How Low Can You be Louboutinised?

photo: justbemagazine. com

I have a good friend who is a fashion-aware person that makes her can easily pass as a fashionista. I've known that she has a good appetite for fashion, and the way she dress says it all. In fact, she somehow inspired me on experimenting with outfit. She can easily mix and match her wardrobe without falling to become a victim of fashion, and successfully winning people's attention. She looks posh effortlessly, even in second-line brands.

However, one day I received a surprising email with photo attachments from her. Had she not written what's it all about in her email, I would not have bad judgement against them. They are photos of some pairs of beautiful shoes that look like those of Christian Louboutin. She asked me to pick out which pair have the nicest model, cause she wanted to order them for her.

I remember when we were at one luxurious mall in our town, she spotted a woman who wore them, "those are Louboutin" she made me aware of them. She continued explaining me of their incredible prices. I was impressed by the beauty of them, but not by the prices, cause to me they're just excessively expensive, though I could understand some people love to buy 'exclusiveness'.

And for that 'exclusiveness' lifestyle some people don't even mind to cheat by wearing the counterfeit ones. Sad, and what's more sad is, the one that she wanted to order are the knock-offs. It made me laugh and shocked at the same time when I read it, and I refused her idea. She told me that the genuine ones would cost her dearly like some USD 1500, and those she intended to order would only cost her USD 100. I argued her, that by wearing a counterfeit even if it's only a pair, will always make someone ugly and somehow, hurts that person's pride even if other people don't notice the difference. Kind of lousy argument, but I just don't want her to wear counterfeit merchandise. I told her, it's better to wear a non-branded or second-line one than a counterfeit Louboutin. Glad she listened to me and agreed with it.

Really, even though I can't afford a pair of Louboutin, I dislike those people who sell, buy and wear counterfeit. Why must be dictated by a brand?

In Love with Lemon

It has become my habit to start my morning with a glass of warm lemon water in the last five month.
I've read the benefit of drinking the mix of lemon and warm water since couple of years ago, but had not taken it seriously. As usual, we often ignore good advices until something bad hits, and it happened to me too when my Mom had some problems with her health. At first it was her poorly-controlled diabetes, then that affected her heart, stomach, cholesterol level and currently it looks like she is prone to allergy. Illness is really time-and money-consuming, and usually when we're not careful enough, we'd fall to money-sucking doctor or hospital! So it's best to stay away from illness.

photo by Dodo-bird

That's how I started to look for some green health solution, things that come from nature, something that won't pile up unnatural chemical residue inside my body. I am in favour of prevention than of medication. My Mom since her illness until now has had to depend on her medicines, she consumes seven pills in the morning, three to four after lunch, and seven in the evening. She's been warned about her kidneys condition cause her creatinine level is high, and that could end up in renal failure. That news really scares us cause two of my close cousins died at a young age because of renal failure. One nephrologist told me and my Mom that she will eventually must undergo dialysis -God forbid.

Though some of the doctors that I asked said that it's a very small to no chance that her high creatinine level is caused by the amount of medicines that she consumes everyday, I still suspect that way.

Lemon is believed brings good impact on digestion, and I believe healthy digestion is a start of healthy body. A book that I bought also says that lemon reduces the risk of cancer.I also read that drinking warm water with lemon regularly will preserve liver. There are many more good sayings of the routine on the internet that made me decided to adapt it to myself and to my Mom.

The result is promising, I have never caught a flu for almost a year ever since I consume lemon plus warm water regularly. My Mom's monthly lab result is improving, though her creatinine level only drops a bit, but  in general she's better. She still consumes her daily intake medicines, but gradually I hope she will gain back her health completely and will be free of that medicines.

A warning though, lemon corrodes teeth, just gargle to rinse the teeth and mouth immediately after drinking it, or use a straw.

Here comes Mrs. Santa Clause...are you naughty or nice?

Here's another confession, and I hope it won't upset many people :))
I don't like Santa Claus.
He's stolen Christmas day from the Holy Baby, Jesus :))
But yes, it's easier to draw Santa Claus' image and to use the image on a card than to draw Jesus.
Still, cause I don't like the popularity of Santa Claus....
I decide to use Mrs. Santa Claus' image :-D
It's the first digi made from my Christmas project.
Ooh...but don't you think she's too young to be Mrs. Santa Claus? -you might think so.
Well, this is her look when she was young :-D

I enter her to these following challenges..
Challenge #45 Christmas Punches on TotallyPaperCrafts
Challenge #108 Christmas Cuties on OneStopCraftChallenge
Tip #12 Anything Goes Challenge on TopTipTuesday

Here's the recipe....
Stamps:
Digi stamp by Ouli
Snowflakes by HeroArts
Punch:
Doily lace Martha Stewart border punch
Die Cuts:
Decorative Flourishes set by Sizzix
Baby Face font set by Cuttlebug
Paper:
Patterned Paper by DCWV

Hope I won't offend Mr Santa Claus if he read this :))

Duped by Potato Head No. 51A

It's no secret to most of my good friends that I have a weakness for potato. Having no other information than the only hearsay by a friend about Potato Head, I suggested Gianti to have our brunch there. It's not really a brunch though, cause it's already close to 2pm when we changed our direction from one Plaza -*read* Shopping Centre, to Pacific Place because I couldn't stop thinking about meeting some scrumptious potato jackets which I have been longing for ages.

