To Do List for New Year 2013

5 more days before Chirstmas, 12 more days before a new year comes.

I'm thinking of making many changes for 2013, wishing and praying that this would be better than this year.

Of course, this year has been great for us, and the biggest one is having Max - our very spoiled little Shih Tzu.

She's now turning 5 mos. this January 8, and she's been living with us for about 2 mos. already today.  Though she is naughty and annoying (coz she thinks our hands and feet are chew toys), she is the sweetest and our 'stress-reliever'.  Before, whenever we go out shopping, we mostly buy for ourselves, now, since Max came, we go for shopping to buy things for her.  Such a spoiled little one :)

Anyway, back to what I am intending to do before the year ends.  Here goes:

First, get a haircut.  I mean literally chop off this mid chest hair of mine which I have had after college.  I miss my short hair, even though all my younger years, I've had short hair - from Dora-like cut during Kinder, to the one length hair cut on highschool days, to the bob cut days in college.  Having short hair for 2 decades made me itch t grow my hair long (which my mother dislikes, hehehe).  So now, after a decade of having long hair, the eagerness (and longing) of having a short hair is coming back again.  Especially after seeing too many of my friends with long hair, chopping their hair so short.  Even my sister, cut hers to a pixie one (that's with the influence of Emma Watson's pixie hair) :P Hmm, wonder if Shakira's one is nice or shorter.

Second, lose 5kg more then I'd be having my ideal weight.  This year, I lost a total of 8kg.  Thanks to a lot of discipline, exercise, Herbalife and X-perfect and X-detox.  Herbalife gave me the drive, the x sets gave me the boost (coz I was fed up drinking shakes already, but still got stocks at home, which i am intending to just drink at breakfast).

Third, do a total makeover of my clothes, discard those old ones, then wear a lot of skirts and dress (which I already started this year).  One good reason of discarding the pants is Max loves biting the end of our pants whenever we already wore them.  So imagine, someone clinging to the end of my pants while I am walking.  Hehehe!

Fourth, save, save and save.  I actually started this month on a savings/investment.  Then hopefully, next year start investing in mutual funds (esp.now that the stock market in Philippines is improving).  Summing it - be debtless but be a millionaire, hehehe (got to dream to achieve it)!

Fifth, go organic.  I've started using SLS free toiletries since last month -  thanks to Human Heart Nature, a company based in the Philippines which sells organic stuff which are really surprisingly cheap considering it being 100% chemical free.  Since I am out of the country, I am getting my stuff from Jeanette of Down to Earth, who is based in Penang and is the distributor of Human Heart Nature here in Malaysia.  Their shampoos and conditioner (esp. the Strengthening variant), is the best for me, leaves my hair really shiny and soft.  And I'm like getting less hair fall day by day of using it.  Plus, it does not give me bacne which is a total turn off to me from commercial products.  And my other favorites are the Pink Deodorant, the Cool Chamomile Feminine Wash, the Strawbery Facial Scrub, the lotion (let's just say almost all HHN products that I have used) and of course the Sunflower Beauty Oil.  More reviews of the HHN products next blog :) (And I am making Max, go for organic toiletries as well :P)

How about you? What do you intend to do or change for 2013?

Christmas 2011 - Colmar Tropicale Resort (Bukit Tinggi, Pahang)

Ok, so it's been quite some time now that I have updated my blog. Very busy with work, now is the only time I used my leave (time to clear, but still I carried over 5 days).

We spent our Christmas eve in Colmar Tropical Resort, a French themed resort in Bukit Tinggi, Pahang. It's on the way to Genting so the tollgate was so jammed, many people are going for their long weekend I presumed. Neil was sitting beside the driver, me at the center of the van since we were the last one to arrive (though we were there when the van arrived. Thanks to the one who got our reservation for the return ride from Time Square to Colmar, she didn't specify that we need to get the tickets in their sales office in Time Square. Though I remember, I specifically asked her if I need something to show to the driver, she said 'No'. WTF! Thankfully, there are still 2 tickets left so off we went!)

Anyway, the ride going there was so peaceful after we passed the tollgate. Then I saw the sign 'Bukit Tinggi 5km'. All I can see are trees, and the clouds are so low, I feel like I wanted to touch them! :) I was thinking it will be a wet Christmas for a change as the weather in KL is so hot though it rains occasionally once every afternoon.

Then I saw the signage, 'Welcome to Berjaya Hills'. And I thought, we were so close already. At least 15-20 mins away from the main road lies the resort. All the winding up roads made me so excited if in the next turn I can see the resort already.

We arrived in Colmar past 11am, so it was around an hour drive from Time Square. The hill to which Colmar is situated is owned by Berjaya (as I've seen a 'Berjaya' signage similar to Hollywood) atop the hill.

As soon as we arrived, I went to the receptionist area to check in. she told me check in time was 3pm but she will give us a call once the room is done. So we left our bags in the counter, then head off to the pasta restaurant called 'Le Flamme' just in front of the hotel reception.

An hour of going around the small shops, the receptionist called saying our room is available. So we checked in, then decided to go and venture into the Japanese Village and the Botanical Garden. We have to ride the shuttle in going there. It's about 5 mins. away from the resort. The way going up the village is closed for renovation so we have to walk for about 5 mins. going up. Good thing I do cardio in the gym it was easy peasy for me :)

The next day, Christmas day, I was already up 7am, and took a view of the walkway down.  You can actually see how the wind is so strong outside and there’s a little drizzle coming from the low clouds hovering around the resort.

There were a no. of people awake already, and since we have a free buffet breakfast, we decided to go there early.  There was quite a no. of choices, from Malay breakfast – mee hoon, nasi lemak, fried rice, curry chicken, etc.  to the number of breads there.  They all taste so good, I tell you.

After breakfast, we went up to one of the towers at the end of the alley.  You can have a nice view of the whole resort and the surrounding mountains, so beautiful, I tell you.  Since, there is no other way to go, we just went back to the hotel room to wait for our check-out time.  Check out time was 12 noon but then the shuttle back to KL is not until 3pm. 

So after checking out, we left our bags at the hotel first, and then went to eat in this restaurant that serves nice roasted chicken.    And then the waiter who took our orders asked us if are Pinoys, was actually a kababayan.  Then we saw another one who was actually giving out orders to the waiters, and saw that he was also a Pinoy and in his name tag was ‘F&B Manager’.  Ang galing talaga ng mga Pinoy!

We waited outside the resort for us to go back to KL, and we saw a group of Pinoys actually having a picnic outside.  As in with rice cooker and everything.  For sure, there is ‘Adobo’ in the menu, hheh! 

3 pm came and we rode the shuttle back to Berjaya Time Square in KL.  The ride back was swift but when we were nearing Time Square, it was so jammed. 

All in all, the 2 days 1 night stay in Colmar Tropicale was nice, cold and fun.  Food was delicious though expensive.  Can’t wait for our next adventure!