Fly me to Krabi with DiGi & Malindo Air

Imagine this. Clear blue skies with nothing but fluffy cotton candy shaped clouds, stretched as far as the eye can see. Sea so clear, so crystal clear that if you look closely, you can see your own reflection. And ever so often, a gentle breeze blows through your hair; gentle, yet just strong enough to mess up your hair.

Of course, that's just imagination. Imagination and reality are often very different.

My glimpse of a clear blue sky is usually from the inside of a car, staring out. But even then my view is blocked by buildings.

My beautiful sea of megapixels! This was taken during my trip to Port Dickson a while back (which reminds me, I need to get around to blogging about that).

And wind in my hair? CLOSE ENOUGH!

Told you imagination and reality are very different!

Since I graduated, my everyday is basically

It's so nerve wracking to just sit there and wait for that one company I really want to work at to call me back and say "hey, you're hired!". How I crave for a breakaway. A short trip away from the stagnancy of my daily life.

But sometimes, imagination is reality.

So if you ask me where I want to go (and if money is not an issue), I will say

I WANT TO GO KRABI!

Krabi is the 'it' place to go nowadays! All I need to do is open my Instagram and tadaa.. Another one of my friends has posted yet another picture of Krabi.

Case in point.

I will admit that I'm a bit jealous, seeing friend after friend posting picture after picture of nice places, travelling, KRABI! And I am sitting here looking at their experiences through the not so little window of my Note 2. It's quite frustrating that some people are so well off that they can afford to lay back and travel first and think about looking for a job later. But not me.

Referring to my forever empty wallet. Sigh.

The awkward moment when the Japanese cycled their way to Malaysia through Thailand during World War 2 but with all the advances in transportation since then,

I haven't even been to Thailand before. What more Krabi!

It's actually rather embarrassing how I've crossed the ocean to go to Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore and even Sabah (which is still Malaysia but separated by the South China Sea) but I've never been to Thailand despite our lands being connected..

So why Krabi? I have three reasons why.

My reasons can be summarised to BFM. Not Business Radio Station, but Beach, Food and Massage!

I don't think I need to explain why beach. Just look at my friend's instagram post! I'll put it up again here so you don't need to scroll up la.

So beautiful.

The untouched beauty of mother nature is simply irresistible!

My second reason is..

THE FOOD!

(read it in the Little Green Alien's voice didn't you?)

WHAT IS A VACATION IF YOU DON'T CHOW DOWN LOCAL DELICACIES?! The most 'authentic' Thai food I've eaten would be from the average KL Thai restaurant. And even then its usually Pandan Chicken or steamed Siakap, along with a hot pot of Tom Yam! As for the most unique Thai food experience, it would be the RM 1.90 per bowl of Boat Noodles.

But what I would really like to try in Krabi is a Pad Thai. I've eaten this dish before here in Kl but I've never tried one made by a Thai. You can't get any more authentic than that!

Most mouth watering picture of a Pad Thai found on Google!
www.taste.com.au

And my final reason, is Massage! Like the food, I've been to several Thai massage parlours in KL, and most recently to Bamburanta, Bangsar. But, its still merely 'authentic' not authentic. Get it?

Imagine getting a full body massage and all come back with a 100% relaxed and recharged body! THAT should be the effect of a good-o-vacation!

Here's some Steph Travel Tips for you lovely people who plan to travel to Krabi.

Tip #1: Book your hotel on Asia Web Direct
Easiest way to track down comfy and clean hotel that's within your budget! They even have 24/7 customer service support! Speaking of convenience!

Bonus points if you stay in Mercure Krabi Deevana! Super close to the beach, airport AND Krabi Town!

I wanna go..

..so badly! Totally don't mind getting a gorgeous tan from here!

Tip #2: Fly there with Malindo Air

Its quite freaky how I was just thinking how could I possibly go to Krabi when Malindo Air comes and launches a new flight route there! I honestly haven't flown Malindo Air before, but the reviews online seems really awesome! Can't wait to fly to Krabi with them!

