IB: Off to Cambodia!

I'll be leaving for Cambodia tomorrow!

Super super excited because everybody in IB is going :D
And I'm sure it will be super fun. It's an annual IB International Service Trip, where we go to a country and do some service stuff there. And after the service projects, we get to have a day tour around Angkor Wat!

This is like, a week's off from the stress and pressure of IB work.
I have to wake up at 3am later to walk to college, then bus my way to KLIA and take a plane off to Cambodia. :D

I'll be back in a week :D
Don't miss me! I didn't schedule any posts, unfortunately. I've a lot of half-written ones though LOL. Blame that on last week's crazy college schedule!

《以前》 （转载）

在面子书上看到这篇，觉得贴切，在这里分享。关于情侣之间总会遇到的障碍，关于爱情的脆弱。撑得过的一对，才能够细水长流，才能够一直幸福下去。每一站都是一个过程，考验着对对方的真心。


以前，
你們不會說以前。

以前，你們不會有太多爭拗，
不會有太多對峙。
以前他不會遲覆你的短訊，
不會只回覆你一個單字。
以前他有空時就會主動找你，
不會讓你總是空等，總是憂心。
以前，你們常常都想見到對方，
只要一有空，就會約會，
但現在即使有空，他也不會想來見你；
以前你們見面，他都會對你微笑，
不會像如今一副無奈的疲累模樣，
讓你覺得，彷彿自己是多餘或累贅，
讓你覺得自己變得不再重要。
以前他會說你是最重要的，
如今他連這句話都不願再提，
甚至是，連其他的話也不想再講。

以前他會明白你的沉默，
不過是想要得到他的更加著緊，
他也會花心機去陪你說話、去逗你笑，
直到你的陰霾消退為止；
但如今你們兩人像是參加了沉默競賽，
大家比拼誰更加委屈、誰更加無奈，
只是最後無論誰贏了，你們都筋竭力疲 ......
以前他會欣賞你所做的一切，
不管是你偶爾的任性、還是你可惡的習慣，
他都會包容他都會在乎，
但來到這天，即使你變得更完美，
即使你對他越來越好，
他都會找到你不對的地方，
總會說，以前，
你不是這樣的 ......

以前，
你很快樂、自信，
很有自己的個性，
總能夠給他意料之外的驚喜；
你簡單的一句說話，
就能讓他展顏歡笑，
你就似是一個魔術師，
每次都能夠輕易解開他的煩惱，
總能夠明白他心裡所想，
你的微笑可以讓他溫暖安心，
跟你在一起，他感到無比的輕鬆自由，
你們的心靈默契得連彼此都驚訝，
連旁人都羨慕，
他相信，你就是他想要在一起的人，
一起同步、一起白頭 .......

但來到這夜，
你已經不懂再笑，
你們漸漸不再同步。
你的追貼，讓他感到過份緊張，
他的嘆氣，讓你覺得不被重視。
然後，你說他以前不是這樣的，
他也說你以前不是這樣子，
似晦氣，但也殘酷，
彼此都用昨天的美好去比較今日的痛苦，
來傷害對方，來折磨自己，
但你們卻又太清楚這個現狀，
你知道，你們是已經再也回不去以前 ——

以前，
他是這麼地喜歡你，
你們的天空蔚藍無暇；
但如今你看著他，他看著你，
無聲的空氣藏著分不清的對錯糾纏，
你們覺得彼此都不再一樣，
他已不是以前的他，
你也不再是以前的你，
以前 ......

你漸漸沒有勇氣再提。

读了，心凉凉的。毕竟走过这一些，也看着身边的朋友跌跌撞撞地经历过这一些。有时候会选择不想知道，因为觉得听了会为别人难过。
会害怕以后会不会跟以前一样，因为这样而关系变冷淡。
那种让人不懂要怎样办的冷淡。
那种累人的冷淡。

仅能希望，这次会不一样。

New Heartsy Header & Menu Bar!

Hi guys! If you've been here the past couple of days, you'll see that I have a new header and menu bar, which I've been waiting for for weeks. Why did it take so long, you say? Well, this time I got someone else to design it for me, instead of doing it myself.

