Persuading Annie by Melissa Nathan

Persuading Annie was the first Melissa Nathan book that I read while I was at Lang Tengah a year ago. I remembered I was going through a rack of novels when I saw the cover of Persuading Annie. Somehow I felt like it was calling up to me, asking me to pick it up and that was how I usually chose books at the bookstores.

Persuading Annie sort of grew on me. I couldn't finish the novel within the period of my stay on the island so I sort of "accidentally" packed it back with me on the day I was due back to KL. I know it was wrong of me but seeing that it actually belonged to another resort, way off another island that I knew the book did not belong to the one I was staying in.

As I was reading the last few pages, I was blown away by how the author wrote the book with such creativity. I certainly felt that the entire story was genuinely written with such love. Melissa Nathan's books were then my favourite. After Persuading Annie, I went to most of the bookstores to get Melissa Nathan's novel. Unfortunately I could only find another two because she passed away in 2006 as she was suffering from breast cancer since 2001.

It touches me that she was such a positive person. She was diagnosed with breast cancer when she started writing Persuading Annie and she never allowed anything in the world to stop her from doing what she loved. She continued publishing two or more books and ended with her last book called The Learning Curve.

Her best seller was The Nanny which is my favorite among all her other books. I will write about that one when I've done reading it for the third time and right now I've just finished reading Persuading Annie for the second time. Here is what Persuading Annie is about :

"Meet Annie Markham. Gentle, sweet and kind. Except for her dark side. A dark side called Jake Mead. Seven years ago he'd been her entire world, even though her godmother had tried to persuade her to dump him. But when the going got tough, Annie's tough got going. Jake's hasty departure from her life proved that a) godmothers are cleverer than they look and b) the only thing reliable about men is that they're totally unreliable.

Now Jake is back in her life. And he's the one man who may just save her family's ailing company. But what Annie doesn't know is that Jake has an Achillies heel. An Achillies heel called Annie Markham. He's never quite got over her treatment of him all those years ago. This is the perfect opportunity for what some may call closure. But what Jake calls, revenge."

Picks & Favs : Topshop's Unique Collection

Where's all the fun to begin with?

If anyone so much so as open their mouth, telling me that renovation is fun, I'll shoot you!

Now it's like that everyday. Torturing myself mentally with worries. Worrying that they won't do anything right, which so far proved that my worries were not wasted.

Let me tell you how exhausting renovating our house has become. It is so unhealthy to even feel like this. Oh, and did I mention that today only marks day 8? Where do I start?

There's the power points. Marked bold in blue marker pen for the electrician to add on and my contractor actually missed out the most obvious which was the kitchen area. Bold square with 3 pin plug holes drawn and he can miss that!

Then there's the kitchen windows. I told him specifically to have 14" wall and then 20" opening for the window and the rest up to him and what did I find yesterday night when we did a check up? I didn't even have to measure to even know that one side is smaller than the other. It was pretty obvious and I am not even a contractor. One side of the opening is indeed 20" and the other side was measured 17.5". Would you just look at that! Wow, now I have an unbalance width for windows which can be seen side by side. Whoopdeedoo! And I did the most normal of all human being reaction, I bloody freaked! What in the world has gotten to this fella? Which part of the word balance and 20" for window did he not understand? And so now I have to make do with a smaller window because they are gonna brick up the perfect side of the 20" to 17.5". Kill me please! I am a perfectionist and this is something I have to make do with, his bloody mistake!

Then this morning I woke up to a call from the fiance that the contractor actually did not include the cost for the cement countertop for the kitchen in his quote when we actually told him to include so now there's an extra RM950! This is so bloody ridiculous. Not my problem he forgot to include the cost, we told him to and now additional costings!

Worse, more costings for drilling the wall to reroute some power points which at first told him to include in the cost and now he told us it's actually not in the previous costing. I almost hit the roof! I mean, come on right, what is all this bull?

This whole renovation thing is definitely not a single bit fun! Seriously. Whoever said that will have to be the person who wasn't forking out the money, or the person who left it all up to contractors and doesn't have any sense of taste, or the person who didn't even liaise with the contractor himself/herself, or the person is blind, or they have all the money in the world to hire professional contractors. This is downright exhausting, even more when these contractors don't take note of what their clients have requested of them and measure everything with bricks instead of actual measurements.

Oh, the best thing? The best thing is this is only such a small renovation. Can you imagine having do a bigger house? Thanks but no thanks. I am going to stay in this house forever and not ever doing anymore renovations. Serious shit!