Tip #3: Get internet roaming with Digi

I was so sad when I went to McD in Macau to get some Wi-Fi and it is not their culture to allow customers to sit at the table for hours since they have to accommodate for heavy flow of customers. I will never forget how the cleaner lady keep coming by my table and pretend to sweep the floor around my table, nudging me away! This time, I will be smart and get internet roaming so I don't need to leech off other people's wifi.

I'm ready to go there now! Don't even need to pack my luggage! Swimwear check! Sunblock check! Cheap RM 5 but fashionable straw hat from Daiso check!TAKE ME TO KRABI!!

Ready, set... GO!

Travel bug biting! Hope you guys enjoyed my post! 

Bye bye for now!

Call Me Ms Paul The Octopus Cause I Won A Hydraskin

Hey~ I wrote this post during the World Cup but didn't manage to publish it in time. The timeline is a bit off because of that but nevertheless, ENJOY!!

LaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLa~ I dare you!

It's like there must be a Shakira song to complete the whole World Cup feeling. Anyway, hello! World Cup fever anyone? The final match is closing in and the football jerseys are selling fast! I went to look from shop to shop while I was on my short vacation (should blog about this soon) and it was sold out everywhere. So annoyed! I actually am quite indecisive of which team's jersey to buy since if you buy the wrong one and the rest of the year, you won't feel like wearing it out. 

I also realize how suddenly Spain jerseys are everywhere. What a pit for Spain this time round. Oh well, there's always the next World Cup right? 

Speaking of World Cup, does anyone recall Paul the Octopus? The one in Germany where they put in 2 feeding boxes with different flags stuck on it and the first feeding box it chooses will turn out to be the match winner. Not sure is it really some genius octopus but it did get the winning team (Spain) right 4 years ago.

Credits: www.npr.org

It died 2 years ago so this year we are left with dice throwing to predict the winner.

I think Paul the Octopus' luck is passed onto me this year.

For each World Cup match, Hydraskins has contest on their Facebook page. We are allowed to put in our prediction of the match results and the first person to get it right will win a free Hydraskin of their choice. 

I think I should introduce Hydraskins a little. Hydraskins are basically phone stickers that will make your phone prettier! There are a variety of choices ranging from country flags, to little comic doodles or some really artsy designs. You can find all the designs at their online site here.

On that day, they had another contest and the prediction was for the match between Germany and Portugal. I was actually still having my exams then and I was thought to myself...

 Spain lost 5-1.. So it isn't much of a stretch to say 4-0 right?

The match I predicted.

Using the iPad Air I won a few months back. 

I was also very torn because I like Portugal more due to this particular hottie with the number 7 jersey (WE ALL KNOW WHO HE IS RIGHT?) but at the same time, I know Germany has a better chance from listening to my dad and brother in law's conversation. Besides, everyone guessed most of the popular figures like 2-1 or 2-0 already. So I mindlessly put in the most extreme figure and miraculously...

I WON!

I was actually supposed to be studying but I took short 'breaks' every 15 minutes to check on the progress of the match. But at 94 minutes, it was all over Facebook that I miraculously predicted the score correctly. But as per usual, I was thinking maybe some other person beat me to the score. I was telling myself not to be so overconfident. But on the next day, I got a tag on the post!

'Amazingly Stephanie Cheng got it right..' it says. I am amazed too! Haha

As per usual, told my parents and my dad gave me the "This girl so lucky! Like that also can get it right!" response. Well yeah.. I mean what are the odds right? I feel kinda like Paul the Octopus! Muhahaha.

And a few days later, my Hydraskin came in by mail!

Mine is called 'My Secret Garden'

This is the huge sticker piece for the back of my phone

Sticky part of the Hydraskin

I like how I can remove it and stick it back without losing the stickiness! I think I stuck and restuck the sticker at least a 100 times before I was finally satisfied. This feature also lets me use my 323566 other phone covers! Yes I am totally addicted to buying phone covers.

Instructions! Which seriously is a case of easier said than done!

How I wish they open a brick and mortar shop to help me stick.

Screen protector that fits around the Hydraskin! Cool

And mine came with a clear case too!

So the skin can be seen in all its glory AND be protected at the same time.

The front and a very squished Churpie that I won from Churp Churp!

