Sorry!

To my dear readers (if you follow my blog),

I'm so sorry for the delay in posting up my experience of Miyavi's performance in Kuala Lumpur. My photo editing software is down and hence I can't post up any photos. I'm so sorry. T__T

Yours truly
Chean~

Kao Liese Bubble Hair Color in Antique Rose

I'm gonna share with you my experience using the popular Kao Liese Bubble Hair Color. Instead of the usual cream that you have to slowly and painstakingly get onto all the roots and strands, Liese uses foam to get all the strands and color the hair evenly.

The packaging is in pink! A magenta shade anyway~

Antique Rose (purplish red) seems to be one of the newer colors in the line. Cassis Berry (brownish pink) was my original choice, but I saw Antique Rose and decided to give it a try. This color comes with a rinse-off treatment, low smell formula and provides gray hair coverage, which isn't present in many of the other colors.

The rough directions on the side of the box.

The other side, with all the warnings.

It contains honey as a moisturizing agent that makes the hair feel smooth when fingers comb through, as well as hydrolyzed silk as a hair protecting ingredient, giving the hair a shiny and moisturized finish. The results will vary depending on the shade and lightness of your hair before coloring, the hair's condition, room temperature and the amount of time that your product is left on.

What you will find in the box:
1. Coloring solution (solution 1)
2. Color developer solution (solution 2)
3. Foamer cap
4. Instructions sheet in various languages
5. Some rough instruction and warning sheet
6. Rinse-off treatment
7. Liese styling product leaflet with short hair tutorial
8. Gloves and allergy test

Ingredients:

Liese Hair Color LP16 (Solution 1) Antique Rose 40ml Made in Japan

Water (aqua), alcohol, sodium cocoyl glutamate, laureth-23, ammonium bicarbonate, C12-14 sec-pareth-9, propylene glycol, decyl glucoside, ammonia, polyquaternium-22, 4-amino-2-hydroxytoluene, PPG-7, Toluene-2,5-diamine, fragrance (parfum), sodium hydroxide, sodium sulfite, p-aminophenol, ascorbic acid, myristyl alcohol, m-aminophenol, tetrasodium EDTA, honey (mel), butylene glycol, hydrolyzed silk, royal jelly extract, rebus idaeus (raspberry) fruit extract, sodium benzoate.

Liese Hair Color Developer LP (Solution 2) 60ml Made in Japan

Water (aqua), hydrogen peroxide, cetearyl alcohol, steartrimonium chloride, ceteth-40, myristyl alcohol, etidronic acid, oxyquinoline sulfate, sodium hydroxide.

 Liese Rinse-off Treatment 8g Made in Thailand

Water (aqua), stearyl alcohol, demthicone, dipropylene glycol, stearoxypropyl dimethylamine, lactic acid, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, benzyl alcohol, dipentaerythrityl hexahydroxystearate/hexastearate/hexarosinate, amodimethicone, PEG-45M, hydrogenated castor oil hydroxystearate, fragrance (parfum), lanolin acid, paraffin, jojoba esters, ceteareth-7, bis-isobutyl PEG-15/amodimethicone copolymer, honey (mel), alcohol, ceteareth-25, malic acid, butyrospermum parkii (shea butter) oil, CI 15985, CI 19140, CI 60730.

The hair color comes with an allergy test kit - it comes in a sealed plastic pouch along with your gloves. Tear off the kit (which is just a piece of cardboard with a small indent at the center), and follow the instructions.

The allergy test panel. Make sure to use on a flat surface.

You'll need some cotton buds to put a few drops of solution 1 and 2 each to create a mixture, then apply it into the inner arm. Observe at 30 minutes and 48 hours after application. If there's redness or any indication of allergy, it would be advisable to avoid using the hair dye.


Now I think I left mine on for a tad too short a period of time, and I noticed that my hair is extremely thin and sparse. The box says that one box is enough to color shoulder length hair - my hair is longer than shoulder length, but there was quite some solution left in the bottle after I was done.

I edited the color slightly - it's slightly darker than this, but this is basically the color that came out from Antique Rose.

My original hair color is a very dark brown - the brown only being visible under certain angles and colors of light. Right now I'm sort of a red head~ I didn't do a very good job - only the top part of my head as well as the inner layers at the top are saturated with color, while the ends just look a bit darker.