I've tried making a slideshow header and a pretty horizontal menu bar for ages, with NO results as my limited coding skills are unable to produce the effect I want. So I shelled out some money for them, seeing as I'm posting here regularly, and though not a hyper popular blog with hundreds or thousands of followers, it's a place where I can actually say whatever I feel or think, so it's very much a long-term, neverending pet project of mine. And this is the first time I'm putting real, monetary effort in, and it's only the top part anyway, so I think it's quite worth it.

My new menu bar! Love!

Considering too how the designer and coder, Corinne Kelley, is very kind and allowed unlimited minor changes until they look perfect. I'm sure she spent quite a lot of time/effort fixing all the nitty gritty stuff.

There's five photos in my header by the way, (if you wait for them to show up that is!).

Header! First picture. :)

If you like my design, check her out HERE. She can design any style you want to fit your dream theme, and also does coding and design for many other stuff including whole blogs, most items such as header, menu, sidebar stuff, post divider, blog button, etc etc. Just drop her a mail, she'll reply quickly. Her prices are reasonable too considering the time she spent.

My header costs: $15, or RM49
My menu bar costs: $10, or RM33

You can link her to blogs that you like (like me) to see if she can try to copy and then customise the design to your blog, or you can sketch out, or tell her in words what you're looking for. If you're designing the rest of your blog on your own, it's best to make all the necessary changes first before asking for her services as she'll need to see your final blog design before she can create something beautifully similar.

Thanks Corinne! Love my header and menu lots :)

Number76 Style Hair Fix (Redo Session)

Final result of prettier hair!

Okay so I have to admit, I wasn't very happy with the result of the colouring by number76 a few days ago. HERE is my first review on them a few days ago. I know that I gave a good review, but the truth was that I wasn't perfectly happy, as the red colour isn't visible at all from the back.

And then the most amazing thing happened.

When I contacted them through Facebook, they asked me to give feedback about the stylist and what happened at that time, and I told them in a nice way that the back part isn't what I really want initially, as I couldn't see the colour at all, hence I didn't think it was worth the money to just see the effects on the front part of the hair. And then they kindly invited me back to their salon to fix whatever I'm unhappy about, at no extra charge. Like so omg right.

Here's what they said in some of the messages:

Dear Michelle, thank you for your feedback. We apologized for the outcome of the highlights. When would it be convenient for you to pay us visit again for the hair fix session? Look forward to hearing from you. Once again, we apologized for the inconvenient caused.


Dear Michelle, thank you for your reply. Sorry for the miscommunication and misunderstanding between you and the stylist. Thank you for your clear detailed explanation about your request. We will definitely feed the information and explain to him about your request, so that he can provide you a redo session with the outcome that you want. We've made the reservation on ... with you at Bangsar 2 branch. Beside, we will also have our English speaking staff who understand Japanese to be with him on that day so that the translator will assist him during the consultation and explanation on Tuesday. Once again, we apologized for the inconvenient caused.


Dear Michelle, thank you for your confirmation and feedback. We will definitely get the correct information and clear message across to our stylist. Look forward to serving you. Again, we're sorry for the inconvenient caused.

So polite right :O I am quite impressed!

Redo colouring session ongoing

So we made the appointment to be on Tuesday, after my classes. I reached 10 minutes earlier and was ushered to a seat, and then I told the receptionist what I wanted, showed her a picture (below) and said I wanted more red stripey highlights at the sides and back so that the colour is more visible. She translated into Japanese for me and then I spent the next half hour letting my stylist colour my hair and waiting for it to be done.

The picture I showed. I said I wanted the back not to be that much coloured though.

All wrapped up in cloth and plastic.

After that I got a hair wash and blow, full service just like an actual paid session! :)
Then I was politely ushered out by my stylist who apologised ._______. and made me feel bad lololol because he looked so sincerely sorry about it.

And here's my result:

Right outside the salon LOL.

The back part! So much nicer now after added more stripes of red right!

