Childhood Mementos

Hello! I finally watched Despicable Me 2 yay! Been wanting to watch it for quite a while and finally watched it with my friends yesterday. The movie is so funny omg! Highly recommended :D And those little yellow guys are just too funny! Yes, Minions. I LOVE MINIONS. They are too funny and cute xD I really laughed until I cried during the Underwear scene lololol.

Anyway, I wore this when I went to the movie, and so many little kids were pointing their fingers at me xP

MINIONS!!!

They were yelling, "Minions! Minions!" while their baby-sitters were trying to calm them down hahaha! :D It's now the holiday season for schools, so the movie was full with kids. They went there with their mums, and they just look so cute! Reminds me of when I was still in primary school and my mum also brought me to watch movies during school holiday :)

So, apart from that, I went to the movie with my friends right, and one of them has an online shop for phone cases. He has this adorable kitty cat phone case, complete with the ears! It's only left one piece, so...I bought it xP #shopaholic  This is how the case looks like.... 

meow meow meow

I added the pink bow tie sticker to make it looks even cuter hehe x) I love it except for the yellow Japanase word on the bottom :| Planned to cover it up using sticker coz I think the font is so ugly :x So, once I'm home, I tried to find sticker inside my drawer to cover it up, but instead of sticker, I found this!

90's kids will know what is this

As a 90's kid, I remember I used to have this in several different designs x) It's a book label stickers! I'm not so sure about now, but this was so popular during my primary school era in the 90's. You stick it in front of your school notebooks to, well, let people know it's your book! And just in case you lose it, the person who found it can give you a call. (By the way that's my old address and house phone number, which are no longer active :p)

I already forgot I still have this labels hahaha. My mum ordered this from her friend, and I think it's her who chose the design. On the bottom, you can add a quote of your choice. I don't know why my mum chose "Don't Forget Me" -___- Maybe she thinks her daughter is forgettable?! xP 

In the end, I use this book label to cover my phone case!

Cute right!

I love the result!!! It adds more personality to my phone :p When I showed this to my sister, she was so mean omg. She said, "Ew! Who else in this world still use this? And some more stick it onto phone case? When we're in public, please don't stand next to me if you're holding this phone!"

So mean!!! I know she's joking hahaha, but I really like how my phone looks like now xP And yeah, who else in this world still use this book label sticker, and some more stick it onto their phone cases? ME! I'm probably the only person who do this muahahaha! #antimainstream #hipster #ohyeah xP

Anyway, besides this book label stickers, I also found some other mementos from my childhood. I think now you can still find this easily in stationary store, or even in Daiso. I'm sure I saw this before in Daiso!

Foodie erasers!

Food-shaped erasers! Super cute right!!! I found three sets inside my drawers, and each have a set meal from different countries. The one above is a set from Japan, consisting of sushi, onigiri, sake and the sake cups, and....soba? The soba comes with chopstick also, how cute is that!

The next one is from French <3

Bon appétit!

The French set consists of garlic bread and onion soup (comes with a spoon!) as appetizer, steak with broccoli and tomato as the main, and red wine as the beverage! The wine is from 1943 btw :p See, this kind of details is what makes this stuff is so adorable and fun <3

Next, we have Italian!

delizioso!

From the Italian set menu, it has curly bread as appetizer, something that looks like omelette for the main? I'm not very good with Italian dishes :| It also comes with...err...tomato flakes? I don't really get this Italian menu :x Why not just put pizza or pasta with Italian soda -__- Anyway, I think the curly bread is adorable!

And the last thing I found inside my drawer is...my primary school wallet!

Milk Teddy wallet :3

I remember using this wallet throughout my primary school days hahaha! The bear character is called Milk Teddy btw. I thought the inside of the wallet must be empty, but it actually has money inside!

MONEY. YEAH.