I followed all the instructions, but obviously I still hadn't got used to the technique - the instruction sheet kept insisting that I avoid tangling my hair, and that made me keep the ends of my hair off the top of my head, which was supposed to be on top of my head to encourage even coloring.


I did this in a rush, right after gym and right before a lunch appointment with some family friends. Actually I could've just taken my time because the other party was late, but anyway, I left it on for what I think was just  15-20 minutes.


The solution stung my scalp - my skin has always been sorta sensitive, and this was my first time dying my hair DIY-style. Also, the foam got practically EVERYWHERE and the smell of ammonia is still here after so many hours.


Believe it or not, I colored my hair twice. The first round before lunch, and the second after. I had some leftover solution from the first round of coloring, and I was quite disappointed about the color payoff, so I tried doing another round, but I now realize I should have used the remaining solution with my hair ends instead of the roots.


Would I repurchase? Hell, yes! Although the color isn't very obvious, I love this shade of red~


Tips:

• use a plastic bag cape - cut open the plastic bag and use it as a cape
• before you finish the solution, use only one hand to massage
• shampoo, condition and dry your hair before coloring, then brush through to get rid of tangles
• there's no such thing as too much foam - use it all up!
• recommend doing this upside down at some point to get the longer parts of your hair on the top of your head
• start timing only when you've covered every single strand of hair and after at least 5 minutes of massaging
• wash/wipe any dye/foam off your skin quickly - the foam tends to stain, and the longer it sits, the harder it will be to remove the stain
• have lots of tissue conveniently available to wipe off any foam that splatters anywhere
• make sure to get into the inner layers and the hairline, as well as the ends of your hair - give every strand some love!
• if in doubt, get two boxes - just in case you don't have enough foam to color everything
• stock up during promotions - the original price of these hair dyes are about RM38, during certain promotions they can cost as low as RM26
• use a baby shampoo to wash your hair after washing off the foam (as per the directions)
• if possible, use this naked - it much less of a hassle without worrying that you'll get hair dye on your clothes; and you can also wash your hair much easily!
• if paranoid, you could just skip one day of hair-washing and use color protectant products, and/or leave the foam on for about 5 minutes more
• remove all earrings and accessories before commencing

Miyavi Live in Kuala Lumpur

I was just scrolling through my Facebook news feed on one fine day and *BAM!* - I saw the contest poster and I couldn't believe my eyes: MIYAVI WAS COMING TO KUALA LUMPUR!!! Sponsored by Asahi, 25th of July at The Stage, Avenue K on Jalan Ampang.

Rock zone ticket (RM130) & Miyavi's What's My Name album from 2010.

At first I was like "dang, that's the last day of my finals". I texted him and he went straight to Tokyo Street at Pavilion to get the tickets, as well as an album each for the meet and greet on Tuesday. So here's the schedule: Monday 6am Miyavi arrives at LCCT, 8pm having a preview show; Tuesday 8pm the meet and greet, then the live at 8pm on Wednesday.


The tickets are sold at RM130, RM180 and RM250 respectively, the most expensive one being the VIP area with a free flow of Asahi beer. Also featuring Koujee and Dennis Lau. For more information, click HERE.

Paradigm Mall haul

Kinda ironic 'cause we were studying paradigms in communication theory when the mall opened. Anyway, since my dad was back we took a swing by Paradigm Mall to check it out. First thing I wanna say: the person who planned the entering route, parking lot and general building layout - you are a complete "genius". The layout, to me, is too confusing.


However, I do like the selection of shops there, as well as the general graphic architecture. On to the shopping. The first store was somewhat of a craft cum gift store with lots of plastic flowers, gift boxes, wall deco, etc. Oh, yeah, and the management should also try to adjust their air conditioning 'cause it was like Alaska or Siberia there.

Peep toe heels from Payless Shoesource - RM159.90 (approx.)

Payless Shoesource is my favorite store now! Lots and lots of different shoes of different designs, all organized by size, so there's no need to wait for the salesperson to find your size of that shoe style. The prices are quite reasonable, but some of the heels have too high an inclination, which makes it difficult and painful for walking.

Salmon skirt from Nichii - RM29.90

After some random walking-arounds and shop-surveys, we stopped at Nichii and kinda knocked ourselves out. Contrary to my regular stand-and-wait persona, I was actually browsing everything and trying on clothes. I think it has to do with the extra number of 'yes's to my purchase requests when my dad is back~

Suki-Ya is right beside Tong Pak Fu~

Choose any selection of chicken, lamb and/or beef~

A number of soup stocks are available - miso (right), kimchi, etc.

