Cleffairy's Blog, page 165

No More Freckles With Hakubi White

Do you have freckles and not very pleased with em and wish that there’s something that you could have done to get rid of them so that you’ll have clear, translucent skin?  Well then, fret no more, Hakubi White is here to the rescue. Blemishes and freckles, pigmentation, acne, wrinkles and dry skin that are the result of an unhealthy lifestyle, stress and hormonal imbalances are the bane of women everywhere.

And for that, Sato Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., an established name in healthcare in Japan, with a presence in the US, Europe and Asia, has launched a new whitening series, the Hakubi White C Series with L-Cysteine, Vitamin C and B6 for healthy skin.

The Hakubi White C Plus, with its formulation, helps to promote good health for skin. It repairs skin that is marked by pigmentation, freckles and dry skin caused by stress and an unhealthy lifestyle. The Hakubi White C Plus offers a health supplement for internal daily use. It contains Vitamin C, L-Cysteine, Vitamin B6 and Calcium Panthothenate and is taken orally.

Hakubi C Gel with its high concentration of Vitamin C derivative is for applying on the skin. The gel permeates the skin and reduces blemishes and pigmentation. It suppresses melanin production and promotes skin metabolism for a healthy, glowing effect. Both are for daily use for the maximum effectiveness. Hakubi White C Plus and Hakubi C Gel will be available exclusively at 35 Sasa outlets in Malaysia from April.

Hakubi White C Plus 180′s is priced at RM 115.90 while the Hakubi White C Gel is RM 91.90. Hakubi White C Plus and Hakubi White C Gel are developed by Sato Pharmaceutical in Japan and distributed by DKSH Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

 

Cleffairy: Say bye bye to freckles today, ladies.

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TEN

I was really excited when I saw this book in my mailbox the other day.  It’s been awhile since I received a paperback for reviewing purpose ever since I moved in to the new (but inconvenient) place. This book was sent to me by the author Shamini Flint herself. I’m not sure if any of you remembered her or not, but I’ve blogged about her last year. She’s well noted for her ‘Inspector Singh’ series, and to say that I have high expectation on her books is an understatement.

This book is not a part of her famous Inspector Singh series, but a standalone Children/YA fiction. Yup. You got it right. A children book. It’s been awhile since I devoured a children book for escapism purpose, and I was expecting something really light, something that could take my mind off from things, but to my surprise, this book does not have the same effect on me.

This book is more like a coming of age book where the story is about a girl who loves playing football but lives in a conservative society where playing football is frowned upon, and she practically had to fight in order not to succumb to society’s expectation on her.

Quite a serious story, and so, I followed the girl’s journey with immense interest and I have to say that I could relate with her, even though I’m a child no more. I suppose, like the protagonist, I too have dreams that I feel hard to achieve because of the ‘roadblocks’ in the form of family, relatives and friends.

There’s plenty of things you can learn from this book, and that include perseverance and not sticking to the status quo. I definitely recommend this book to both parents and children alike, and could easily rate this book a 4 star out of 5 star. Recommended reading for children of 8 years and above.

I received a review copy of this book from Shamini Flint herself. I was not compensated in any ways for writing this review.

 

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Interview with Nancy Sathre-Vogel

Quite some time ago,a woman asked herself “ What would you do if you were not afraid? “  What followed next was a family journey of epic proportions – a journey of physical challenge, emotional endurance, teamwork, perseverance, and tremendous learning opportunities.

 

The woman finds herself cycling around the world with her family. Yes. You’re reading that right. That woman, Nancy-Sathre-Vogel traveled around the world with her family on bicycle.

In my opinion, living your life and dreams you the way you want it to be is not always fun, but it will always be amazing.

I was privileged enough to have known Nancy via Internet when she offered me a free copy of her book that records down all of her traveling adventures and misadventures. And amazed and inspired as I was at her courage to take on the world with her family on bicycle after reading her book, ‘Changing Gears’,  I asked if she’d be willing to do an interview with me and she said yes. So here’s my interview with her, hoping that it will inspire you readers out there to not be afraid and take on the world with guts in your own way just the way Nancy did.