I was so surprised to find money inside the wallet! It must have been at least 12 years since the last time I used this wallet. In total, the money worth IDR18,000 (around SGD2.50). I think that amount of money is considered quite big for a primary school kid 12 years ago, but now.......oh well, can still buy chicken noodle with that :p

But no, I won't use it! Because...those money are no longer printed anymore! Except the newer 5k, the rest are already discontinued by Bank of Indonesia. And suddenly it just hit me...

Just wait maybe....50 years from now? xP

Maybe years from now I can sell those rare bills on the Internet and become rich muahahahaha! Sounds like a plan! ;)

Anyway, these are how the rare bills look like...

IDR1,000

This is really old. I think around 15 years old? It worths around 15c I think xP

IDR5,000

Another old bill! This one worths around 60c.

The newer IDR1,000

This one is the newer version from the light blue bill. It's actually not that rare, since the government just stopped printing this bill around 2 or 3 years ago I think. But now, the bank no longer make it.

The latest IDR5,000 bill

This one is the latest version of the 5k, but it's not discontinued. So, not rare at all! But who knows later? ;p

So yeah, those are my childhood mementos from my drawer xD I actually have a stamp collection album too, but I can't find it anywhere :( Seeing these stuff makes me miss my childhood! Such a happy time, I must say :) I'm glad that I have a happy childhood hahaha. Today's children might be much more tech-savvy than me back then, but I did have a whole lot of fun too, playing with my imagination and make-believe stuff and things :D

Okie then, hope this post makes you think of your happy childhood time as well! See you soon :)

Oh, by the way, you can find how I did my nails above here :) It's 4th of July nails!

Love,

Chikka

p.s. Staycation alert! Read the staycation report here! x)

Staycation at Parkroyal Singapore

Staycation! Yay! Finally got the time to blog about this :D 

So, me and my friends had our graduation recently on 18 June 2013 at Fairmont Hotel. Actually it was only me, Gio, and Gemma's graduation, since SC and Fernnice graduated already last year. Feels so good to graduate after finishing those tiring (yet fun!) three years to get the Bachelor's Degree! It was a very fun night, since we rarely have the chance to meet all five of us in one occasion hehehe :)

One of the few photos which have all five of us xP
(l-r: Gemma, SC, Chikka, Fernnice, and Gio)

We decided to celebrate the graduation by having a one night staycation at Parkroyal Singapore on Pickering Road. SC helped us booked the hotel via Agoda.com to get better price, and we decided to get the Junior Suite, since it's the only room that have extra bed add-on.

So, on the date, I was so excited since this is the first time I have a staycation! Feel so kampong lol. I brought so many stuff considering it was only an overnight trip xP But I can't help it! Also, in my defense, I brought nail polishes and other nail art stuff because we will have a manicure night :D

Comparison of my stuff and Gemma's stuff
(Photo by Gemma)

Gemma, Fernnice, and Gio each only brought one medium-sized bag, and SC only brought one small backpack -__- While me, I brought one small luggage and a handbag :| Anyway, that's how our room's lounge looks like, but we'll get to the room later! (It looks so nice right!!!)

By the way, I have this very cute tin lunch box from Salvation Army, and I use it to store nail polishes. I brought it there because what it says is really applicable to our holiday...

It really is.

So true, right! Anyway, this is how the hotel looks like from outside. So niceee :)

Parkroyal on Pickering <3

We were supposed to get the Junior Suite on the first place, however, when we checked in with the concierge, there was a mistake in our reservation. The hotel somehow was sold out of the Junior Suite, but they offered to upgrade our room to King Suite with no additional charge. Of course we say yes!

The King Suite is located on the 14th floor and the view is AMAZING. We were so excited when we got there because we could see Singapore from great height so clearly! We even could see the sea, even though it's very tiny hahaha. Can see our school also!!

A small portion of the view from 14th floor
(Photo by Gemma)

Trying to look artsy lol
(Photo by Gemma)

Besides the view, the room itself is also very nice! It's already very spacious, and yet they still place mirrors at the right place to make the room looks even bigger.

This is how the room looks like...

