i LOVE mondays - Energy Spill : Your birth day

May Peace be Upon You

Ever wonder the meaning of the day you were born? I did this in Facebook couple days back and its just amazing how'd they describe your character to the day you were born. Now, I don't know how genuine the descriptions are but hey, it's Monday........ so give yourself a chill.....to fight that Monday blues some have...

If you do not know which day you were born on, just do the calculation on Facebook

Your's truly is a Friday's child......... So, what are you?

xoxo -Pearl

i LOVE mondays - i LOVE Ramadhan : Pen thoughts of Nadh and Mama Ann

In the name of Almighty, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Ramadhan......

The month of Al Quran, the month of self reflections, the month where one seeks bountiful forgiveness from Him for His Love and His Grace. Its also the month for i LOVE Ramadhan for the Vogue U blog.

Mama Ann gave a very great idea for i LOVE Ramadhan (thank u Mama, this is just awesome!) - to share our reflections and what Ramadhan means to us. And we even extended this to our friends from neighbouring countries. So for the next weeks of Ramadhan in i LOVE Ramadhan, join us as we look at what our Vogue U girls and friends feel about Ramadhan.

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This week, Nadh and Mama Ann came in with their pen thoughts.......

From the heart of Naddy:
Salam sejahtera semua. Nama saya Nad. Orang panggil saya pun Nad. Saya puasa hari ni. Saje bagitau walaupun ayat tak perlu.

Hari ini, saya ada homework. Cikgu Pearl suruh saya karang ayat tidak lebih dari 200 perkataan setiap soalan. Saya akan cuba. Terlajak perahu, boleh gostan, terlajak kata, pandai2 kau lah setan. Ewah. [Cikgu kata, kalau reka pantun dapat markah lebih. *ahem ahem*]

Baiklah, saya mulakan.

What Ramadhan means to me....
Ramadan bagi saya adalah bulan yang penuh makanan barakah. Bagi saya, setiap kali Ramadan, saya diberi peluang untuk bermuhasabah diri dan lebih memberi penumpuan untuk mengurangkan dosa walaupun bertambahnya makin lebih dari berkurangan. Saya cuba juga dan alhamdulillah. Saya cuma berharap, setiap kali Ramadan, saya dapat bertemu dengan Ramadan yang akan datang.

What i look forward in Ramadhan...
Makanan. Seperti ayam percik, air kathirah, ayam golek-golek, astarghfirullah. Sungguh lah si nad ni. Maafkan saya cikgu. Excited tadi dapat pegi bazar ramadan di JB walaupun saya tertipu air kathirah yang rupa aja ada tapi rasa langsung takda. Sedih ai tau.

Perkara yang saya kira macam look forward ni mungkin it's the 'thrill' dapat jalan ke bazar2 Ramadan kot tengok2 makanan. Wah boleh like that?

Sebenarnya, bulan ni sajalah meja makan dirumah saya ni berfunction dimana saya sekeluarga akan berbuka puasa together-gether. Itu yang saya look forward sangat. The feeling of togetherness. Bulan-bulan lain, meja makan tu diletak nota, 'For Display Only.' Ngeh ngeh ngeh...

Saya juga look forward nak nyanyi lagu-lagu raya. Setahun sekali tuh...

The things i like in Ramadhan.......
Makanan juga! Erk. Ampunkan saya Cikgu! Ada beberapa perkara saya suka tentang Ramadan. Salah satunya ialah program-program yang disediakan khas untuk bulan ini. Extra ceramah, extra syarahan, extra Jejak Rasul, drama-drama yang memberi pengajaran, terutamanya bila disentuh bab-bab bulan puasa. Juga, program masakan seperti Ketuk-ketuk? Ramadan. Eceh ceh ceh. Tapi, itu tak penting. Yang penting dan!

Most importantly, I like how we are given a chance to replenish our souls....and oh let me share you from the table of Nad... Finger lickin the very sedap!!!!

You all buka puasa apa hari ni?


From the heart of Mama Ann:
For me, of course most of us will feel the need for spiritual cleansing & re-focus one's self on the worship of Allah. But other than that, Ramadhan is when, my tastebuds & take on food will go slightly haywire!

Somehow during the fasting month, I cant eat fish! Even my favorite asam pedas ikan pari pun I tak boleh makan, my stomach automatically reject any kind of fish during the fasting month. Well, except for otah fish - ah this one I can! Don’t know why, alahai... ikan ikan!

Now, anyone has similar stomach issue like me?

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Yes, no doubt we cannot deny that its during Ramadhan that all the many delicacies will surface and its like a show of food parade. And whilst we enjoy our iftar feast, do remember to share with those who has none...