The red showed up better on camera under sunlight than indoors, but in real life, it looks just as vivid indoors.

I love the colour a lot a lot! I forgot to ask what colour it is again, but it was super pretty. I love the stripes too, it's more interesting than one solid colour. Now I have layers of vivid red and natural black. :D It gives me a sense of originality.

To my left, on your right

To my right, on your left

< Side views >

It was a great redo session! Most salons would not even entertain the idea of fixing their mistakes at no charge at all, let alone one that comes from miscommunication. And even if they did, they probably wouldn't even give a service that is exactly as if you've paid again.

At first I thought that maybe they were doing a half-ass job because it was during the 50% discount period, so maybe only half the effort, but I can see now that that is not the case, as they are very professional even though it is a free fix. The problem could be that there were too many people during the first visit due to the promotion (super crowded) and also due to miscommunication as my stylist isn't too fluent in English.

Indoor. 

So all in all, it was again, a really nice experience (even the tea is served LOL) and I would definitely go back again now. Verdict is raised to 9/10 (previously 7/10 as I was a bit sad about the colour at the back, but it's solved now!). Everyone was very nice, even the staff replying on Facebook, and no one blamed me for not checking properly, communicate properly or anything like that.

Front!

Thank you, my stylist Yamamoto and all the staff who served me, for your professionalism in dealing with the issue.
One happy customer here!

Easter Special: How To Hard-Boil Eggs Without Gas Or Stove

It's Easter Sunday!
Happy Easter everyone!

So for Easter I'll be showing how to hard boil eggs without using gas or the availability of a stove. The easiest way, ever. I decided to do this simple test because I've always wanted to eat hard boiled eggs and nobody makes it. I'm serious. I tried asking in restaurants and they keep messing up by giving me soft boiled eggs. No one understands me ._.

And I don't have a stove or gas here so I can't even boil an egg the right way. I have a microwave but either it's a soft boil or it fries up and become insanely hard, and you have to crack it to cook it cause a whole egg in a microwave will cause it to explode. 

I know, it sucks to not even able to eat an egg when you want to. :(

So out of sheer desperation I bought a dozen eggs and took a couple to make an experiment to see if boiling water works. The first egg failed because I broke it too fast, so I tried another time. And it works! I got a hard-boiled egg!

So here's how:

You need:

• Electric kettle
• Egg
• Water
• Metal can

1. Boil water enough to cover the egg. Pour hot water over egg in metal can and cover. Try not to pour boiling water the first time as it will crack the egg a little. Cover the lid and wait for 5 minutes.

2. Boil more water. Pour out old water and put in new hot water. Cover for 5 minutes.

3. Boil even more water. Pour out and pour in new water again, cover for 8 minutes.

4. Peel the egg!

Like seriously, it worked. It used more water of course as you need to keep the water hot just below boiling point. And also more electricity as you need to boil the water three times, but it actually works if you're craving for eggs and you don't have gas or no stove. :3

This is the easiest, easiest way ever. For an egg to hard boil it takes about 15 minutes, but if you're afraid, just leave it on for 20mins.

I love eggs. :3

Number76 Style: Red Highlights + Ultrasonic Treatment Review

Note: Not a sponsored review.

Yay finally got my highlights! I've wanted red hair forever, but I never got around to doing it. So when I had a chance to visit a professional hair salon, Number76 (which is apparently super famous among beauty/fashion pros in Malaysia), I decided to take on their offer of 50% for selected stylists and just go and yolo dye my hair.

Experience tells me that my hair, despite all its shortcomings like split ends and combination texture (it's dryer at the bottom part than the scalp), has exceptional retention of whatever you do to it. For example, a random colouring of a bit of hair with coloured chalk doesn't wash off for a few months. The average lasting period is a few days to a week. My friend's hair washed off the colour in two days.

And when I permed my hair digitally back in September last year, it lasted until now, 7 months later. The average lasting period is apparently 3 months max, providing you keep good care of your hair, apply cream blablabla. I didn't do anything extra apart from washing it (no time sorry) and it's still so nicely curled that my hairdresser (not number76) persuaded me not to straighten it.

