Valen’s Vanity Square

Are you trying to lose weight? Are you still searching high and low for the best diet pills on earth? Well, you don’t have to. Because if you were like me, rushing to meet a tight deadline for a super-tough writing assignment, you’ll lose weight by the time you completed the project.

I didn’t expect the project that I’m currently doing to be so tough. Work that I usually could complete in 3 hours took me 6 hours plus to get it done! So initially I thought I could complete 4 sections of 3-hour work (total 12 hours) in less than 2 working days. Looks like I need more than 24 hours to finish everything, but the problem is - I don’t have that much of time! Unless I work non-stop for the next day and night or so.

So you could imagine, no mood to eat, no time to enjoy food, deprive of sleep, stress…. it’s impossible not to lose weight after 2 days. But I think you better not follow my way, because it really is a unhealthy way to lose weight.

I was shocked when I first found a couple strands of white hair on my head. I didn’t do much about it though. I didn’t even bother to get my hair dyed or whatever. Actually, I was too busy to worry about making money than to worry about white hair. Haha!

But it seems that more and more white hair is shooting out. Eeeks! It’s quite disturbing you know. Looks like I have to get a hair dyeing session or something soon. But before that, I think I’m going to try this supplement from VitaHealth.

A 50 over year old friend I met during last weekend’s gathering recommended this product from VitaHealth called Crowning Glory, meant for promoting strong, healthy hair. This friend used to have a lot of white hair (of course, she’s already 50 plus). But after taking Crowning Glory for a couple of months, she managed to cut down her hair dyeing frequency from every 2 months to only twice a year! And her new hair was no longer white, but have a certain level of brown to greyish color. I think this amazing! This is a more natural way to regain the color and health of your hair, rather than putting on chemicals to color it.

Yeah, may be I should look for this supplement when I go to the pharmacy tonight.

Although I had my new netbook with me for a week, I didn’t have much time to go around to do all the necessary - transferring files from my old notebook to the netbook, checking if the softwares I installed are functioning properly, etc.

Why? Because I have been working on a project that is going to due this Wednesday. Another round of working-all-day-and-all-night cycle.

Despite being worried if I can actually meet the deadline, I went out with hubby to the RedBox Karaoke for a gathering with his friends last Saturday evening. Well, I’m not made from steel, I’m not some sturdy steel buildings that stand strong all the time regardless of the weather. I’m blood and flesh, so I need a BREAK!

But I did work yesterday (on a Sunday, man!), and now am going to pick up from where I stopped at last night. I need to work like a choo-choo train for the next 48 hours or so…. have to get through this insane 2 days 2 nights before I can be free again!

A male ex-colleague invited a bunch of us from an ex-company for dinner next weekend. You know, when someone who rarely calls you up, but now is proposing for a gathering, there must be something ‘fishy’ going on, haha!

Well, the only hidden agenda that my ex-colleague might have that I could think of is: he is going to give us a wedding invitation card.

I have not received wedding invitations for quite a long time, mainly because at this age of mine, all my friends are either married or have decided to go single in this life. Haha!

My ex-colleague is much younger than me, so I think it’s about time for him to throw that bomb! If he really is going to give out a wedding invitation, I wonder how the card will look like, as he is a graphic designer and he might just design his own wedding invitation cards.

Wedding invitations like these (from InvitationConsultants.com) are simple but unique. I will definitely attend the wedding party if I received one like these, haha!

Oh no, just noticed some cracks on my bedroom walls and bathroom walls! Eeeeks! I’m not sure if they are paint cracks or cement cracks, but they surely look scary to me.

Don’t know what caused these cracks; is it due to poor workmanship, quality of the paint, or me having the air-conditioner on every night, thus the temperature fluctuation between day and night causing the building materials to expand and shrink, and finally CRACKED?

Hubby definitely need to do something about it. Probably he will have to find some suitable filling materials to fill up the cracks, then repaint the affected walls. We can’t guarantee that the walls will remain in good condition forever though.

If this happens in the kitchen, we might just consider a make-over for the walls with metal tiles, which can create a very modern and retro style interior. But don’t think we want that for our bedroom. Metal tiles in the bedroom is a tad too cold, don’t you think? Bedrooms should have a warm and cozy ambience.

Looks like hubby has a huge home improvement project waiting for him this weekend…

Nowadays everyone is talking about going green to save our environment, save our world, save our future generations.

Going green is not just about eating your greens, haha, it’s about living a green lifestyle - recycle your stuffs, reduce your carbon footprint, save energy (or make your own energy!), cut down waste, cut down the use of chemicals that can pollute our environment, etc.