(Photo by Gemma)

Please pardon my happy dance hahaha. This photo is taken candidly by our lady photographer Gemma x) The bathroom is also not disappointing at all! Everything is so neat and organized :)

The toiletries
(Photo by Gemma)

After putting all of our stuff (and took pictures, of course xP), we went to see the swimming pool. It's located on the 5th floor, but the view is very nice also. The size of the pool is not big, but it still looks so pretty.

Pretty!

Around the pool, there are also some tents with cushions inside for us to relax and just chill.

The pretty tent!
(Photo by Gemma)

The tents are so awesome right! The inside is a bit dirty, but it's still ok for me xP I can imagine relaxing inside, while having a nice cocktail with good Jazz playing <3

Near the pool, there is a walk path that's surrounded by plants. We took a walk there too to explore it x)

Exploring the walk path
(Photo by Gemma)

SC and Gemma the photographer lady! 

After exploring the hotel, we decided to walk to a mall next to the hotel (I think it's called Chinatown Point? Not so sure xP) to buy some food, and also because we wanted to go to Daiso hahaha. FYI, we're all Daiso lovers lol x)  From Daiso, I found this very cute tambourine from the toy section!

Summery pedicure + cute tambourine x)

I know it's useless stuff, but it looks so cute I can't help but buying it >< #impulsivebuyer But, I think in the end it became a really nice photo props hehehe xD

Playing with the tambourine :D
(Photo by Gio)

After playing outside, we just spent the rest of the evening at the hotel room, spending time together with the usual girl goofiness x)

Zhu Mama and Gypsi Gio xP

Lol at Gemma's face hahaha!

Love the tambourine <333

After playing around, we went to have dinner at this Thai restaurant that has a vintage western theme. The food was so-so, but as a vintage lover, I really love their decoration! The name of the restaurant is Folks Collective.

A vintage....slot machine? Not so sure what is this :| #failedvintagelover
(Photo by Gemma)

The centre piece: An antique gramophone
(Photo by Gemma)

After dinner, we decided to went back to hotel and have a bathtub party! Since the bathtub is big, we decided to just soak in the tub with swimwear while eating snacks and drinking beer and Breezer (or Long Island for me). Actually it was only me and Gemma who soaked in the tub since the others didn't bring their swimsuits xP

(Photo by Gemma)

(Photo by Gio)

The bathtub party was actually SC's idea, since she's the creative director in our group hahaha :D And we all really enjoyed the bonding time during the bathtub party!

After the tub party, we were so tired we just prepared to go to bed. However, since I brought nail polishes, I feel that it's such a waste if I didn't do anyone's nails, so I did Gemma's nails! I didn't bring all of my nail art stuff, so I just did this simple bunny design...

Bunnies <3

I chose this design because I think Gemma really looks like bunny hahaha, she has a very fair, to-die-for skin with pinkish cheek and nose, so cute just like bunnies hehe x) Btw, I did this design half sober lol, so please pardon some crooked lines >< Sorry, Gemma! Actually I still want to do the others' nails, but I was already so tired and sleepy :| Tried to do Fernnice's but the result is $%#*@ xP Anyway, after that we just went to sleep zzzzzzzz......

The next morning, we had the buffet breakfast at the hotel restaurant called Lime. The food is so awesome omg omnomnomnom. My favorite one is....

Nutella-filled chocolate muffin!!!

The tag said that it's chocolate muffin, but it actually has Nutella filling! SO YUMMY OMG. I feel like I was in chocolate comatose when eating that hahaha. Gio and Gemma also like this muffin so much!

Honestly speaking, that was one of the best breakfast I ever had. The food varieties are wide and everything taste so yummy :D I didn't have lunch on that day because I ate so much during breakfast lol xP

Superb breakfast <3

After breakfast, we just played around at the pool and prepared our stuff because it was almost check out time boo :(

So yeah, that's basically how the staycation went! I honestly recommend this Parkroyal on Pickering Road to anyone who wants to chill and relax. The service and the place are superb, and our experience with this stay is really good :) Will definitely go back to this place someday!

