If those digits were my age, I'd be Benjamin Button. Unfortunately, I've yet to master the art of de-aging and those numbers are actually my weight in kilograms.

Most of you would remember that prior to my wedding in March last year, I went on a French high-protein diet by Dr. Pierre Dukan called the Dukan Diet and lost almost 10kg, from 60 to 51kg. Now, this was an easy feat if you're determined to look great on your wedding day.

You can read all the posts that document last year's weight-loss journey on these links:

• The Dukan Diet.


• The Dukan Diet: Phase 1.


• The Dukan Diet: 12 Days into Phase 2.


• Bread and Fruits.


• Carbs!


• The Froyomenon.


• The Dukan Diet: Phase 3.

There are a few reasons why I chose the Dukan Diet over other diets:

1. It was the most non-hardcore, non-starving diets I came across.


2. As we all know, the biggest setback about diets — besides not being able to eat everything you love — is the fact that one tends to gain even more weight after getting off the diet. But with Dukan diet, you are taught ways to stabilise your weight for the rest of your life even by eating normally (and one day of eating just protein once a week).


3. My boss and colleague were going to do it, and the easiest way to go on a diet is when you do it with a few people.

My weight was stable for a good 10 months but I had a miscarriage 2 months after my wedding, and had to take extra care of my body, so I couldn't do my once-a-week protein day. On top of that, my hormones were going crazy and I put on a hefty amount of weight. So I started Dukan again earlier this year and went from 65kg to 56kg. I'm still waiting to hit my ideal weight of 55kg before proceeding to the next phase.


Looking back, it's pretty crazy, isn't it?

Many of my friends have been wanting to get on this diet. Some failed (oh, the temptation of a bag of seasoned tortilla chips!) and some couldn't bring themselves to do it after I explained the 4 phases. It's understandable that it was a little complicated, especially if you're a very busy person with not much options for lunch places at work.

The 1,000 Calorie Diet for Females

However, recently, I came across an article on Live Great by Great Eastern about the 1,000 Calorie Diet for Females that I think is more feasible than Dukan. The basic concept is to consume fewer calories than your body uses. The daily recommended average amount of calorie intake is at 1,200, so the 1,000 calorie diet is designed to let your body burn off more than you eat.

But since you're only consuming 1,000 calorie per day, you would need to take into account the nutritional value of the things you eat. Although some food may have zero calories, it may also have zero nutrients. This is how it differs from Dukan, where I take a lot of Coke Light and Equal, which has no nutrients whatsoever.



So for those who can't bear going on the Dukan diet, I thought I'd share the 1,000 Calorie Diet for Females instead — it's one I'd do in the the future if I ever needed to lose just a couple of kg. But I don't recommend it for girls who are already at a good weight — the only reason one should go on a diet is to get to their ideal weight and not to be skinnier than they already are. And most importantly, identify your health problems and consult your doctor before going on any serious diets.

If you're a health or fitness buff, check out Live Great for some pretty interesting articles.

What happens when you're a copywriter and you've lost hope in almost every single thing? Not-so-secretly now, I believe all copywriters know what this feels at some point in their careers. Such instances include the multiple times someone misuses the word "revert" and you feel like clubbing their heads off and just as their necks are about to snap, you tickle it.

Enter DepressedCopywriter.com, a new Tumblr that dedicates itself to inserting the bitterness of reality into "an example of corporate happiness." As a copywriter myself, I find this highly entertaining.

Here are some of my favourite posts:

















Check out more posts on DepressedCopywriter.com.

You know that feeling of waking up determined to do something? On the last day of my 4-day break, I woke up determined to have my much-deserved foot reflexology after failing to do so the day before. (It's apparent I never woke up determined enough to finish up the posts on my 4-day break as this post is a week or so overdue.)


But of course, not before lunch in Bangsar. If you're wondering why I frequent Bangsar so much, well, it's only because I don't live that far away. I'm always either in Bangsar or Solaris Mont Kiara/Publika.




