DailyLifestyles OnlineMag issue#5 [2008-08]

Issue #5

DAILYLIFESTYLES Online Magazine

forum . studio . magazine

DAILYLIFESTYLES www.DailyLifestyles.com

This month features: - J o u r n e y To N o r w a y

- Midnight Snacking Petal in g Street Ho kk i en Mee

- C l e a r B a k K u t Te h - A Wa l k a n d a P h o t o s h o o t a t t h e P a r k

- Wo r k i n g T h a t M a g i c 1 DAILYLIFESTYLES

Lucas

“Thank you. We’ll continue to expand our contents as time goes by.” -Ed Dear Editor, 4th issue of your Dailylifestyles Online Magazine Great work. This round i find there some section lacking and was wondering why. On the motoring section I would like to see more picture. Beside the lacking on some section, always enjoy the pictures in the magazine. Keep it coming guys

Letter to Editor

Introduction

Dear Editor, I have been following this Online magazine for the pass few months and have been enjoying much. This month issue i see that you guys have feature fashion as well and I liked it, showing that the magazine is makin effort to bring the readers more content. Good work

what is dailylifestyles.com ?

DailyLifestyles.com is created with the goal of providing a chill-out place for today's urban professionals to kick back and relax, and share their passions & hobbies with other like-minded people. It is our hope that everyone of you contribute and in return, foster and gain invaluable friendship and networks as well as further indulge more on what you love doing.

For a start, the founding members are passionate about a few things in life -good food, great places, even greater people, not to mention great sense of humour and having a good time. We are about fun.

We are about Lifestyles - your lifestyles. We hope to add value to your lives, as much as you add value to ours - by sharing with everyone here your passions in life, and what drives you.

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Carina kong

“Thank you for your feedback. We’ll try to put more pictures in if we get a lot of requests, but do bear in mind that that will mean heavier downloads and longer download time as we do not wish to compromise on picture quality” -Ed Dear Editor, The featuring of the Hatyai trip that the dailylifestyles organise and also the it's place is worth the delay. I've never been in Hatyai and didn't knew that it is a great place to visit. Might do a trip over there on my coming vacation.

Thanks, hopefully me and my wife are able to track the same as you guys.

Thanks Barney Lim Selangor

“We’re happy to know that our articles help others realize that there are many great places to visit that they might have overlooked.” -Ed Dear Editor, I have been following your online magazine since your second issue. I thoroughly enjoy your articles and of course the photos which accompany them. Do keep up the good work.

Anderson Chan

“Thank you. I hope you’ll continue reading our online magazine in the months to come.” Ed Dear Editor, I would really love to see your magazine being published. It is refreshing and definitely a good read. Thanks also for making available pass issues as I only got to know about your online magazine last month. I downloaded the past issues as well. Looking forward to your upcoming issues.

Ngee An

“We’ll also love to see our magazine being published and on news-stands some day. I hope you enjoyed the past issues and find them a good read as well!” -Ed Dear Editor, I love your magazine. Its easy to read and with beautiful photos to see. I do a little writing myself and would love to contribute to your magazine if I may.

Anthony

“Glad you love our magazine. We do accept contributions as you can see from this issue’s article on Norway, so feel free to submit your articles and photos for considerations!” -Ed DAILYLIFESTYLES 4

Glossary Editor’s Notes July was another busy month for us here at DailyLifestyles, and we do apologise again for the late issue this month.

This month we have a special treat for those of you who like to travel. We have a trip report all the way from Norway – courtesy of one of our forum members PingLong. Make yourselves comfortable and settle in to enjoy the read as he recounts his adventure staying at youth hostels and camping and driving through Norway.

In the food section, we bring you to Subang Jaya for clear soup Bak Kut Teh and for the night owls who crave for good food, Petaling Street’s Hokkien Mee.

DAILYLIFESTYLES Online Magazine Publisher Tommy tommy.yap@dailylifestyles.com Editor Khai wkhai.kuah@dailylifestyles.com

For activities this month, we covered the photoshoot on a Sunday morning that was mentioned in last month’s issue, the photoshoot at Taman Tasik Perdana, otherwise also known as Lake Gardens.

For our female readers who are looking for fashion tips, we’re delighted to feature some work wear from Blook. As for the guys, take a look at our Gadgets article this month – a Hyundai W100 Watch Phone – kind of reminds me of the cartoon character Inspector Gadget!

