Lost in Translation

You know how sometimes you look at a piece of expensive artwork and think... "what the heck?" a black dot in the middle of a canvas and they charge $5000 for it? Well this is my version.

Like my latest piece of artwork? :P

(It's whats going on in my brain at the moment)

How would you translate this?

Q&A w/ Patikym

Nikolett recently tagged me with a Q&A where I have to answer 8 questions, make up 8 questions and tag 8 people to answer those questions. Whether or not i'll end up following the rest of the rules, we'll have to find out... ;P

1) What's something you like to collect?

pictures, business cards, shoes, & bags.


2) For some odd reason, every single restaurant/fast food place is burning down but the Food Fairy (err, yes she exists) tells you that you can save one restaurant. Which one would you save?

noooo!!!! why would you even suggest such a cruel thing? anyway, if i had to choose... i would choose this small family run malaysian restaurant - it's our (my fiance & i) favourite restaurant. plus... there is a cute 2 year old boy who gives us our menu... his shoes squeak & light up. :P


3) What's your favourite go-to outfit you could wear practically everywhere?

Not to appear biased...but seriously, this pullover is the most comfortable thing I own... see here.





4) What's a song you've gotten into recently?

Come Over by Estelle


5) A fairy (yes, they are popular) decides to grant you either forever clean-shaven legs or forever clean-shaven armpits - which would you choose?

Hahaha! That's a toughie... i'd have to say clean-shaven armpits so you don't have to worry about massive pit stains. ;P


6) What's better than coffee to you?

black milk tea slush bubbletea ;P


7) You're flipping through television channels late at night, what would make you stop and watch?

food - i love the food network :)


8) What's the last book you read?

eat, pray, love!

Okay, i decided to break the "rules" and just ask one questions to all readers: 

If you were given $10,000 to donate to a charity - which cause would you support and why? 

And the Most Embarassing Award Goes To.....

ME!

Since I got engaged, I've made it a goal to seriously get back into shape... especially since the wedding dress i've got my eye on is pretty unforgiving. I recently signed up for classes at the community centre near my house and yesterday was my first class: 

Y O G A

Before my class, I was practicing my "tree" pose which is one of the "easy" poses but I was disheartened when I couldn't even keep my balance for longer than 2 seconds! I went to my class anyway and was assured by the instructor that i'd be fine since it's a beginners class. The first half of the class was fine... a little stretch here, a little stretch there. Then she said, "alright, and now let's do the tree pose". Crap. 

Needless to say, while everyone stood firmly with their opposite foot to their thigh, all I could do was put my opposite foot to my ankle (i couldn't get it up as high as the others) and I kept wobbling. Oh, but that's not the embarrassing part.

Before the class ended, we were told we'd take 5 minutes of relaxation so we all just laid down on our mats and closed our eyes. 2 minutes in, she instructed us to turn to our right and curl up our bodies into fetal position. What you must know is that i was at the end of the row so there was no one to my right so I had no idea what was going on behind me. At the end of the 5 minutes, I heard the yoga bell ring and thought to myself "I wonder what that means....?" ... I just remained curled up in fetal position and relaxed just as we were instructed before. *ding* the bell rang again.... I ignored it. *ding* Okay maybe I should turn around to see what's going on. It turns out... the bell meant sit back up on your mat and go into "prayer pose". All that time, everyone was sitting up in their pose while I was still curled up in the corner in fetal position... I guess that's why the yoga instructor kept ringing the bell... to get my attention. Are you picturing it? Are you picturing it? Every time I picture it in my head, it cracks me up. hahaha!

McNuggets, McChicken, Mc...Weddings?

Weddings, weddings, weddings... that's all that's been on my mind lately. During the first two weeks of being engaged, everything was blissful and fun... but now that i'm starting to crunch numbers, it's starting to get a little stressful. 
Yesterday, I found the perfect answer to our wedding on a budget problem when a friend of mine shared a news article about McDonalds now hosting weddings! = McWeddings! (read full article here)
I can see it all now... 

