Drivers in Brunei...

First off, let me make it clear:
I. DON'T. DRIVE.

I've been thinking about it...because it's the ONLY convenient form of transportation in this country.
The purple buses? Do you see many locals use that? Quite rarely.

The complaints I hear from friends and some family is that the bus route is just so random and stuff.
Having had to use the buses to travel when I was in Japan, I kind of wish the buses here can be improved to mimic the system there.

It was always on time, convenient and just user-friendly.



Anyway, going back to the topic of drivers...

This was actually brought up by my lil' sister who just learned how to drive.

"WHY is the TV only showing accidents caused by mobile phones? NOT ALL accidents are caused by phones." She complained as she was driving us around to buy sungkai stuff.

"I mean, look at that." She says as she carefully drives the car. "That guy 'just masuk simpang tapi nada signal!!' How am I supposed to brake?"

"What if I did not see that, and I hit him? BECAUSE I DIDN'T SEE HIM TRYING TO 'MASUK' SIMPANG?"

"In the end, they'd blame ME because I hit him, even though it's HIM that didn't use the signal."

"Plus I'm a new driver, of course they'd blame it on me."

1) They just steal an opportunity (Honestly, I dunno how to translate 'menyampati')
2) They don't bother to use the signal


These 'menyampati' people, also go against the red traffic light. I've seen this happen many times.
I mean, if they get into an accident AND die, who's to blame but themselves?


The only time you CAN drive very fast and break ALL the rules, IN MY OPINION, is when you really want to poop and pee.

Or maybe you need to hurry because someone is gonna pass away and you wanna be there before they take their last breath.

Other than that, rules are made for driving to make life safer.


As a potential driver, I am personally scared because as the passenger, I've seen many bad things happen.

Hell, I've also been in a car accident when I was young.
I guess that gave me some kind of trauma to drive.


My lil' sister was involved in small hit and run accident when she small.
That driver just rammed into the car and he drove away.

Thankfully, there was a witness.

So yeah, accidents aren't always caused by people using their mobile phones.
C'mon, PSA (Public Service Announcement), you know better than that.


Every time when I see a car speeding, I say to myself: "Maybe they really need to go to the toilet. Hopefully they won't get into an accident."


Accidents are caused by drivers, too.
Obviously.


They ignore what is taught to them while taking the driving lessons, because they think that they're pro in driving, because they think that they're above the law.


I'm not always into rules but when it comes to things involving the lives of other people, you should at least respect them.



So, will I one day drive?
I know I should, but if the roads are littered with these reckless drivers, I'd rather work hard on improving the public transportation.

I'm all for the possibility of *coughtrainscough* but that's impossible maybe.



You can't live in Brunei without learning how to drive, I know that.
So drivers out there, make it possible for the roads to be safe.

Proper maintenance should be done regularly too, to keep the roads safe. Traffic lights, lights, signboards, etc.


I'd write this for the newspaper but my rusty writing is just not right LOL.

Blogging is the way to go.

Oh, and if any of the driving terms are wrong, excuse me because I don't drive and I haven't learned any of it LOL. I did ask my sis but she finds it easier to explain in Malay.

'til then, take care~

-Nisah-

P.S: Keep your kids in line when they're in the car. Seriously.

Sweet Recipe Has Arrived in Brunei's Etude House!

Hey everyone!
I finally managed to go to Etude House!!
I was excited that I finally got to see the lovely collection right in front of me.

Mind you, not all the products have arrived yet.
They're coming in periodically, I'm guessing they need to clear off some stuff to let these products in.

Which makes sense.

Anyway, I managed to get all the prices for the stuff that's arrived (minus the Sweet Recipe Cotton Candy Ball and the Sweet Recipe Sliced Cake Puffs):

Sweet Recipe Baby Choux Base (BND21.90)

#1 Mint Choux

-This is good for acne-prone and sensitive skin tones that often suffer from redness. 

