Going SHORT. LOVE your short hair!

As you know, I've welcomed 2014 with short hair. A bob, to be exact. And to think that I thought doing that was being adventurous... until I got it cropped again a few weeks back by talented Wei from Buoy Hairdressing, something so close to being a long pixie cut!

I was his model for his final hairdressing assessment, and he passed! Seriously, Wellingtonians, trust this man with your hair and try something new. Life's too short to have boring hair.

For the assessment, I was a cut and colour model. So the mini  makeover was red, assymetrical cropped hair, more angled towards the front and also a huge parting change. Heck, I love it so much. The first thing Doug said when he saw it was Jean Grey.... must be the red.

After washing the styling products off and just blow drying for 10 minutes, it looked like this!

Such a refreshing change! And since then, I've been styling it like this, pinning one side behind my ear.

 I like it like this! Stays put on windy days as well. I've tried curling it but didn't love it, so I styled my  hair like so for my final recital this year! A little bit of styling wax and some bobby pins were all I need, and 5 minutes. :)

I was so relieved to have finished 2nd year of uni. One year left! It's been a tough year, but it'll just get tougher from now and I've gotta soldier on. Plus, I've learnt so much... Don't think I'll ever get the chance to have this much change in my playing if I was still in KL.

I jumped on the bandwagon of making FB event pages out of our final recitals and I sort of regret it, at the same time I don't. It's so lovely having to see all the familiar faces supporting me as I supposedly do my thing on stage, even having someone from the NZSO come to listen to my performance, I was so honoured! 

But I was nearly a nervous wreck. I tried not giving a f*** when I screwed up but during the 30 minutes of playing, my brain just got lost somewhere for 1 second, and came back....I just carried on. Nonetheless, I am appreciative of all the support I got from all of you who came. Thanks guys :)

 Big thanks to Mr.Lee who fulfilled his boyfriend duties, recording my performance with a steady hand. They're on YouTube now.

 Oh! His hair was done by Wei too. <3 Thanks for making us look fabulous!

After the recital, Doug rewarded me with  one of the best lunches ever. We went to try out Big Bad Wolf on Blair St, and were far from being disappointed!!! The place was cosy and modern, menu not too big, pork everywhere and the prices were reasonable.

Big portions ahead!

Porchetta with gourmet potatoes.

Cajun BBQ Pork Ribs. 

HOW CAN YOU SAY NO TO PORK RIBS.

Pulled Pork Sandwich for $8.50. Nothing like I've ever had, and it's so cheap compared to the many sandwiches I've tried at several cafes here.

For 2 people who ate like dinasours, everything came up to $50 ish. 4 dishes, including drinks. I'll be coming back for you again, ribs. 

So hey, new hair, recital done, summer on the way and a long awaited road trip to the NZ Art and Tattoo Festival at New Plymouth come end of Nov. Looking forward!! Thankful for everything so far.

PS. Hope you had a good Halloween!
 I stayed home and gamed all night. Best Halloween ever.

photo by James Carroll FB Page
makeup by talent Kendra Herrick FB Page Website

xxx,

Ashley Mah

Back here and again

It's been a week since I've made my return to Wellington with the time to sit down and the energy to write. It's summer now, and very quiet compared to the KL life. Nonetheless, the first few days back here was hard on me, as there were so many things that needed to be attended to immediately ; right after arriving to my doorstep from the airport. I guess there's just no rest unless every thing is done, despite the expected heavy feeling of homesickness and inevitable jetlag.

The airport gang ^

I've had the most eventful 3 months back in KL. It wasn't countless parties or events this time, but mostly family time. Being abroad has made me value my family even more, and I've been given the chance to come back and spend more time with them for 3 months. The memory of arriving in humid & hot KL is still very fresh in my mind. Into the welcoming arms of both my parents at the airport, Doug included. Revisiting that memory makes it feel like it was a very long time ago that that happened, especially when memory of the recent airport day at Changi Airport has sorta overwritten that. 

My first visit to Shaun Cutler was quite a way to start my return to KL, and then a few weeks ago, I left Shaun Cutler again, and KL, this time with a daring bob. 

