Max Brenner's dream

I went to Haji Lane today. 


I sat at a little French cafe. Had a not-so-little French dinner. Listened to the chef speak fluent French. And swayed to non-stop French music for 3 hours. 

One of the little pleasures in life. 


I recalled Max Brenner's introduction in his chocolate menu. On how he started out dreaming about writing a book, but along the way made chocolate instead. 


I guess I have a similar dream. 
I don't want to write a book though. I don't like goals that take too long to achieve. 
I want to write articles. Poems. Tweets. Facebook statuses. 
Short paragraphs and stories that impact people's lives in 30 minutes or 30 seconds. 


But on the way, I'm making money doing something completely different instead. 


One can always dream. 
Yet another little pleasure of life. 


I doubt my longing will stop. I jump from location to location, searching for a dream life that may never exist. But unless I try, how do I know it's an achieveless dream? 


One can always dream. 

The Tale of Soong Ai Ling

Once upon a time there was this little girl with dimples. She grew up looking like pretty much like any other girl. She learnt how to put on a little makeup and put on pretty dresses. And immediately transformed her pretty but average face into a glamorous photogenic siren. 


Her name is Soong Ai Ling. 

Pic from Talent Factory. 

Before I was exposed to the entertainment industry, I pretty much knew of no Malaysian celebrity. Even Amber Chia was a vague name in the distance. I remembered interviewing a candidate during my retail headhunting days and she turned to me and stage whispered "That's Amber Chia!" and I was like, who? 


Fast forward one year later I'm suddenly throwned into this whole shingdig and I got to know maybe not all the names, but at least more than "Who's Amber Chia?" 


Soong Ai Ling is another name I probably should have known. 


When this person I knew started going to her nail parlour in Bangsar Village, she was raving to me about Soong Ai Ling and how she's a friend to her now, and that she does great work on nails. I won't bore you with the details of my "Who is Soong Ai Ling?" conversation. 


I started going to the shop when it moved to the Victorian looking outlet on the 1st floor. I loved the ambiance and service, and my nails looked prettier after than the other nail places I've done in One Utama and The Curve outlets. 

Pic from femmething.com 

Chic Nail Spa soon became a regular manicure place for me. 


I stared at Ai Ling with curiousity from the moment I met her. Since that girl raved about her SO much, I wondered exactly how famous was this chick. She seemed pretty normal, running around doing nails like any of her staff. She would just jump in and do your nails if she felt like it. Shaping and painting and engrossed in every moment of it. 


I later gathered the courage to ask if I could do an interview with her, and post it up on VenusBuzz. Long story short: I did the interview. Photog took some awesome shots. Photog never came back with photos. Couldn't run story as no photos. 


It was dead embarrassing to look at her in the face after. I thought about asking her for some of her photos so I could publish the story. The thought of doing that was even more embarrassing. 


So I never ran the article. Ai Ling got pissed off. Till today she refuses to talk to me. 


I don't blame her really. I would be pissed off if I were in her position too. 


But I was still determined to write something about her. Since Venus is a thing of the past, I would rather write a colloquial article about what I really think of her. 

Xavier and Ai Ling during his interview with her. Pic from xaviermah.com. 

It was hard interviewing Ai Ling. With all the other people I've spoken to, I managed to get a glimpse of something that wasn't a rehearsed answer, but a part of who the person really is. 


Ai Ling is a veteran. She had done so many of these interviews, she knew exactly what to say, how to say, when to say. 


I was completely uninspired to write anything about her for the longest time. There wasn't anything different that I could focus on that other's had written about her already. 


Then one day as she was doing my manicure. She took one look at my stumpy manicured fingers and said "I LOVE my job SO MUCH." 


In that one statement I finally understood her passion. 


She doesn't plan for tomorrow. But once she sets her mind to do something, she does it, and she does it well. 