The Review of The Green Bee Hornet

"The Green Hornet is a 2011 superhero action-comedy film, based on the character of the same name that had originated in a 1930s radio program and has appeared in movie serials, a television series, comic books and other media. Directed by Michel Gondry, the film stars Seth Rogen, who co-wrote the screenplay with Evan Goldberg. Supporting actors include Jay Chou as Kato, Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz, Edward James Olmos, David Harbour, and Tom Wilkinson." - taken from Wikipedia

Renovation aside, we've not been catching up with as many movies as we used to. Back then, each and every movie that came out, we've seen it but it is impossible now to even step foot into any shopping malls, let alone into the cinema for some quality surround-sound-huge-ass-screen movie time. The Green Hornet was an exception. Being used to watching new movies on screen instead of on dvd, we had to at least catch one new flick, and we chose this movie.



It is a story of a rich brat who was nothing but a useless piece of living thing living under his father's roof wasting money every second of his useless breathing life and an employee who made coffee every morning for this rich brat whom did not know exists until one morning when he did not get the same coffee he tasted every morning only that he realised he personally fired this employee because he simply wanted to fire him for the fun of it and begged for his return because he simply couldn't live without a good cup of coffee every morning when he wakes.

Ok, the story is actually not about how Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) couldnt live without his coffee, the story basically starts that way and somewhere along the days when he got to know his coffee maker, Kato (Jay Chou), he also discovered how they could team up as super heros to do good for the society and make his late father proud.



What I love about this movie is that it made me laugh and did my money to good use. I wasn't too keen on watching this movie because I personally did not like Jay Chou. He totally ruined Initial D for me as I had high hopes for it. So, asking me to watch a movie that he is acting in again plus a movie that Seth Rogen is in had my expectations for this movie to be zero. It's not that I don't like Seth Rogen and his movies. It's just that I prefer watching intellectual movies with meaningful substances to it and when there's Seth Rogen in it, I can pretty much throw away that expectation as well. However, this movie is an exception. I actually enjoyed it because it is not some brainless sorta shit. I would say, it was quite meaningful the way Reid turned around and became a useful person. You've no idea how funny this movie is eventhough Jay Chou is still not up to my acting standard quality but at least he could pronounce his English better and I could finally understand what he was trying to say. We watched it in 3D but it wasn't necessary because the cinema was sold out of 2D and we didn't wanna wait for another hour for the next one so we took 3D instead. Oh, and the bad guy in this show is extremely funny! Won't tell you anything of it, you must watch it to understand how Benjamin Chudnofsky-the-what sky? (Christoph Waltz) rocked the start of the show.

What to expect? Alot of CGI. Alot of action, not the serious kind actually. If you are expecting a semi-mindless flick, just for the laughs then this is the movie to watch.

Project No. 4.03 Reno (Day 6)

And so it has been a week since renovation started. So far we've been pretty okay with the work progress except that our contractor tends to be a little blur and forgetful about the important stuff like making the whole kitchen and laundry area concrete.

One thing that I really do not understand is that why do contractors tend to not take down anything their clients mentioned. I mean, isn't it vital to get everything right and isnt that the main point of having renovation for the house? It is actually a "known" factor that all contractors do not take notes. I mean, even I have to take down records of customers purchasing clothes from me, else I would probably mess up the whole thing! They must think that they have super incredible remembering skills.

Well, I am superbly terrified and stressed out now that after countless occasion that I've told him how I want my kitchen to be like, even took the initiative to print out pictures for him, even after his acknowledgment of each and every thing that I've reminded him off, he still didn't seem to know what he was suppose to do when we asked him today, "Why isn't the laundry walls scraped off the paint to do concrete finish?" and all he said was, "oh..you want ah?"

I mean, COME ON! Didnt I even show him the pictures? He didn't even know that I wanted that! I told him like 3 times maybe..in the past..what? 1 week!

Ok, I know I shouldn't panic. Everything will be right if they are done wrong but I just do not want to delay our moving in any longer already. I am extremely impatient like that!

Well, considering that it has been 1 week since renovation has started, the progress was pretty good.


Here's how our kitchen looks like now! It looks so much better even with all these raw cement than how we first got it. I can't wait! Another thing I was upset about was, when I saw that they were halfway building the concrete side where the cabinets and countertop will be, the measurements were wrong! It was so much smaller than I've asked for, so I made sure he got it this time!


Finally, tiles completely taken off for the second toilet!


White doors for us :D


All ready for our Suzuka brick tiles which will be arriving tomorrow!

Picks & Favs : Miu Miu to cure Monday Blues

Which is your favourite among these vintage Miu Miu pieces?