Raymond and I

I've had quite a number of shocked reactions from friends and family ..my dad actually didn't notice it until I told him that I cut my hair. LOL. So typical. I was quite scared to cut my hair this short... The last time I had my hair short was when I was 10 and boy did I regret looking like a mushroom for the whole year then. Raymond assured me that it would be much much different this time, and I trusted him.

It turned out well. It's growing now and I like it much better than my long hair in the wind. That way, I get less of the splitting headache I used to get in Wellington when my hair was in a heavy ponytail. Felt like my scalp was gonna tear off my head.

Other than the hair, my most recent do was Valentine's Day with Doug. There are a few types of reaction to V Day ; the anti ones, the must-have-roses-and-the-whole-shubang type, the forever alone ones, and then there were the ones who simply think that V Day is a marketing scheme for restaurants to jack up their prices for dinner and florists' big day to earn lotsa moolah. Doug and I fall under the latter. V Day shouldn't be the only day you treat your significant other special, blablabla. Despite that, he insisted to come visit me in KL that weekend, which was pretty sweet of him. We exchanged gifts, and had a royal clash of gifts. Tell me if Superman trunks and a Supergirl T shirtfrom DC Universe are not more than a coincidence. Apart from a pretty handbag.. Doug has good taste. I never once rejected his taste in clothes/bags/shoes... That's what you get when you've a guy who loves to shop. Maybe that's why we both get along so well. We both have equal amount of shoes at home & in NZ. Haha!

Decided to hangout that day anyway, taking him to a few of my favourite spots in KL. We both love coffee, so I thought I'd introduce him to Podgy and the Banker's Flat White. Yum. 

After that, we went over to Publika, where we had lunch at S.Wine. No price hikes for lunch so it's all good. I've only been there once, and I thought the food was fantastic. Since we weren't too hungry, we had the meatball spaghetti & the pork bun. Pretty sure the names were fancier than that. Lol

S.Wine

Salivate to this.

Such sexy pork. Get into my mouth. Now.

(Ok very silly of me to forget to include the meatball in the picture but they did exist!)

Ever had 2 kinds of meat in one meatball? I loved how one meatball was the size of my fist!! It's an understatement if I said this gives the Ikea meatballs a run for its money. Sidetracking here, but Ikea meatballs are so yucky nowadays. Had some recently with my family and they looked horrible. No thanks. I'd like to tapao a packet of chicken rice to replace that please.

Foodgasm. That pretty much sums up our meal at S.Wine @ Publika. The best part was, we didn't leave the restaurant overly stuffed. Oh yeah, the B.I.G group gifted us with "Edible Body Paint" as a Valentine's Day thing.

Didn't know what to make of it until I decided to dip my finger in it and put it into my mouth. Chocolate. I'll just continue doing this Doug until we get home. Haha

Spent the evening with Kim who's on the hunt for her futsal shoes, and then at night hanging out some more, watching movies and having a greasy Chinese supper. Best Valentine's Day ever? No fuss, it was perfect like that. 

Oh! And another surprise on Valentine's Day this year was that I was featured in the Malay Mail under the Weekly Runner section, many thanks to my mate Kelly Siew who recommended me to them for an interview. <3 Love you girl. Oh yes, she's also in the papers for reviewing a Nepalese restaurant. How awesome is that! Being in the same newspaper as your buddy and on the same day too! Heh. Once in a lifetime. Her website is www.kellysiewcooks.com . She blogs as well as shares awesome recipes on her site. If you're a Paleo dieter, you'd enjoy her recipes for sure.

That was a few days before I said all my goodbyes to my extended family and friends in KL and made the flight to Singapore for the next couple of days before flying off to NZ. I had so much fun with my cousins and their kids over in SG for the few days. Catching up, shopping and playing with the kids ; it was so good.

 It was especially good to see my mom take a break and enjoy herself this holiday. 

Mom enjoying the famous bread ice-cream at Orchard Road.

And Miss Piggy Kimmy.

Met up with Doug and his family in SG and did a bit of shopping ourselves. 

Before it was time to leave, there was the huge fuss about luggage. ALL of us spent a good 2.5 hours packing strategically...and still exceeding the baggage limit. It was too much. However we managed to fix this problem and all went smoothly. I had to give it to Doug's mom who did a fantastic job at packing. 

