Weekend Project - The Return of the Legendary Aloe Vera

Happy Mother's Day! It's Mother's Day, and I am doing some 'aunty' stuff again.

The come-back of the Aloe-vera, hoho.. I got another bag of Aloe-vera from my aunty again. Since there is so much of aloe vera, I decided to make an aloe vera syrup, so that I can store in the fridge, and consume it when necessary.

The ingredients are the Aloe-vera, brown sugar-cane sugar, dried longan. Optional stuffs are red dates and pandan leave. I used 3 pieces of Aloe-vera here. Cube the Aloe-vera, the Aloe-vera is a pretty nasty thing, it is sticky and slippery. For those who havent seen an un-naked Aloe-vera, please click here, my previous post about Aloe-vera. You can use any kind of sugar actually, this brown sugar-cane sugar, I bought it from a grocery store for RM1.60 a packet. I used 2 pieces of sugar here. Dried longan can be bought from chinese herbal shop. I bought these dried longan at RM3.30 for 100 grams.

So, to make it happen, add the Aloe-vera and sugar into a pot. Cook it under low heat for an hour. Do not worry about the Aloe-vera might stick on to the pot or not. It wont stick. Because as you boil, the Aloe-vera will discharge its 'water'.

When the syrup is almost ready, add in a handful of dried longan. The syrup turned into brown color and the content has shrunk to half.

Wait until the syrup cool down, pour it into a container and keep in the refrigerator. According to my aunty, the syrup can last for one week.

To serve, pour some of the syrup into a glass, then add ice-cubes and some water (depends on how sweet you want it to be). I havent tried this syrup yet, I hope it tastes good.

Interesting Faces in America's Next Top Model (Cycle 12)

Wow, this reality show is doing so well, it is cycle 12 now. Assuming it has 2 cycles per year. I have been watching this show for 6 years already. Tyra Bank still looks like a barbie doll, and she lost weight compared to last cycle. Paulina looks gorgeous too.

There are some interesting candidates in this season. However, they are not as interesting as the previous seasons, they are interesting in the way of their appearances. Personality wise, I think Allison and Celia stood up.

This season is kind of tiring, because there are some silly cat fights.Though I am only at Episode 5 now. And also, it does not have an obvious theme for this cycle.

Allison

She looks like a doll, with her *super* big eyes and good hair. If I were a guy, Allison will definitely be my fantasy. Though she is very pretty, she is a shy and lack of confidence, that is what make her personality stand out. I hope Allison will win the race.

Celia

Celia is the oldest of all, she is 25. She has all the knowledge to be a model, but only one thing, her age. She has good sense in fashion, and she works very very hard. Every episode, you can smell so much she wants to win this competition. If she wins, she deserves it.

Jessica

Jessica is a pretty girl that thinks that pretty is everything. She is a narcissus, the moment that she was eliminated from the competition, she still thinks that she is the prettiest, pretty is the thing that matters.

Natalie

She is my favourite contestant in this cycle. I think she is the prettiest among all (prettier than Jessica). Her trade mark, long legs. She is the only one in ANTM's history that did not need a makeover, Tyra thinks that her look is just right for being a model. Besides pretty, she is also the most matured girl. There was a scene when Aminat scolded her stupid many times, Aminat even spelled the word STUPID in front of Natalie's face. In fact, there was nothing to do with Natalie, Aminat scolded Natalie for no reason. I would be furious if someone did that to me. Instead, Natalie was so cool, she did not scold her back and that made Aminat looked so silly.

Tahlia

Tahlia is a burnt survivor, she has scars on her body. Besides that, nothing interesting about her.

Teyona

Teyona has very interesting face. Her face is always like being blowed by very strong wind. Tyra said Teyona would not need a face lift when she gets old.

These are the contestants that caught my eyes. Another cycle of ANTM for us to enjoy.

Review - Loreal Elseve Smooth-Intense Ultra Rich Leave-in Mask

This orange cube is really adorable, on top of that, it says "For VERY DRY & UNTAMABLE Hair" on its label. I have very dry and untamable hair. So I bought this.

This is a leave-in conditioner, which means you dont need to rinse it off after applying it. Besides that, it also claims that it is "anti-frizz" and "anti-volume". The cream is orange-color and apricot scented.

Though there are a lot of feedback saying how good this product is, I hate to say it doesnt suit me. I guess Loreal products just do not suit me. I have tried its hydrafresh series and also its cleansing milk, but they did not work on me. For this leave-in mask, it does not tame my hair. I still have fluffy hair after using it. I also get itchy scalp when I use this. Maybe it is just my hair.

Review - Watsons Strawberry & Kiwi Yogurt Mask

Bought these two boxes of masks a while ago, when Watsons was having a promotion on its masks. These 2 boxes of masks was selling at RM15. One box of the yogurt mask contains 6 tubes of 15ml mask. Watsons has made the tubes to look like the yogurt tubes that we eat, which is kind of interesting.