Whoa, that was a long post hahaha, anyway, hope this post is useful for you who's looking for a nice staycation place in Singapore :)

Love,

Chikka

p.s. 4th of July nails! Quick! See it here! x)

Look At My Pretty Nails: Happy 4th of July, America!

Hello! As you can guess from the title, my current nail theme is the 4th of July! I guess it's not too late to post about that right? x) Anyway, happy 4th of July, America! 

So, this is my first 4th of July inspired nails, and I just do simple design based on the US flag. Think of stripes and stars, with blue, white, and red color theme :D

Happy 4th of July!

I don't bring my nail polishes to Jakarta, so I must borrow from my sister. She doesn't have solid blue color, but actually I think the glitter blue adds a little "ooh" factor in this simple design xP No? Okay :|

Side view

Stripes and French Tip

I know the stripes are not 180° straight, but this is the best I can do so far sob sob. Stripes might look very simple, but actually it IS very difficult to do, or at least, for me xP 

Starry blue!

It's my first attempt in painting stars, and honestly, I don't really feel satisfied with the result. Gonna need to practice more to get uniformed shape! Oh, and btw I followed this tutorial on how to paint stars from Robin Moses. For this design I fully use nail polish, but if you're a fan of acrylic paint, you might want to see this tutorial by I Have A Cupcake. I think her acrylic paint skill is so damn good omg. 

I feel a bit kaypoh (busybody) to make 4th of July nails even though I'm not American haha, but hey, nail art can take inspiration from everywhere right? And as an avid Manhattan lover, I'm happy to have this design on my nails :) I really wish I can go to US and see the 4th of July fireworks someday!

Okie then, hope you like this design :) And once again, happy 4th of July!

Love,

Chikka

p.s. It's crazy cat lady's favorite food! CAT RICE. Check it out here! :D

Crazy Cat Lady Loves Cat Rice!

Hi hi! So, as I mentioned before, I'm in Jakarta now, enjoying my holiday until an unspecified period of time, or at least until I find a job lol. Hey, don't give me that judgmental look, I just graduated since two weeks ago, and I have the full right to enjoy my holiday care-freely ok! xP *defensive mode: on*

Anyway, one thing I love the most about Jakarta is....the FOOD!

ERMAHGERRD FOOOODDD!!!!

Even though I love living in Singapore, I always miss Jakarta's food. There are some Indo restaurants in Singapore, but most of them only have Ayam Penyet or Nasi Padang, and actually Indo food is so much more than that! One of the food I always miss when I'm in Singapore is...Cat Rice! (Or Nasi Kucing in Indonesian).

I know the name sounds bizarre, but I promise you it's not made from cat meat like the one in China (Read it here at Daily Mail). They're so crazy btw, why they want to eat cat meat omg -__- 

Anyway, Nasi Kucing is a traditional dish from Jogyakarta, Indonesia, but now is easily find nation-wide. It's basically rice with various dishes, most commonly are anchovies, tempe, or fish. The rice and the dish is wrapped together in banana leaf and brown paper, and you can also buy additional grilled dish like tofu, tempe, or chicken intestine and liver satay. (Yeah, those sounds bizarre too, but honestly I like the intestine satay lol xP).

Why it gained the unique name is because of the portion. Nasi Kucing comes is tiny portion, until it looks like portion for cat food, thus the name Nasi Kucing (Cat Rice). Quite unique, right! 

Near my house there is one Nasi Kucing stall, and I love theirs! The place, I must admit, is not the cleanest eating place I've ever been to. However, nowadays you can find more hygienic Nasi Kucing place inside food courts or indoor places.

Nasi Kucing! Meow!

The name of the stall is Prikitiw hahaha. It's like an Indonesian suffix you use when you see something cool xP 

The "table"

Another thing that's worth to be mentioned is, the "table"! Usually, at Nasi Kucing stall you don't sit on chairs, but just sit on your lap on that big bench instead. Then you put the plate on your lap and just eat! It's actually a traditional way to eat in Indonesia, called "lesehan". However, at the more modern place I believe the tables and chairs are provided. I almost never do dine-in, since most of the time I will just do takeaway as it's more convenient to eat at home. This time too, I just do takeaway. 