Taadaa~ I kinda love how pretty my phone is now!

It's so gorgeous to look at! Now I can identify my phone easily! 

Personally, I think the bumper (which cost like RM 10) that I bought from Jonker Street fits my phone better sine the plastic case is rather thick. Made my phone super fat! I tried on the bumper and the results...?

MUCH MUCH PRETTIER THAN USING THE PLASTIC CASE! The red complements the girly My Secret Garden theme! Plus, it is much easier to use all the buttons at the side now cause the red part is actually rubber, not hard plastic! Mega LOVEEEEE.

And guess what! It is also thinner! My bulky Note 2 suddenly became so THIN!

Now I wish my luck will extend to my soon-to-be results! *prays super hard*

Alrighty, guess that's all for my Paul the Octopus post! I just now hope I don't die 2 years later like Paul... *touch wood*

Till the next post~

Toodles~

So.. I won an iPad Air and MORE!

Welcome back to my little blog!

So this is a CELEBRATION post because I won myself an iPad Air! It is still so surreal. I didn't dare to announce it on my blog sooner because I'm afraid that I am like a victim of some extensive April Fool's joke. Or maybe there is some other blog out there that has a similar name to mine like 'Pillow Talk Til Dawn' or 'Pillow Talking Dawn' but I failed to realize the difference and assumed I won. 

About 2 months ago, I joined a product review for Nivea. It is actually more like a contest for us Nuffies and the top 3 most creative posts wins an iPad Air! I actually spent a lot of time and effort into writing the post. One whole month to be exact. Writing, rewriting, tweaking; just to get everything to be perfect. I even bugged Elie and Aly (pun not intended) to help me proof-read my post! When I posted it out I was so concerned that it wasn't good enough and not worthy of winning.

Honestly, I was thinking that there is no way I can win given that there are so many other bloggers out there, who are better than me, more experienced than me and probably more creative than me. I mean at that point of  time I started blogging for only 3 months (6 months now) so I really am not confident. But I was thinking to myself that Nivea hampers sounds good too right? Since I really do use a lot of Nivea products.

I will not forget how I was just lazing in the library and Elie's chat head pop out and she told me that I won the iPad! I was thinking she might be hallucinating or something. So I went to Nuffnang's Facebook page and I saw the announcement!

Saw the announcement and my heart starts pounding

Scroll a little more and...

Taadaa! The full list of winners

See the words pillowtalktilldawn? Yeap that's ME!! =D

I make sure that I read several times to confirm that my eyes are not playing tricks on me! I was so happy! Immediately I texted my parents to share my joy. Follow up by sharing the post on my own Facebook page for a very silly reason. I was worried that the post will go away so I thought that I better share it before it disappears.

A few weeks back I received my collection e-mail and I went to Nuffnang office on the first collection day since I was on mid-sem break anyways. Nuffnang office seems so much more serious compared to the last time I went  there to collect my Nivea sample. I was trying to be as quiet as possible and leave silently with my iPad Air.

Holding it in my hands make it feels more realistic than anything! And here it is.. the fruit of my hard work!

Placed in the Nivea bag

Hi honey~ 

Kisses~ <3

I dare not live dangerously so the first thing I did was get a screen protector and cover!

It's like dressing a new born baby because leaving them naked is too dangerous.

Especially in my hands.

Hello I am welcomed! 

As a Samsung user, after I turned on my iPad I literally stared at it for a little while and just felt so lost. I suddenly need an Apple ID while I am so used to using my gmail account for everything.

Can you guess what app I opened first? As a relatively vain female, I tried out the camera and took some silly pictures with photo booth!

Silly picture #001

Suddenly feel so lucky and blessed that I started blogging and I have so many people around me that supports me in what I'm doing. And now I am getting a huge reward for doing something I love so I definitely have nothing to complain! And now I have more motivation and encouragement with my blogging stuff. 

In fact, looking back I actually own all my Apply products by winning them! When I was 17, I joined an essay writing contest from The Star and won myself an iPhone 3GS. It is not working anymore so I upgraded to Samsung Note 2! 

Such nostalgic iPhone! It contains a lot of memories from A-levels and every time I look at it I can just cry from all the memories!

