FREEBIE!!! - Long Acrylic Bead Necklace

(well, at least I think it is acrylic). LOL.

Again, bought this in Sarawak. A plastic full. But now it is half full (positive...positive...). I am giving away one long necklace to one lucky Garlic & Butter reader. So, if you REALLY want this, email me your cutest photo. Just the photo. You don't need to paste any poster, be my follower, publish my link, write any story, etc etc like other [lame] blog contest giveaways.

Leave your blog address in my comment box. My fashionista cousin, Cuna, will choose the winner. Yes, she knows what she's doing. (btw, how often you came across people with the name C.U.N.A?)

Just to give you the idea on its length :
(Thanks to the sexy model, Miss Kristin Shamini)

I have a lot to give : DESIGN 21 + UNESCO

(Fakri email me asking for updates)
One and only thing that keeps me occupied during lunch hour is Design 21. It is a social [DESIGN] network. Unlike any other social networks that people solely joined for networking *duh*, Design 21 is a social design network. We strongly believe social change can happen through design.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a partner of Design 21, together with Fellisimo. Being a social design network that has been endorsed by the UN for quite sometimes makes me truly confident that my effort and time spent for Design 21 everyday, worth it....

I learned a lot from others (I met a couple of good industrial designers there *wink*). That's the main reason WHY i haven't post anything for a while :o) LOL. Every time I logged in, I will be busy getting inspired.. until 2.00pm. Well... I will participate more in the future.

So, come on my designer friends, join Design 21! And start designing for a cause! We can make a difference.

I am also on these..

WINDOWS 7

I am using Windows 7 and it is TOTALLY COOL!! I love the sticky notes... the snipping tool... just to name a few (too few, eh?). Still exploring. Very blogging-friendly.

AM I LUCKY OR WHAT??

Last year I entered online contest by Emmagem.com + OSIM and Clarins. One on beauty-related stuff and another on green living. Both are my fortes. I don't think I stand a chance (OK, a very slim chance) because there are thousands (if not millions) people online every second and they will at least came across one of the contests by chance.

After two internetless weeks @ Borneo, I have the reason to be happy checking my emails. I won both contests. I will collect Clarins hamper after publishing this post (Yippie!) and will attend the Emmagem.com + OSIM prize giving ceremony on Friday. Alhamdulillah...

To sustain or not to sustain?

I am a member of The Designers Accord. An good organisation that gathers do gooders / good doers from all over the world :o)
I want to share some simple and witty (yet very TRUE) responses from TDA's online survey. Of course there are other great [and technical] ideas but these are the one that grabbed my attention :
WHAT 'S YOUR GREATEST SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGE?
- Removing plastic from my life.
- Cost.
- Food packaging. In the supermarket, everything I eat is packed at least twice.
- Not using the latest material just because it is sustainable. Just use less.
- Getting middle America to actually get it!
- Depression over how much there is to do — I’m tired!
- Quoting Daniel Hebert-Moto: “it’s complicated stuff”
- Eco-friendly materials are too expensive!
- Affording it. Sustainable solutions needs to be the most economical in order to be adopted (and should be eventually).
- Training people to design and make furniture while questioning whether the world really needs any more furniture.
- Convincing people that we have spent the past 50 years making a mess, and should now spend 50 years cleaning it up.

Speaking of which, I would like to present the latest addition to toil's family - GO GWEEN!!

I am currently on these ..

The decade that was ....

...

Another idea materialised! : SYAZWAN CHAIR

I love sketching. I love designing cloth, furniture and practical solution for daily life. I always wanted to study industrial design but I guess it wasn't that famous in the 90s (or I have limited resources back then), so I just settled for architecture.

Beside my lil book of howtos, I also have an "Idea Book" that I keep in my drawer at the office. It is full of sketches and of course, ideas. One day, my dad browsed through the sketches and he saw "Syazwan chair". It actually an S-shaped chair [and the S is for Shamrizal - my dearest husband), but later I changed it to Syazwan, name of my kids.

5ive of us went to my in-laws house on Saturday and when we came back, my dad said,"Come here, I want to show you something". To my surprise.... I saw Syazwan chair at the corner of the porch. THE Syazwan chair. Yes, he hired a carpenter to build THE chair. They bought two types of wood, cengal emas and meranti. My dad chose cengal emas (it is a very solid wood and the chair is sooooo heavy!). They made the chair within a few hours.

I love it. I love it. I love it.
I can look at my hubby (OK, or my kids) whenever we spend our lazy Sundays - reading or chatting - on THE chair. It is easier to teach my kids to read and write, and suap nasi there.