She didn't have a lot of cash reserves to start her business. But she is goal focused. And she loved it. She loved the art of nail painting. She loved dishing out quality work. She was willing to get down and dirty to do that work herself. She let go of her glamorous perception people had of her, and mostly her perception of herself, to achieve one main thing: Running a successful business. 


She said in a tone I now recognised as her prideful humbleness, "Many people in the industry wouldn't be able to do what I did. I let go of my image. My business is what matters. That's my baby." 

Pic from http://freshlybrewedideas.blogspot.com/2009/04/blog-post.html. You can check out this happy customer's experience of Chic Nail Spa too. 

She suffered for her work. She always did. But the business took more out of her. There were months when she first opened in Bangsar Village that she couldn't afford to pay the rent. She didn't just shape and paint nails. She also called her customers constantly to get them to remind them to pay her shop a visit. 


Imagine a high profile Malaysian celebrity, who is used to people kowtow-ing to her, begging her to attend events, having to beg nobodies to come to her shop, so she could make ends meet. 


Knowing what I know about the perception Malaysian celebrities have of themselves, it was a humbling image to imagine. 


It didn't break her. It made her stronger. Her business seems now successful. She no longer needs to paint nails. She no longer needs to call people to return. They come back themselves. 


She still greets her regulars. Most of which are the rich if not so famous. She never gives a discount. Her work sells itself. 
Her pride has returned. It never left, really. 


So imagine my surprise to hear of the rumours of some high flying businessman who paid RM10,000 to have sex with her. 


Those rumours spread far and wide enough to even reach Ai Ling's own ears. She brushed them off. I'm unsure if she realises just how much people speculate about it. 


I only heard of the rumours after I knew her for about a year. My colleague whispered them to me furiously, claiming it's her father's good businessman friend, but I could only raise my eyebrows in wondering disbelief. 


The one thing I've learnt through my dealings with Ai Ling is her pride and her focusness on her goals. On one hand, for the sake of paying her bills, she may just have done so to take the money. But on the other, much bigger and heavier hand... Its just RM10,000! Even if someone were to come to me, a normal nobody, and ask me to have sex with him for RM50,000 I'd probably spit in his face. I can't imagine her being able to throw her much-bigger-than-my pride aside to spread her legs to a hamsup old and gross businessman who just wants to be able to go around telling people he managed to lay The Soong Ai Ling. 

Pic from picturesof.net 

So my vote is no, she didn't do it. 


I don't blame the businessman for trying to create these rumours though. When I first met Ai Ling I thought she looked pretty normal. But as time went on I realised it was her personality, her confident sexiness that made her so much more appealing. 


Every time she brushed her fingers through her hair, when her shirt falls over her shoulder, or when her skirt slides up her thigh as she lifts her leg to make it easier for her to stroke the nail colours on... every bit of her oozes sex appeal. 

Ai Ling on HerWorld Dec 2007 issue. 

Her fashion sense follows her airy personality. Lightweight clothes that flow around her body. She doesn't care about brands. So long she likes the outfit, she'll pay for it, be it RM20 or RM2,000. 


As for her lovelife? She's currently dating this cute guy with a great bod. I don't know who he is or what he does, but if you want to check them out, just head to her new luxury outlet at Bangsar Village 2nd floor. They are both there all the time. 


The little glamorous photogenic siren later became a successful businesswoman who knew how to fight for what she wanted in life. Her life wasn't always a fairytale, and who will know whether she lives happily ever after or not? The most important thing is her happily now. And that was good enough for her. 

No Strings Attached

There are times in your life when you realise you could do something more worthwhile. Like save someone's life. Invent something that will save the environment. Plant some trees. Or some jizz like that. 


Or you could attend the premiere of No Strings Attached and enjoy a night of chick flick entertainment instead. 


I liked No Strings Attached. But then again, I am The Utmost Chick Flick lover and a Helpless Romantic at heart. Kill me now before the embarrassment does me in first. 