So, have a good read ahead, and we hope you enjoy this month’s offering. As always, do drop by the forum to have your say.

Chief Editorial John Ling john.ling@dailylifestyles.com Fashion Editor Trish Charum trish.charum@dailylifestyles.com Chief Photographer Jason Wong jason.wong@dailylifestyles.com Senior Photographer Alan Lim alan.lim@dailylifestyles.com IT Engineer Khong fk.khong@dailylifestyles.com

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Cheers. wkhai @ cheekyboy

Apologies and Corrections It seems we’re getting lax in our editorial quality control, and last month’s issue had some errors and omissions. To those affected, our deepest apologies.

Outfits Fit for a Getaway (DailyLifestyles Online Magazine, Issue 4, July 2008, pg 14) – we forgot to mention that Cathy Lee was responsible for the Hair-Styling on top of being the MakeUp Artist. And we’ve inadvertently made a typo with our model’s name. It should read Jaslyn Toh. Passage to Hatyai (DailyLifestyles Online Magazine, Issue 4, July 2008, pg 41) – the photo of New Seasons Hotel sneaked itself onto the page while we turned our backs. The fashion show was held outside Lee Gardens and not New Seasons Hotel. Our sincerest apology to the management of Lee Gardens.

Sambal – is a condiment or a spicy sauce often used in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore to name a few. It is made from a variety of peppers, although chili peppers are the most common. Sambal is used as a condiment or as a side dish, and is sometimes substituted for fresh chilis; it can be very hot for the uninitiated. It is available at exotic food markets or gourmet departments in supermarkets in many countries. Local version of the sambal includes belacan.

Belacan – Shrimp Paste Tofu – Bean Curd. Made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into blocks. There are many varieties of tofu, including fresh and some which has been processed in some way.

It has very little flavour or smell on its own, so it can be used in various ways including in sweet savoury dishes and is often seasoned or marinated to suit a dish. lou shue fun – a kind of noodle, generally about 2-3 inches long with its mid span being thick, trickling thinner as it goes towards the end.

Giant Panda’s Statement Gosh.. 5th issue and we are late in publications. This round the team was all worked up about our dateline for launching the online magazine on time but again we missed it. We have gone about 5,424 hours into 2008, our day job workload has increased bosses’ eyeing on things that we are doing.

Ahh.. well all in all, it’s about the fun and passion of running Dailylifestyles.com. We have been growing (not to mention my stomach and body size) steadily over the 229 days since we first started the forum. It was over the last weekend that we co-organised a Pre-Wedding photography workshop. It would be safe for me to say we may add this section to our online magazine next issue.

We are glad to have a overseas contributor all the way from Stockholm, Sweden, where he brings us their travel experience in that region.

I’m off next month to the magical Island of Mataking in Sabah. I term it as the ‘Tahiti of Asia’ beautiful white sand beach , two islands, one resort and spa. The 2 islands are joined by a sandbar that you can walk across during low tide. Stay tuned for this in the coming issues.

‘Merdeka’ – Our country’s independence day falls on the 31st of August.

Our nation is 51 years young and still going strong.

ikan haruan – Scientific Name : Ophiocehalus Striatus. Also known as the SnakeJust a short note from me and as usual I leave you with this: head, the haruan is a fresh water fish and is very hardy as it has an ability to survive in the hashes conditions. Found in nearly Love seems the swiftest, but it is the slowest of all any pond, river, paddy fields even drains growths. No man or woman really knows what perfect and puddles. tuk-tuk ¬– Thailand’s infamous little taxis. Some 4 wheeled, others 3-wheeled. bak kut teh - Hokkien word literally meaning “meat bone tea”. ‘bak kut’ is actually the ribs. And in this Chinese dish, it is always pork ribs. In reality, ‘bak kut teh' consists of pork ribs and other parts such as lean meat, rump, tail, and ofals boiled in a herbal soup. Traditionally this concoction is boiled and served in claypots.

A variation of ‘bak kut teh' found in Malaysia is ‘chi kut teh’, the same recipe cooked with chicken instead of pork to cater to or adhere to certain halal outlets.

love is until they have been married a quarter of a century.

