Valen’s Vanity Square

People who are crazy about cars would talk about engine performance and aerodynamic design. Those who love photography will tell you about their camera body and lens collection.

Likewise, music lovers, especially those who make their own music and record their own pieces, will tell you which AKG studio headphones will be best used in the recording studio. And audiophiles will certainly be very excited to share about their speakers and amplifier system.

Just like my friend’s husband. When we visited them during CNY, he was really enthusiastic to show us his audio room, explain how his hi-fi system is set up, answer to our questions, and play really nice jazz for us, such as Eva Cassidy and Alison Krauss. After that, we felt like we want to have a room like that in the house too, haha!

But of course we can’t, as this hobby and enjoyment requires a significant amount of investment and a spare room. We don’t have that money, we don’t have a spare room. So we will just stick to our cheap 5-speaker system in the living room for the time being. Even enjoying music and songs on YouTube is fun, too!

Car, car, car.

We still have not decided which vehicle to buy. Brand T vs brand H, first-hand vs second-hand, MPV vs SUV vs sedan… the choice is so difficult to make! Well, difficult for hubby to make, that is. Also, the budget to spend remains to be determined.

Friend keeps recommending to get a recond car and even took the time to calculate the price comparison between new vs second-hand vs recond car, and explain to me the rationale and good reasons of buying a Japan-imported recond car.

Friend is a supporter of SUV, particularly if it comes to a family car, which will be a nice car to bring the whole family out to a beach, for picnic, or even have a Golden Retriever at the back seat!

Luckily he didn’t suggest to me about attaching a trailer hitch to the car, which I know is something that he would like to have, so that he could one day (in his dreams, perhaps) drive his boat to the beach and take the boat out to the sea.

I don’t think we will ever consider that, haha! For us, practical and economical will be the foremost factors to consider.

Oh well, looks like we will have to continue our search for our ‘ideal’ car….

Speaking of shopping vouchers, actually there is another way to receive discounts when shopping or dining without having to wait for the pointd to accummulate in your shopping outlet membership cards.

A faster way is to find website that offers shopping coupon codes, such as the red envelope coupons. Websites like this one makes shopping not only more convenient, but also allows you to choose the type of discounts you want.

Whether you want to save 20% off your entire purchase, or enjoy free shipping for your orders, the choice is versatile. Furthermore, there are a variety of items to suit different occasions. Be it birthday gifts, wedding gifts, jewelry for your gf, or leather watch for your DH, or even personalized beer mugs!

Gals, you should check out Red Envelope’s Gifts For Her section! The items there are elegantly designed, simple yet tasteful. For example, doesn’t this cherry blossoms candle look totally sweet?

Don’t you just love shopping vouchers or rebate vouchers? I had a couple that will expire in a few days’ time, and that’s why I had to quickly utilize them yesterday. :p

Bought a pair of Hush Puppies sandals that cost 2xx, but paid 50 bucks less, thanks to the birthday voucher. Then found a pair of beige colored East India loose casual pants at Metro Jaya, also paid 50 bucks less.

I still have a total of 130 bucks worth of vouchers from JJ and MJ, but since their expiry date is still few months down the road, I will keep them untouched for the time being.

Although I really like that Xixili black satin sexy lingerie I saw in JJ, but I figured I might need something different several months later, hehe, something looser and bigger for my body to fit in. That is, if everything goes well and successful…

Life is leading me to experience unusual events… My world, or basically my life might change very soon. And I’m about to complete the fourth decade of my life in just two days’ time!

Gals, are you looking forward to February? Hehe.

In the coming weeks, would you ‘unintentionally’ or sort of casually passed by the jewelry shop selling diamond earrings for women when you go shopping with your bf or husband? Haha!

I might…

While I won’t be looking at earrings since I don’t have pierced ears, I might just walk pass displays of diamond rings or diamond pendants more often while window shopping with hubby.

I didn’t get any diamond-ish thing on our anniversary. Can I wish for something with a bit of bling on Valentine’s day?

I figure that I need something shiny to adorn my rather bare neck and lit up my presence, haha.

Heard that it was raining cats and dogs, lightning and storm, in KL yesterday. Here by the beach, it was bright and hot!

Yes, this year we decided to spend our CNY away from the city, and to enjoy some sea breeze and pool dipping in PD, at our favourite hotel Thistle.

Due to holiday season, the hotel is packed with guests, mainly families, coming from all over the country. We booked a standard room, but was upgraded to Deluxe room and some more with a pool view. How cool is that!

The only downside is that our room is located at a lower level, so it is near to the pool and lounge; it can get quite noisy. And early in the morning, excited kids from other rooms run about in the corridor, getting ready for their morning swimming pool activities. We woke up even before the alarm clock rang!

Last night, we went out searching for seafood. Heard about a seafood restaurant located at quite an secluded area, so by relying on our garmin nuvi gps, we managed to find the restaurant and had our dinner before we died of hunger.

Now, we are just chilling out in the room. Soon, we will be heading to the pool for a dip, plus some reading and drinking. Hehe…

Hot, hot, hot. Then rain, rain, rain. Then hot again. the weather has been pretty unpredictable during this CNY period!

No wonder so many people got sick just right before CNY, and I myself had nearly become one of the victims. Luckily the sore throat didn’t get worse, my headache finally subsided after it lingered around for 3 days!

Still, the scorching hot weather - as I’m typing this - makes me just want to stay home and chill out with a glass of cold beer and some CNY TV programmes. But this is not possible, as hubby and I have to join my MIL’s yearly CNY ‘excursion’ to the relatives’ house.

Thank goodness there is such a thing as iPhone, hehe, so that I can entertain myself with it when I’m bored, either FB-ing or playing Where’s My Water or Reversi, while sitting with a group of elderly people that I can’t communicate with. Haha!

It would have been better if I have one of those Reading Glasses Sunglasses, so that I could even start to entertain myself in the car on the way there. You see, I can’t really talk a lot (and about anything) with my husband when my parents in law are in the same car with us, can I?

Finally, I should be able to conclude my CNY shopping episode. Did the last bit of shopping after work today, though the stuffs are meant for relatives and not myself.

And I forego shoes and handbags this year. I really don’t have the energy (and money) to shop anymore, although I did wish to get myself some accessories, even if it’s just one of those simple steel pendants.

May be I can check out The mini bazaar in the shopping mall next to my office building. The stalls - selling clothes, shoes, accessories, imitation branded handbags etc - usually only open on Fridays and weekends, but this week they are running business for one week due to CNY.

Just hope that I will have time to visit the stalls during lunch time tomorrow. There’s so much at work to get done before I can enjoy my one-week break. Stressed!

A friend has given some recommendations on cars to buy, and has been so kind to point me to different resources that provide useful info that could give us a clearer picture of which car suits ouris worth buying.

The suggestions are good, and his tastes are high. He also shares some of the cars that he likes and is on his to-buy list. Well, he can afford to put those car models into his list; for us, we would also probably end up buying those models, but the cars would be the Nitro Remote Control Cars . Haha!

I know, buying a car is a big decision. One needs to make sure the vehicle will perform up to his or her expectation, has endurance, and present with the least problems possible. Especially when it is a second-hand car!

Really appreciate his enthusiastic sharing. Although I won’t be reading those information myself (because I’m so not a car person, :P), I will get hubby to do his homework.