After a great foot massage at Sifu Reflexology, where I also had a nap, coffee was in order. What was supposed to only be a cup or two of coffee soon became dinner at Ben's General Food Store.


I felt an urge to pop into Peacocks London after dinner to have a look and came out with a pair of black brogues. I've tried on many brogues before but this seems to be the only pair so far that doesn't make my feet look like baguettes, so hurrah!


What my feet do NOT look like when wearing my new brogues. Photo credit: blissfullydelicious.com

Before heading home, we revisited Ben's General Food Store to say hello to Kel Li, Nigel and Kel Li's mom. It was a busy but good break, and I clearly need to take more breaks. Who's with me?

I was afraid of many things in the past — the absurdly long list includes epilators, threading, massages and other things that are perceived to be painful. Reflexology was one of them. Like many of the other things, I tried it eventually and not only was it not as painful as I had assumed, it felt really good. However, I've only been to Sifu Reflexology in Bangsar and I'm still afraid to try it at other places, so here's to conquering one more fear, eh?

So the morning plan was to pop by and see the "sifu" for a much-needed foot massage after the weekend's activities, but I got delayed by some work and had to skip it altogether.



Which was alright seeing as it means heading straight to Kel Li & Nigel’s place for a movie marathon! We had Nando's delivered for lunch, some frozen yoghurt in between and headed out for a bit for dinner before continuing to watch more movies.



In total, we watched 5 movies but don't get too excited — they consist mostly of chick flicks or rom-coms.

1. Valentine's Day


2. New Year's Eve


3. The House Bunny (it was so painful for me to watch Emma Stone’s completely uncool character)


4. Horrible Bosses


5. You Again

From 1pm or so, I finally left their place at 2am!

P.S. What I wore that day. I'm loving the mint green and muted pink combination.

Sunday was going to be a fun day for a few reasons:

1. I finally get to see the birthday boy since his birthday on Thursday.
   


2. We were going to watch The Avengers.
   


3. Shopping around Pavilion KL was involved. I can count with one hand how many times I visit that part of KL in a year.

The mister and I had lunch first in Bangsar before picking up the birthday boy to head to Bukit Bintang. It was a hot afternoon but incredibly windy. Proof? Windblown hair and skirt.


The Avengers was wicked. The lines were hilarious, yet not totally cheesy in that cheap, slapstick way, the action was fantastic, naturally, and the story came together very well. Frankly, I'm not the best person to give you a review and all I have to say is — watch it!


We stopped at Uniqlo for shirts for the birthday boy! Uniqlo is his version of Sephora for me. Speaking of Sephora, we went in but I came out with nothing. Miracle or just the birthday boy dragging me out? Hmm.


Here's a rule when you see shoes you absolutely love: stop, drop ... and try them immediately. It wasn't a pretty sight.


The shoes I want from Pull & Bear. Notice the similar colour scheme? Navy blue and brown. I didn't end up buying them as I was attempting to be sensible. Hah.


We also bumped into Joanna and Ryan so they joined us for dinner.


After dinner, we retired back to Bangsar for a few rounds of Bang, the card game.

A great day out, all in all, and we were all pretty tired at the end of the day, which isn't a bad thing!

Here's Saturday, Day 1 of the 4-Day Break.

When you've been working for almost 5 years, you begin to recognise the rarity of a 4-day break that doesn't involve travelling or weddings or any sort of special occasion. A break that's just a break, with nothing big planned ahead. In fact, it's so rare that it's just preposterous for me not to document it. (I'm not going to lie — there were some work scheduled in between but let's just look on the bright side, shall we?)

And so we begin with last Saturday, a day of sleeping in, pampering and the realisation that I'm much older than I'd like to think.


What is a weekend without making an appearance at Ben's General Food Store? After spending half a day catching up on sleep, I managed to drag myself out of the comfort of my bed for a late lunch. Pictured above is my flat white and the mister's salt beef sandwich.


And of course, my usual order of half a roast chicken and 2 sides of roast pumpkin, no gravy please.