Till we meet again next week, where we have our special Vogue friend with another pen thoughts of Ramadhan just next to this little red dot.

Fi hifzillah

i LOVE mondays - Arts : Raya Postcards

May Peace be Upon you

These postcards makes me laugh. The captions are simple yet heart warming that some of us can relate to whilst growing up.

These postcards are created by our local talent, Rudy Djoharnaen. You can visit his blog here

So do support our local talent and order up your Raya Postcards........ i have ;)

From your "kawai" designer
PearL

i LOVE mondays - office raid : FACEBOOK

May Peace be Upon You

Happy Monday!!!!! and i LOVE mondays is back to entice you with pretty pictures. But before your "kawai" designer start babbling on her facination of interiors, let VU take this honor to wish our Malaysian friends ------------ HaPPy MeRdeka!!!!! And I bet, you're spending longer time in that bed. So enjoy the holiday...

This week, I thought of invading some office design.

We spend more that half of our day in our office. Sure, some of us may be out in meetings most of the time but the office is the place that you use the phone more, the toilet more, the computer more. And these days employers are slowly seeing the benefit of creating a workplace that could inspire their staff more.

And I believe so as the statistic has proven that happy employers, better result, better quality work, less mistakes. They are proud to come to the office and are not shy to show it off to their families and friends.

However, quite a number of workplace have yet to see value the benefits in this way.......

FACEBOOK is one organization that values this notion. They understand for such an upbeat organization, the environment does not only need to be condusive for working but one that inspire its employees too....

But before we invade into this next big thing office, let me clarify that I am NOT part of the making of this office, but merely admiring its end product.

Sometimes, it does not have to take expensive treatment to make that office look and feel great. It's clever treatment and putting the $$$ to the right spaces that makes an interior a successful space.

Simple treatment like feature colour for focal points and cool artworks conjures a space with character.

Choice of furniture also plays a vital part in any interiors. You could spend top dollars for that designer piece but not harmonizing with the space, it looks mediocre. But knowing a good mix and match even with a non branded fixture could make the space looks exclusive.

However, I do agree certain workstyle is suitable with specific genre. The Y generation particularly are more acceptable to open plan and a more dynamic workspace. They prefer having space that are more flexible.

More collaborative spaces and communal spaces are becoming that functional space to have impromptu discussion and for staffs to communicate.

I love the idea of theme meeting rooms. It does break away from being monotonous.

I always like to advise my corporate clients not to be afraid using colours. Especially with paint colours. Plus, nowadays there are several brands that carry low VOC paint. Mix with wallcover ing and paint helps to bring down the budget and still able to create a fabulous looking space.

And like jewellery pieces that adds that final glittering touches in fashion wear, finding a quirky or a "talking point" fixture pieces sets the tone of your space. Just make sure you don't overdo it..

So, time to spruce up your workplace?

And are cool funky workplace matters to you?...or like some, its the pay check that matters and do not care if the workplace looks dated.....? What are your thoughts?

For me, I still enjoys making other people working place a joy to work in.


From your "kawai" designer,
PearL

The Geek Chic 101 [Stats? What stats? 36-24-34?]

Selamat bertemu kembali dalam racangan.. *tuk-tuk* Ketuk-ketuk Ramadan! Aceh ceh ceh. Lol. Did anyone watch this cooking show? I just love that lady lah.

Alrights, for today's iftar menu, we will be having website statistics, not body stats hok. :p

For our Vogue U blog, we are currently using Statcounter.com to keep track of our stats. On a personal recommendation, I have tried quite a number of web stats freeware and nothing can compare with what Statcounter has to offer. Anyway, I've really got a lot to talk about web stats, but I'll just share the importance of having a counter for your blog/website first.

Let's see how a Statcounter works.

Some of you might probably have a counter on your blog/site only for you to see the number of hits you can get on your site. That defeats the purpose of having a stats counter in the first place! Well, I'm not say it's wrong.. Of course you need the hits, but why? Right?

So here are some of the things you can analyze when you have a web stats on your blog.

• How many people visited your site?
• What are the keywords they used to get there?
• How often they come back?
• What pages are looked at?
• Which pages aren't looked at?
• Which search engines they came from?
  

And the list goes on...

[Click to enlarge image]

Recently, Vogue U have been receiving a lot of hits because of the recipes. So mama Moralle, recipe berbuka, can double up tak? Hehehe. The analysis goes there you see? Means you know people are looking for recipes this fasting month and that's how its gonna help you to generate more hits and make your blog/site a success. [So far no RA or 18sx keywords. :p]

**Note: This is where "LABELS" plays an important role. All the labels acts as keywords to users when they google for it. So be sure to add the correct and common labels so that the search engine can list your blog/site as the returned results for users.