The first impression from the outside before stepping our feet there, the cozy atmosphere was in the air already. We couldn't find the menu book that usually some restaurants place on a stand in front of the entrance, we decided to enter anyway. We wanted to pick the seat on the second floor, cause the bridge to go there looks nice and the view from above would be wider. Too bad, the smokers own that level. I asked the waiter of another part in that resto for non smokers. She pointed only the one that she recommended us to take. Strangely and sadly, less than 4 meter from our table, there was one or two men smoking, and by the confirmation from the waiter, we found out that non-smokers only have around 36 square meter as their territory, and it's physically border-less.

 

Photo by potato head

Now, the menu....and this is why the title is duped by Potato Head :)
I couldn't find the many choices of jacket potato that I was imagining before. We then learned rightaway, that the resto's name has nothing to do with the potato in its menu specifically, the menu mainly consists of various western cookery. Disappointed but hungry, I then chose Tuna Spaghetti Aglio Olio (IDR 65000) and Orange Juice (IDR 30000), and Gianti ordered something like jacket potato (around IDR 55000) but I forgot its name, I just remember she squeak a bit, telling me with disappointing voice about the egg inside of the potato that she ordered. She chose not to order a drink cause she had her bottled water, and because the drinks at Potato Head are at least IDR 20000.
 The only available water is a pricey one.

Let's jump to the taste talk...
Not sure if the waitresses and the man in duty noticed it, but it's probably thrice, I was asked whether the food was ok or was anything as expected. Gianti told me to be frank about the spaghetti was not properly cooked, so at the third time when a man in  asked me about the food, I shared my opinion nothing but the truth.....the spaghetti is hard.
Man in duty confidently tried to explain that there is a kind of texture when cooking pasta called Al dente which means it's not soft but firm, but before he could continue any longer Gianti fended by explaining the proper meaning of the term Al Dente..

Gianti: Yes I know what Al Dente is, but this is not Al Dente, this is undercooked. If only the chef gave one more minute to this spaghetti, then it would become Al Dente, just one more minute, trust me.

I couldn't help smiling, seeing Gianti telling the man in duty just like a teacher explaining thing to a student. The man in duty was then apologizing for my meal, he promised that he will tell the chef about it, and he thanked us. He still tried to get my approve of the taste, well, honestly, the taste itself was good, and he looked relieved by my answer.

Gianti knows a lot about Italian cooking because she worked with Italian company, and besides that, she proclaims herself as an avid cook who is able to taste a food or distinguish what are the spices in it just by the smell.

Final thought about the Potato Head No. 51 A....
The interior is fun and I like the using of recycled things for its decoration, but...
I wish there were more choices regarding the table for non smokers, please respect our right for a better quality of air, and puhleassee....how could flies also exist? Judging by the price of the food and beverages there and the location in a high-end Shopping Centre, the place should be fly-free zone. The waitress acknowledged those flies, but didn't provide our table any candle, yet she provided a candle to a table of some expatriates.
Perhaps she thought we Indonesians are already immune to fly..lol.
We didn't leave tip cause the resto already charges 10% for service and 10% for tax from the total order.

Fake Me Out

Come to some markets of countries in Asia, there scattered plenty of Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu, Bottega Veneta, Hermes, just name it. They are all there, and some are all cheap. The brands belong to the masses, they are becoming like part of women' uniform.

I'm no posh critic of lifestyles, but to me it's a plain vain to wear a copy of those upscale brands, and it's just folly. Why one wants to wear it? Is it because of its beautiful styles? Well, there are many no name brands or secondary brands produce eye-tempting styles. Maybe because of the quality? Doubt it, why wear fake then? Because one can't afford it? Well, mostly, but not all, cause the self-claimed superior quality replicas are pricey too...considering that it's FAKE.