So yeah.. I really never bought any Apple product on my own but I've got an iPhone, an iPod and now an iPad. I am a very lucky girl. 

After winning my iPad, I also won quite a lot of stuff. Lucky moments in a row!

1) Won RM 200 by tweeting FlyFm in conjunction with Milo! It was another effortless attempt! I was just on Twitter at the right time!

Almost immediate winning and I heard Ben read my tweet out in a romantic way!

2) Won a Churpie Plushie! Churp Churp is having a selfie contest and I did the extreme and drew 'Churp Churp' on my face and #Churpselfie.

Posted this on my Instagram and won my plushie!

P/S: I was so happy when Timothy Tiah liked my picture but then again, he owns Churp Churp

I am addicted to plushies so welcome to the family churpie!

3) Also won myself a tin of Milo by unintentionally sharing how I like to drink my Milo (yes I am a huge fan of Milo. Drink it almost everyday) 

Yay a tin of Milo! 

This is not a post to show off what I've won so far but to share how lucky and blessed that I've been. Of course I hope that my luck won't stop! I need a vacation somewhere.... So I am going to keep my fingers crossed and continue doing my best and do my part well!

This post seems to be getting a little long but hey~ hope I can rub my happiness on you too.

Till the next time~

Toodles~

My 1st time with NIVEA’s rinse off body lotion

A brand that's been by my side since young. As a little kid, I was always awed by my mother's beauty products, each with its own distinct shape and size. From perfume to her little eye shadow kit, everything just fascinates this five year old girl. I wanted to try them all! Of course, when I told my mother, she would say,

No, you are much too young to be using beauty products. Wait a little till you're older okay?

But there's always one bottle. It's not particularly shiny or made from fancy glass. And unlike the other products, I was allowed to use this one because my mother says it's important to keep your skin fair and smooth. Especially when coming back from school, under the harsh afternoon sun. That bottle is a bottle of Nivea Whitening Lotion.

This bottle has been by my mother's bedside for as long as I can remember. She uses it every night and I always relate the Nivea lotion smell to my mother. So how can I not be familiar with Nivea? It's everywhere in my house!

Not only it's next to my mother's bed, it's also in the bathroom AND even my room!

Nivea all over the house!

And now you can even get it in the shower!

You just read that in Minion's voice in your head didn't you? ;)

Introducing the new Nivea In-Shower Skin Conditioner. It's the first ever rinse off body lotion!

There are two types of skin conditioner available for purchase. One is for the normal skin type while the other is for dry skin.

Actually when I first heard of the in-shower lotion, I was really sceptical because of a certain childhood incident. It started off as your typical family trip to Cameron Highlands. But we had forgotten to pack body shampoo, so we stopped by a sundry shop to pick one up on the way to the hotel. Once there, I was the first to shower. I distinctively remember panicking in the shower because the shampoo was sticky and would not rinse off my body. Naturally, I called out for my mother and she was wondering what was wrong with her child not knowing how to shower properly. Turns out, the bottle we bought was actually Nivea Whitening Lotion; to be applied after shower. No wonder it became all sticky and weird when I tried to rinse it off. Till this day, my family still jokes about this incident.

Well no reason to not give it a try right? And to my surprise, it's really really awesome! First of all, it's not sticky and hard to rinse off. It's like a transparent layer of massage oil that made my concrete-like skin all silky and moisturised. I even took advantage of the smooth texture of the skin conditioner and gave myself a little massage with it.

Apply some skin conditioner on skin after using shower gel

Spread it out all over 

Rinse off

Dry off and you're all ready to go

As displayed in the pictures above, Nivea's In-Shower Skin Conditioner is white in colour. But when applied to wet skin, it becomes transparent and does not foam at all. After that, just rinse it off and you're left with a baby-smooth skin! 

When I mentioned that it feels like massage oil I bet you think it'll be oily afterwards right? WRONG! It just leaves you with moist and smooth skin. Not oily, not sticky and smells really good. I feel like a well washed car with wax applied to it! And hey! The wax is essential to make the car all shiny and looking good right? For a woman, skin conditioner is what it takes for your skin to be smooth, moisturised and desirable.

