, we weren't as bad as we thought we were. Team Arrows made it to the quarter finals then lost to team Sub Zero. We left the game with sexy tan lines and aching legs and arms. Even so, I definitely had a blast playing with my team mates and the opposing teams we played against. 

I've wanted to change the colour of my room walls for years now and I finally got around to doing it. 

A friend of my mom was nice enough to hand paint flowers on the walls as a gift for me and my sister a few years back. 

Me and my sister came to a conclusion to paint the walls in the colour white and port fairy. After about 2 and a half days of painting we finally finished and cleared out all of our unnecessary junk. It turned out so beautiful and eventhough our arms ached from painting at that time, I feel so happy and satisfied with how it turned out. Half of the week was spent finishing up homework and having tuition. 

Just before the week ended, me and a few of my church friends went for dinner together. It was to celebrate the birthdays of all who was born in the month of June. Initially, I was to plan the whole thing but my cell group leaders decided to choose the place so we went with it. Turns out, it was a surprise party that I was planning and I didn't know of. In summary, a few other friends turned up. They got cake and balloons for the June babies. We ate Thai, had a little fun with the helium balloons, played spyfall, talked and laughed and ate dessert after. We ate Thai cuisine at a restaurant called Thai Camp. The food was great but the people I dined with was greater. All in all I had a great two weeks. A huge thanks to all who made me smile, even the slightest during the past two weeks and happy birthday to the June babies, you know who you are. 

chicks? chicks.

When I was a toddler, my grandparents had a chicken in the backyard of their house. Often I played with it and then it suddenly disappeared (they probably ate it). About a year or 2 ago my mom told me that in her hometown, colourfully dyed chicks were sold as pets. Since then, I was totally on with the idea of having a blue chick as a pet. Unfortunately when we went back to my mom's hometown, Muar, no one sold them in markets anymore. It made me kind of sad but the thought left my mind soon after. 

About 2 weeks ago my mom went to oldtown to get me some fishes that my class needed for our upcoming school carnival. When I came home I of course had to welcome the fishes so I walked straight up to the fishes that were in a bag on the table and never realised the box that was on the ground. My mom looked at me and asked if I'd seen the chicks yet. I was so confused at first and then I heard chipping noises. I opened the box and in it were 2 chicks that unfortunately, were not brightly coloured. That ultimately did not bother me at all. I was overjoyed I didn't even bother putting my school bag down. 

Turns out, as my mom was buying the fishes in the store, she saw that they sold chicks and thought of me so she bought them. It took me by surprise because I never thought of how I would take care of chicks. I didn't know what to feed them with or where they would sleep, totally the opposite of having a pet dog. Fast forward to today, my chicks, Romeo and Juliet, have grown greatly and are very healthy. I feed them chick powder which is finely powdered rice and other good carbohydrates for their body, but as they get a little older I would probably feed them rice or maybe worms. They currently live in a huge dog cage with cloth lined under. I try to let them out in the garden as often as I can but it takes up a lot of time for I have to constantly keep an eye on them. Many ask what are my plans for them when they grow into adult chickens and honestly, I do not know. I will be sure to blog if anything comes about. 

Pictures below are some that me/my sister took when they were out in the garden. 

Ultrabland - LUSH

Ultrabland by LUSH. This is the very first facial product I got to try out by LUSH. 

In it contains great oils such as almond oil, beeswax which helps remove waterproof makeup with ease and many more skin friendly ingredients. 

Ultrabland leaves ones face feeling silky smooth after use due to it's oils that are absorbed by the skin. Like every other oil/wax, it leaves a partially waxy surface. Therefor, to use this product, a damp warm cloth or sponge is needed. 

After massaging the product onto the skin for a minute or two, gently wipe off with a damp cloth/sponge. I prefer wiping off the product using a sponge as it is easier to clean off a sponge than it is with a cloth. Disposing and washing of the sponge/cloth is crucial for the dirty residue might cause fungus to grow. The cloth/sponge can be cleansed by submerging fully in hot water. 

I have quite sensitive and dry skin and after using this product, my skin feels so much more better and in fact most of the time I would not have to use a moisturizer for it leaves my skin very moisturized. It has helped control my skin from breaking out regularly and at the same time exfoliate my skin. 

Not many would prefer this product for it isn't the typical facial cleansers that leaves the skin feeling super clean and free of oils , but it really does do wonders to the skin. The price of this product is a tad bit on the pricey end but it is totally worth it. 

I highly recommend this product to people who have dry skin. 

Give it a try and maybe you'll really enjoy using Ultrabland as much as I do. 

Road trip - Ipoh/Taiping (2/2)

As we arrived in Taiping, we used the app, Waze, to help us get to our hotel which is the Flemington Hotel.

 (My dad wanted his face to be in the picture)

The view from the hotel was amazing. It was terribly hard to resist myself from taking pictures, so me, my sis and parents went down to the lake to get a closer look. Below are some pictures that I took.

The hotel manager suggested we visit a fishermen's town just not far away from where we were. He gave us a map and told us directions but in the end, we still needed the help of Waze to reach our destination. 

The town is called Sepetang. It took us about 15-20 minutes depending on how fast one drives. The town is so small that every restaurant/house is in a walking distance so we walked around and explored the area until it was time for dinner. 