What do I do when I feel the need to satisfy my hunger for fashion? I search the web for cute little pieces like these and share them among fashionistas on my blog. It thrills me to even look at them, hope these green polka dot pieces will tame down those Monday blues of yours :D

When the only thing that fails you..

and causes your butt to ache for 3days and more, get IKEA MOSSES working chair because it will cushion your butt and make it as comfy as a little purry puff..*lame and doesn't make sense but I was just typing whatever that came to my mind. yep, it's funny how that little squishy thing works

Project No. 4.03 Reno (Day 1)

On the 14th of February 2011, renovation works have started in our quaint little unit. Within a couple of hours to noon, they've efficiently stripped off the cabinets in the kitchen and ripped apart toilet fixtures out of the toilet, leaving behind 2 sets of toilet basins and bowls (14" from wall to pipe) up for grabs! If you are looking for 2 sets of can-do cream coloured basic basins and toilet bowls, email me at janefong.yy@gmail.com!



The last I went to see the condition of the unit while they were working was on Monday close to evening. They were ripping off the tiles in the second bathroom. The place is now in a mess and I really can't stand it! I was fighting the urge to just take a wet cloth and wipe the sofa as it was covered in dust!

Oh, and we have 1 unit of old school air conditioner (compressor and blower one piece) up for grabs too!

Will be checking in later to see if they managed to get both bathroom tile-less. Till my next update, stay tuned!

Subak @ Bukit Lanjan

We drove up to Bukit Lanjan to celebrate Valentine's Day on Monday. Baby decided to bring me to Subak, a nature-filled Western Indonesian restaurant. The place was situated slightly uphill and the best thing was, the air was really cool as it rained before and we were surrounded by sounds of nature as we dined.



It sort of has the same feel as when we dined at Tamarind Springs but with a laid back atmosphere. Their menu ranged from Western to local Indonesian dishes, so we tried both.



Well, for drinks we decided to share a coconut, priced at RM8 and it was more than enough, seriously! It was so huge, bigger than my face actually :P



For starters, we ordered Ayam Soto. I think it's Soto Ayam @ RM15-RM18. It was something different for me because I've not tried it before. It had a very kampungish taste to it. They were quite generous with the soup. One bowl was enough for both of us.



I ordered Grilled Rack of Lamb topped with Rosemary sauce and Spicy Potatoes as sides. It was priced around RM45-RM48 and it tasted really good. However it wasn't alot but it filled me up quite abit as I had starters first.



Baby ordered Seafood Aglio Olio. I think it was ranged from RM25 onwards. Did not really pay much attention to the price of this dish. I had a taste of it and I quite like it, especially the prawns. Boiled to perfection. Instead of the usual olive oil with chili flakes, it was topped with chili padi and seafood soup. Not bad at all.



After our mains, we decided to get their Chendol. It was priced at RM15 but it tasted like it was worth RM50! Ok I am exaggerating but it was THAT good! Extremely delicious with very strong gula melaka taste. More like gula Indonesia because it tasted even better than our gula melaka. It sort of had a rum taste to the end, but rest assured that for Muslims, this place is Halal. Just that the Chendol is to die for, really! For those who decides to give this place a try, do not go back without trying their Chendol!

If you are looking for a place to have a quiet meal, away from everybody and everything in the city, you may love this place. I don't really have any complaints of this place except that the waiters weren't really efficient. I've asked for extra spoons and tissues several times and they never came. It might be because the place was packed with couples that they lack the attention needed, but I wasn't too upset about it, for once!



Subak (HALAL)
A: Lot 3213 Jalan Penchala Indah
Bukit Lanjan 60000
Kuala Lumpur
T: 03.7729 9030
E: info@subak.com.my
W: www.subak.com.my

Ideas for Renovation

Since we've rid off all the furniture that we did not want, we have done nothing but search for ideas of how we want our home to look like! We will be meeting up with our contractor tomorrow and we've got to finalize at least some of the ideas we have so that he has an idea of what to do.

Well here are what we will be doing, just some rough photos of other people's living, bathroom & kitchen.

Let's go with the living area first.



We basically have everything, except the lights. We are going with an industrial look with a touch of balinese for the whole house. We are trying to source for light bulbs like these, with black wires hanging all around the living area. So far all the light shops we went to don't sell these kind of lights. I guess we will have to ask our contractor to manually do it for us which wont really cost a bomb seeing that we can actually buy the wire and bulb caps from any hardware store. It is just that we can't seem to find the ceiling housing. Ah well, when there's a will there's a way!



White brick walls for both the living room (half the section) and our bedroom! This I really cant wait to see once they are done with tiling them and repainting white over!



It's probably going to be a small place for our work area. Right now all I have in my head is white, white and white. White definitely goes with everything but if not well decorated, the place might look pretty plain and boring. So hopefully, we will have the colour in us when we do more shopping for decorations after the renovation is done.

As for the bathrooms, I mentioned previously that both will be stripped off everything. Including sanitary wares and tiles. We will be replacing with concrete looking tiles and have the walls with concrete finish.