 

Me: Thank you for agreeing to the interview, Nancy. I really do appreciate it. From what I understood from your book, ‘Changing Gear’s, everything is all about getting out of your comfort zone and go further. How do you do that? Who and what inspired you in the first place?

 

Nancy: Good question. I do believe that life is far richer and more fulfilling if you get out of your comfort zone and do that “scary” thing you dream of. To do it, you just have to decide you want it more than you are afraid of it. Making the decision is the hardest part of the whole thing – once that’s done, it’s just baby steps til you’re there.

As for what inspired me… my husband. I’m not sure why or how, but he came up with the idea to quit our jobs and head out on bikes. I thought he was nuts. Eventually, he managed to convince me to at least take a serious look at the idea and when I did, I realized it was a pretty darn good idea!

 

Me: How did you find all the time to write the book. Did you write it when you’re on the go?

 

Nancy: I blogged throughout our journey. One of the requirement for Guinness World Records was that we had a daily diary while on the road. We decided a blog would be the easiest way to keep track of it all. When it came time to write the book, I used my blog to guide me.

 

Me: Getting our of your comfort zone and travel is one thing. Getting the rest of your family to participate in the craziness is another thing altogether. What was their initial reaction about the idea?

 

Nancy: Like I said, this was all my husband’s idea. It took a while for me to come aboard. The boys were enthusiastic from the get-go.

 

Me: Safe is definitely not in your travel-dictionary. Apart from those you’ve written in the book, are there anymore memorable misadventures that you’d like to share with us?

Nancy: Ummm… yeah, there are… a few   My husband and I spent a year cycling around Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh back in 1990/91. We also took quite a few 3-week trips in various parts of the world: Yemen, Mali, Israel, Egypt, and others. And then we took a one-year bike trip around the USA and Mexico with our children when they were in third grade. Perhaps the biggest misadventure came in Nepal. We ditched our bikes for a while in order to trek in the Himalayas. It took us two weeks to read the final hut before the pass. From there, we planned to hike and up and over the pass in one day, to reach another hut on the other side. By the time we reached the pass, however, we were in the middle of a full-blown blizzard with about ten feet of visibility. We decided it was too dangerous to go down the other side because we didn’t know where we were going and couldn’t see the trail; we turned around and went back to the hut. We ended up stranded at over 15,000 feet for more than a week before we could wade through eight feet of snow. It was a cold, cold week!

 

Me: There are plenty of people out there who wishes to travel but dare not get out of their comfort zone enough to see the world. Do you have any advise for those who want to start travelling or cycling around the world?

 

Nancy: The only way to overcome your fear is to do it. Amazingly, the closer you come to what you feared, the more you realize that it’s not that scary after all. Start taking short trips that are just barely out of your comfort zone – maybe take a tour where you are protected and don’t have to make many decisions on your own. Then take a tour, but stay an extra day or two. Eventually, you’ll figure out that it’s really quite easy.

 

Me: In terms of funds during travel, do you have any advise for those travellers on how they should manage their funds when they are on the lows while they are in a foreign country?

 

Nancy: There are ATMs everywhere, so we don’t carry cash at all. We get enough local currency from the ATM for the next week or so. That part of travel is very, very easy nowadays – it used to a pain!

 

Me: What are your future plans regarding to cycling around the world with your family? Are there any places that you wish to visit but haven’t manage to do so?

 

Nancy: We have no big plans at this point. John and I had given our children many experiences in their lives – we lived as expats in Ethiopia, Taiwan, and Malaysia when they were small. We spent a total of four years traveling on bicycles. What we hadn’t given them was the chance to put down roots and be a part of a greater community. For now, we are living in Boise, Idaho, and our sons are loving it here. They are homeschooled, but have chosen to take a few classes through the public schools. They are involved in Boy Scouts and are on a robotics team. Davy runs track and cross country; Daryl is on the swim team. Those things would not be possible if we were traveling.