The locals there caught and fished for their food which isn't a very usual sight for someone who lives in a city, like me. 

We settled for some seafood in a restaurant located just right beside the dock where most locals would go to have their meals. 

One dish that my mom ordered that was new to me is deep fried baby soft shell crabs. It was to be eaten whole which at first, wasn't very appetizing due to the looks of it. Now that I've tried it, I would totally recommend anyone who visits Sepatang, to try that dish. 

The seafood was of course, very fresh and most of the dishes were cooked in a unique way. 

We were seated at the most right of the restaurant which is right next to the lake. As we looked across, there were swarms of cranes resting in the mangrove. It was really such a fantastic sight to see. They would fly in groups as the sun started to set. 

After our meal we headed back to the hotel to relax. I ended up watching a documentary about the World War 2 which was really nice because I learned a lot of facts about the war that I hadn't known. All in all, me and my family really enjoyed our stay and our little adventure. 

Road trip - Ipoh/Taiping (1/2)

The start of the year is never easy as people are to get use to new schedules, environment, etc. My parents just needed some time off work to calm their minds as well as spend time with their children. With that said, my family decided to take a 2 days 1 night trip to Taiping, Malaysia. It was about 3 years ago when we drove up to Hatyai, Thailand. In our journey we passed Taiping and since then my mom really wanted to explore Taiping. 

On the way to Taiping, we stopped in Ipoh for breakfast. 

We decided to have breakfast in a local dim sum restaurant, Ming Court, which is located right opposite a tourist-popular dim sum restaurant. We decided to have our meal there just to experience the more traditional flavours of the dumplings and other dishes. I've been to the popular dim sum place opposite Ming Court the last time I went to Ipoh, and they're dim sums weren't too bad but the price was about 3 times more than Ming Court which I think, is totally not worth going. (In my opinion Ipoh has by far the best dim sums I've ever eaten) 

After finishing breakfast we left for an hour journey to Taiping. 

Food adventure - Hakata Ippudo

As me and my family were in town, we made a spontaneous decision to have ramen noodles for dinner. I then google searched "best ramen in town" and on the first of the list was Hakata Ippudo, Pavilion Mall, KL. Because it was located so near to where we were, we went there. 

The architecture of the store is very unique and eye catching. A part of the store was covered in red spoons which I think is really cool. 

What I ordered was called the Shiromaru Special. In it was a salted soft-boiled egg, pieces of pork loin, seaweed and of course, handmade ramen noodles. Because I've never been to Japan, I asked my mom if it tasted anything like the ones found in Japan and she said it tasted quite authentic. The noodles were really well made and the soup was very concentrated and true to it's flavour. 

One side dish that we ordered was the Lasagna Gyoza. I definitely did not want to eat it because it did not sound or look appetizing at all. In the end I decided to try a piece and surprisingly it tasted really good and really cheesy. Unless you're someone who does not enjoy eating cheese, this dish would blow your mind and your taste buds. The idea of mixing 2 cultural dishes together is fantastic. 

For dessert I ordered the Panna Cotta. The texture of it was really smooth and the garnish along side the blueberry compote made the pudding taste even better, bringing out all the natural milk and cream flavour. 

It was a great meal and I would definitely go back for more. 

LUSH

I first discovered LUSH while watching beauty gurus on YouTube and soon grew a great interest in their products. In Malaysia, there aren't any LUSH stores and I'm guessing the reason why is that the weather here is very humid and the exchange rate is really big, hence the prices of the products being really expensive. 

Although that was the case, I really wanted to know more and try out their products so I kept watching reviews and reading articles on how they're made/what ingredients they contain of. All products are hand made with natural ingredients. Animal testing is not supported and the containers of the products are made out of 100% recycled waste. 

In May of 2014, me and my family went on a trip to England, then Europe.  

In Belgium, Europe, I came across a LUSH store and was super stoked. I couldn't understand what the labels said because they were all in French or Dutch. One of the sales assistant there was kind enough to help me by introducing their best selling products to me. I ended up getting a few soap bars and 1 solid shampoo bar named Seanik. The shampoo bar lasted me about 3 months which is amazingly good in money saving and environmentally friendly. It did not irritate my scalp at all. The soaps did a great job at cleaning and they always left me smelling super fresh. The prices in euros were quite reasonable and quite cheap however if it were to be sold in Malaysia, in Malaysian ringgit, it would be super overpriced. 

My interest grew even more when my mom came back from the US with a whole stash of LUSH products. This allowed me to try and explore what outcome does the product bring to my skin as well as experimenting on what products my skin type can take in a safer way. The most recent trip I made to LUSH was when I went to Singapore in December, 2014. It was the Wisma Atria, Orchard Road, LUSH store that I had splurged my money in. I am currently still trying out their facial products and will be reviewing some of my favorites soon. 

Introduction

Hi guys! 

I'm Joy. I started my blog about 2 years ago when I had only 2 posts which were about school and what not. This year, I've gotten the inspiration to start blogging again. Therefor, I deleted the previous posts and decided to start anew. After tons of convincing and support from friends (especially Abby), I finally came to setting up and hopefully I stay commited as long as I can. I hope you enjoy reading my posts that are going to be up soon. 

Till then, have a great day and take care.

(btw the girl in the green shirt is my sis)