Rule #55: Just because you think you know everything, doesn't mean you know anything.

The hospital’s emergency ward was the last place I would want to be on a New Year’s Eve. Initially I wanted to go to work in the afternoon. I guess God didn’t allow so He decided to give me a sore eye...A really bad one. I don’t normally consult the doctor whenever I’m not feeling well but this time I decided to 'be responsible of my own health' and dragged myself to the 24-hour family clinic.

“This is a serious condition that has to be treated as soon as possible. I can see white spots on your left eye and I’m suspecting a corneal ulcer. It might worsen your sight and cause blindness so before that really happens, I will have to refer you to the hospital now.”

While waiting to get the referral letter and medicine, one of my guy friends appeared at the clinic. I was so surprised by his unexpected presence! Like as if he teleported or something. How thoughtful of him to be there for me physically even though it was only ten minutes until my parents came to fetch.

As I stepped into the hospital that late afternoon, instant flashbacks from my childhood came flooding down. The visions of those sickly days came to my mind throughout the time I was there. With every blink, I remember myself as a kid, going for appointments after appointments. Being warded again and again. Having needles through my veins and tubes/mask of oxygen supply to aid my breathing. I was only three back then.

“I will have to scrap out some of the white spots from your eyes to test a sample,” Doctor Charmaine informed me.

I just smiled and nodded, pretending fear had no control at all.

“What are you going to use to scrap out?” I overheard a nurse asking the doctor very softly.

“A needle, obviously,” She replied with a grin on her face.

A long silence ensued. I could only hear myself gulped down so hard. Everybody in the room looked so emotionless, including my parents (….surprisingly.). Am I the only one in the room who thinks that having a needle poked in my eye is the scariest shit ever? I kept calm as she dropped a yellow dye in my eyes which hurt so badly I screamed a little! As she looked through the optical lens, she cautiously poked a sharp tiny needle on my left eye a couple of times ……the next minute, she was done and it didn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would be! Alhamdullilah.

Tomorrow will be my next appointment. No more needles please, no more needles. I keep reminding myself time and time again that I should not fear because God is fair and like what someone told me, “Allah s.w.t heals everything.”

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The night of 31st December turned out great. I was at somewhere peaceful, just gazing out at the beautiful romantic scene. I could see different views of fireworks happening at 3 different places (how amazing is that?!?!). Played with the firecrackers, consumed so much candies, drank a carton of milk (who needs alcohol? Pfft) and had heart to heart talk. It was a beautiful start of the year, period.

Rule #54: If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.

Time is ticking closer to the end of 2011. As this year wraps, I’m making peace with choices I’ve made and I remind myself to believe in the best of me – as there are no right choices, only better ones. I have been waiting for so long for today. I am clearly excited and thrilled as I often am; wrapped with that strange sense of animated childlike delight, every time a New Year marches in and with nothing short of a feeble embrace, lifts me endearingly, into its arms.

This has been an unusual year, and in particular this month has been odd. Odd not so much for what has occurred externally but rather for what has transpired within me. What a ride, indeed, saying goodbye to those who close out their chapter in my story of my life, to new friendships who have become cherished partners.

From a personal platform, I hold no complaints about a kindly 2011. It’s a year full of self-discovery. On retrospection, I found myself falling in and out of love that I experienced so much emotions I never imagined I would have to deal as a 17-year old. Although I didn’t achieve anything great academically, I am proud to say I have no regrets- just lessons learned. 2011 has also brought me to my knees in how I do things and how I look at myself. I always thought I knew me really well, until I decided to take a couple of risks…Real ones. Only time will tell the outcome.. And as I reminisce, I realize how fortunate I am, so incredibly blessed and I hope one day you’ll realize this too- that your life is enough as it is.

I don’t intend to make a list of New Year resolution as I have done that in the past and most of them failed miserably. I just have two- 1) Read more books 2) Do not get too attached to anyone. Insya’Allah. Now I just look forward to events in my life that I think or know will happen to me and things I hope to achieve and do with myself.

I’m just excited to see what God has in store for me. There will be a huge change definitely and this is the year I fight for acceptance in many levels – understanding opportunity, dreams and reality. The future isn’t promised, but we can hold true to our belief in that there is a fresh start around the corner with an awakening new year and a chance to renew our commitments to ourselves and others.










Pictures from yesterday's chill out session @ Marhaba Arabic Cuisine. 14 people was actually there, shocking much? More photos at Dinie Alfian's facebook!

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This blog has truly turned into such an incredible love & passion of mine. I have no doubt so many new things will show up here, on VoguePleasures as they happen. With that said, thank you for being such incredibly involved and loving readers! I feel very blessed to have ya’ll to share with, grow with, and write to. Despite the hard knocks life has dealt, I hope 2012 will be a year of blessing, opportunity and stability for all you. Have a happy new year! xx

Rule #53: There comes a time when you have to choose between turning the page and closing the book.

Happy 18th birthday, Princess Amanda! Thank you for inviting me to your birthday party. I hope you had fun!:-*

It’s early Wednesday morning and I’m sitting at my dining table wearing a pair of shorts and nothing else. Last few days I woke up with nobody at home. Today is no different. It feels good to be home alone…I feel rather, independent. I made my bed this morning, washed the dishes, and I made myself breakfast- scrambled eggs with cheese, toast bread and a cup of hot milo!