I was informed that a couple of our neighbours dropped by and captured some photographs of THE chair during the construction.

[smiling]

chocolate pudding

One boring evening, I surfed the web on any recipe that uses CHOCOLATE as the main ingredient. And I came across a very simple CHOCOLATE PUDDING recipe. I SMSed myself the recipe (going paperless now) and I gathered the ingredients in 5 minutes (I told u it is simple.. I have it all in the kitchen). I made the pudding twice for the whole family. They like it very much and the kids fought over it.

Thanks Kak Hana for ordering 300 cups of chocolate pudding for Irfan and Ifrah's aqiqah. I made it for fun. Experimenting on the possibility to start a chocolate pudding business. But, Naahhhh.... It is time consuming and we have a lack of fridge space. Plus, I am pretty occupied with works and 3 kids so NO, I dont take any order (*hint*hint* for Azah and Wana). LOL.

Hotel Review 02 : Grand Hyatt Hotel, Singapore

I have a chance to accompany a group of VVIPs to Singapore for an official visit in August 2009. It was a very fun trip although it involved protocols from the moment VVIPs arrived at KLIA until the moment they took off from KLIA after the trip.

We stayed at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Singapore. One of Singapore hotels with Halal kitchen. So I was told. This 5-star hotel is located at the heart of Singapore. About 15 minutes from the airport.

The staff are very friendly and helpful. The food are great. I like the room. They have kiblat direction sign. The interior is very clean and neat. I have yet to post my review in TripAdvisor.

Hotel Review 01 : Imperial Boutec Hotel, KK, Sabah

I travel a lot to Borneo in 2009. And for every trip, I will make sure I stayed at different hotel. Don't ask me why. I just enjoyed doing it.

Imperial Boutec Hotel is a 4-star boutique hotel located at the 7th floor of the famous shopping complex - the Warisan Square - in the middle of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Only 10 minutes from the airport (RM30 for taxi). I reserved a court-room without knowing what it is (I guess that is the bad side of an online reservation). FYI, court room is a windowless room. RM170++/night. It is only a 5-10 minutes walking distance to Philipino Market (and seafood stalls at night).

Boutique hotel is a term popularised in the States and the UK to describe intimate, usually luxurious or quirky hotel environments. Boutique hotels differentiate themselves from larger chain/branded hotels by providing personalized accommodation and services / facilities. Sometimes known as "design hotels" or "lifestyle hotels". Typically boutique hotels are furnished in a themed, stylish and/or aspirational manner. They usually are considerably smaller than mainstream hotels, often ranging from 3 to 50 guest rooms.

You can surf the net for the detail on room prices, location and all. And you can [click here] for my honest review on this hotel via TripAdvisor. I am not putting it here, just sharing photographs.
I just love to experience the different ambiance, detailings and the hotel concept.

Nabil loves Bean

ohh... they are ONE and FOUR

It is hard to believe Nabil is already FOUR (Well, it is still hard to believe I already have 3 KIDS *wink* sungguh laju). It was all happened very fast. Two days prior, baby Nazran turned ONE. Yay! Two birthdays in one week. I have a greaatttttttttt ideas for their party decoration. But, we have yet to pick a date.

Corporate Club Annual Dinner : Retro Night

The preparation went smoothly. Be it for the costume for the whole family or the Retro hall itself. Kudos to all, esp the decoration team. I know you guys worked hard towards the end.
Now, let's talk about the baju. I've spent quite some times to search for the right retro cloth for my kids. To no avail. Since I decided to be a hippie myself, so, I bought two tie-n-dye mini dresses and transformed them to be a little hippie shirt for my boys. It only took a few hours. Skill : Basic.
Then, the dress for me. Tie-n-dye. I planned to make my own, but since I am pretty occupied with piles of work, so, I bought it. I have different [great] plan, but it turned out to be otherwise. The combination was actually disastrous, well, hippie to combine with the classic 70s granny look, but since people liked it, well, I dont mind bringing back the hamper :o) [thank you! thank you!] So, I assume I managed to pull it off, despite constant mumbling by my sister - "what is so retro about your dressing?", "how do you define retro by this?" and bla bla bla... It was actually amusing. HEHE.
I dont eat much because I am wearing a [very] high heels and my mom's sunglasses. Disoriented and pretty hard to balance. So a trip to the *yummy* stall outside the hall seems impossible. LOL.

Retro Night Aftermath : The queen is folding the vinyl floor cover. Permaisuri2kan selalu kena buat kerja amal...

of RAYA Prep 2009

I am blessed with a wonderful and hardworking husband. A very good cook. Our food preparation for Raya was smooth. I made 3 cookies, but ONE couldnt make it to Raya. It TOTALLY finished within 24 hours. Kids...