-Mark Twain

the Giant Panda’s statement Tommy@Pan8a

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Contents Food

Clear Bak Kut Teh Food

Midnight Snacking Petaling Street Hokkien Mee

Travel

Journey To Norway

Presonality

Andy Uprock

Modeling

A Walk and a Photoshoot at the Park

Fashion

Working that Magic Motoring

Turbo-charged Family car

Toys & Gadgets

Hyundai W100 – Gadgety Gadget

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It was a clear Saturday afternoon, right after circling the never ending maze they call Kota Kemuning, when our tummy rumbled. Do not blame us as we did have breakfast (as always) before braving the maze. We made our way to Subang, and directly to a shop which serves Bak Kut Teh with a twist; its soup is clear.

The shop is nothing to shout about. A Very simple shop with a little corner to prepare the broth and stu. I was dreading the heat sitting inside the restaurant. Sitting outside is no better since the sun was hitting earth hard that afternoon.

But surprisingly it was quite cooling as we sat down and ordered our stu. Since we had a hearty breakfast, we tried to minimize on the amount of food for lunch. So we ordered a bowl of piping hot Bak Kut Teh and pork knuckles. And to ensure that we have a balanced diet (whatever that means), we ordered some vegetables. Oh.. we also requested for spare ribs to be included in the broth.

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Before we could whip out our cameras to take some photos, our dishes arrived. We did not even had time to fill up on garlic and soya sauce. Now that is what I call efficient!!

The first thing I did was to try out the broth. It was not as clear as I thought it would be. My initial impression was, totally clear. But it was more like, without sediments and much clearer than normal bak kut tehs around. Since I am not much a fatty meat kind of person, I went directly to that spare ribs. No, not those spare ribs you see at other restaurants, but more like little spare ribs. But they were heavenly. Biting and searing the meat off the bones, I took some rice mixed with the tasty broth and added some diced garlic in soya sauce and mixed them up in my mouth. The mixture of savoury broth, tender and juicy meat, salty and pungent soya garlic set off an explosion of some sorts in my mouth with all taste glands going on overdrive.

And at the end, wash them all down with a nice chilled glass of Coke with assam boi.

The Clear Broth BKT Shop No. 7, Jalan SS 18/1B, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor

Clear Bak Kut Teh it was clear Saturday afternoon, right after circling the never ending maze they call kota kemuning, when our tummy rumbled.

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There is something about us Malaysians; anything is a cause for eating. Be it a celebration, a new house, a new job or even the passing of someone. We find every reason for a feast. So it was nothing new that at 12.30am, we headed on to a well recommended location for a midnight snack. Well, actually it was more like a full fledge after dinner kind of dinner.

Hokkien Mee Shop (Night time only) Jalan Balai Polis, Kuala Lumpur

It was right after a photoshoot that some of us were a little hungry. And since we were nearby, we headed to a ‘sai-chow’ place where the hokkien mee was well known. As mentioned, it was half past midnight, so parking was ample.

It will be a different story if it was a little earlier.

But no matter, right across the stall is an open air parking. It’s also a great place to have supper especially after shopping along Petaling Street as it only takes less than 5 minutes’ walk.

The stall is only open at night. They lay out the tables and chairs by the roadside, so you get the amazing Malaysian road-side stall feeling.

Midnight Snacking Petaling Street Hokkien Mee There is something about us Malaysians; anything is a cause for eating

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We ordered the infamous hokkien mee plus a few others including the fish cake, dry fried ‘hor-fun’ as well as ‘lor-mee’. Unfortunately, you only get two choices of drinks to wash them all down; barley and Chinese tea. The hokkien mee is extremely delicious and you must try it with the sambal for that extra kick. On the side, we had spicy pork internal organs soup. I am not much of an internal organs person, so I just have the soup, and it was extremely tasty. The hot temperature and the spiciness go hand in hand, something like a turbo charger for the soup. And you would be sweating profusely after a bowl or two. I know I did.

All in all, we paid RM60 for the meal to feed 5 hungry people. Not a bad price considering the feast that we had.

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A few years ago I watched a program on Norway. I can’t remember whether was it National Geographic or Discovery or some other TV programs, but images shown from various landscape of that country have been etched in my memory ever since. When BMW launched the latest model of my favorite motorcycle, they shot its promotional video amidst the beautiful landscape too. Now that wife and I are in Scandinavia, we thought we should visit Norway and see the country for ourselves. We skipped our honeymoon when we first got married in early 2007, so this trip makes up for it.