Apart from a free flow of various meats, noodles, and sukiyaki ingredients, there's also a free flow of ice cream (green tea, chocolate and black sesame) complete with toppings~

Before we proceeded with any other shopping, LUNCH! Suki-Ya provides all-you-can eat lunch and dinner  sukiyaki-style at fixed prices (subject to 10% service tax and 6% government tax). Limitless beef, lamb, delicious veggies, udon, and ICE CREAM! Well, the food was good, but the ice cream wasn't much to shout about - too little green tea taste, but it was good with chocolate rice crispies.


And after lunch, the shopping continued, though we wanted to grab some dessert from Tong Pak Fu. And since we were too full I suggested that we walk around to digest some of the food before proceeding for dessert~

Dark teal and rust colored skinny jeans from Kitschen - RM89.00

Kitschen is right beside Nichii and Cotton On, and I spotted some nice skinny jeans! All my jeans are now really loose (they've always been baggy, though), and the jeans were on sale at RM89 for two pairs (one pair cost RM69.90).

Tong Pak Fu is all the craze now!

Not one of their signature dishes, but the Horlicks ice was served with sago,  lychee juice bubbles and rainbow jelly~

Tong Pak Fu was kinda as usual, and this time I ordered a Horlicks flavored ice, and then I realized that I have a love-hate relationship with the taste of malt. I'm kinda addicted to the taste, but yet the taste also disgusts me to a certain extent (makes sense?). The durian one was awesome though~


We redeemed a T-shirt (purchase RM200 in a single or combination of two receipts and you're entitled to redeem a T-shirt) then headed home, where everyone kinda just went to sleep.


Maybe it's because the mall is new, and there's still room for more shops, but I think the place could do with a little improvement~

Cafe Review: In House Cafe, Seri Petaling

My dad just came home a few days ago, and on the same day we were working at Pureen's warehouse sales, so instead of cooking dinner we opted to eat out. Dad wanted noodles, and didn't want to eat at Face to Face or Taiwan Dami, so settled for In House Cafe.


According to one of my younger sister's good friends, the place was something like Pappa Rich, but I'll have to disagree with her. Pappa Rich serves mostly "Malaysian" food, while this one was a mixture of dim sum, Western and Asian food.

In House is located opposite Old Town White Coffee and Bonga Korean BBQ, as well as QQ Internet Cafe and Kam Lun Tai Restaurant. It takes up 3 shop lots and has an abundant amount of tables. It uses the button call system, so would be rather efficient.


I ordered a cheese-baked rice with fish, and a hot jasmine milk tea. The food actually came quite quickly, which was a plus, and so did the drinks. I wanted to order a fresh juice at first, but it cost RM5.00, and I didn't know how big the serving was, so I settled for the milk tea.

Cheese baked rice with fish - RM12.90

The cheese-baked rice was more of cream sauce-covered rice with a thin layer of cheese on the top, with a fish-and-chips-esque piece of fish on top. The good thing was that the rice wasn't baked until dehydrated, and the fish was perfectly cooked (albeit a bit over breaded).

Jasmine milk tea - RM3.90

The jasmine milk tea wasn't what I expected. I kinda expected the taste from Dami or Chatime, but it was neither, but still it tasted familiar (like my preferred English breakfast tea?). However, the tea didn't seem to have an even color, even after stirring, and that kinda bugged me.


The prices are average, but leaning toward the expensive side - a meal for 6 people (7 main dishes) and 3 drinks totaled up to RM101.10, inclusive of 10% service tax. That's an average of RM16.85 per person (inclusive of the tax), which is really quite expensive.


The service was horrible, though. All the staff were foreign staff who were taught certain phrases to answer some FAQs from the customers. None of them knew the food they were serving, and when asked what was what, just shoved the crumpled order ticket in your face. When my mum asked for chopped red chilies, he almost mispronounced "hijau" ("green" in Malay) when saying they only had green chilies.


Hence:

• Food - 6 / 10
• Variety - 7 / 10
• Environment - 6.5 / 10
• Service - 4 / 10
• Price - 5.5 / 10
• Location - 7.5 / 10

In House Cafe

No. 53, Jalan Radin Anum,

Bandar Baru Seri Petaling,

57000 Kuala Lumpur.