It will probably look like that but with tiles for the floor and a concrete slab to support our basin. We've gotten our basin for a very (extremely) reasonable price. Johnson Suisse square basin for RM180 only. FOR TWO! not one but two. Let's just say we know someone somewhere and it was retailing at RM200 for one!



It might also look like this, but we are fine with both. As long as our contractor gets the cement colour right, which is light grey, I wont freak.

Ahh, now let us go to the kitchen. I saved this for last because I found it hard to get the exact photo of how I want my kitchen to be like. As you already know, the kitchen will also be stripped off everything including the existing cabinets and tiles. Right now this is how the kitchen looks like..



See the area where there are windows and door. Will be completely removed as well. Going to get the contractor to do a clean cut look for the openings of the windows and door. Should be something like this ..



I wont replace the door opening with a door but just leaving it be. As for the window area, I am still not sure to leave it open and empty or put a glass in between. Still KIV and it all depends on how much a single glass piece would cost.



An exact one sided sliding door will be added as our kitchen door. Totally digging the look on this picture! Hopefully the contractor does the exact same thing and I just cant wait to see it once it is installed.



Our wall and floor will be exactly like this. We wont be tiling the kitchen, just giving it a concrete overall finish with concrete countertop as well. As for the cabinets, here is the best picture that I've found over the past few days.



I want my kitchen cabinets to have a simple clean cut look like this with huge ass drawers. I want them to be evenly spread out with a tiny gap in between. I want no handles and a gloss finish to the surface in white. So imagine this with a concrete countertop and a very wide and square sink! Lovely!! The kitchen will be our biggest project. Right now we are still sourcing for cabinet makers because our contractor doesnt do them. If you do know of any reasonable cabinet makers, please do let me know. Email me at janefong.yy@gmail.com yea.

So once the kitchen is done, it should probably look like this :



Obviously minus the living room, floor and walls.. :D

Chinese New Year 2011 (Year of the Rabbit)

Time flies when you celebrate Chinese New Year and have super duper lots of stuff to buy for the house before renovation starts.


Day 1, we were at grandparent's. As usual the whole family was there. This year's atmosphere was a little bit different than the last as the kids have now grown a year older and most of them are able to run around.





There were 21s, Yu Ha Hai (I know it sounds like a bad word but in English it is Fish Prawn Crab) and Mahjong which only lasted 4 rounds.


Day 2, we visited my dad and his jungle of a house. Stayed catching up a bit on life, fishing, chickens, vegetables and the condo. Tried giving me tonz of food to bring back but I managed to cut them down to only 2 which were a packet of Short Bread and a box of Chocolate Butter Cookies! Chocolate! I've not tasted butter cookies in chocolate. Hopefully em biscuits are good! :)


The bunch of grapes that he grew! He actually managed to grow grapes in KL! OMG salute..



At night we went to Victoria Station courtesy of Uncle Dennis. My mom's friend from Australia who came down for a visit during Chinese New Year.
My grilled lamb cutlets were AWESOME!


Day 3, went to my aunt's place. Every year she'll cook my favourite dish, the pak cham kai and her famous ginger si yau sauce~! Played few rounds of Mahjong with my aunt and cousins and was off to my friend, Kev's place for a little more gambling.

As for the rest of Day 4 till today, all we did was shop for our home. So far we've gotten stuff that we need like electrical kettle and oven. As for wants, well we've gotten curtain railings, sheer curtain for the hall, more hanging lights, a huge carpet and ... I can't remember. Anyhoos, renovation will be starting next week! I cant wait!!

Picks & Favs : Topshop's New Age Constellation Collection

Happy Chinese New Year, Peepou!

White & Such

When I was a little girl, I used to love furniture shopping with my parents. They would go to the furniture shop every single weekend and I would prance around the shop imagining each and every showroom to be my very own room! And so, I grew to love IKEA. Till today, IKEA is my favourite furniture shop. It has everything trendy and unique. I love their clean cut designs and the fact that some of the furniture can be custom made.

I used to take up to 4hours walking around IKEA imagining what my future home will be like. Always going back empty handed because I didn't have my own home to decorate.

Last week, was the first time I walked out of IKEA purchasing items for my home. Nothing much, just accessories to brighten up our place. As the saying goes, a little goes a long way :D



More to come definitely once we've done up the place :D

Abigail's Party by Topshop!

Smokey all over, Abigail's Party lookbook is one of Topshop's newest collection! I totally love all the outfits paired in these photos. Who knew that matching a loose cardigan with boho pants would look good as it is known that nobody in their right fashion mind should pair loose tops with loose bottoms but look at how Topshop proved it wrong!





My fav of all!