Nabil (and his cousin Haziq) helped  decorating the house, change the curtain/sofa covers and vacuuming the house. 

Nazreen helped with the ketupat. 

My personal chef was working hard in the kitchen until midnight. The food are TASTY!

RETRO 101

The Corporate Club is holding their annual dinner on 30^th October 2009 @ Kelab Golf Perkhidmatan Awam. The theme chosen is RETRO.

Retro is a term used to describe, denote or classify culturally outdated or aged trends, modes, or fashions, from the overall postmodern past.

Last year, I won the Best Dress (Female). This year, well.... let others to have it. I really into fashion and this is the least I can do to help. NOW, for those out there who will be attending the dinner, here are some pointers that I wanted to share. ELEMENTS of RETRO.

Bold patterns

Bright un-coordinated colours

Polkadots

Bell-bottom jeans

Big sunglasses

Funky jacket (Commonly Adidas Classic)

Bright red lipstick

Pampadour hairstyle

Ponytail

Heavily-lined eyes

Platform shoes

Mini dress

Maxi

Flared trousers

Kaftan

Knitwear

HUGE shoulder pad (Think of Dallas / Dynasty)

Peep-toe pump

etc...etc...[ endless ]

I received some questions regarding the theme :

Dear Garlic, I am more interested in Hippie style. Can I be a hippie that night?

Well, retro can be anything before the 90s. Hippie is specifically in the 70s. Yes, you can.

(Info : Hippie style – head band, tie-and-dye shirt, bell-bottom, long hair, tight shirt for men, gypsy-style skirt)

Dear Mrs Butter, I am a cute girl but I have a wide waistline and huge bottom. What do you suggest?

I would suggest an empire-cut maxi dress.

Garlic Ma’am, I love vintage clothing.

Sir, that is a statement. Not a question.

Garlic Ma’am, I love vintage clothing. Is it okay if I wear one of those for the dinner? Sorry, I accidentally click on the “SEND” button before I finished typing earlier.

Oh, alright. Vintage is term used to attribute something as old or antique. Retro is vintage. You can wear them. You can also go for Victorian or Edwardian. They are vintages as well.

Where can I find something RETRO?

There are many online stores and blogs that sell used retro clothing. Due to the strict garlicandbutter blog policy, I could not publish them.

Off the record ;

[ or you could just RENT them ]

But, I have a dear cousin who collect and sell retro clothing [only] to her close friends. I borrowed a few for Retro 101 education purposes, snap some photos and I mix-n-match them with retro accessories. In case anyone interested, she is selling them at RM10 – RM15 per piece. Stay tune (still updating).

Dear Mdm.. u mentioned kaftan... is it the one we usually wear to bed?
That is the basic kaftan. The Hippies of the 60s had brought with them clothes from other ethnic groupings which had often never even been seen before in the west. They were suited as glamour dressing when sewn in exotic fabrics and edged in silver, gold or other metallic embroidered trims. I've attached relevant photos for you, Puan Zoora.

siapa nak tengok orang bogel

Reading Sofa

During Raya break, we scout around for WHITE furnitures. Now I know I am very particular when it comes to furniture selection. After visiting 10 (or was it 13?) furniture centres, I did not find anything that suit me and out of pity [ to our tired kids after running around in 13 furniture centres ], I bought these.

We call these "Reading Sofa"s. They HAVE TO read a book if they want to sit on it. Am trying to create a reading habit in the family. Suprisingly, they are getting attached to books (walaupun tengok gambar saja) - since the sofas are soft and irresistable :o)

WORLD HABITAT DAY 2009

Happy World Habitat Day 2009.
[ This is mt 100th post ]

Bed oh bed

My brother went to Germany last August. He took some interesting photos. I like these beds with sleeping bags. Mmm… I need to travel more.

I have a lot to give : UNICEF

I've been involved with UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) for quite sometimes. (Being a mother of three, it really means A LOT to help unfortunate kids around the world).

Couple of months back I received a certificate of appreciation from them. Not to mention endless letter from Mr Youssouf himself telling me how my contribution had helped a 10 yo girl - who works as a brick breaker since she was 8 - go to school and learn to count. She is now able to tell when her boss (intentionally) miscalculate the brick, so he can pay her lower. *jahat..jahat*


















Last time there were a group of celebrity came and join our activity. I didnt know him but since everyone snap their photo like crazy, so, here it is... I manage to get a few. Just to show it to my hubby and ask him, "Siapakah orang-orang ini?"