• We'd get married under the big arches
• Chicken nuggets as appetizers
• A burger of your choice + french fries as the main entree (you may supersize... don't worry, it's on us) 
• McFlurry for dessert
• A "Happy Meal" shaped cake to cut
• Happy meal toys as wedding favors

As much as the money savings and the uniqueness appeals to me... i hope you all know i'm joking. . . or am i? ;P 

If you had to choose, which fast food restaurant would you have your wedding & reception at? 

Foot Fetishes & More Scary Circles

  

I decided to take a break from the 30 Day Blog Challenge for the last few days because the topics didn't interest me ;P

I had a fun little weekend starting with watching Life As We Know It in theaters. It's the romantic comedy with Katherine Heigl & Josh Duhamel. It was a pretty long movie but I found it really enjoyable and at times, I was even teary eyed because of the story line. Overall, i'd give it a 3/5. :)

You're probably wondering what's with the FOOT FETISH title...Well, last Saturday was my mom's birthday so we had people over for dinner. There was a cute little 3 year old boy there who i've known for quite some time but last Saturday was the first time I discovered that this little guy has a serious foot fetish. At first, it started with a quick stroke of my foot while I was sitting down. Then it progressed to smelling my foot, caressing it, singing to it, talking to it, and just holding on to it... for about an hour. It was kind of odd but it was seriously the cutest thing. Of course I took tons of photos and even video but for the sake of protecting his internet identity (and so he doesn't google himself 10 years later and find this story, haha) - I just chose the photo where his face is blocked. DID YOU HAVE A FETISH AS A CHILD? 

Remember my previous post about my fear of patterned/clustered/textured circles? Well, it doesn't really apply to egg balls because they're yummy but yesteday, i decided to try the chocolate egg balls - it was a nice even shade of light brown in the photo on their menu but when I got it, I almost freaked out as there were CIRCLES WITHIN CIRCLES. *cringing as i type this* - I guess all they did was put chocolate chips in the batter instead of actually mixing it into the batter. Okay ... must change topics. *cringe*
 
CHRISTMAS IS APPROACHING! Yes, I usually skip over the excitement of Halloween and go right to Christmas. haha! For this holiday season, I am preparing to finally release Herro Hachi logo tees & hoodies/pullovers! Stay tuned!!!

Oh, P.S - my friend from HK has started her own business and is doing a contest for $100 gift certificate to her shop! Check out more details on her blog here: http://WMstyleblog.blogspot.com

DAY 18 - Something That Makes You Feel Uncomfortable

So i'm totally freestyling with the blog topics now. I didn't feel like writing about what I crave because.. well, it's usually food.. so I decided to make a topic of my own. I know, i'm such a badass. ;)



WHAT MAKES ME FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE? 
Circles. Not just any circles... but textured circles in clusters/patterns. My gf's and I went to bubbletea house a while ago and funny enough, my glass had clustered circles on it (see picture above). It made drinking my bubbletea a little less enjoyable. In fact, just editing the photo above and having to look at it and even thinking about it is making me cringe and feel uncomfortable. Regular things I see that involve these scary circles are: the bubbles that are created when you wash your hands, dew on plants in the morning, fish scales (not circles but clustered, textured patterns), ... ahhhh!! okay, i need to end this post before i go crazy with discomfort. O.O 
Am i crazy or does anyone else have weird phobias and things that make them feel funny? 

Day 17 - An Art Piece (I Cheated)

This actually isn't the right "day 17 topic" for the list i'm following, i cheated and followed day 17 from a different list. ;P 
This stuff encrusted car is parked everyday on the same parking spot downtown. There is a bunch of random stuff stuck to it which looks really cool from a far but a few weeks ago, I looked inside the car for the first time. Uhmmm.... dolls & baby dolls? Am i the only one that finds this slightly creepy? But then again, dolls in general creep me out. I have a pretty wild imagination and I always think that dolls will suddenly blink and start moving and talking to me. haha! 

DAY 16 - Your Celebrity Crush(es)

Forget little ones like Justin Bieber and Taylor Lautner - it's all about the oldies! haha! My (old man) celebrity crushes right now are Gordon Ramsay (Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, The F Word, etc) & Cesar Milan (The Dog Whisperer). I'm not sure what it is about them... it's not like they're the most attractive men out there but maybe it's the way they take control of........ dogs and kitchens!?! ;P 
Who are your celebrity crushes? 

