Last month, I attended the Ironman triathlon at Langkawi. Will post more on that event soon.

Anyway, while Kevin was busy shooting the triathletes, I found something rather interesting on the ground…

Just last week, I have finally gotten my shoes for the Malaysian Footwear Design Competition I joined in September. Really like how the actually shoes turned out based on the design I sent in. Well, unfortunately I won’t be able to post any pictures of the shoes, not till the competition is over. Most likely would be mid of December, as I was told.

Anyway, have you ever wonder how our shoes are made? Or where is it made? In Malaysia? Definitely.

The guy over here is applying a layer of glue onto the base of the shoe to attached the sole onto it.

Different people are in charge of doing certain part of the shoes. It sure reminds me of Santa’s little elf working in the factory.

This lady here is in charge of producing the paper pattern for the shoes design. Very similar like how we would draw paper pattern for clothes.

The guy over here is adding cushion on top of the sole. This is only done for certain shoes like Hush Puppies. Well, if you’re aware that that was one of their selling point, which is “comfort”.

Those are plastic shoe moulds, I think? Not sure what it is called. It comes in different sizes based on human feet size and also different length and height for different heels height.

If you’re thinking of getting your shoes custom made, you might just need to get one of these - to fit your feet.

This is how leather are cut into pieces. Machines are used to cut leather because leather itself are comparatively thicker and harder to cut than PVC.

And this is the guy who made my shoes. Well, he’s the boss actually. Very cool guy who know a lot about shoes.

Here are some little facts that I know…

• Not all shoes you see in the stores are made in the same factory because different factories only made a certain type of shoes. For example, men and ladies, heels and flat, etc.
• Some shoes are comparatively more expensive than the other because of the material that are used as well as the layers of sponge added for comfort. While some are expensive because of the amount of swarovski crystal used on them.
• Swarovski crystal are actually very cheap to get. Especially if you get them from China. In bulk, of course.
• 2,000 pair of Vincci shoes (for one design) take 2-3 days to finished.
• In overseas, Vincci shoes are sold as VNC.
• The material used on Hush Puppies shoes are all imported from overseas.

Mum used to complain about me not getting rid of my old shoes. One of the few reasons why I kept them for so long was because they were very comfortable to wear and I didn’t had another other comfortable shoes which I could wear for hours.

So I finally got rid of them and this gave me more reason to go shopping for new pair of shoes to replace them. And so I did.

Even in life, we got to learn to let go of the old and move on (and change) to something new. Be it bad habits, things that we have kept since childhood, or event things we do not used. When I was a kid, I used to hold on to this blanket of mine for years until it got torn into pieces and I had to throw it away. There was also a teddy bear. It has sentimental value, you know. Well, that was years ago.

My Chinese school teacher once told me that, every festive New Year, people buy new clothes (it’s not a must must la, but they say it’s better) to welcome the New Year. I’m sure some of you have of this. I personally do not follow any of those ritual but I sure wouldn’t mind getting something new each year. Or even each day or each month. LOL! Sigh. Girls just love to shop. *grin*

Anyway… Have you ever kept/hold on to something which you find it hard to let go/get rid?

This is what I eat when I’m too lazy to eat out… Salad!

Buy a box of lettuce. They usually come in twos (2).  Then get some dressing. It can be anything - mayonnaise, thousand island, etc. Salad dressings usually come in bottles, but you can get them in small packets if you don’t need that much.

It’s easy to prepare. Just wash and then it’s ready to eat. For lazy people like me.

I bought Balsamic and Japanese dressing, just to try it out.

You can either pour the dressing into a separate bowl to dip or you can pour it over the lettuce. I prefer the first one. Of course, you can always eat the lettuce on its own but it may be a little bitter for your liking.

If you’re ever at Cameron Highland, make sure you drop by the veggie farms. They have plenty of lettuce there.

This is a tale of a depressed dog,who eventually decided to commit suicide by dashing into the middle of the highway… then end with a detailed description of the crash.

Few months back, David Knight from San Jose, California emailed me CouchSurfing.com regarding his shows in KL. For those who have not heard of CouchSurfing.com, it’s a website for travelers and people around the world to interact and get to know each other. You can either host a traveler or meet up with the locals when you’re at their country.

Back to the topic.