So I am quite sure that I'm going to get my money's worth because if random chalk dye can last a few months, highlights at a professional salon will last until I get sick of it.

While waiting...

I arrived on time for my 3pm appointment at the Bangsar2 branch and was asked to wait a bit. It was awkward saying that this is my first time but oh well. Everyone has a first time. Filled in the form blabla and then my stylist, Yamamoto, directed me to a seat. He was quite shy and tried super hard to understand what I want. Cause I was a bit particular, as I need to hide the red in certain classes. At first he told me the colour I wanted (shown in picture below) requires bleaching. As my ends have gone through perming and are very much drier now, I didn't want to dry them further and risk getting worse hair. So he let me choose one of two reds that doesn't require bleaching.

This was the picture I showed.
Credit goes to the owner of the picture.
Took it off pinterest. 

I chose the darker red, closer to the colour above, for safety purposes. I thought it was okay in the pictures he showed me as I was initially going for a wine red colour. He chose six strands that he would colour and then started to dye them. I was held in aluminium foils for awhile before it was done and an assistant took the foils off. I didn't want to breathe then, the smell was so overpowering .___. why can't someone invent an odourless dye for once? I was also served tea so it was okay to sit there and wait haha.

I look funny. LOLZ. Stylist is colouring my hair.

Anyway then I had an ultrasonic iron treatment, apparently something number76 is most famous for. I was actually interested in finding out what it's all about really. It's supposed to be an enhancing treatment for chemical processes, and it protects, softens and treats hair so that it will be smooth and silky even after multiple chemical processes like dyeing and perming. I was a little skeptical as there is no way, NO WAY, that my frizzy, unmanageable hair could be tamed to a silky curtain.

The process took a while but not very long, in three steps. First of all they apply the treatment and conditioner and stuff which is imported from Japan (did I tell you it's a Japanese salon?). Then they use a special straightener kind of instrument which vibrates when in contact with water instead of using heat. So no heating involved, which is better for the hair. I thought it was interesting but couldn't see how it helps my hair. After that, they washed off the treatment and stuff, blow dry and brush my hair. Then I had it curled at the bottoms with a curling iron and my fringe trimmed at no extra charge, as the fringe was a bit too long in front.

Tadaa! The result!

Left is before, right is after.
Okay I wasn't over the moon about the fringe cause I look so much more dolly now LOL, I like the left better .__.

No the hair didn't become short, it was curled (but I kinda messed it up)








Everything cost me:
Highlights: RM220
Ultrasonic Treatment: RM250
Discount: 50%
Total: RM110 + RM168 (fixed promotional price) = RM278

Yes it was expensive even after the discount, but I thought it was worth it. Why? Well I did kinda regret the highlights as it turns out that a full head costs the same as six strands of highlights. So yeah in an economical perspective, that wasn't a wise decision. Well I guess I didn't ask for the price because my stylist can't speak English fluently so there was a bit of difficulty there.

But after a day (since I'm writing this a day after the visit), I kind of like it, as it's not as hard to cover up in school, it lets me know if the colour suits me (God knows what should I do if I dyed a horrible colour all over my head) and also it's fascinating, and I can always dye more strands if I want! I didn't really like the strands at the back as they were all hiding under the black hair, although I did ask him to hide it lololol. But I LOVE the strands in front, the colour is vivid but not bright, so it is really nice against natural dark brown/black. I LOVE the colour. I don't know the name, so I cut a bit of the red hair at the end to keep the colour so I can give them the sample next time. Hehe.

Ignore the expression. The red showed up best here.

As for the ultrasonic treatment, well they didn't really explain to me through the process, so to me at that point was only wash+iron+wash. LOL. I didn't think it was worth the money at that time, or maybe the assistant just isn't experienced enough. I went home and still wasn't very satisfied. Yes it was smoother, but I could have done that with a good conditioner that costs a third of the treatment price. Then I went to sleep...and this morning I was....

Impressed.