#2 Berry Choux

-This is good for brightening dull-looking skin, or pale skin. The SA also said this is good for dark skin tones.

Unfortunately the third base, which is the #3 Peach Choux, is not brought into Brunei. When I found out, I decided to order it online because according to reviews and the description, it's this base that's good for yellow based, dark skin tones.

I've used it once, so I can't really judge it yet but I don't think it really controlled oil like what reviews are saying. Though I will wait and use it again before I make a proper review.

Sweet Recipe Candy Stick (BND9.90)

Orange Candy * Lemon Candy * Strawberry Candy

-This is a gloss tint that is meant to be lasting. It contains 5 plant ingredients and Xylitol.

I took a look at them, and it totally reminded me of the Tony Moly Petit Bunny Gloss Bar except in candy cane packaging!! I'd probably buy this JUST because of the packaging!!

Sweet Recipe Cupcake All Over Color (BND14.90)

PK001 Blueberry Cheese Cake
PK002 Strawberry Chiffon Cake
RD301 Raspberry Mousse Cake
OR201 Orange Choux Cake
OR202 Peach Sugar Cake

-This is a 3 in 1 product from the Sweet Recipe line. You can use it as cream eyeshadow/base eyeshadow, cream blush and also a lip cream.

I actually bought one of these :)

Can you guess what I bought? It'll be answered at the end~

Sweet Recipe Cupcake Eyes Eyeshadow (BND17.90)

PK001 Sweet Berry Lemon Mousse
OR201 Fresh Mango Tango
BR401 Sugar Maple Syrup Choco
PP501 Blueberry & Strawberry
BR402 Chocochip Sweet Mint

- These eyeshadows are shimmery and the two tones are meant for gradient effect. Just your normal eyeshadows but in a cute packaging.

These are similar to another product, but I'm not sure what line it's from. I think the colours are different though. If I'm not mistaken, these ones have better colour payoff, at least in my opinion. Would I buy one of these? Sure. I think PK001 is lovely. I wanna say these are baked shadows SO you can use them dry and wet!

Sweet Recipe Dear My Jelly Lips-Talk (BND18.90)

Jelly Bean Lipsticks!

- These sheer-coloured lipsticks will give you irresistible jelly lips with its moist and shimmery finish.

I'll let the photos do the talking!

I didn't remember if all the colours are available but I know the yellow one and the light pink was there. Haha.

I really wanna try these!

----

So yeah, for now, that's all they have of the Sweet Recipe line :)

The SA told me the nail polishes have arrived (it's in the office) but unfortunately, they didn't bring in the 4 sprinkle ones:

WHY??? These are the cute ones!

They are, however, bringing in these ones...

Lovely colours, definitely.

SO.

Have you guys guessed what I got?

I mean, which shade?

LOL.

Here you go!

Did you get it right?

I can't wait to use this!

I'll do a review soon enough :D

So yeah, hopefully that was helpful!

Take care everyone!!

-Nisah-

Etude House Sweet Recipe Will Be In Brunei? YES!

Well, they said so on my post anyway!

At first I was like NO. Then OMG YESSSSSS.

Well, what does that mean?

HEAVEN.

I don't think I'll buy ALL the collection, I think I should collect all my monies for this day to come.

Provided that it's not overpriced :x

Like, seriously.

I'm eyeing the Ice Cream Nails, like HELLOOOO, that's why I wanted it in the first place.

Wanna see the pics?

Go Google it.

HAHAHA, no, no.

I'm just kidding.

I'm eyeing the Mint one the most. BUT I WANT EVERYTHING.

I just hope it's not marked up three times the price. Twice is fine.

But three times, no.

Nope.

Okay, Etude?

Great.

Take care, it's such a hot day!

-Nisah-

As An Aspiring Singer-Songwriter...

My fingers hurt from trying to learn the guitar ( ~_~ )
So I'm typing a bit slower than usual. Fun.

Anyway...