One of my cousins came back from her holiday in HongKong, and she proudly brought my Mom a fake Prada. I've learnt from my observation in some multiply.com sites that the first grade to superior quality of replicas come from either South Korea or Hong Kong, while the inferior ones are from China. My Mom is not a brand worshiper, but she's always bought authentic stuffs, cheap or pricey. My cousin actually is more than able to buy the genuine one, but she bought a fake one too for herself and her Mom. Since my Mom doesn't wear fake things, that Prada replica bag then ended to someone else...and the chain of deception continues :))

Replicas or fake things not only belong to bags or other stuffs of women. My sis-in-law saw many fake Nokia mobiles while travelling in China, and she brought one of those fake iPhone home :-D, because her friends bought many of them as gifts for their friends and families!! At first my bro used it, until I told him that some source say fake mobiles are dangerous, I've never seen him with it anymore.

I wish they were less vain and were more pro creativity, and bought things not because of the brands. Also, for dog and cat lovers, please considering this article before you buy replicas from China.

World Just Needs a Little Space

I've been having SocialVibe thingies up on my site for months now, and I am glad to do so because if a little space on my blog can help others in need, then it is something worth to do.

Of course I don't donate my money directly to the cause that I chose, instead advertisers do that.
I don't get money either from embedding those SocialVibe sponsored ads of course.
So what is so cool to have widgets that don't make money to the blogger? We can do our donations anywhere, don't we?

Well, here are my reasons:
1. I think the ads there are eye-catching, and I like 'handsome' things :-D
2. My blog can do something for the world, not just money sucker :-D
3. Sometimes there are sponsors who give perks, and the giveaways are cool and hip products, though I never win so far :-P

I chose Poverty and Hunger as my first cause, then when the earthquake and nature disaster hit Myanmar and China, I changed my cause into Disaster Relief. I am back now with hunger issue by joining the cause World Food Programme. I think hunger and poverty are two interconnected problem of the World, and if you come to www.poverty.com, you can see the real-time counter of hunger deaths. As I am writing now the number at this second has reached 983. I know it's sad.

If you like to help the World, you can join SocialVibe through their site or under my referral. Either way, choose to join, there are a lot people, especially children all over the World need your helps.




Photo by Unhindered by Talent and angela7dreams

Tip Practice

Personally, I don't mind to tip a satisfying service with a make sense tip. In Indonesia, tipping is not mandatory and I think the people who don't tip outnumber the people who tip. Often upon paying the bill at a restaurant, we check first if we need to tip the waiter because at some restaurants, cafes, and the alike usually there is already 10% service charge included on the bill. However if the waiter is very helpful we might likely give small tips in addition to the service charge. On the other hand, we are likely not to leave tips even if there's no service charge included, if the waiter doesn't serve well or if the food are not good.

Although to tip or not to tip is never really a problem in my country, it's already like an unwritten rules to tip at salon. It's not a big deal if it's a small salon, because you likely only have to tip the hairdresser and the shampoo guy/ girl. Having a haircut at a big salon will likely to involve at least 3 people, the shampoo girl/guy, the hairdresser and the hairdresser assistant who's in charge to first dry hair before being styled and having final touch by the hairdresser. The tip for hairdresser is usually up to 10% of the service, while amount tip for the shampoo guy/ girl and the hairdresser assistant is usually up to the customer.

Tipping a taxi driver is not a custom in Indonesia, but some people like to let the driver keep the change or to give some more if the driver drives cautiously and is polite.
Basically people who tip in Indonesia will tip if they get very good service, this is very different from the tipping custom in US, at least from what I read on How to tip like a gentleman. Glad that many countries don't apply tipping like in the US, and a comment from TedinAsia on that article should be taken into consideration, just in case :-)

Photo by greatseth

The 3rd Gender Invasion?

It happened in a public toilet at one prestigious Shopping Mall in Jakarta.
Everything seemed normal, I just arrived there for some second and was checking-out my appearance, another woman was retouching her make up.

As far as I remember all the 4 loo cubicles were in use.
That means -logically- there were 4 other females there other than us.

Suddenly a male's voice filled the air.
I thought it came from the speakerphone.
Then another male's voice was also floating in the air joining the first voice.
At that point the girl across me looked befuddled, we looked at each other.
Not more than ten seconds after those voices first heard, two cubicle doors were open and two girls walked out in shock.
I was nearly laughing seeing their expressions.

"Who are they?"
"Why are they here?"
We whispered to each other, almost soundless.

Those questions were answered when two tall not-so-feminine-bodies but wrapped in woman outfits came out from the last two cubicles, walked across the loo alley calmly while still in conversation with each other, and they even took a peek checking their make up on the mirror.

We the spectators were all frozen.

When they vanished from the toilet, we complained immediately to a cleaning service girl who came later but still saw those two.
The cleaning service girl looked confused.
No one made a move to tell the security to chase those two though, we’re like transfixed.

Maybe it's time to have 3rd gender public loo?