 

Me: Any plans for the next book?

Nancy: My next book will not be a memoir, but a book about roadschooling – educating children while traveling. It will be full of helpful ideas and have interviews with many travelers who are bringing up their children while traveling full-time.

 

Me: Any tips and resources you’d like to share, especially on planning the travel and the budgeting part for those who would like to cycle around the world with their family?

 

Nancy: For those who want to ride a bike around the world, I would say they should head out for an overnighter. Use the bikes they have, strap some bags to the bikes, and go. It’s amazing what you’ll learn in that one little experience! For their next outing (maybe four days?) they will know a LOT more than they did. They will decide that certain cycling items will come in very handy. Each short trip will add knowledge to the bank. Bike touring has a very steep learning curve, but it’s short. It doesn’t take long to learn everything there is to know. On the financial side – be aware that traveling doesn’t have to be expensive. It’s all in the choices you make. You can stay in 5-star resorts for a lot of money, or rent an apartment for a month for not so much. We traveled on our bikes for around $1500/month for basic day-to-day expenses. We also allocated an additional $500/month for one-off things like going to the Galapagos Islands or Machu Picchu.

 

Me: Last but not least do you have any words of encouragement for those aspire to be like you?

 

Nancy: I’m not sure being like me is a good thing   Really, all I can say is to dream big, then make it happen. You have it within yourself to do it. Once you make the decision, the universe will conspire to help you.

In my humble opinion, Nancy was truly an amazing and courageous woman. I’ve read the book she’s written and here’s what I thought  I’d recommend the book to you readers too at the same time. Here’s what I thought about her book:

This book was written like a journal, and the author includes small map insets to track their progress as each segment of the family’s travels is documented. The book was really easy to read, and if you’re looking for something that will allow you to escape to another world without having to leave your home, you might want to pick up this book. Her candid style reveals that the Vogels, while extraordinary in this feat, are really just an ordinary family. I don’t usually read travel books, I found that they are rather impersonal and emphasized too much on educating the readers on places and whatnot, but not this book. I enjoyed ‘Changing Gears’ by Nancy Sathre-Vogel very much and I found myself wishing that there’s more by the time I reached the last page. Very inspiring to say the least, and I’d highly recommend this book for those who wants to be inspired to live their dreams. There’s plenty of things you can learn from this book. Overall, the book is a very enjoyable read and I’d easily rate it a 4 star.

 

If you folks are interested to get to know Nancy, you may follow her adventure, tips and get some insight HERE on her blog. And if you’re interested in buying her books, just hop over HERE and take a look.

 

 

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KFC Spicy Korean Crunch

I did not feel like going home after picking up my son from school a couple of days ago. My house has no air- cond and I wasn’t really looking forward to go back home so fast as I was feeling quite under the weather. And so, after picking up my boy I decided that chilling out at the nearest KFC outlet is quite a good idea, considering that they have something new on their menu; the new KFC spicy Korean Crunch.

The spicy Korean Crunch is apparenly available for a limited time only and I thought my son would probably enjoy it, since he’s quite a fan of spicy food.

And so I ordered a snack plate of it and shared it with my son. It costs me Rm13.10, inclusive of a regular glass of Pepsi.

Unlike the original version of KFC fried chicken that comes with coleslaw and a side of creamy mashed potatoes, the new KFC spicy Korean crunch set meal came with a side of wedges and some sort or corn and potato salad.

The fried chicken is lathered with a special kind of sweet and spicy sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

The innovation made may look yummylicious but sad to report that I did not quite fancy the taste and would very much rather stick to the regular Hot and Spicy or the good old Original Recipe. The accompanying potato wedges was fine but the same can’t be said about the potato salad. It’s really not my cuppa tea. The dressing of the potato salad taste really weird.