Journey To Norway A few years ago I watched a program on Norway

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We figured that if we fly there, we will miss a lot of the countryside. If we take the train, we will not see as much as well. So we decided to rent a car, buy a road map and have a little adventure finding our way and driving to places we want to go. It's exciting because any place we end up at is new to us. And we can stop anywhere we want or when we want to see something up close. On the day we went to Hertz office to collect our car, we were told they didn’t manage to reserve the car that we booked, a Volvo S40. So, they had to upgrade us to a Volvo S60 instead. This trip started very well. We have a very long journey ahead of us and we have a very nice and comfortable car to travel in. And if we lose our way or run out of money for accommodation, we can even sleep in the car. Now we hope they fail to reserve the car we book in future, every time.

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Hotels in Norway are very expensive, even more so than Sweden. It’s even more expensive during summer holiday season. Travelling off-season will present some inconveniences as a lot of roads will be closed due to snowy conditions, and some places and attractions won’t be open to public as well. To save cost, wife and I devised a plan to stay at youth hostels and to try camping. We loaded up the car with as much food, snacks, cooking utensils, water bottles, clothes, and other survival equipments we can carry. Well, it was actually MY plan. Wife is more of a city girl. She would never think of a camping holiday. I was worried that she couldn’t take it but it turned out to be unfounded. We enjoyed the trip so much that we’re already discussing where we should go and what we should do for our next adventure together!

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We stayed at youth hostels in Oslo, Geilo, Bergen & Hellesylt for first few days. Hostels are not exactly cheap here, but cheaper than hotels. They only have basic facilities. In smaller town (or village), these are basically big wooden structure with multiple rooms. With wooden walls and floors, every movement can be traced, every conversation no longer confidential. If we had to wake up to pee in the middle of the night, it’s best to walk to the bathroom as normal despite the noise instead of trying to keep it quiet by taking slow and soft steps. Other guests might mistake the faint and gentle squeak of the wooden floor as some spirits roaming around, especially for someone who just woke up from a nightmare. These hostels seem to be manned by college kids who are bitter about having to work instead of having a summer vacation of their own.

They were just there to hand us our key and collect money and then leave the rest for us to figure out for ourselves. The service, if exists at all, was impersonal, unlike this one staff at Geilo. He was extremely friendly and enthusiastic about having us around because we were the first guests from Malaysia to have stayed there since he started working 6 years ago. For an average price of around 550 NOK per night, we get breakfast included, free use of common kitchen, toilets and shower. But we had to bring our own bed linens, comforter covers, pillow cases and towels, which we did because we’ve already done some research on staying at hostel. After a traumatizing experience of finding centipede at one hostel in Singapore some time ago, we made sure to check the mattresses and the space underneath the bed. Fortunately, all we find was some unexplained stain in Oslo which we covered with our bed linens. Despite this, there were many other things to feel upbeat about. Breakfast, though simple, was quite good. Wife was also quite happy that she gets to use their kitchen to cook our own food.

Wireless internet access is available at all the hostels, and they’re free since we brought our laptop along. And some of these hostels do have nice view of the surroundings. Plus, we didn’t spend a lot of time in the hostel itself.

The sceneries and sights are out there, and we have a car, so we can’t wait to get back on the road everyday.

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After a few days of high-cost hostel living, we decided to bite the bullet and try camping. No sense paying so much for a place just to sleep and clean up. To our delight, we discovered that camping in Norway is quite enjoyable.

We were able to find camping sites everywhere we go. For an average price of around 150 NOK per night, we get to choose our spot, set up our tent and park the car right beside it. With our waterproof tent, rubber mats and sleeping bags, it was easy to keep ourselves warm and sleep quite comfortably at night. All the camping sites we went to are strategically located. We get to admire the sunset before getting under our tent, wake up to a view of snowcapped mountains and glacier in the distance, have breakfast on the bench under the tree, or grab our rod and start fishing in the river just several meters in front of our tent. Toilet, showers and common kitchen are available for our use, and they’re being kept clean regularly. We can even do our laundry if we want to because they provide washing machines and dryers too, for a small fee, of course. One thing strange here is they charge you for shower, like 10 NOK for 5 minutes or 5 NOK for 4 minutes. All these camping sites charge for limited time of shower. It’s free to use water in kitchen, it’s free to use water at the wash basin, it’s free to fill up our bottles or pails with water using the tap found around the camp sites, but we got to pay for shower. The only explanation we can think of is we’re actually paying for warm water in the shower. If we didn’t want to pay, nothing stops us from collecting warm water from the kitchen or wash basin for our shower. It’s inconvenient, but possible. Nobody does that, of course. It was just a thought. We paid for our shower dutifully. With the time limit imposed, both of us tried not to get in a situation where the water stops flowing when we’re not done yet. It took some time to get used to. It’s quite amusing to think back about the fact that these were some of the most expensive and stressful showers we’ve had.

