Roaming (A Bit Of) KL

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Darwin

It has been almost a month since I arrived here and I tell you what, I feel like a local already. Maybe because of the fact I have been here almost 3 years ago that I am now more familiar with (at least) several things. Malay language is not hard to understand, simply because a lot of the words are similar to Filipino language, and traveling from point A to point B is not much of a hassle anymore. The only thing that I really dislike is the extremely hot weather. Ugh! You walk 2 minutes out in the sun and you sweat like you never sweat before. I swear, this is insane! You have to shower at least 3 times a day with the heat and humidity.

Moving on, here are some snaps from my walking adventures around Kuala Lumpur. And yes, I am a living testament I braved the KL heat!

When I was here in 2010, I never really used the train but this time around, it is the winning mode of transport.

A Chinese temple walking distance from the Maharajalela Monorail Station and near Chinatown.

While window-shopping at Berjaya Times Square, I stumbled upon these really nice smelling perfumes at a drugstore in the basement level of the mall. I will actually go back and buy one of these bottles. I am in love!

x,
D

Floating. Floating.

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Darwin

Wow, I can’t believe it has been 4 days since I’ve written here. I have been extremely busy since my move and I just can’t find the right time to sit down, and do a proper entry. Whenever I attempt to do so, I always end up wanting to just curl up in bed as I always am tired at the end of the day. On the plus side, I really enjoy all these walking and sweating through the streets of Kuala Lumpur, and I certainly feel good to be back here.

I won’t promise but I will do my best to update more properly as soon as I have the right time and phase. For now, enjoy my picture as I float up up in the air from my flight 3 days ago.

x,
D

Things I’ve Learned About Myself (Lately)

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Darwin

1. When it comes to organizing, I still need to learn a lot. I just have too much clutter at home- in my room, in my office room, everywhere. Especially now that I’ve started this review blog and I receive tons of packages almost everyday, it’s just hard to keep up. I still have to get rid of a lot of things, arrange my closet, fix the pantry, segregate my magazines, and a whole lot more. Oh gawd, please no stress. Me no likey!

2. I have been bonding more and more with my little boy lately and I enjoy every moment of it. He goes to school after lunch, and comes back home around 5PM. But on certain days that they have exams, he goes to school earlier in the morning and come back home earlier too, usually around lunch time. I make it a point that we go out together after that- go to the mall, buy his McDonalds Happy Meal, and then hit the bookstore to buy some art supplies. He suggested we watch a movie next time, so that’s what we will do next.

3. Watching Be Careful With My Heart makes me cry, in a very positive manner. It’s my noontime addiction and I always make it a point I don’t miss it. There’s just so much positive vibes the show bring.

4. I still do not own an iPhone, or an Android phone. And I am not complaining. It’s my own personal preference and I am sticking with my humble Nokia Qwerty smartphone. Honestly, I am not the type of person who would go hungry for the new technologies. It’s not just me.

5. I love airport shopping. Whenever I travel, especially to places like Singapore, or Hong Kong, I make it a point to save extra for the duty free shopping. I stock on Victoria’s Secret, Swiss chocolates, and more and more food gifts for the family.

6. I love where I live. It’s so homey up here, and my neighborhood is really peaceful. It’s not crowded, and I really love that in a community. Although I love the excitement of the city life, at the end of the day, I still prefer to go home in a nice country setting. I grew up in a very small town, and I will always be a small town girl I guess.

7. Cooking requires patience, dedication, and passion. For the past months, I have been really cooking more and more, and I find satisfaction in doing it. It’s always a great pleasure discovering new recipes, and being able to share them to other people is even better. I love the thrill of making up a new food out of my food magazines.

8. I’m having a severe LSS on Alicia Key’s Girl on Fire song. I sing it everywhere I go- the bathroom, my bedroom, while working. I’m simply hooked! ♪…this girl is on fire…♫

x,
D

I REVIEW: LAY’s Classic aka My Most Favorite Potato Chips Ever!

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Darwin

Picture from IslandProvisioning.bz

PRODUCT SOURCE: I buy and buy lots and lots of Lay’s. That’s how I am addicted and I am making a special review post for it as well. No free samples from Frito Lays (duh!), just some avid fan and foodie sharing her love for this delicious potato chips.

Someone please stop me! I am sitting here, armed with a cheese burger on my left side, and some good ol’ LAY’s Classic Potato Chips on my right. But on second thought, please don’t stop me. This is just getting started and I am gonna sit here ’till I finish my bag of chips. To make it more exciting, I will watch this video on how Frito-Lay makes their potato chips.

I like that they don’t use biofuels like oil, but instead use natural gas which is very eco-friendly. Frito-Lay is a very responsible company, and that makes it all worth it to consume their products. In my household, eating Lay’s Classic is a family affair. Once the bags are opened, we put them in used jars of those gigantic powdered chocolate drinks, and then just go grab some when we feel like eating. The main competition would have to be our little boy of the house. The taste is just soooo good, very crispy, very tasty, and you can really savor real potato goodness without being overpowered by the ingredients.

How I wish Lay’s will be able to read this and in my dreams, I picture waking up in the morning with a box of Lay’s goodness in my front door. That’d be win-win-win. Yum! I love you Lay’s! Still, the classic flavor is the best but that doesn’t mean I don’t like the other ones. I love them all really!

I WANT TO TRY: Suave Professionals Moroccan Infusion Color Care Shampoo and Conditioner

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Darwin

Picture from Suave.com

I’ve seen these two advertised on my blog feeds for a while, and I had to bookmark them because I really am interested in trying these new offering from Suave. For one, I have color-treated hair, and I plan on changing my hair color again in a couple of weeks- so I was just thinking, this might be a good option for me especially it has Argan oil, which is native to Morocco. It sounds so exotic, eh? And I bet this smells so good as well- have to make a trip to Walmart soon and have this tried.