Do you know?
The platform you use also will affect your hits? You see, blogger.com is under Google, so its like, "Who's under me will get listed most" kinda thingy. It works that way. [Politics eh? Lol..] You can try to do a search and see for yourself. I'm sure most of us uses google nowadays. :)

Another thing I love about Statcounter is that they provide a blocking cookie for your blog. Blocking cookie here means they won't log your own visits, [also to say, don't get excited for nothing when you see high hits when it's only coming from you alone. :p]

That's a tiny wee bit of sharing about having a stats counter for your blog. Similarly, it's like doing a survey for your own shop. Who wouldn't want the hits ey?

If you are gunning for victory for your own blog/site, start having one today with Statcounter.com!

Toodles everyone! Happy stats-ing!

Happy Birthday Shopaholic Mama!

Vogue U would like to wish our dearest
Shopaholic Mama a Happy Birthday!

Cheers to more shopping trips!

FASTING MENU WITH MAMA MORALLE - FRIED SMALL SHELLS MACARONI

Salam and a very good Friday to everyone :))

What to eat or cook today or over the weekends to break fast with your love ones, perhaps this will help. Instead of frying the normal big fatty mee or the skinny Bee Hoon, why dont u try the macaroni versions.

There are many types of macaroni u can try, but mama luv to use the small shell, it looks cute after frying.

And instead of cooking it the Mat Salleh style, why not try the Melayu style of Macaroni Goreng.

Its simple and easy, recipes will be the same like the way you fry normal mee goreng, but if u use Macaroni, its nicer to use more prawns instead of meat, use more vege and fish cake.

These are the basic ingredients that mama always used when I fried my macaroni, vege, prawns, small amount of meat and fishcake.

Other ingredients will be dry chilli, onions and garlics (to blend).

Its nicer to eat fried Macaroni compared to Mee Goreng, u want to know hw true it is, try it, n u will never regret it :))

""ENJOY THE WKENDS, MUAHHHHSSSSSSSSS""

La Dolce Vita : Bling bling money ain't a thing....really?

Women love the blings. Which woman wouldn't go weak when presented with a beautiful diamond ring? I know I would.

Nice???

Of course! You say.

Let's look at the routine when one goes diamond shopping.

OOhhh....nice ring/bracelet/necklace etc! wife says "Husband...I want to take a look please." Wife skips into shop merrily while husband weighs the possibilty of walking out of the shop a few thousands poorer.

Wife spots a piece of bling and asks to take a closer look and the questioning begins.

1st question : How many carats is this?

2nd question : What is the clarity of the diamond?

3rd question : What is the colour grading of the diamond?

4th : What cut is this?

Typical conversation right? But the most important set of questions is almost always never asked.

WHERE DO THESE DIAMONDS COME FROM?

IS THIS A CONFLICT DIAMOND?

DO YOU HAVE CERTIFICATION TO PROVE IT?

What are conflict diamonds and why is it important to be aware?

Conflict diamonds are diamonds illegally traded to fund conflict in war-torn areas, particularly in central and western Africa. The United Nations (UN) defines conflict diamonds as "...diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council."

These diamonds are sometimes referred to as "blood diamonds."

Would you want to buy a diamond and unknowingly fund the killing of hundreds of fellow human beings in another country?

Although today only 1% of the world's diamonds production are conflict diamonds, they still exist. Imagine how many millions or even billion pieces of diamonds out there and calculate the 1%.

To learn more about conflict diamonds, google it.

You could also catch the movie "Blood Diamonds" showing on channel 5 this Sunday to see a depiction of the horrors these diamonds inflict on the African people. If not please get a DVD. This movie is one of the must watch on my list.

So the next time you buy a diamond, remember to ask the most important question of all. Yes, that diamond might look oh so pretty on you. But would you want to support an illegal military force who enslaves their own people so they are able to dig more diamonds to fund weapons? Would you want to have blood on your hands?

In wanting to look good, we women have to also be civic minded with our choices. I always believe in that.

Time out with Shopper Mama - Shoo away the bad design!

Happy Ramadhan everyone!

While checking the latest Manja September issue, there are some articles that caught my interest & what else would it be, besides bags, its sexy & vogue SHOES, of course!

Wow 100 kali, cantik kan??

I've always wanted to catwalk in these gorgeous heels but as stated in my previous entry, these will probably kill me, so I say, no thanks!

What about these Havaianas (pronounced as ah-vai-yah-nas)?


Ok gak, but only for beach or pegi market or kedai lah!


But but but .....


Yg I tak boleh angkat is

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this pair below




only 850 pairs worldwide at S$729 !! Mak datuk !!!!


No thanks too lah!!! Give me Crocs Mary Jane anytime babe!