David Knight, Californian electro-acoustic singer songwriter, a very talented guy. His style of music includes some gadgets, an acoustic guitar and his vocals. - Source from here and here.

I managed to attend few of his gigs and they were really good. His music is mind blowing and out of this world! Okay, I over exaggerated on that one. Well, if you ever check out his music, you would say it’s a little of Cold Play with more momentum. (That’s how I would define it). Feel free to check out his music on his MySpace. David was also a former singer from the band - One Day Symphony. You can check out their music at their MySpace.

This was taken on Sat 19 July - The Apartment, KLCC

This one on Fri 25 July - Acoustic Jaya @ Jaya One (with Jerome Kugan)

And this one on Wed 30 July - The Attic

Apart from that, Kev also did a photo shoot with David. It was another outdoor shoot with lighting.

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For pictures of the photo shoot, click here.

Few days ago, OK! Mag called to inform me that I’ve won something from the magazine. It didn’t ring a bell at the moment till they they asked did I join the Sex and the City contest? The first thing that came into my mind was “Did I win the perfume?” because that was the main reason I entered that competition. But she mentioned two (2) movie passes instead. I was a little disappointed though as I’ve already watched the movie. But nevertheless, I could always give it away and make someone else’s day.

I’ve watch Sex and the City and I really enjoyed it. It’s about four (4) best friends sharing and going through life and relationships together in New York. It’s a love story which I think girls would enjoy but guys might find it hard to watch though. So for those girls who are planning to drag their boyfriends along, I would say better not. Hehe… Aside from that, there are lots of fashion in this movie too – shoes, handbags, dresses and more.

So I dropped by their office the next day after the phone call to pick up the passes at Boulevard. The guy who hand me the passes also gave me two (2) passes to Zohan as well! That’s like double bonus!

He: Although you didn’t win Zohan, but I’m giving it to you anyway.
Me: *shocked* Oh, okay. Thanks you!

I guess some things do happened for a reason, whether is it for the better or worst. If it’s happens, there’s no way we can stop it for happening but if it comes with a warning, there is a slight chances of preventing it from happening.

It was indeed a misfortune event and there’s no word could describe how I feel towards it.

Read further only if you have a strong heart…

Short note:

• After Friday’s midpoint interview and assignment submission, I’ve finally felt my heavy burden have finally been lifted up. But that’s not the end yet. Final exam is just next week and although semester break may be around the corner but that’s just the beginning of a new chapter. I called it the “nightmare”.

• Some of my friends know very well that I hardly watch the television unless I really got nothing else to do. Well, that’s not my point. My point is, I only started watching “Sex in the City” Season 1 just few days ago and I find the whole thing rather educational. In the good way. Don’t get me wrong.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

At the recent WCIT 2008 event, my mum won something…

Well, I bet all you can think of is a laptop because FTec only know for their laptops…

It’s not just any ordinary laptop. In fact, it’s a Smartbook by FTec! (some of you probably have heard about it by now)

Of course, this is nothing compared to the HP mini that Kenny owns. From one glance, it is obvious that you would think it’s a laptop for kids. No doubt about it. In fact, some of the schools in Malaysia are already using Smartbook for their classrooms. I think the laptop is rather cute (in the sense, ugly but adorable), but then again, I can’t complain since my mum have got it for free! Come to think of it, this laptop worth over RM1k. Although I wouldn’t get one myself, but I’m sure it will come in handy if I were to travel somewhere for a few days and just needed a laptop to check my mails or so.

From what I was told by my mum, the FTec Smartbook is durable in the sense that it can even survive a hard fall, as it was demonstrated during the WCIT event. The Smartbook may not be as efficient in performance wise as it is build for simple usage, e.g. check mail, writing notes, but I guess it has it advantages of being lite weight and durability in places with nature disaster.

Man, why does it sound so research like? Anyway, if you like to know more about the Smartbook, feel free to look up on the Internet. Else, you can view some of the resources from here, here, here, here, here and here.

It’s finally here!!!!!!!!!!

Two (2) weeks ago, Emporio Armani was having promotion on their new fragrance - Diamond, at KLCC. The perfume was officially launched last year June and Malaysia only got it recently? Normal la.

The bottle didn’t look as pretty as I thought it would be, but the fragrance was definitely a turn on!

And the best thing is, my friends bought it for me as my belated birthday! A big thank to my dear friend Alex and his gang. *Grin*