Wedding Soiree on 10.10.10

Another break from regular programming (30 day blog challenge) to share my experience at last night's Wedding Soiree! It's basically an event for people who are engaged but unlike your typical wedding show, this one actually gives you the experience of being at an actual reception. There were lots of vendors there showcasing their cakes, catering, photography, vacations, etc and then inside the ballroom (as you can see from the first picture above), each table was nicely decorated in a different theme! 
The best part of the soiree was the flipbook. Basically they take 7 seconds of footage and then create a book of every movement so that when you "flip" the book, you are "moving" in the book.... if that makes sense!? haha! needless to say, we had a ton of fun with that... I may consider it for my wedding. hehe. ;P
What was the highlight of your weekend? 

Thankful.

Taking a break from regular programming (30 day blog challenge) to take a moment to give thanks. Here in Canada, it's Thanksgiving so i thought it'd only be appropriate to dedicate a blog post to it. :)






FAMILY - They are my support, my encouragers, my advisors, my teachers, my confidants...my best friends. Without them, i wouldn't be where I am today, they are the biggest blessings in my life.

HERRO HACHI - Wow. For those of you who have been following my old blog from the start, you know where and how my business started and what my journey has been like. (check out this post about my first attempt at making a shirt). This is what Herro Hachi has grown to today: www.herrohachi.com





I'm thankful for the people who supported me whether it was right from the start, the middle or just recently. I wouldn't be able to live my dream if it wasn't for your support.

FRIENDS...THE REAL ONES: What a lonely life it would be without friends by your side. Thank you for your friendship...whether we're "real life" friends or friends who met through blogging... and will hopefully soon meet in person *cough* asia blog meet-up when i'm in the Philippines next year *cough*

Thank you God for the roof over my head, the food on the table, the car i can drive to and from work, my loving family and friends, a growing business, warmth, laughter, protection, health, internet (hehe), and most of all... life.

What are you most thankful for today?

DAY 13 - Your Favourite Musician and Why...

I don't have a particular favourite musician but i must say, i love musicians from "back in the day". I'm an oldies kind of girl. I sing the songs you find in your karaoke today.Don't get me wrong, I still listen to current music.... but Nikolett can probably confirm my love for oldies as we air-guitared and sang to songs like "Believe" from Cher and "Summer of '69" when she visited. (miss you!) :) 
Who's your favourite musician? 

DAY 12 - A Photo of the Town You Live In.

I absolutely love my city. Sure, it rains 70% of the year, but there's just something about it that you can't help falling in love with! The two pictures at the top are of my neighbourhood during sunset. It's a very relaxing place full of young families, couples walking their dogs, and people going for an evening run. In the summer, it's full of tourists taking pictures left, right, and centre and people (young and old) enjoying ice cream or gelato by the water. The dock is full of boaters coming back from their day of fishing - they park at the dock and sell their fresh seafood to tourists and locals. 
The two pictures on the bottom are from a city near by - that is where my fiancee proposed two weeks ago! Gorgeous place, right? :) 
What do you love most about your city?

DAY 11 - What's in Your Make Up Bag? (practically nothing)

Recognize my make-up bag? :P 
My collection is pretty sad. I didn't actually start wearing make-up regularly until about... oh, a year ago. And by "regularly" i mean... once or twice a month. hahaha! I'm the type of girl that would rather sleep in an extra few minutes rather than put on make-up. Also, because I had laser eye surgery 4 years ago, my eyes tend to get dry frequently. Dry eyes need eye drops. Eye drops can potentially ruin your make-up. -_-
I guess you could say i'm pretty lazy when it comes to make-up. I'd rather photoshop make-up on myself than actually put it on. hahaha! ;P

DAY 9 & 10 - How Did I Miss a Day?

Ahhhh! I was doing so well with keeping up with the blog challenge and for some reason, it totally slipped my mind last night. I think there is just too many things going on in my brain! haha! For example, last night as I was making t-shirts, I was daydreaming about my wedding at the same time... and i ended up making the t-shirt wrong! Must. Focus.

Day 9 & 10 from 30 Day Blog Challenge: Photo of the item you last purchased & Photo of your favorite place to eat.