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What made us enjoy camping most are the people we meet.

There were always a lot of people who park their caravans or campers, or simply set up their tent beside their car like us. And they were very friendly and welcoming. People greeted us, said hi, or just waved when we first arrived. People who offered us their electric kettle when they see us trying to boil water using our pot. People who offered us tips when they see us struggling with our new fishing rod. People who showed us the direction when we're lost.

People who offered piping hot coffee when they see us shivering in the cold of the night. People who offered to share their grilled sausages with us. Everybody did their part to keep the camping site and its facilities clean after use, and naturally we did the same. Nobody made a nuisance of themselves and disturb the peaceful and friendly atmosphere. Everybody was just trying to have a good time enjoying their vacation. We felt totally comfortable and safe. This was a new and very pleasant experience for us. This is better than staying at hostels.

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Photo Album (Norway) 29 DAILYLIFESTYLES

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Driving in Norway is an experience in itself. Apart from the fact that we’re on the right side of the road (we joked about how we’ve been driving on the “wrong” side of the road back home), we also have to face some other peculiarities of driving in Norway. We frequently drive on roads that look like they were cut out of solid rock of some mountain-side, winding their way around fjords and hugging cliffs. Road engineers here probably have difficulties cutting too deep into the mountain because these two-way traffic roads look like they barely fit two cars side by side, and there’s no divider. Many locals won’t even slow down when they go past us. One miscalculated turn or slip of the steering wheel and we’ll have a nasty collision on our hand, or it’s the shortcut into the bottom of the icy lake or swimming with salmons. It’s quite difficult to enjoy the scenery when wife constantly make abrupt moves of pulling her legs to her chest, covering her face with her hands and letting out a scream whenever a fast-moving oncoming truck or bus appears out of the next corner.

My cholesterol intake didn’t kill, my wife’s panic scream would. It freaked her out so much, I had to initiate the slow down or pull over at the side of the road whenever we can.

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One way of alleviating the stress of driving up the mountain is to take the train instead. We took Flåm Railway for the journey up to the mountain station of Myrdal for some sight-seeing. On the 2-hour train ride, we saw rivers that cut through deep ravines, waterfalls cascade down the side of steep snow-capped mountains, and went through tunnels that spiral in and out of mountains. Riding the steepest railway lines in the world, we marveled at the skills of Norwegian railway engineers. Halfway during the train ride, it stopped at a large wooden platform overlooking the upper parts of a monster waterfall. As people got out of the train, music started blaring in the background and a lady with long flowing blonde hair appears on some rocky area close to the waterfall and started dancing. The PA announcer mentioned something about a mysterious lady luring people into the mountains with her singing. I was almost lured into giving her a tight slap for putting up such a cheezy “performance” to attract tourists.

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Norway is famous for its fjords. Fjord is a long, narrow arm of the sea bordered by steep cliffs.

They are usually formed after millions of years of glacial erosion. One of the famous ones is Geirangerfjorden. It is even on UNESCO World Heritage List. It is so famous, we can see many ferries and busloads full of tourists there. Every viewing points are full of tourists. We had to wait for our turn to take photos against the beautiful backdrop. Eager to have a better view, I ventured beyond and ignored the steel cables put up for safety purposes. I went as far as I could and sat at the edge of a cliff, away from everybody else. The view is so good, I could’ve sat there for hours but wife is in the background constantly nagging at me not to go too near the edge, it’s enough, let’s go, etc.

After I vacate my spot, others started taking over. I must commend the Norwegian for being so in tune with the needs of tourists. They built so many nice viewing points that allow unblocked views and photo-taking opportunities.

It is also remarkable that they managed to keep the place so clean despite the number of people passing-by everyday. Either that or tourists here are exceptionally well-behaved. I read somewhere that they frequently re-align winding mountain roads and carry out renovations just so they look better in photos. They do this at attractions all over Norway.

