Valen’s Vanity Square

What a tired day! Went window shopping at MidValley Megamall today, didn’t get my pair of shoes though. There were so many people in the mall (it’s school holiday), and I didn’t like to shop when there’s a big crowd.

I got to visit my favorite shopping mall today because hubby was able to accompany me. He didn’t have any seminar to conduct this weekend, but there are a few taking place this coming week. Don’t ask me why there are so many seminars for him to conduct, all I know is that his company offers many types of insurance plans; and some plans kind of supplement the others. Just like in the US, there is Medicare supplement to the original Medicare. So, hubby has to present to different group of customers to sell the different types of products.

Actually, hubby is not getting any benefit out of the work he’s doing. ACTUALLY, it is NOT his job! Well, all I can say is that, a responsible, efficient, smart, reliable, diligent staff always end up working more and harder for those who are not - without getting justified return (i.e. commission, bonus). :P  Poor hubby…

Well, poor ME! When can I ask my hubby to buy a second diamond ring for me? (The first one being the proposal ring, but the diamond is so small, haha!)

While others may be planning for a long year-end holiday, hubby and I are just planning a 2-night stay in Penang island.

The main purpose of the trip is to attend a friend’s wedding on Christmas night. Of course, we will also take this as a short Christmas holiday, and a revisit to a place where we had lived for 2 years. Knowing that it will be a super peak holiday season, I have quickly made room reservations in two different hotels - the Eastin Hotel located next to Queensbay Mall (just officially opened 10 days ago) for the first night, and Hydro Majesty located at Batu Ferringhi for the second.

You see, this is the benefit of holidaying in our own country. Cuti-cuti Malaysia! We know the whereabouts, we can make our own hotel reservation, we can go anywhere on our own. That’s the fun of traveling actually, being able to schedule the destinations and do things on our own pace. Of course, if we were to holiday in Las Vegas, we would definitely sign up one of those las vegas packages.

Why are we staying in two different hotels? Well, the first night is our friend’s wedding banquet, the hotel is just next door away, so hubby won’t have to drive even if he gets drunk, haha! At the same time, hubby wants to chill out at the beach town, that’s why we will check into a beach hotel the second day. It’s seems a bit troublesome, but again, that’s the fun of it.

Luckily the island isn’t that big, there’s never a problem of traveling from one end of the island to the other. One can never get lost there, haha!

I have been passing out gas a lot these few days. I think I ate too much steamed sweet potatoes, haha! While the gas is coming out so freely, the poops are not. Perhaps my irregular bowel movement is also partly responsible for the gases and my bloated tummy.

I believe many people are experiencing this similar problem. That’s why many are turning into detoxification or colon cleansing programs, which are meant to help clean up our internal system by removing all the solid waste materials that have accumulated in the body (including those sticking on the intestinal walls). Those waste materials produce toxins, if we do not eliminate them from our intestinal system, the toxins will be absorbed by our body, causing many health problems.

It is important that, before you decided on a specific program, do take some time to go over colon cleanse reviews available on the internet or magazines. You want to be sure that the program or product you chose is safe and has a plan that can fit into your daily schedule conveniently. If I am going to do a detox program to cleanse my intestines, I will make sure I stay at home all the time and just rest, not going to do housework even. Haha! But, do I need to?

Hubby and I went to Cameron Highlands last weekend. I wore my pair of Hush Puppies flat pumps, and during a stop at one of the rest stations I realized the sole of the right shoe was coming off. It was as if my shoe had a mouth and its mouth opened with every step I made. Haha!

Luckily, I have a pair of sneakers kept at the back of hubby’s car. So, the moral of this is that - always keep a pair of shoes in your car for emergency use.

Speaking of shoes, I need to get a new pair of heels. I have been wearing the same black heels to every occasion. I like that pair of heels (from Vincci) very much, it’s comfortable (provided I don’t stand or walk in it for too long) and cheap! But due to constant use, its wear-and-tear process is also faster than any other pair of shoes. It’s time to get another pair of heels so that I can wear them alternately. Moreover, there’s a wedding dinner to attend in Penang this Christmas. (Another excuse to buy!)

Of course, I won’t be considering branded shoes, like one of those ladies shoes from Stuart Weitzman (they have a good collection of ladies heels). I will only be looking at ladies shoes in Jaya Jusco, or perhaps Bata, haha! Well, cheap shoes can be pretty and comfortable to wear too, right?

My father-in-law is now running a food stall in a coffee shop in the neighborhood. He just started this about 6 weeks ago. He’s now planning to get a car so that he can drive to the morning market, go to work and drive home on his own, and not relying on my brother-in-law to be the driver.

Hubby met up with a second-hand car dealer, and found a car aged slightly more than 10 years and comes with an affordable price tag. Of course, the decision is up to FIL, whether to buy or not to buy that car. Although the car is almost a decade old, its mileage is actually lower than the 6-year old car that hubby’s driving (the car belongs to his company)! This is because hubby travels a lot within the country.

And because of that, the 6-year old car is aging faster than the 10-year old car, haha! Also, there have been problems on and off - gear box problem, engine problem, alignment problem. It seems that every 3 months hubby has to send the car for repair (not just servicing).

Sometimes we just can’t help to doubt the quality of locally produced vehicles. Fortunately, it’s a local car. No matter how expensive the parts are, the price won’t be as exorbitant as the exclusive Ferrari parts. (In my world, it’s like comparing L’oreal on the shelves and La Mer in the selected shopping malls. Haha!) Thank goodness it’s a company car, so that hubby is able to get reimbursement for all the servicing and repairing.

So when hubby needs to get his own car in the future, local cars will be out of the picture.

Will be setting off to Cameron Highlands tomorrow morning, but we have not packed our bags yet. Well, it’s just a one-night stay, so don’t think there is a lot to bring.

But I do need to find out from hubby whether we will be heading straight away to his friend’s wedding dinner in the evening after we come down from the hill, or if we will come home to freshen up ourselves first. I need to know what I should wear as we drive back to the city (and put on my evening make-up in a moving car, haha).

I think it’s going to be a ‘fattening’ weekend for me - spending hours traveling in the vehicle, eating scones at the tea house, a good dinner at the Equatorial Hotel, more scones before we leave the hills, and an eight-course dinner at a friend’s wedding banquet. Wow, looks like this time I can make use of some fat burners to keep the calories off, haha!

But no worries, I will stack up on lots of natural fat burning foods, such as guava, grapefruit, apple and oranges after I come back. I should be able to get fresh and cheap guavas at the hills.