I'm not one of those girls who religiously get their hair trimmed every 3 or 6 months. My old motto was "why fix something that's not broken?" Of course I realised how wrong I was, so after at least 7 or 8 months, my hair finally got some attention that day.


And so did my nails. What a pretty shade of muted pink! Of course I messed up the polish on one of the fingernails but hey, who's surprised?


That night, Nigel and Kel Li picked me up for Erin’s dinner at Garibaldi Italian Restaurant and Bar in Bangsar Village. Erin works in Hong Kong so this is one of her annual homecoming dinners with her friends.


Kel Li and I at dinner. And that's Erin in the background on the right!


Our mains at Garibaldi leaves much to be desired. The spaghetti carbonara is especially horrendous whilst I'm still on the fence about my lobster bisque (hence no photos). The desserts, however, get plenty of thumbs up. Pictured here is my crispy, flaky strudel with delectable cinnamon ice cream. Hot and mildly sweet on the inside, mmm. The bread sticks and entrée cheese and raisin brown bread are amazing as well.


After dinner, we wound up with this view. And some views that include Jamie, who I finally get to meet, and Jen.


And at this point that night, we both realised we're older than we are in our heads. By 1.30am, we were tired and we want to go home. When did I go from 23 to 26? So kids, enjoy your youth. Don't work too hard.

Here are a few things you should know about my involvement with Khabar Cinta:

1. Being an extra was a job requirement, not a choice. I'm not an actress and I will never be.


2. I'm still proud of what came out, despite the constraints and ordeal we were under. Of course you'll never know what they are but I know people will judge anyway. So be my guest.


3. I like criticism provided they're constructive. So if you think yours is, just say it to my face instead of having to do in codes and cryptic messages/tweets. We're not children.


4. Once again, I'm still proud of the cast and crew for pulling this off under the conditions we had to face, and I would never try to hide it because it takes guts to do things and see it through. Even if this was a mistake, I can very well own up to it. So for those who're so ashamed, well, double-shame on you.

That said, check out the latest episodes of Khabar Cinta!

This morning, a 12-year-old boy was abducted by 3 men in a black Proton Gen 2 on the corner of Jalan Kiara 1 and Jalan Kiara on his way to the Mont Kiara International School, which is near where I work. It breaks my heart to know this — children are such innocent beings.



So if you see or know anything, please inform the police or respective contacts right away.

... or rather sit down.

A few weeks ago, I decided to put my sad about-to-burst-into-tears face to a good use to help out Nigel and his team on a music video shoot for Inverted Coma's new music video for their song Don't Need You. The music video was launched recently, in time for Bersih 3.0. There are a lot of good messages in there — you can check it out below:



To everyone who will be at Bersih 3.0 sit-down rally tomorrow, please be safe and remember the true intentions of this peaceful protest — if a few morons aggravate the situation, don't let them get to you.

My Sundays have been forming an eerily similar pattern for the past few weeks. Here's how this week's Sunday went down:


I had the luxury of sleeping in until noon, and staying in bed with a cup of hot mocha and the latest episode of Gossip Girl and Crazy, Stupid, Love. Verdict? The hot mocha needs a bit of work, Serena Van Der Woodsen is annoying, and Crazy, Stupid, Love. is really enjoyable. I love Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, though they make quite an unlikely pair.


Lunch and dinner turned into tea at my favourite place for comfort food — Ben's General Food Store, Publika. The roast pumpkin hits the spot every time. We're such regulars that we have waiters asking us "the usual?" even before our bums landed on the seats, and a few friends suspiciously thinking I'm a shareholder, to which my response is, "honey, if that's the case, I would've been a millionaire by now."


The rest of the night was spent working from the neighbourhood Starbucks. Or rather, it was spent attempting to work but my brain wasn't up to it. I've been having a serious case of brain-drain lately. Can someone please share their wisdom — what's the cure?

Shortly after, I find myself back at home, catching up on other TV series or movies in bed, dreading Monday, and thinking, "where did the weekend go?"