*Sigh* Such a disappointment cuz the fried chicken looks really good and I was really looking forward to an awesome experience. I guess KFC’s Hallyu fever is quite an understatement and they don’t quite deliver their innovation like Psy have done with his international hit song, The Oppa Gangnam Style.

But…I’ll give credit where it’s due. My son seems to enjoy it very much and he polished everything off except for the potato salad.

Will I be ordering the new KFC Korean Crunch again? My answer is a definite no. I would very much prefer to stick with the Original Recipe, thank you very much.

Cleffairy: Sometimes, certain innovation is not needed to improvise a situation and better left as it is as the more you try to improvise, the worst it gets!

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Check your voter’s status

Malaysians! Are you a registered voter? I’m sure that you are aware that GE13 is coming and you’re all excited to vote. If you’re a first time voter and not quite sure where is your voting station and stuff, here’s a link where you can check you voter’s status and the station that you’re supposed to vote in:

http://daftarj.spr.gov.my/ (Semakan daftar pengundi bagi pilihanraya ke13.)

Be sure to check it out before you go and vote, folks.

 

Cleffairy: Time for a change.

 

 

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Breaking News: GE13 Polling Date, 5/5/13

It’s official. The Election Commission (EC) has announced that the highly-anticipated date. Polling day has been set on the 5th May 2013 while the nomination of candidates will be held on 20th April 2013. Are you ready for a change, Malaysians?  Many Malaysian politicians abuse public and social  resources to promote their political agenda and their parties, but one should not falter. Vote wisely. Your vote counts.

Cleffairy: Time for a change.

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A Date With The Big Small Boy

From today onwards, I’ll be featuring an interview with special individuals from all walks of life in the ‘Inspiring Mondays’ section of the blog, in hopes to inspire all those who drops by in Over A Cuppa Tea and beat Monday’s blues in the process.

Here’s featuring the FIRST individual who agreed to an interview with me.

Let’s give a warm welcome to Rayyan Harries a.k.a Si Traveler Comel, a well-known travel blogger in Malaysia.

 

Me: Hi Rayyan, thank you for agreeing to this interview. I know you’ve been busy and I really appreciate it for making time for this. I think it would be nice if we could inspire people by featuring you in my blog.

Rayyan: Thank you for having me. It’s a pleasure. I love doin it coz I wanna inspire people too

 

Me: Here goes nothing. When did you start blogging and why did you start blogging? And why ‘BigSmallBoy’? Any significance on the name?

Rayyan: I started blogging in 2008 when I was so bored at work after SPM. You will find my first post to be very anti-US. It was the peak of the war between America and Iraq back then and I kinda felt really frustrated with the situation and was hoping that my little voice will do good to tell people. Why BigSmallBoy? Ermm.. I have been big-size since I was a child. But somehow I felt that there is a small-size boy trapped inside of me, hence the name.

 

Me:  You are now a well-known travel writer cum backpacker. Who and what inspire you to globe-trot and travel in the first place?

 

Rayyan: Well-known? No lahh.. I’m glad that people actually like what I write and I love to share my experience with others too. I think when I was younger I was so into Amazing Race, TLC and NatGEO and many other kinds of traveling shows. I believe these shows played an important role in inspiring me to actually pack my bag and just hit the road!

 

 Me:  You mentioned countlessly that you’re a person who failed before, and by failing, it gives you more opportunities to explore the world. Would you care to elaborate about it?

 

Rayyan: A lot of realized that I always mentioned about my failure in life. I failed college a year ago and lose my scholarship. Well, I practically lost everything in my life back then. I took out whatever money I had left and when backpacking. Didn’t know that it will lead me to something this amazing. There opportunities are abundance and it is now somehow my job too!

Some felt that I shouldn’t do that but I believe that is a story that I want to tell people. I want to tell the world that it is okay to fail, it is okay to be in a shitty situation BUT you have to know how to get back and move forward. Truth to be told, everyone fail and it how you value your failure and move forward makes it a success.