I’m sitting here with much on my mind. Much of it ran through my mind as I slept last night, so that when I woke up I felt as if I were emerging from a stupor. I wanted to submerge myself in sleep, and stay submerged. Discipline, as always, got the better of me. As I ponder over my life, I realise that penning every feeling down would not be possible, as words fall short, mind races and holding it down being impossible, i try to catch the glimpses and put them in writing.

I basically spent Christmas working my butt off and chilling with my good pal, Dinie, at town till late doing nothing. (His brother was around too. He looks even attractive now that he is bald!:p) We missed our last public transport back to Choa Chu Kang, so I pretty much burnt twenty bucks just on the cab…… which…… initially, we were stranded at Redhill and when we finally got a cab, the driver’s nets machine rejected my card after like a hundred times and I had to rush to the nearest atm (which was not even near) just to frikkin’ withdraw my money. Yep. Great.

The day before (Christmas eve), work was hell. The number of customers I had @ ion’s steve madden was not as overwhelming as I thought it would be, but golly jee! The amount of fuckery they hit me with in the afternoon was insane. Not that I didn’t prepare, it was just…unbelievable. Within that 10hours, I lose count of how many times I threw silent daggers of fury at my customers behind my fake smiles. After a long day at work, I decided to meet up with my friends at somerset to chill out. Walking from Orchard, I went through another hell. It was packed with people (I don’t usually mind but I think I may be getting claustrophobia soon) and I felt so small like as if everyone was towering over me. It was raining. You have no idea how scared I was being all alone in such a crowd as everybody were squeezing their way through and policemen were screaming their lungs out trying to control the human traffic. There were drunken people surrounding me saying hello with large cans of beer in their hands and their stinky mouth so close to me. Hooligans all around spraying cans of white stuffs (I supposed that is like some kind of ‘snow’?) at each other and they sprayed them in the air too. Thank god I managed to hide in between strangers to escape from all those shizz!

Nevertheless, my day ended off great. I had an impromptu meet-up with irfeen and decided to have supper @ newton. I never thought I would eat that much since it was past midnight but who cares? The seafood was delicious. Now I’m craving for some more!!!

If you’re wondering about my plans for 2012 countdown- NIL. NONE. NOTHING. I’ve been getting a lot of invitations from my friends to go to parties which I rejected countless of times without any hesitation. Call me boring or whatsoever. Thing is, I don’t want to start partying again. (or at least….for now?) I would rather not have plans for countdown than spending it in a club with people I barely even know. I like to start a new year in a decent manner like how my parents have brought me up. So, yes ladies and gentlemen, as much as i love to dance and have all the fun, I'll pass;)

Oooh, I have exciting plans later on with my ladies in the afternoon and i have a movie date at night. I gotta get ready soon! xx

Rule #50: Never confuse movement with actions.

Chanel Paris – Bombay Pre-fall 2012 Métiers d’Art show
@ the Galerie Courbe in the Grand Palais in Paris

This year the line was focused around the theme of ‘Bombay-Paris’. Three words: full of opulence! The jewels, gold tweed, silk, nose rings, bindis, tikas,and strings of pearls! Very impressive and it's so inspiring to see influences from all over the world translated into his collection yet maintaing that true classic Parisian style of Chanel. This is one of the best that he has done, in my opinion. I would never have imagined Chanel embarking on this Indian inspired path…yet the effect is pure brilliance! The Grand Palais transformed into an Indian-themed dinner party was just...oh so magnificent! I was also pleased to see a handful of Indian models walking in the show!

“It’s a concept of India. More Chanel than India. The Parisian version of an India that doesn’t exist,” said Karl Lagerfeld. Ahhhhh, Uncle Karl is such a genius he deserves a kiss from me! :-*



















(Source: elle.com & hannahlouisef.blogspot)

Rule #37: Sometimes the people you would take a bullet for, are the ones behind a trigger.

Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2012 Show
@ Paris Fashion Week.

I’m not a big fan of Louis Vuitton but this Spring/Summer 2012 collection designed by Marc Jacobs was not to be missed! I saw this about two months ago. I just thought of sharing with you all in my blog today. This has to be one of the most magical fashion shows I have ever seen! Absolutely stunning and breath taking, there are no other words to describe how immaculate this show was, just by looking at the photos & videos. And….here I am….once again….asking myself, how do I get tickets or invitations to this kind of thing? I can only imagine the oohs and awes that were trying to be held back during this runway!

The show begun with a carousel of white horses that starts to spin like a merry-go-round and drops off the models. The collection carried on a theme of wonderful daywear pieces which I very much enjoyed as well as the details of the runway show! I love the patterns and the pale colours and how it has a very structured yet light and airy look to the pieces. A carousel of splendour, with the soft colours of candy pastels and silver pointy toes, nude lips and bambi eyelashes, magnificent Kate Moss and Marc Jacobs.. One word: AMAZING.














The picture on the right, that's Kate Moss!



Loving the look on the right! That yellow outerwear!:)

(Images taken by Style, The Sartorialist, Tumblr)

I didn’t post all the looks. Just my favourite few. I heard this is Marc Jacobs’ last Louis Vuitton collection because he’s going to Dior. However for this collection, Jacobs reported, he was ready for a change. “After the hardness of Fall, we wanted something gentle and kind, fragile but strong, too,” he said. “It’s my biggest set, I could have never done this anywhere else. Very magical, it’s like a magic box: very Paris.”

This show is, in fact, far too magical and holds so much beauty in all of its movements, that I couldn't possibly captivate the enchanting essence of it without sharing this video with you that I’ve watched. If you guys want to see more of the accessories, click here.



Fashion followers, seems like pastels, metallic and white are in for Spring and Summer next year! xx