I suppose you knew all these already. But do you know that you can choose to go green when shopping? Yes, green shopping - shopping online!

According to this Green Study (which you can read it at www.buy.com), “…shopping online consumes less energy and reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 35% compared to shopping at traditional retail stores.”

The reasons are simply that - if 10 people each drives a car to a retail store to buy product A, there would be 10 cars emitting carbon dioxide, versus a light-duty truck delivering the goods in a systematic and highly efficient route to the individual homes, contributing much lesser amount of carbon dioxide into the environment.

So, the next time you buy things online, don’t feel guilty, as you are saving yourself money, and at the same time saving our Earth!

Jusco sale is on now, and I saw a pair of heels and a handbag from Polo that I like. I haven’t bought any of them though.

The heels are in black, to wear as an alternative to my current pair of black heels. And it costs only around RM40! It’s always good to alternate between 2 or 3 pairs of shoes so that they don’t get worn out easily and can last longer. Actually I should get myself a pair of sandal if I want something comfortable for my feet, but I couldn’t find something sweet like this pair of Dansko floral sandals.

The Polo bag with checkers design that I am aiming for, on the other hand, is rather expensive. However, while it is originally priced at over RM300, it is now selling at a 70% discount! So it actually costs around RM100. Still, I need to think twice about this.

I think I’m going to get the shoes before the sale is over, he he, since I’m taking in a couple of new writing assignments this week and the next, so I know that my credit card expenditure will be covered end of this month.

Here are some picture taken from the spa at Awana Kijal Golf, Beach and Spa Resort. Unfortunately, there’s just this many photos I took of the spa. Can’t take photos when I was naked on the bed, or lying in the jacuzzi tub, can I?

The main entrance of the spa if you are approaching from outside the resort…

On the way to the spa from within the hotel…

Seems like a nice corner to chill out before or after a spa session, but funnily, never saw anyone doing that, including us…

Taman Sari Royal Heritage Spa is the name of the spa at Awana Kijal Resort, a Javanese spa originated from Indonesia, with centres spread across the world, and there’s one and only one in Malaysia.

As usual, spa treatments are costly especially when the services are located in hotels and resorts. There are quite a number of services available from this spa centre, including facials, pedicure and manicure. There are 4-5 standard body massage treatments priced at RM250 for 2 hours. This is of course not what we intended to pay. Luck must be on our side, hehe, as there was a special offer - 40% discount for hotel patrons between 10 am to 3 pm! So we ended up paying only RM150 per person.

So what did I get for RM150 in 2 hours?

1. A whole-body oil massage, that means including the front part of the body.

Yes, breasts totally exposed. Not completely naked though, coz I was given a pair of disposable panties, which was rather ‘transparent’ I would say. Haha! Before the treatment began, I actually had to fill in a form to state whatever medical conditions I have (in my case, don’t have), and what kind of pressure I would prefer (light, medium or strong). I chose for medium strength. I liked it when I was massaged on my forehead, feet, and lower back. Quite ticklish when massaged at the area around my breast and tummy. Perhaps I wasn’t physically tired, so I didn’t feel any significant difference on my muscles after the massage.

2. A body scrub with papaya enzyme.

Enzymes need to be kept in cool temperature. So before my masseuse spread the scrubbing paste on me, she switched off the air-conditioner. But it was still very cold! Shivered a bit, but luckily the scrubbing movements generated some heat for my body. Haha! My masseuse really scrubbed into every inch of my body, including armpit and the groin area. I had to take a shower after the scrubbing, to remove all the scrub residues (errr, may be they’re from my body) before I went for the jacuzzi tub. I felt very clean after that, my skin was soft and appeared fairer than before! That’s what hubby said.

3. My favourite - milk bath with rose oil in a jacuzzi tub.

It’s just like what I saw in movies - a woman soaking in a bathtub full of white fluffy foam, raising up one of her silky smooth legs, gathering some foam on her palms and blew them into the air…  but mine was far more better, because mine had water shooting out from jets to massage pressure points on my body to help stimulate blood circulation!

Getting into the tub - which required me to walk up a 3-step staircase - was not much of a problem. My masseuse lent me a hand to prevent me from slipping. But getting out of the tub was a bit challenging, because there were no where to hold on to for support, except for the masseuse’s hand. Also, it’s a really awkward situation, letting another woman see your body when your disposable panties were wet and kinda see-through.

To me, this RM150 was worth spending, hehe. As for hubby, he opted for a treatment with longer duration of massage that ended with a volcano mud body wrap. For him, this spa experience is considered a form of luxurious enjoyment. He still prefer his powerful Indonesian Makcik from the Zouk Spa in TTDI. Haha!