You don't have to say cheese to smile

Not saying cheese at Cristo Rei, Dili.

And I say it again: You don't have to say cheese to smile.

It's just a bit hard to smile these past few days and I need a reminder. Already failing my new year resolution? Nooo! The washing machine is broken, I just dropped my newly bought watch on the street and scratched it, having fever and flu for the past few days. OMG, the list of things gone wrong just goes on and on (talk about complaining...). The only time I smiled today was when I passed by a friend I worked with 4 years ago at the escalator this afternoon.

You don't really have to climb a hill to watch a beautiful sun rising over the sea to make you smile. But hell yeah it helps! Urmm... the hill in question is like a thousand miles away, so that's not going to happen anytime soon, haha.

Still not saying cheese on the Swiss Alps.

So maybe I need to go to a beach somewhere or climb something to free my ever-occupied mind. I've probably been thinking too much these days; I almost forgot to pay for my food at a restaurant today :(

Sun chasing

Sunset near Devil Mountain, Western Sahara.

Amidst all the hubbub of the just-past party-filled hedonistic celebration of a western New Year and the looming paint-the-town-red Chinese New Year (it's going to be the year of the water snake), I hardly had the time to come up with my own new year resolution... until now that is.

To be calm, happy and to smile always. Not asking too much, I would say. Recently, I watched a video of Tony Blair's sister-in-law on her conversion to Islam in which she mentioned how calm she feels afterwards - a feeling I noticed is shared by many new converts. Indeed, the word Islam itself relates to being peaceful, and that is how I believe I should be. Zen is the way forward :)

Sunrise over Cristo Rei, Timor Leste.

Another thing I believe in is the notion that a happy team is a good team. As the leader among my colleagues, I shoulder the responsibility to bring out the best in all of us, and to do that I cannot have a bitter group of people. While acknowledging my bosses' reliance on the organisation's productivity-driven vision and mission to achieve success, I also noticed that an unhappy team tends to fall apart and therefore fail. Now I would not let that happen under my watch, would I?

Afternoon sun at Salerno, Italy.

And it goes without telling that a smile is the by-product of being calm and happy inside. A smile is charity, and it definitely makes you look more attractive :)

I hope all goes well this year, as I have plans to chase the sun in places I have never been before (as a reward for my upcoming successes)!

Fantasy of fear

I know this is old news to some, but hey, I hate liars. Human lives were lost in an instant and my fellow Muslims were branded 'terrorist' because of nothing. Plus now I can't bring an innocent bottle of mineral water past the scanner at the airport. Whose fault is that?

Such is the power of fear spread through an inflated lie, exaggerated and manipulated to some people's own ends. Conjuring imaginary fear to the extent of unnecessary paranoia, a laughable one at that (watch the videos). What a waste of emotions and loads of money nonetheless. I'm not sure what those liars gain in return, other than enemies and haters. Guilty until proven otherwise, I say.

And what's with 21.12.12 being the end of the world? I hope that lie was not deliberate...

Spring 2013 is (almost) here

It's still autumn/winter 2012/13 and what is to come next season is already upon us.. and it's sure is refreshing. Fun hues to perk up your day and those twists on old classics are a nice touch! So let's see what's big this spring/summer 2013, shall we...

Bright colours (e.g. white, orange, purplish pink, mint) on a background of the usual pastels. White shirts are abound, and those lime green loafers at Hackett's first ever runway show sure look nice.

Metallic and shiny fabrics. Designers at Daks made it a point to make some pieces shiny for spring/summer 2012/13, while those sexy butterfly-inspired things at Roberto Cavalli are nothing but. Burberry next season opts for all things metallic - maybe too intimidating for some.

Cummerbunds. Les Hommes and Daks are proponents of the thing but definitely not me. Where would I wear it to?

White leather shoes and gladiator sandals. Spring/summer always ensures things are light and breezy. People at Louis Vuitton and Gucci sure love their white leather shoes. If you want to go overboard with your gladiator sandals (and other ancient Roman stuff) you can head straight to Versace, but Corneliani and Givenchy offer some nice leather sandals as well. I'm so needing a pair right now :)

Wayfarer sunglasses. Big at Louis Vuitton. Nice change for my aviators.