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We also get to do a bit of fishing. It’s my wife’s first time fishing, actually catching a fish, cooking and eating it. My wife has had a lot of firsts with me. The first fish we caught was a bit too blue for us. Not knowing what it was and afraid of it being poisonous, we set it free. We found out later the fish is called Cuckoo Wrasse and there is only one dominant male at any particular stretch of coastline. One special characteristic of this fish is that females have the ability to change sex. This happens when the dominant male in that area dies or disappear. Due to its color, we can tell the one we caught is a male. Females have orange head, body and tail.

It's a good thing we threw it back into the sea, otherwise some poor female will have to undergo painful sex change operation. We also caught two other harmless-looking fish which we found out later to be haddock. Sprinkled with salt and pepper, wrapped in aluminum foil, my wife oven-baked them. We wanted to try fishing for salmon but were told by locals that there's a virus/parasite (some say virus, some mentioned parasite) problem affecting wild salmon currently, decimating their population. Researchers are still trying to find the cause and fix the problem. We did see live salmons at the Atlantic Sea Park, one of the largest seawater aquariums in northern Europe. Salmons kept here are so big, we can’t stop thinking about sashimi.

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We get to do some hiking, exploring, drive through countless tunnels bored into rocky mountain, winding roads, hairpin bends, drive along fjords, across fjords on car ferries, past waterfalls, snow-capped mountains, and visit many beautiful places with breathtaking sceneries that we’ve never experienced before. We went home tired but happy, rich with fond memories but empty pocket and bank account. This road trip was worth getting broke for.

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Photo Album (Norway) 43 DAILYLIFESTYLES

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DailyLifestyles D ailyLifestyles S Studio tud dio DailyLifeStyles Studio opened its doors today at the heart of Desa Sri Hartamas with ample parking right at its door steps. Right after the ribbon cutting, the drums sounded and brought to life the twin golden lions.

Guests were then entertained by the lions’ antics, often teasing the guests, much to the delights of the young ones who were present.

DailyLifeStyles Studio then held an open house where photography forums members were invited to test drive the studio. The response was overwhelming and the guests who tested the studio were very happy.

Opens B esides studio rental, rental, DailyLifeStyles DailyLiffeStyles SStudio tudio off ers various vario ous services services which Besides offers include ccommercial ommercial and an nd w edding g p phot og graph p y as w ell as p phot og graph p y wedding photography well photography classes which ccaters aters ffor orr various various le vels of photography photography skills. skkills. Also Also available available levels ar e organized organized all-in-one all-in-on ne photoshoots photoshoots where where photographers photogrraphers need not are w orry about about anything anything else e except except turning turning up with the cameras. cameras. worry FFor or more more information infformation about ab bout the studio and services services offered, offerred, please contact contact the studio at at :

DailyLifeStyles D ailyLifeStyles Studio Stu udio 2-1,, Jalan 27/70A,, D Desa esa SSri ri Har Hartamas, tamas, 50480 K Kuala uala LLumpur umpu ur TTel el : +60-12-382 7733 Web W eb : h http://www.dailylifestyles.com/studio ttp://www w.dailylifestyles.com/studio Email : studio@dailylifestyles.com studio@dailyliffestyles.com

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Up and Cup Rocking!

Remember when you were in school and how you used to stick your drink packets and plastic bags through fences instead of in the rubbish bin? Well, that was what inspired Andy Uprock to turn it into something artsy and something creative; Cup Rocking.

Andy is a Sydney-based artist who is currently on a world tour to showcase this unique form of art never seen at a scale like this before. Using a fence as his canvas, Andy uses regular disposable cups and sticks them into the diamond-shaped holes and transforms what used to be a bland fence into a piece of art, turning streets and public areas into floating walk-by galleries. Since pioneering the cup rocking trend, Andy has been leaving his mark on many cities around the world which includes Sydney (of course), New York, Barcelona and more recently, Kuala Lumpur.

Besides cup rocking, Andy is into other forms of art as well as illustrations. His passion also includes dancing. He is unable to determine when he is not working as his passion is his work. So when he is creating some art, is he working? Or is he chilling by doing something he likes to do? However, he always has time for movies or chilling by the beach. As his work takes him places, Andy has been to many places like those mentioned above.

When he travels, Andy likes to ensure that he makes full use of his time. He often coincide his travels to a location with an exhibition or a show. So as he mixes work and play, he too mixes travel with work as well.