I don't like people knowing I'm a diehard romantic. I like being a bitch dammit. 
I'm that cold hearted bitch who refuses to let any guy get the better of her! 


*cries non-stop at every remotely romantic moment of No Strings Attached* 

Favorite part of the show. Flowers are overrated. 

But despite me being The Utmost Chick Flick lover and a Helpless Romantic at heart, I hate lame shows. No Strings Attached may not be the most enthralling show around, but it is worth 1 1/2 hours of your time aww- and ahh-ing. 


Drag your boyfriend to bring you to watch the show. Now. 

Free iPhone Fashion apps

I've switched. From black to white. From BlackBerry to iPhone. 


I still love the functionality of the BlackBerry. iPhone is SO hard to use. But the one thing I love, more than anything, is the ease of the iPhone to let me browse through fashion apps. 


So this is me, the fashion wannabe technodungu, sharing on a few of my fav iPhone fashion apps. All of the free ones that is. Cos I'm Asian and we're cheapskate like that. 


I'm addicted to the PopSugar iPhone app. More specifically, the FabSugar section. 


FabSugar talks about fashion. BellaSugar about beauty. 
And the love for fashion > beauty is the main reason why I can never stay true to being a pure beauty blogger. How utterly boring. 


PopSugar's ease of sharing of articles on Twitter and Facebook is a huge plus. Not to mention the interesting topics and gorgeous pics. 


My rating: 4.5/5 

From fanpop.com

Trend Tracker is an absolutely awesome one stop fashion centre. It shares news, trend spots, and has a list of designers ranges and vids for you to browse through. 


My biggest gripe: Unable to post on Twitter or Facebook. 
You can only favorite the articles, or email it to someone. 
FAIL. Someone on Trend Tracker change this NOW. 


My rating: 3.5/5 


CHIC.TV Models is another awesome app. The pictures and news clippings are wonderful. But the sharing function is terrible! 


It allows you to Facebook and Twitter, but the tag line is "Checking out _______________ on CHIC.TV Model's iPhone app!" 
When posted on Twitter, no link is available. Just that stupid tagline above. 
When you post the link on FB, it doesn't even link! It just shows the URL, no pic (BOO!), AND you're unable to click on the link. 


And what's probably worst than the above, is that they don't even allow you to save the photos onto your iPhone. 


Dumb dumb dumb. 


My rating: 2.5/5 

From thesartorialist.com 

The other apps that are worth downloading just because they are free: 


The Sartorialist - Gorgeous pics, but no content at all. Sharable only on FB. 


F Network - Only runway videos that are shown on Fashion TV. Only playable with WiFi available. Non sharing friendly. 


D&G - The news feed is mainly their twitter feed. The rest of the content is their range and shows. Only addictive if you're a die hard D&G fan. Also non-sharing friendly, but then again, not like there's anything interesting to share. 

Fast_ck's Flickr 

Fashion Grub - Now this app is a brilliant concept. If done well, it would trump Trend Tracker anytime. It's supposed to link to Fashion Blogs, Brands, Designers, Magazines, Media, Models etc. 


When you click on Blogs for example, it shows the fashion blogs like Fashion Toast, Bryan Boy etc. However, when you click on the blog name, it only shows the first few lines of the blog postings. NO PICTURES. When you click on a posting, it then brings u to the website itself with that particular posting. 


I mean really, if we wanted to see the website, we would rather just go straight to the URL and quickly browse through all the content, rather than click on article by article. 


If the format was iPhone friendly, where we only need to swipe swipe, then it would be a proper iPhone app. 


And of course, its not sharable. 


And then of course, there's Rouge and Style.com, both of which are so meh, its not really worth describing in detail. 


My fashion app wish: Fashion Toast should have one with all her pics. Like Sartorialist. Then I could drool over her pics all day long. 

Rumi Neely of FashionToast.com

Do let me know if there are any other download worthy fashion apps! 