For my annoyingly untamed hair that tangles itself whenever it likes, I can run my fingers through it right after I got off the bed. No tangles. No nothing. I thought it was awesome at that point. It doesn't mess itself up, and when it gets a bit messy due to the wind, I just have to comb through with fingers. Hair commercial much. .___.
And yes, it's smooth. I think that the wow part is that it actually lasts like a perm or something, as we know that smoothing conditioner only lasts the day when it's applied. :x
I'm typing this at night and it still is soft and smooth. <3

Back of hair. I like the smooth effect. No edits, see!

But my hair is still a little frizzy though, which I don't think can be helped as it was really dry, so might need more frequent treatments and stuff. So if your hair is normal to slightly dry, this will really smoothen and soften it up until it shines like hair commercials. Mine doesn't shine or looks super nice, but it's definitely much nicer to touch. B says so. LOL. I especially think it's worth it cause B always touch my hair, all the time. At least it's not like nobody appreciates haha.

A bit of 2cents thoughts:
My appointment was 3pm and there were a LOT of people. On a Friday. And as the more experienced stylists are usually busy with lots of customers, the other stylists and assistants help out. So I thought that I didn't get much from my appointed stylist, just colour and fringe cut. Everything else done by assistants. A bit sad at that, so maybe I'll try to go early in the morning next time, first customer or something LOL. Then my stylist won't have to run about trying to cater to all his customers.

Pretty! Red! Colour!

So, do I think it's worth it? Well quality wise it's really good. Of course I don't speak hair so I don't know what products they use, but I can be sure that they are high quality as you can feel it through the hair. I adore the colour, and I'll go back to highlight more parts when I have the money. If you're super damn particular about what you want, try a local stylist so you can chitchat about what you need, as most of the time the Japanese stylists can't get very detailed requirements (and they'll just smile at you HAHA).

As for the treatment, apparently you're required to go back every two months. But I'll go back only in July for my free treatment (birthday month!) hahahaha. I'm hoping my hair will retain the softness for a very long time like all other processes on it rofl. Save money much :P. Also keep a lookout for their promotions, they regularly have treatment promotions at selected branches and the price can go down from RM250 to RM198. Same goes to other services. I think that's a better way to save money AND get great hair. :3

Reds reds reds

Good: You get the quality you pay for. Fast reply to enquiries on Facebook. Nice staff and service. Pretty hair colours (not only red! I've seen honey brown, reddish purple, pinkish brown, even bright purple. Their dip-dye/ombre is lovely! Pity I can't have that due to college regulations)

Not-so-good: Stylists super busy, so less service time, much of it was done by assistants :/ not to say they aren't good, but you know. ><

Verdict: 7/10. Go again? Yep! When I have the money, that is! Probably will try out the other branches to see if they suit me better!

March Recap 3- Blyan's Birthday

I was quite apprehensive about Blyan's birthday actually. .____.
I didn't know what to do because you know guys, they just don't seem like they want anything for their birthdays. And he's the type who doesn't fancy parties and large gatherings and stuff.

So I figured all that would make him happy is food, present and me LOL.
To make up for the barely nothingness, we decided to celebrate it for two days. One day before and one day on his birthday because it was a super busy day for him with a lot of classes (but he still wants to celebrate again)

First day:

Had an Italian dinner with MACAROONS. :3 I have only had macaroons once (because I don't know how to make them and they cost so damn expensive I rather eat money). So it was awesome when I get to have a platter all to myself. :P yes, it's my birthday too hhahahaha.

Brought Pinksie along and it was great that she also has her own chair lololol. Ended the day with us watching anime and stuff. :)

On his birthday:

Because he was terribly busy on that day with theatre and physics and whatnot, I ran around the whole shopping centre putting a present together for him. I got him a handmade plushie of Pusheen to commemorate the first few times we talked (where we'd use Pusheen emoticons on Facebook) and the first time he "accidentally" sent me a Pusheen holding a heart LOL. Our names are embroidered on Pusheen's butt so that he'd be the one and only cat of ours :)
Btw his name is Macbeth. I don't know why, B's idea lol.