Missing you guys and dad and Tito.

After a long, but comfortable flight with Singapore Airlines, we're back in NZ. Quiet and cold, but ready to take on what this year has to give us. 

Till the next post,

Ashley Mah.

Hair Makeover by Shawn Cutler @ Bukit Damansara

[Sponsored Review]

BEST. HAIR. MAKEOVER. EVER.

Living in the windy capital in New Zealand for 9 months certainly did take a toll on my hair. The wind never fails to blow and toss my hair around wildly, resulting in a tangly mess. To the point that tears well up in my eyes trying to undo the painful mess. Not only that but the chilly wind also dried out my hair. 

It is also my fault that I refuse to go to a hairdresser for the whole time I was in Wellington just because I'm super picky with the person who cuts my hair. My hair grew so long till it reached my butt! (Mom was not impressed)

By the time I got off the plane, I started to regret my (overly) long hair just because it was burning hot. 

Also, my mom was pestering me to get it CUT. Okay, okay. 

Thanks to Malaysia's Hottest Bloggers, I got a sponsored makeover by Shawn Cutler at Bukit Damansara, just a week after I've arrived back in Kuala Lumpur.

Not the best of pictures (I wonder why -_-), but this was pretty much how it looks before the makeover. Long, frizzy, expired/faded red dip dye (so 2012, btw), and so much split ends. Hate my hair.

The face says it all.

I liked how stylish and modern it looks. The soft lights and decor gives off a relaxing vibe - definitely how you would want to feel if you came here to get your hair pampered!

I was told that this branch mainly acts as a residential salon, as there's residential areas surrounding Plaza Damansara, which is where the salon is located.

Only Kerastase Paris Professional Hair Care and Hair Styling Products are used at the Bukit Damansara branch of Shawn Cutler. 

I got a cut, dye and treatment that day.

The hairstylist who did my hair was Raymond Chew. He's a genius! 

The first thing he asked me was how short I wanted my hair to be cut. I thought it was rather considerate of him to ask, as I hardly get asked this by hairdressers. Raymond made sure I was comfortable with the length of hair that he was gonna cut. *thumbs up*

He proceeded to chop off my ugly ends and what was left of the faded red hue in my hair. Lotsa hair on the floor... I've faith!

Got a bit excited in my seat when I was handed this book. Time for a change! 

I left it to the professional, as I was quite indecisive about the colour I wanted. He narrowed my options down to 2 colours, which looked similar but there's a difference between them ; a greenish or ash undertone. 

I picked the green one. Thought it sounded cool.

Dye time. 

My favourite part! Some hair treatment to round off the makeover. 

I was given a Macadamia Nut Treatment and the smell was divine. Sure does eliminate the smell of ammonia from the hair dye. Got a little bit hungry at one point too. Yumm.

I was quite amused by this device. Felt a bit "ulu" as I haven't stepped into a hair salon since February. :P So much for being a city chick.

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After a good blow dry and some more trimming, I went from this 

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to THIS. :D

 I've to say, I was pleasantly surprised with the change! I've not had a nice subtle colour like this and never thought I'd look good with shorter hair! Didn't I say the guy was a genius? Haha

The back view of my hair. Some shine restored to my mane. Thank God.

Hairstylist Raymond & myself. So happy to have him do my hair that day! Still am impressed with it! 

I've received many nice compliments cause of it and my head doesn't feel so heavy anymore. Haha

I totally recommend coming here for a cut and colour. 

For once, I feel comfortable walking out of the hair salon right after a cut, and not having to let it settle for awhile or me getting used to the new do.

I'm really loving this fresh new look!

No more dip dyes, thank goodness, and also, my undercut grew out nicely to blend with the layers that Raymond gave me. :)

If you wanna get your hair done, the number to call is 03-20111729 to make an appointment or if you have any inquiries!

Shawn Cutler, 

39 G, Medan Setia 1, 

Plaza Damansara,

Bukit Damansara, 

50490, KL

For more information, head on over to their Facebook page too!!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shawn-Cutler-Bukit-Damansara-KL/173562186007347

Ps. It's good to be back!

xxx

Ashley Mah