Suave Professionals Moroccan Infusion Color Care Shampoo and Conditioner $2.88 (Walmart)

My Favorite Websites Part 1

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Darwin

I’m in love with the Internets! Second to magazines, the Internet is my next favorite addiction. There’s just so much to do online- from the obvious connecting with friends (and strangers), downloading (illegal) movies and music, watching videos on Youtube, and a whole lot more. Put me in a boring place, but leave me a laptop and a reliable wi-fi connection and I am set. Here, I list the websites I mostly visit any given day, in no particular order:

Reddit.com

1. Reddit.com

I can’t get enough of Reddit. I think it’s the inner geek in me. But beyond that, there’s just a lot on offer from this website. For someone like me who likes sending and receiving packages, there are certain subreddits (as they call them) where you can subscribe to, or subreddits for makeup addiction, beauty box subscriptions. And even question and answer portions from prominent and very interesting people.

RainingHotCoupons.com

2. Raining Hot Coupons

Admittedly, I live by coupons and I love freebies, and I subscribe to this blog because she offers both of them, religiously. There are tons and tons of freebies you can get from browsing the internet, but a lot of them are also scams- so be careful. Raining Hot Coupons only list legitimate ones, and that’s what I love about her. And oh, she has a Youtube channel as well, I always watch her “Mailbox Freebies” videos. Always fun to watch those.

Twitter

3. Twitter

I get more interactive in Twitter than Facebook, and I believe that I am more active there too. My trick is that, I do not usually follow people, what I do is look for Twitter accounts that I find interesting and then “list” them, segregate according to interests then read their updates whenever I visit Twitter. It’s very neat, and you lessen the hassle of browsing through useless craps other people say. Well I admit I write craps now and then too. 😉 Oh, now that we’re at it, follow me: @danielledarwin

Del Monte Kitchenomics

4. Del Monte Kitchenomics

I visit a lot of recipe sites online, and I always end up getting hungry looking at all them food pictures. Del Monte Kitchenomics is one of my favorites because the recipes listed are very easy, and healthy as well.

Metafilter

5. Metafilter

Another information overload site for all them serious lookers like myself. My favorite part of Metafilter is the Ask page. Once a week (yes, once a week per member), you have the option to ask a particular question and fellow members will answer. To be part of Metafilter, you have to pay $5 lifetime fee. It is worth it. I have been a member for years now.

Etsy

6. Etsy

If you love vintage and handmade shopping, then this is the website for you. I am a seller of Etsy as well, so if you like ethnically handmade goodies, then head to my shop Little Miss Itneg, and I always offer FREE SHIPPING.

NOTVENTURES

7. NOTVENTURES

Whenever I need a dose of travel inspiration, I browse here. It collects interesting travel articles from different websites, and every time I visit the site, I always get inspired and itch to travel some more.

How about you? What are your favorite websites?

Yay! 2 FREE Magazine Subscriptions Today!

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Darwin

Lovely day for me. And I am as excited as ever- for those of you not in the know, I am magazine-addicted and if you are my friend who visited my house already, you can find piles and piles of magazines at home. Currently, I am subscribed to about 10 titles every month and sometimes when I pass by the used bookstore, they also have stockpile of back issues there and I take home several titles too. That’s how addicted I am. And even now that we have digital subscriptions (I have tons of that in my Zinio library too), I still stick to my hard copies, smelling them while they’re new and just sitting in a corner and browsing the pages. Oh, magazines!

There’s a lo of free stuff on the internet- particularly targets consumers in the USA. For someone having a US-based address, I am free to order anything I see online and have them shipped to my US address. And it is an advantage because with these freebies you can sign up for online, it’s win-win-win.

Now, off to my FREE magazine subscriptions today.

First is LUCKY Magazine.

My ultimate favorite. I have been reading this one since early 2001, and still keeping up until now. What I love about Lucky is that it’s very specific with the products featured in its magazine- since it is initially a shopping guide magazine, you are assured that a particular item is labeled its official name so when you look up online or call the brands’ hotlines, it is easier for them to locate the product for you and well, easier shopping for you as well. That’s what I really love about Lucky. Sections of the magazine include fashion, beauty, and on each issue they showcase new and interesting shopping websites, and a local shopping guide of a featured city in the USA, and sometimes from other countries.

I got my LUCKY subscription today via a website called MercuryMagazines.com It’s basically a free subscription platform for business magazines, you sign up for a particular title you are interested in, and every now and then, they have really win-win-win non-business titles you can add, or in my case, I got a $10 gift card to use on BlueDolphin-Magazines.com, which I think is their affiliate website. There are a lot of magazines that are below the $10 yearly subscription range and my Lucky Magazine subscription was priced at $7. Using my gift card, I got it for free, and the win-win-win part? I still have $3 left in my gift card that I can use on future purchases.

Now a normal subscription fee for Lucky Magazine is around $12, and about $35-40 for international subscription. So yes, I got a $40 magazine subscription absolutely for FREE. Yey! Happy happy.

Off to my second magazine subscription for the day: ELLE Magazine.

I am a member of a website called Recyclebank, where it teaches us, people of the world mainly about recycling. There are tons of information you can get from the website, and it is very interactive. You can take quizzes, do little tasks at home, and in return, Recyclebank gives you points. When you accumulate a certain number of points, you can redeem it to get free items, discount coupons, or again, in my case, I used my 190 points today to subscribe to ELLE Magazine. It is that easy. Visit Recyclebank today to sign up and start learning more about recycling and start getting your free subscriptions like me.

To signup for Recyclebank, you can use my referral link HERE so we can earn and learn together. Happy browsing!