Nivea's In-Shower Skin Conditioner is perfect for lazy people like me. We all know how important it is for a woman to use beauty products to beat the ageing monster, especially when our skin is exposed to UV rays everyday! But no one mentioned anything about laziness! For instance, the cold weather in Hong Kong totally ruined my skin and hair. My skin was like dry cracked concrete while my hair felt exactly like straw. I can always cut my hair but unfortunately I can't just replace my skin. So I spammed my current lotion in an attempt to keep my skin moisturised. But eventually I stopped applying because it's such a hassle to keep remembering to re-apply. 

With Nivea's new In-Shower Skin Conditioner, I just use it during my shower! I love to stay in the shower, so taking an additional step to apply the skin conditioner is not a problem for me. Plus it kept my skin moisturised for quite long, so I didn't have to keep re-applying it!

No peeping! 

A little advertisement that shows the awesome effect of the In-Shower Skin Conditioner

Pause at 0:26! Men of Science hehe

I watched the advertisement for Nivea's In-Shower Skin Conditioner and I wondered whether it really was true. Or did they fake the results because it seemed too good to be true! Of course, I could not exactly put a video clip of myself showering and all. It's not exactly a good sight. So here are two simple tests to see whether Nivea's In-Shower Skin Conditioner really is moisturising and not-sticky!

Scratch Test

I'm sure you're curious how long exactly can the skin conditioner lock moisture on to our skin. So I did an experiment. You know how when you scratch your skin there will be a visible white line? That white line is evidence of dry skin. So I used this scratch test to see how long can the moisture protect my skin!

Before shower. Noticeable white line. 

Unfortunately, my room lacked sufficient lighting for clearly capturing the white line. So I ended up scratching myself countless times and finally just decided to give up and edit it a little so the line is more visible. 

P.S.: it's a bad idea to meet your friends with red lines on your arm. I look like I was abused somehow. 

Instantly after shower, miraculously no more line

Still no line! Amazing!

Line only showed at 9:30pm! But still not very noticeable.

12:15am: After dinner and supper events, skin is back to before shower condition.

Time to shower again and renew the effect!

My verdict? It is seriously quite moisturizing! Lasted for about half a day before my skin turned all dry again. Imagine if I use it consistently, I bet no one can scratch any white lines on me anymore!

Sticky Test

What's the ultimate bonus point for the skin conditioner? IT'S NOT STICKY! I hate that sticky feeling after using lotion. Like, after I am all cleaned up from a shower, I go and apply a sticky layer to my skin. Totally destroying the fresh feeling after a shower. Plus like Angela in the video above, I needed to wait for the lotion to dry before putting on clothes. If you are rushing out of the house and have no time to wait for the lotion to completely dry, then you're definitely going to have a bad time. Anything you wear will stick to your skin. It's not a very comfortable feeling if you ask me. The new skin conditioner is not sticky at all! So you can get dressed immediately after showering and rush out of the house!

So here's another experiment to test the stickiness!

Left hand with Nivea's In-Shower Skin Conditioner
Right hand with my usual body lotion

Left hand cotton pad did not stick to my hand and fell into the sink

Right hand cotton pad stuck on

After rinsing the skin conditioner off, there is literally zero stickiness and I can get dressed immediately. Well after I dry myself off of course. Actually even when I put it on, it wasn't sticky at all so what more after rinsing off!

When my mother told me 一白遮三丑 (fair skin is everything), I added Nivea's Whitening Lotion to my everyday routine. With this new skin conditioner that I can just apply during shower, non-sticky, no waiting time and super effective; Nivea successfully changed my body care regime. Again. Now I can just use the skin conditioner, instead of getting myself emo thinking about life while waiting for my usual body lotion to dry.

Not greasy, not sticky, keep you moisturised AND easy to use. The rinse-off effect is perfect for busy people with no time to spare. So much moisture for only RM 16.90 and please you know where to find Nivea products. Quickly grab one now for immediate silky-soft skin and maybe you will impress that special someone with your radiating new skin!

That all I have to say about Nivea's In-Shower Skin Conditioner! Hope you enjoyed reading it.

Toodles~