The rice. See how tiny it is?

You can choose the dish that comes with the rice. Cué means fish, teri means anchovies, ayam means chicken, and tempe (sorry, got cut in the photo xP) well, means tempe hahaha. Those dishes usually are quite spicy.

The additional dish

Those are the additional dishes, and usually consist of veggie-stuffed tofu, tempe, chicken intestine and liver satay, quail eggs, and fried eggs. They are already cooked, but you can ask them to grill it again and add the soya sauce. My favorites are the tofu, tempe, and chicken intestine satay! Yummy to the max!

After being grilled

I know those grilled stuff don't look like food from Martha Stewart, but they sure as hell taste good! Omnomnomnom... (Please pardon my kiddy Pooh plate, I already have that plate for 10+ years btw. My childhood plate!).

The rice portion is so tiny!!! This one is the fish 

Tempe 

Anchovies

Chicken

And that's my dinner for today! I know, I eat like a baby dinosaur lol. But in my defense, the portion of the rice is super tiny! I know....I'm starting to feel guilty now sob sob. Tummy, please don't grow bigger. You know, sometimes I wish those extra calories I eat can go directly to my boobs and not to my tummy. That will be a perfect world hahaha! Oh well, a girl can always dream...

Ooh, and by the way, the price of Nasi Kucing is affordable too. For one rice, it's only IDR2,000, which is around...25cents? In total for those food, I spent IDR18,000 (around SGD2.50). 

So, if you come to Indonesia someday, make sure you try Nasi Kucing :D It's a unique dining experience hehe :) And not to mention, I love the name hahaha! xD #crazycatlady

Okie then, I feel so full now. Feel like a snake who just eat a cow lol xP See you until the next post!

Love,

Chikka, a very full girl right now xP

p.s. Have you check my review on China Glaze Matte Top Coat? It's here! :)

Look At My Pretty Nails: Review of China Glaze Matte Magic

Hello all! You know those days, when even though you love doing your nails but you just feel so lazy to spend hours to paint is nicely? xP Well, it happened to me yesterday hahaha!

That's why I love tech-y nail polish, like crack, magnetic, and caviar polishes, because you still can get the salon-look manicure with minimal effort . My favorite one is especially the matte nail polish.

I think most of tech-y nail polish, especially crack, magnetic, and the one using flocking powder are fads xP sorry for those who like those polishes! it's just my humble opinion :| I find matte nail polish is actually quite classy and I love how it makes your nails look sophisticated. Ooh, another tech-y polish trend I love: Holographic polish! However, I still haven't get the chance to try it boo :(

Anyway, I find buying matte nail polish is so impractical because you need to buy many colors just to get the matte effect. Luckily, there are some brands that produce matte top coat. You just use the top coat on your normal polish and it will turn matte too!

So far, brands that I know that have matte top coat are China Glaze, OPI, and Essie. But I suppose now that matte nail is not exactly a new technology, many other brands start to have it as well. You can even find tutorials on Youtube on how to DIY matte top coat using cornstarch or steam!

However, I'm quite picky on my basic nail care (Base coat, top coat, and nail vitamins), so I decided to choose the matte top coat from China Glaze, since it's one of the most renowned nail polish brand in the world. It's called Matte Magic, and it only comes in one size, which is 9.6 mL (325 Fl.Oz).

The Matte Magic

It's quite tiny, actually. I got this from Scape Flea Market for $10. However, the SA told me that actually China Glaze already discontinued this top coat.

This is how it looks on my nails...

On light grey color

Right after I applied it, it actually really makes my nails look matte. The drying speed is also quite fast. However, after it is fully dried, I find that it became less matte? 