Hmm.. I've probably been using the words 'nice' and 'things' way too many times now.. But coming back to the point I was going to say, contrary to the Mayan calendar's prediction of impending Armageddon, the world of fashion certainly is not ending in December 2012!

Converting to the new convertibles

Cold nights of the monsoon rain and a good sleep go hand in hand. Zzz...

Mid November equals mid monsoon season of often gloomy afternoon rain in tropical Malaysia - not really good news for the year-end school holidaymakers (good luck, kids).

But fear not, sitting quietly in your living room may just be as exciting as globetrotting on your holidays too, you know. Especially with the coming of Windows 8 into the global market this month and a new breed of portable computers taking advantage of it aptly called ultrabook convertibles or simply hybrids. When I was smaller (well, younger) I used to dream of something of the sort - a tablet thingy with the capabilities of a real computer. And voila, now it's a dream come true!

Adieu iPads and the likes and say hello to the new convertibles. As they say in the advert, suddenly everything else seems old-fashioned. Got to have my hands on one soon. Yay!

To be demode

"The only reason I do not wear skirts is because I would look like my mother." U betcha.

... is an undesirable state for one to be in according to the fashion authority of the here and now, Karl Lagerfeld. Imported from the French démodé and used since 1873, the word simply means out-of-date, no more fashionable, or passé (yet another French word). Mr Lagerfeld, in his personal blog which liberally features the word, has memorably called Louis Vuitton fashion's McDonald's - it's now too popular to an extent it seems to be losing its exclusivity. And in a recent remark, the luxury brand admitted to that claim being the truth and it is the reason behind its made-to-order offerings.

While flaunting an LV monogram bag is your idea of proclaiming to others of your financial prowess in a highly fashionable manner, you might have noticed more than a few other ladies are toting bags of the same design - fake or not fake being irrelevant. By following the herd, it inadvertently tells me that yes, you may have the money but no, you don't have the fashion sense (especially if the rest of what you're wearing do not complement the luxury that bag exudes). Apparently, the same fate of becoming demode is threatening the highly coveted Hermes Birkin bag - our luxury-laden first lady Rosmah Mansor be warned ;)

Personally, I prefer if people complement, ask about, or turn to admire what I am wearing without recognizing the item's brand from 100 feet away. That way, I can never be demode.

By the way, I do own an adorable red velvet Louis Vuitton neck tie which I bought from their flagship store in Paris and a silk one in deep purple I bought here in KL, among other things. So I don't really dislike LV, you know, just as long as it's not 'monogrammatic'.

Bye-bye summer aubergine

Bye-bye mustard and aubergine, hello reddish brown and teal! That's how I feel about this season's sentiment. Happier hues of blue, purple and tawny brown are here as well. My gut feeling for Burberry last season was spot on - high street stores like Topshop, H&M and Uniqlo are cashing in like mad from clearly Burberry-inspired designs. And the trend is going strong this season. The warm optimistic colours of spring/summer inevitably give way to more sombre tones but the autumn/winter 2012/2013 collection brings with it a more interesting (i.e. not boring) splashes of colour in addition to the ever-so-often recycled black, grey and dark brown (yawn). Something to brighten up the not-so-bright economic outlook, I guess.

Apart from the staple leather items, fabric this season is soft and comforting in the form of velvet and wool. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised when I ran my fingers through a washable merino wool cardigan in a high street store just last week. Merino wool, washable - can you believe it?

Other notable items include umbrellas with mallard head handles by Burberry and Louis Vuitton's uber-luxurious kimono-style silk shirts (reputedly the Japanese silk factory where they come from makes only 20 centimetres of the fabric per day). Unfortunately, I hardly see them in the stores here in Malaysia, huhu...

This time around also welcomes a wave of change in the fashion world as new designers are taking over the helm of some notable companies. Paul Surridge at Zegna and Kim Jones at Louis Vuitton are doing well and I hope the coming of Hedi Slimane (my fashion hero) to YSL for spring/summer 2013 is nothing but good news.

As rumours of the European fashion industry facing a gloomy forecast fly around, fashion houses are turning to the Asian market for salvation. This can only bring good tidings to us Asians since I can now see 'Asian Cut' shirts in Zara stores and smaller sized pants in some other. Thank God for those size 28 pants :)

Curiously, they are now also selling chunky woolen sweaters here in hot and sunny Malaysia. Err.. why exactly?