And like any other globetrotter, Andy is into all kinds of food from all ethnicity which he loves to try whenever he visits a new place. He particularly likes spicy food which is why I am sure he will enjoy his stay here in Malaysia where you can never be short of spicy food.

Andy grew up with lots of vegetables. So kids, if you want to have a creative mind with an eye for creativity and art, eat your greens ok? But of course, Andy do take meat and he especially loves fish.

It was fun talking with Andy, and fascinating watching him turn a simple fence into something interesting and colourful.

Up and Cup Rocking!

Andy Uprock

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So early on Sunday morning, the grouch got out of his comfortable bed made his way to Lake Gardens, or Taman Tasik Perdana. I was snapping like an irritated tortoise at the early morning joggers, jogging merrily pass me as I made my way to the parking and rendezvous point. I cursed and swore at the idiot who had to park outside the designated parking lot making me squeeze my little car in what remains of an empty parking lot. Stepping out of my car, I was immediately greeted with a whiff of the early morning at a park. The fresh morning dew mixed with the green grass and leaves with a hint of oak-ish tree hit me like a splash of refreshing cool water on your face after a long day at work. I was like a totally new man. I literally skipped towards the rest who were already gathering next to the car park.

What a wonderful way to start a photoshoot.

I do not know about the lot of you reading this now, but I am not a morning person. I want to sleep away my mornings on weekends. I may be cheerful during the later part of the day, but early in the morning, I am a grouch.

A Walk and a Photoshoot at the Park

There were only a handful of us, and while Khai went off to ensure refreshments were properly chilled, Jason briefed the rest on what we were going to do. We leisurely walked to the first location. The morning was overcast, and the weather was cool due to the overnight rain. Emily, our model for the day, probably also just had a whiff of the magical aroma of the morning and were very cheerful and accommodating. I was delighted to see the participants so happy and interacting with the model and us.

After several locations and outfits, with us exchanging and testing each other’s gear, it was time to adjourn. The sun was just peeking through the clouds and was about a couple of hours away from getting to its peak position.

I do not know about the lot of you reading this now, but I am not a morning person

It was a nice morning. We should do this more often.

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Work wear can be a little tricky. Flash too many trends and you risk being centre of office goss. Too conservative and you risk being completely forgotten (and still be the centre of office goss). So where do you draw the line? Here are some practical, tried-and-tested tips on striking the balance without jeopardizing your chances at that fat year-end bonus you so deserve.

Give your wardrobe this simple overhaul and you might just give your career a nudge upwards. It’s time you grow out of being a mere wallflower.

Colour Thy World.

Yes, we all know that dark shades create that heavenly slimming effect. “Let’s wear only black and brown and navy!” Seriously, who are we kidding?

While monotonous shades are safe, they look just… blah. Colours on the other hand, perk personalities up. If, for some strange reasons, you are intimidated by bright colours, work carefully around a bright ‘centrepiece’. It could be a top, a piece of jewellery or a dress in a bright hue.

Match the centerpiece with neutral shades or go back to black, if you must. Remember that bright colours attract so having just one piece of item in bright shade is sufficient to make your outfit a little more memorable.

WORK THAT MAGIC Work wear can be a little tricky

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It’s Okay To Be Trendy.

To begin with, trends are fun. However, they can also be completely merciless and butcher your career altogether. Play safe by sticking to the age-old rule; one trend at a time. If leggings are all the rage, by all means don it but keep everything else toned down. Choose one trendy piece of accessory, top or bottom at a time. I know we like to think that we could have the cake and eat it too, but let’s not be greedy.

International trends that are weather-appropriate may also sometimes look out of place in our tropical paradise so exercise caution. That tweed jacket may look chic if the air-conditioning system in your office blasts snowy air but if your job requires you to be on the go, (i.e. meeting clients over lunches, attending road shows or seminars), leave trends made of heavy fabrics where they belong – the store.

Fashion Styling by Trish Clothes by Blook Models: Sanny Lee & Meeone Foo, DailyLifestyles Studio Photography by: JasonW & Kamkuey, DailyLifestyles Studio Makeup and Hairdo: models’ own 1 DAILYLIFESTYLES

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Put On That Dress.

