Half a year of Best Buds :)

I took some time off recently to use up my annual leave, only to find that, boy... I'm pretty tired! I think for quite some time now, my body and mind have just been running on fumes! It seemed like when my system accepted the fact that I was "on leave," the exhaustion kicked in. Thankfully, I still managed to run errands and get my son's school things. Now I feel somewhat recharged :)

Sometime before my break, I received a package from Mediate containing the last five issues of Best Buds magazine that I had written for. I'm not sure if I'll find the time to scan them all, so here's a group pic for the time being!

2011 recap in Blogger's Piece @ I.M. magazine

* Blink* Yikes! Where did the year go? As you gear up for 2012, do spare some time to check out my latest article in I.M. magazine. It's a brief, albeit personal, recap of twenty eleven :) Have a very happy New Year everybody!

I.M. magazine Dec 2011

Web Maintenance Services @ Orangesoft.com.my

Some time ago, I helped edit content for Orangesoft's web maintenance services page. Today they informed me that it's up! Check it out:

I Want to be a Pirate @ Bestinteractiveebooks.com

I've been mentioning my tablet quite a lot in my blog posts lately, and for good reason - I love it! I especially enjoy the interactive ebooks that I can read/play on it. I tell my husband that I buy them for my son, but they're really for me too. He knows this.

I felt the need to review these wonderful ebooks, but I wasn't content with just publishing them here on my blog. Then I came across Bestinteractivebooks.com and I thought they'd be a great platform for my reviews. I dropped them an email, and they were kind enough to reply and welcome me as a contributor! Yay!

I'm very pleased, therefore, to share with you my very first interactive ebook review published @ Best Interactive eBooks :)

Jake & the Neverland Pirates Party for Bloggers by Disney Junior Asia

Arrrr me hearties! Last month, I received an invitation to a blogger party organised by Disney Junior Asia and IN.deed Communications. I said yes without hesitation because it was for mummies and their little ones, and I knew Amir would love it! Here's the e-invite:

Thanks to our trusty GPS and the map that IN.deed provided, we were able to find Publika without any problems.

After we registered, the kids took pictures while posing as pirates. The best pictures would win prizes :)

The making of... Gadget girl

I've never been much of a gadget girl, save for borrowing my husband's iPod to listen to audiobooks, but recently I went and 'splashed' out on a Samsung Galaxy Tab (got it on an installment plan of course!). I figured as I'm pretty much hooked to the Internet, and I run my freelance writing 'business' off of the Worldwide Web, I must have one. It's also pretty handy for keeping my 7-year old occupied. Granted it's a pretty expensive 'toy' for him to play with, but he's a tech savvy little man. Plus, I can use access to the tab as a reward for good behaviour (evil grin).

Of course, a gadget like this is pretty much pointless without an Internet connection, so I also signed up for the cheapest data plan available. Now that I'm a proud owner of a tablet, I feel like I have front row seats to a journey of digital discovery. My favourite finds so far are interactive children's books and collectible, limited edition digital art... Shall we take a closer look at them? Let's!

First, the digital storybooks - I do declare that I love the ones by Touchybooks! While eagerly exploring the Android market, I downloaded The Candy Factory and Moon Secrets, which they offer for free... and... they pretty much blew my socks off! The stories are simple but charming and the interactive elements via touch screen truly bring the magic of each tale to life! My son, who's at his grandma's at the moment, hasn't seen them yet, but I have no doubt that he will loooove them! Yesterday I purchased my first touchy book - I Want to be a Pirate. It's the first of many more to come, I'm sure!

Next, the limited edition digital art. I first learnt about s[edition] via the Goop newsletter. As an art enthusiast and tablet owner, I have to say that this is a brilliant idea! It's cool to have a limited edition artwork of your favourite artist come to life on your gadget! I've been looking through the s[edition] website and so far the one that's caught my eye is Matt Collishaw's Whispering Weeds. It's amazing in still life, but even more engaging in it's animated form. Would I splurge USD48 (RM144) on it? Sigh, don't think I can. But if I could afford it, I wouldn't think twice! Could this be the future of art collecting? Your very own art gallery at your fingertips? Why the heck not! 

Memories of Kuala Terengganu @ I.M. magazine

Have you picked up the latest I.M. magazine? This month's issue comes with a free mini bottle of sunblock and...

My article! It's based on fond memories of my visit to Kuala Terengganu earlier this year!

I.M. Magazine November 2011

So proud, happy & grateful

My son was recently placed second in class and received an award for the best English in his grade (Standard 1). It's really quite a surprise because he was suffering from a fever during his exams. I don't believe in pushing kids to be top in class, but I'm happy that he's doing well in school. What more can a mum ask for? Thank you God for blessing us like this :)  

Lola Oh, Lola!

I saw the Lola by Marc Jacobs perfume bottle (in miniature) from a distance some time ago and instantly fell in love with it. I mean.. just look at it...

Image from Beautiful Makeup Search

Sigh.. it's bloody perfume poetry! Having developed a penchant for petite perfume bottles quite recently, I quickly signed up to be a mini perfume dealer :) Now I'm a proud owner of a mini Lola perfume bottle. Squeee! Then Marc Jacobs came out with an update of his iconic perfume, which he dubbed Oh, Lola! The bottle? Just as breathtaking...

Image from Strawberry Blonde Beauty

Dakota Fanning was chosen to be the face of the Oh, Lola! campaign, and while I've seen a couple of beautiful shots of her with these beautiful perfume bottles, I thought this one was too provocative...

Review: Bayu Beach Resort, Port Dickson

Hi everyone! We just got back from our first family trip to Port Dickson. After some online research, we decided to stay at Bayu Beach Resort, which suited our budget. Since we couldn't find a lot of info online about this resort, I thought I'd share my pictures and a few tips. Hopefully you'll find it helpful if you're planning a trip to PD.   

Here's the entrance to Bayu Beach Resort. Thanks to our trusty GPS, it wasn't hard to find. It took us about 2 hours to drive from PJ to PD. We weren't going very fast, around 80-100km per hour. Biar lambat, asal selamat!

This is the lobby at night. I found the front desk staff to be nice and polite, unlike some other 3-star type places I've stayed at - a definite plus point in my book! We arrived at 12 noon, but thankfully there was a room available so we could check in immediately.

Imam Muda @ Latitudes.nu

Latitudes just published my second article for them. This one is on the popular Malaysian TV series Imam Muda, a reality show with a religious twist. I enjoyed writing about this topic, thanks Emma for assigning it to me :)