So, the strawberry mask for Deep Cleansing and Moisturizing, and the Kiwi mask is for Brightening and Moisturizing. For the texture of the mask, it is nothing like yogurt, but is something like an oily paste, like mayonnaise.


There is plenty of 'paste' in each tube of mask. I dont think anyone can use one tube of mask at one time for a mask session. It would be too sinfully oily. One tube can supplies 3-4 mask sessions.

Overall, I find this mask too oily for me. The first time I applied it, I had breakout in the next morning. Maybe it was because I did not clean it nicely. Even my housemates who I offered the mask for them to use (since there was plenty left), also complained that the mask is too oily. It took time to rinse off the mask, it is not easily rinse-off. After rinsing it, I could feel the oil lingering on my face.

Both masks accomplished their properties, as they are very moisturizing. For strawberry, it says "deep cleansing" and "brightening" for the kiwi mask. I did not feel any deep cleansing effect after application of the strawberry mask. Instead, I found it rather "not clean" because my face was oily after rinsing the mask off. While for the "brightening", there was a tiny bit of brightening effect which I could feel on my face.

I would recommend this mask for those hardworking people. It does not suit me because I am too lazy. I only apply mask, when I have the mood. Since you cannot keep this mask for long once it is opened, so you need to finish off the mask within 2 weeks. I would not buy this mask again as I am now having problem on how to finish the rest of the tubes.

New Home for my Buffalo Hard Disk

This a cute cover that my friend, Hui Shan helped me to buy. She bought it from Pacific Megamall, Butterworth @ RM6.90. Now, my hard disk is pampered. My Buffalo fits perfectly in this fabric cover. I am not sure about what kind of animal is sewed on the fabric, I think it is a doggy, with side ears.

Review - Skinvitals C-Brighten Mask

Skinvitals is a brand from Australia. According to the sales assistant, it contains less chemicals compared with other brands. This mask is selling at Rm7.88 per pc at Guardian. It says cloth facial treatment mask on the package, while most of the sheet masks use paper as base. It contains Vitamin C and ginger extract which is good for tired skin, especially for those who always stay up late at night.

Once I opened the package, the cloth mask is full of mask essence, very watery. It is true as the other review said that this mask is too wet and not very comfortable. I did feel uneasy while applying this mask, it could be due to I have not been applying sheet masks for ages.

I applied the mask before I slept. The next day, I felt my face was brighten a bit. I might buy this mask again. If there is a promotion.

What a 'fishy' day!

Today I 'ponteng kerja', I went for a fishing trip with my housemates and her colleaugues. I know you might think, what the heck? take leave to go fishing? Hehe..Since my company wants us to take 4 days leave this quarter, and I have no plan on how to use the leaves, so I went fishing! This is my first fishing experience. I must say it is a very enjoyable one.

We woke up at 5am to make sandwiches. Then 7am, had breakfast in Leong Kee Tea Garden Restaurant. The Dim Sum that we had was nice.

Then, we went to the wet market near Cintra Street. We bought Ikan Kembong and Sotong as our bait.

Headed to Tg Bungah, the beach was beautiful! Show off our high-tech fishing gear:

First thing first, set up our fishing rods.

1. Locked in the fishing reel, 2. Put in the fishing line (string), 3. Tied the sinker, 4. Connected the hook. 5. Hooked the fishing bait.

Then, we started fishing. Yay, let me introduce the players. Seew Lang and Yee Hwa are my housemates. While Tye Leong, Jeffrey and Shi Gong are Yee Hwa's colleaugues.

First, we got to tried on the fishing rods. We all hooked our bait and then dropped the lines into the sea. Skills are needed in throwing the bait, so that the bait could get into the deeper area instead of the shore.

Pro-level Tye Leong and Shi Gong in action:

Amateur-level Seew Lang and Yee Hwa:

Fishing is an activity which test one's patience, Jeffrey was K.O.'ed in the first round. He rather stayed under the tree and read books.

After awhile, Tye Leong got the first fish of the day! Good job!

Then, it was netty time! Shi Gong taught us patiently on how to use the net to catch fish. The net was very heavy..


A poor little fish was ended up in the net. Blame Yee Hwa!

We had a break at 10am, had our homemade sandwich, drinks and snacks. Then, we continued to fool around. After getting the fish hook caught up in my head (I was doing some cow-boy stunt to throw the bait, and the hook got tangled up with my hair! ). I got tired, so I quitted the game. I stayed under the tree and chilled-out with Jeffrey, the rest continued their quest for the fish at the rocks near the shores. They caught two fish there.

Tye Leong was the man! He caught 2 fish. Yee Hwa 1 and Shi Gong 1. So, all together 4 fish. We also caught some 'lala' from the shores.

I am so tired. Going home tomorrow, need to sleep early. It was a great outing and I wish to do it again. Thanks Yee Hwa and the gang for inviting me.