I actually quite like this top coat, since it's fast drying and very easy to apply, but the down side is the size is so tiny and I find the matte effect is not enough for me xP Hopefully later I can get the chance to try the OPI's and Essie's to test which matte top coat is the best!

Okie, hope this post is useful for you :) See you soon!

Love,

Chikka

p.s. Have you check my latest Fashion Hack post? See it here! :)

Fashion Hack: Replacing Dust Bag For Handbags!

Woohoooo!!! Finally I can blog again yay! I'm in Jakarta now, and the Internet connection is a real pain in the a**, man. Finally bought a modem so my laptop can have Internet access yay! :) It's far less satisfying than my connection in Singapore, but this is the best I can get in here sob sob. Here's a proof of how lame my connection in Indo is before I have WiFi...

See the pending sign? It takes about 30 seconds before my Whatsapp is delivered -__-

Anyway, I want to share how to replace/substitute dust bag for your handbags and purses. As I mentioned before in my Kate Spade Fox Chapel Charlie review, my bag doesn't come with dust bag. I always think of my bags as investments, so I really do my utmost best in order to maintain those babies. Dust bag, goes without saying, is really the basic staple in maintaining the bags!

My Kate Spade dust bag

I tried to find the basic white felt dust bag with drawstring on Ebay, but it is so overpriced omg. The cheapest one I can find is around US$9, which is really, really, overpriced for such a simple stuff like a dust bag! I mean, after all it's only a rectangular fabric with a drawstring, right? 

I was thinking to DIY mine, but honestly, I'm way too lazy to do that lol xP And some more, if you know what I use as dust bag in the end, you won't even bother to DIY it hahaha!

I did some research on forum like Purse Forum, and actually a lot of women also have trouble in finding dust bag for their purses! Apparently, most handbags from sample sale or outlets don't come with dust bag, or sometimes, the women wore off their dust bags already. The most common suggestion from them to replace the dust bag is to use....

Pillowcases!

So smart, right! Their suggestion mostly is to find pillowcases from cotton material, because it absorbs moisture which is good to maintain the bag. And also, I find it's neater because you can zip it up, which I personally think is nicer compared to the slouchy shape of drawstring bag. 

Another suggestion from them is to go to the handbag store and ask the sales assistant for extra dust bag. I did tried to go to Kate Spade and asked, however the SA said they don't have extra dust bag, as each bag only come with one dust bag :(

Thus, I went to Daiso to find affordable pillowcase (Everything is $2 in Daiso!), however, bad news: all of their pillowcases are not big enough to fit my bag :( 

So I just walked around Daiso to find other alternatives, and almost bought a felt tablecloth to be sewn into dust bag lol xP But, I passed this aisle where they store suit covers, and realize it's perfect to become dust bag substitute!

Fits perfectly!

It's also made from felt material and have the zipper as well. So happy! Feel so smart when I found that hahaha xD

After being zipped up

And not to mention, I love the pink gingham pattern! It also comes in green color :) So much nicer than the basic white dust bag on Ebay.

Additionally, beside the dust bag, another essential thing to maintain your handbags it to put silica gel. I found this silica gel at Daiso as well. I usually put silica gel inside the dust bag and the bag itself to absorb moisture, therefore protecting the bags from mould and fungi.

The silica gel

There are two pieces like this inside one package

I cut up the small squares and put them inside the handbags and dust bags

The packaging say if the gel turns from blue to pink, you can let it absorb sun light until it turns back again to blue, and you can re-use it again. The life span of the gel after you open it is around 1 year.

So, to conclude this post, you can use pillowcases to store small to medium handbags, and suit cover for the bigger one! Try go to Daiso to find affordable choice hehe :) Seriously, I'm a hardcore fan of Daiso, they sell so many nice and useful stuff xP I feel like aunties sometimes because I go to Daiso so often hahaha!

Okie then, I hope you find this post useful :)

Until next post, see you!

Love,

The Crazy Bag Lady a.k.a Chikka

p.s. Please visit my previous post about Ampang the Dulcetkittehs to fulfill your daily dose of kitteh cuteness x)