I got a box, a ribbon, inside stuffing for the plushie so that the box doesn't look empty, and a card. Then I realised the card had less space than I need to write, so I typed a letter and stuck it to the card. LOLOL. Cost me quite a lot but it's okay, birthday only once a year right.

Then I decided to belanja him Rakuzen before going back together to chill and watch anime. His friends said they were coming but didn't come in the end cause of traffic jam, but when we were settling down in the restaurant they suddenly appeared .____.
So we suddenly had like 5 people. I was awkward because I don't know how to talk to them. Plus I always feel left out because they just don't talk to me. And also I don't have any topics to talk about. I mean, there will probably be something that we can talk about, even bullshitting, but I just feel ignored so I shut up and just smile. :/

Anyway they are kind enough to get a cake for him so we could have a proper celebration. :)
It wasn't finished though and personally I thought it was a little too wasteful.
We finished, got home but I was super tired I couldn't do anything other than sleep. :/
B was happy with the present though especially cause of the past funny memories LOL. So Macbeth is officially in the family. :D

Happy birthday Blyan! Sorry it took so long for me to post up here, but I'm still gonna wish you lol. Have a wonderful year ahead, and be the best you can be. :)
I'll always be here for you.
Love you!

March Recap 2- TCSH Teambuilding Camp

March Highlight: TCSH Leadership Camp.
I didn't really want to go lah, cause I'm a chicken and I believe strongly that everything bad will happen to me and I'll end up in a hospital or something. But everyone going so I had to go...also to show I'm not chicken. It's at Camp Broga, a campsite for teambuilding activities.


I guess everything went okay...nobody got a photo of me doing the Leap of Faith (which basically requires you to climb up a tree onto a platform then jump off to catch a bar =.=) I was so freaking scared on top of the platform. Okay, I was terrified because when I reached the top I didn't know how to get onto the platform because I was facing the wrong way, took me like 10 mins to let go of the tree that I was hugging so hard on. ._. And then I still had to jump off the platform. Wtf. I'm still alive. O.O

We did other stuff also including raft building which was fun to do and hilarious to watch everyone huddled onto a small raft trying to row it to the middle of the lake and sinking when the raft broke apart rofl. And rock climbing, water obstacle course etc. So very tired afterwards. Had BBQ, and a fire-eating show, by that time I was ready to crash. B and I watched the many many stars for awhile before turning in because there were just so many bright stars in the sky. <3

The next day we had flying fox (which was creepy while climbing up the narrow staircase, I had to count the steps to distract myself from the height) and it was a lot of fun. However the sun was so hot that we were all very sleepy and a lot of us either sunburn or had very dry skin for some time after the camp. My face was so dark I didn't recognise myself in the mirror.

We also climbed Broga Hill to see the sunrise. It's my first time climbing a hill in pitch darkness. .__. with a torchlight. We walked in a single file and B and Albert (a friend he made there) sang all the way. I was cranky because I was super sleepy and made to walk so much in darkness. I didn't like it because my brain wasn't working right and I had to force it to speed up so that I don't trip or fall over because I was careless. :/

It was quite steep climbing up and I was a little afraid and also pissed at B because I kept slipping and he didn't hold me in time lolol. But at the top of the hill the sunrise was beautiful and I forgot everything bad :)
Coming down wasn't really good for many people as it was steep and people kept slipping and sliding down the slope. B led the way so I know which path is more stable :D

But I had fun actually. And I think faith is the most important thing I've learnt- to have faith in my teammates, my friends, my instructors, even in the safety equipment. And most of all to have faith in myself and that I can do it, I can do this and survive without having to get hurt and go to the hospital. I think this was very important and that although I think I didn't really bond with anybody (come on, my teammates are mostly Psych Club members whom I'd ditched to focus on IB) or be an awesome and fearless leader (no, just no. I'm too individualistic, sadly.), I'm glad I found faith within myself. I believe that faith in myself makes me able to do anything, and faith in others makes me able to trust in people.

It's a new word, and it's a strong word, but for me, it's a great word. :)

Have faith.