What is it with women who fear dresses? Possibly one of the most commanding clothing items, good dresses are almost certain to create a positive impact. Dresses that are well-cut and made of quality fabric ascertain femininity but this need not necessarily be at the expense of strength. Women could in fact appear stronger in dresses – it is like saying with oozing confidence, “Hey, I am a woman and I am proud to be one”.

The idea of a good dress depends on your working environment. Conservative industries such as law, medicine and finance may not be the best field to experiment with bright geometrical prints so opt for the classic wrap dress in block shades instead. And if you are in the ‘fun’ industries; media, public relations, entertainment or even sales, shame on you if you do not already experiment with dresses.

Fashion Styling by Trish Clothes by Blook Models: Sanny Lee & Meeone Foo, DailyLifestyles Studio Photography by: JasonW & Kamkuey, DailyLifestyles Studio Makeup and Hairdo: models’ own 1 DAILYLIFESTYLES

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The Mitsubishi Airtrek is a cross between a car and an MPV/4x4. The first Airtrek was not much of an attention seeker. It was also not very popular due to its bland looks, even worse interior and mediocre performance. Then Mitsubishi dropped the bomb and introduced to us the Airtrek Turbo. A complete package of spaciousness, performance and comfort.

Plus with subtle skirtings, turned the original Airtrek into a mean looking maching, and even meaner performance.

Alright, comfort is not on par with other family sedans, but bear in mind that underneath the hood of this beast is a rally-derived 2.0 Litre DOHC 16 Valves Turbo-charged monster. The exact same monster underneath the hood of a Mitsubishi Evolution VII; albeit a detuned version. And driving the immense 240bhp to all four wheels is a 5-speed automatic gearbox, which you can ‘play’ with via rocker buttons on the steering wheel.

Turbo-charged Family car The Mitsubishi Airtrek is a cross between a car and an MPV/4x4

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Driving position on the airtrek is similar to a standard sedan car, except that you sit higher with better overall view out the front. The dash board is very simple with the meters being clear and very readable. The shifter is located on the dashboard, right under the air cond controls. This leaves ample space at the centre console, which Mitsubishi made full use of by having lots of chubby holes, drawers and places to keep you loose items like mobile phones, smart tag transponder and coins. The interior is very cosy, with all buttons, levels and gears within reach. The seats are not too hard, unlike most sporty versions of many models. It is just right I would say. A little too soft and you would be feeling like sitting on a easy chair, not a very good thing in a car, especially during long distance driving when you might just doze off because it is way too comfortable. Looking out the front, you see the air scoop, reminding you that you are not sitting in a normal everyday car.

The Airtrek behaves like a normal everyday car.

But do not push it beyond 3000 rpm mark. This is where the turbo kicks in hard and although you are not pushing the accelerator pedal any further, the car continues to build up speed. Plant your right foot down and you will send both speedo meter and RPM meter racing each other to the red line, and an invisible force pushes you back to you seat. And it keeps on climbing until you ease your foot off the pedal. Throttling down to a more reasonable speed, the Airtrek behaves much like any other car. Except that you will notice it’s bulk.

So if you have about RM80,000.00 and are looking out for a large family car without sacrificing performance, look no further than the Airtrek. The only thing you would have to ensure if that your foot is not heavy, otherwise you would end up with a high petrol bill.

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As I was eating dinner with an old mate of mine, I can’t seem to help but notice a strange looking watch he was wearing. Knowing this mate of mine is not as trendy when it comes to watches I had to ask him about it just to fulfill my curiosity.

He told me it is a watch phone, yup you heard me rite it’s a WATCH PHONE. It is produced by Hyundai and they named it the W100. I was really intrigue by the idea of a watch with a capability of a phone just like hi-tech gadgets from spy movies like James Bond, and the best thing is that the W100 also had a discreet build-in camera…. AWESOME. At that point I knew I had to introduce this phone in this month’s magazine. The W100 is a Tri-band phone with a touch screen. So in order to navigate the phone, there is a stylus provided which is neatly tucked under the wrist band. You can SMS using this phone, hear music/radio using the Bluetooth provided. It really does have the full capability of phone.

Hyundai W100 – Gadgety Gadget As I was eating dinner with an old mate of mine, I can’t seem to help myself by noticing a strange looking watch he was wearing

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The integrated MP3 player and camera files can be stored into a microSD card which is slotted at the side of the watch. To me perhaps the Hyundai W100 phone is one of the most interesting gadget of the year.

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