Note: Pics above are random fashion pics not necessarily in relation to the apps mentioned. Click on pics to see original URL. 

Jay Park and Birdy

I went to Jay Park's Meet and Greet session last Saturday. 


When X asked me whether I wanted to go, my first question was "Who?" 
"The famous K Pop guy!" 
"Erm... Ok sure." Because I remembered friend S likes K Pop and figured I could bring her. 


Then conversation between me and S. 
"Hey S, do you wanna go to the press con for this K Pop guy that's coming this weekend? I forgot his name but..." 
"Eeeeeeeeeeee! Ahhhhhhhhhh! Omg it's Jay Park!! I loooovvvvveeeeee yoooouuuuuu...!!!" 
*pause for two breaths over Whatsapp*
"Not that I didn't love you before. I just love you MORE now." 
"Wait, you ARE talking about Jay Park right??" 
"0_o Erm ya... That's the one. I recognized the name when you mentioned it."


So apparently this guy is big in the K Pop scene right. He's an American born Korean and was part of this group called 2PM blah blah blah. 
You can read it up yourself on Wikipedia. 

JP and his manager chillin' just before the media all came in.

The important thing is this: He's nice. 
So nice I felt bad for being bored during his media con that I didn't even realize X (the MC) was asking me to ask him a question till he repeated my name twice. 
I started up and looked blankly and in semi panic at X and Jay Park. S tried to save me by shoving the questions the 8TVNiteLive hosts had prepared to ask him, but I was so panicky I didn't even notice what she was doing. 


X: "You don't have anything to ask, Erin??" *repeated three times* 
Me: *blanked out* *pause* *continues blanking out* 
JP, taking pity on me, said "Haha. That's a good question huh?" 


That broke the ice enough for me to get my senses back and ask the first lamest question I had in my mind. "Are you planning on coming back to Malaysia to do a full blown concert?" 


I mean like DUH. I *hate* it whenever media ask that question to performing artists. Even if they *never* plan on coming back, they *have* to say yes right? Geez. 


But yet again, he was nice enough to answer my question with enthusiasm and detail. 

Faraway shot of his performance. It was too scary being near the screaming fans.

So yes. I'm a convicted Jay Park fan. Just cos he's so darn nice. 
It'll take a lot more for me to become a K Pop fan though. 

A video of him answering a couple of X's questions for those of you who want to hear his super Asian-American voice. 

Also on Saturday, I went to watch "Birdy" the stage play at KLPac. 
Christopher Ling is the director of the show, and I tell you, after watching a couple of his shows I have to say I loooooovvvvvveeeeeee his work! 


The shows are *always* dark and tell another story behind what you see. 
Its not hard to understand la but it makes me feel smart to watch his shows and realize I can decipher what's actually happening between the lines. *smug* 


And two of the actors happen to be my favorite Malaysian stage actors. Micheal Chen and Jon Chew. Why? Because I know them. Biasness is totally allowed. 
And they are actually great actors too lah. 


Jon's part didn't even have much lines. Most of the time he was acting as a crazy person. I don't know how his legs could stand being in his crazy position for so long throughout the show. Absolutely riveting. 

The simple synopsis is: Two great friends. One angry buff totally straight dude. One small sized boy who's in love with birds. 
Not your typical storyline. Nothing about the show was typical at all. 


The show is going on until 12 December 2010. 


Why you should watch it: 
Because Malaysians really need to experience more things than shopping malls and cinemas. 
Because the Malaysian censorship board has not inserted their tentacles into the performing arts scene yet. Use your imagination on the scenes and dialogues. 
Because Birdy is actually a great play with fantastic reviews. 
Because there's this neverseenbeforeinMalaysia scene that I can't even talk about without cringing because it involves my straight friend bah!
Because its only RM38, RM25 for students. 

Bervin, Shannon, and the cast of Birdy. 

K Pop and Malaysian stage plays. Multi-cultural is the way to go yo.