Well, the last "item" i purchased was gas for my car so that doesn't really make for an interesting photo.

My fiance & I have a favorite restaurant to go to in our neighbourhood called KARI HOUSE. It's a small family run Malaysian restaurant that is right by the water. 



photo from www.mysteveston.com
What we love about this place: 

1) Service is great - friendly and fast!
2) The food is deelish and very affordable.
3) Our favorite dish is eggplant and their eggplant is great ... hmmmm... maybe we should incorporate something eggplant-y in our wedding....FOCUS. okay i'm back.
4) Nice view
5) There is a little cute 2 year old boy (since it's a family run restaurant) who sometimes gives us our menus... he wears shoes that light up and squeak and instead of it annoying me, it's actually one of my favorite parts of going to that restaurant. haha!

What's your favorite restaurant like?

P.S - THANK YOU everyone for your congratulations on my engagement post!

DAY 8 - A Song to Match Your Mood

I can't really think of a specific song to match my mood right now... what song comes to mind when you're giddy? (especially with my big announcement yesterday ;D), skippy, on cloud 9, excited, anxious, a little scared, but still excited? Along with that, I had a great photo shoot for Herro Hachi last Saturday to show case my new stuff!

Sneak Peek (check out the rest of the photo shoot pictures here)





Check out the rest of the collection in my shop: http://shop.herrohachi.com
What song would you suggest to match my giddy mood? :)

DAY 7 - Your Dream Wedding & MY BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Day 7 of 30 Day Blog Challenge: Your Dream Wedding (and an additional announcement) :D

I've always imagined having a beach wedding - something about it looks so calm, peaceful, romantice, and personal. Some keywords for my dream wedding: colorful / unique / memorable / lanterns / ambience / DIY / interactive / photos / photobooth / candy / intimate / outdoors / candles / themed / dance, dance, dance / flowers / etc etc etc.

Today's blog topic actually ties in well with my big announcement - can you guess what it is?

That's right.... I've become a wedding planner!

Just kidding. :) The real announcement is that...

I'M ENGAGED! 

We actually got engaged last Saturday, September 25th but we had to keep it a secret for one looooonnnngggg week so that we could make a surprise announcement at church :) 
Last Saturday, we went to Stanley Park (a popular tourist destination here in Vancouver) to have brunch at the Teahouse. I was starting to get suspicious at brunch b/c he kept saying that after we eat, he wanted to see this bridge in the park. He's not much of a nature guy so for him to want to stick around and explore, it was very unusual. He didn't finish his meal which was quite unusual as well but he insisted that we go for a walk after our meal b/c he was "full". 
Before we left the park, he made a sudden stop and got excited - "there it is! there's the bridge". I was getting a little weirded out at this point. hahaha! Anyway, we walked to see this bridge that he was so excited about but it turned out to be really ugly, with muddy waters around it. A few feet away was another bridge but there were people there so I said "okay, let's go back now since we've seen the bridges" but he insisted we keep walking. 
To cut the long story short, he found a nice bench area and said he was tired and asked if we could sit down for a bit. After a while he said "Sooo...kym..." At this point, i really knew something was up. He said his speech and it was so cute because he was very awkward ;P He said "I don't really know how to do this... so uhmm.... will you be my friend forever?" I said "yes, of course" Then he said "okay, i'm going to ask you to marry me now... will you marry me?" Hahahaha! It was so cute and it was very much him which made it special :) 
What was the highlight of your weekend?

DAY 6 - Photo of an Animal You'd Like to Keep as a Pet

Day 6 from 30 Day Blog Challenge: Photo of an animal you'd like to keep as a pet.

I know it says "photo" but this video explains it better!



What animal would you love to keep as a pet? 

DAY 5 - A Photo of Yourself 2 Yrs Ago

Day 5 of 30 Day Blog Challenge: A Photo of Yourself 2 Yrs Ago...



This was taken two years ago during a fun little day at the park with my good friend and photographer, Abotz. Not sure what I was thinking in this picture but I love it anyway. Haha! I just noticed piles of brown on the grass... I wonder if that was poop or dirt? Hmmmm....