Me:  While it is a well-known fact that you’re a travel writer, it is understood that most of your trips are not funded by anyone, despite the general public misconception regarding the issue. How do you get funds for it?

 

Rayyan: No, not all my trips are funded! That is a huge misconception I think for most of us the travel bloggers. All my backpacking trips were funded by myself. I work hard to earn those pennies that made my trip worthwhile. I had to do advertorials, social media engagements and also write articles for magazine to make money. (I actually like doing all these) It’s true that there were trips that were funded my tourism board, tour companies and brand but it doesn’t make the large portion of my travel though. I still use my own hard-earned-cold-sweat money

 

Me:  On writing- how do you find time to blog? Do you blog via PC or phone? Are your updates live/ scheduled up?

 

Rayyan: Finding time is little tricky as I will be on the road most of the time. I do blog from my phone, IPAD and as well my laptop. Depending which is the better option that time. I do schedule post if it is important but most of it I write when I have the inspiration. To truly convey the message is not easy but doing it at your pace giving it more “omph” and value to the write ups.

 

Me:  What are your future plans where your career is concerned?

 

Rayyan: Career? Woah..that a big word. I’ll let the journey takes it course. I’m sure there will be something for me in the future.

 

Me: Will you be publishing any books about your adventures and misadventures in the nearest future?

 

Rayyan: InshaAllah, am currently writing my first ever book. Hopefully it will be published by the end of this year. Wish me luck!

 

Me: Last but not least, do you have any encouraging words for those who aspire to be like you? Any tips to aspiring travel/lifestyle bloggers who wants to do the same but not sure how to start, especially on the budgeting part? Any resources that they can look up to if they want to travel like you?

 

 Rayyan: Do it. Let yourself go from you routine, take risk and let the uncertainty show you the journey. And if you ever fail in life, stand up, dusk away the dirt and stand up straight again. Your failure is actually a gift and a door to success. If you are ready to embark on your journey, I would say pack and just leave. In term of budgeting, you can always ask me at twitter @rayyanharies or email me at r.haries.er@gmail.com , I would be happy to help. Till then, keep on traveling!

 

Cleffairy: Rayyan is a blogger at http://thebigsmallboy.com.  If you aspire to be a travel blogger or a globetrotter but not quite sure how to go about it, do hop over and give him a friendly visit, folks.

There’s plenty of things you can learn from him, and that includes on how to travel/go for backpacking trip cheaply I’m sure he’ll be happy to have all of you there.

You may also add him as friend on Facebook and follow his Fanpage for updates.

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And so I swept it away

 

I broke my favourite mug yesterday. I was really distraught. It was, after all my favourite mug. It has been my faithful companion for years. It saw me through plenty of happy and unhappy stages of life, and now, it’s gone, just like that.

It’s really upsetting because I am rather attached to this mug. It has a sentimental value. But then again, I have no one else to blame for the loss but myself. I wasn’t careful enough while handling it and it slipped through my fingers and it went for the floor and was broken to pieces.

The shards from my favourite mug injured my leg and actually draw blood. For a moment, time froze and I was stunned. I did not wish to say goodbye to the mug this way, but it is rendered useless to me now, regardless of the memories that we had together. And so, I picked up the shards, and swept them away after mourning for the loss for a while.

I was upset. But then again, what’s the point dwelling? The thing is useless now. The shards hurt me and I must get rid of it. The damage has already been done. I cannot turn back time to prevent that from happening or put back the pieces together with a glue so that I can continue to use it.

And so I swept them away and make a mental note to get a brand new mug to replace the one that I lost. It will not be the same as the old one, but at least I will still be able to drink tea and my favourite drinks with it.

So… ladies and gents, the next time you happen to find that your mug is broken, take my advise. Don’t just stand there like an idiot like I did! It’s not going to change anything. Just sweep it away immediatepy and dispose it before it hurt anyone else and get a new one to replace it. Problem solved.

Cleffairy: Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the King’s men and horses, couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.

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