I recently got a new acoustic guitar as a birthday present from my dad.
And it's pink, of course.

It goes so well with my room :3
Although that doesn't matter much!

You see, I already have Charlotte, which is my electric guitar.
However, I can't bring myself to use her because she's so heavy.

The reason why I didn't get an acoustic in the first place is because I have a very weak left hand. With an electric, I need less pressure on the strings. In the end though, I can't bring myself to practice on Charlotte.

So yeah, I've been wanting an acoustic for a while, especially since I'm writing more acoustic sounding songs. Plus my composer doesn't wanna compose the lazy sounding songs I make lol.

I usually make jazzy, slow, acoustic-y vocal tunes.
Most of the time I do make J-Pop or J-Rock sounding tunes too. That one, my composer has no problems working with.

My first single has been delayed quite a while, considering it's been made/planned since last year's September. Right now, listening to it, it has me thinking if it's even single material. I mean, would people actually listen to it on the radio, let alone on its own, on Youtube, Soundcloud or something.

I mean, does it stand on its own?

Last year, I thought so, but this year, I'm having doubts.

Not in the quality of the song. No.

It's just that...will Brunei even play it on the radio if I sent it in?
Would they support me as a local independent singer who sings in Japanese or English?


I sound horrible in Malay okay?
I don't loathe Malay, no.

Personally, when you sing or write in Japanese, you can explore more things than simple love songs, or songs to praise God, or friendship songs, etc.

I can write about the colour of my panties, or whatnot, and it can still be artistic.

OF COURSE,  I won't write about that hahaha :P

There's just so much you can do with the language, with the syllables, with everything.

This is the reason why I sing in Japanese.

My Japanese isn't perfect, no, I'm not saying it is.
But there's just so much more I can give in Japanese.

Heck, I've been writing more songs in English of late.
Even my producer/composer/friend says when I write in Japanese I sound more mature.


There's just a sophistication in the language that somehow, I can't really write in either English or Malay.


But writing in English is fun, especially when you set no boundaries.

I've longed to sing on the stage again, but I've had to decline or back out from the stage this year, because I just don't have that confidence anymore. Or that my throat just dies on me.

Back in Japan, back in 2008, I enjoyed singing on the stage. I was singing Japanese, to a Japanese crowd.

And they liked me. Or maybe they just wanted to make sure I don't feel alienated...


I relied on the power of basic Japanese and memorisation.
I don't want to rely on that anymore.

Or rather, I can't.

Not with my condition.
I can barely remember my own lyrics.


I can't remember anything anymore.
I can't memorise anymore.



What's a singer who can't even remember lyrics?

That fear steals away my voice, and I give up.


I know I can do better.
I know I can do what I wanted to do.

I want to grab the listener's heart and squeeze all their emotions out.

That's what I want to do with my voice, with my songs, with my lyrics.


But can I even do that with my condition now?


When I can't even remember anything.


My brain has stopped keeping track of things.


What am I writing now?

Back in Brunei, I stopped trying.

I tried, but I realised that my voice is nothing compared to all the stronger voices in the music scene.

I have a weak voice, I don't rely on strong, punchy vocals.
My voice is soft, weak, fragile but I'd like to say it's versatile.

I don't take vocal lessons and I know I need to.

Brunei only wants Mariah Carey-like singers, or Celine Dion, or Adele...

...never the weak, fragile voice.



I dunno.
Maybe, maybe not.

We'll see when EXIST comes out.

How will they react to it?

It's such an important song.


I'm also going to write an English version of EXIST.
Just in case they don't wanna play Japanese songs.


My dream is big.
I wanna be a singer in Japan.

I know it's gonna be hard.


It will be hard.


But even as an indie, I still want to be able to sing.
I want to sing, I want to help people.


It doesn't have to be locally.

I want it to be globally.

Big dreams? Can't I have it?
I've had this dream ever since I was younger, ever since I learned that I could sing.


If global means Youtube or via sharing, I don't mind.

There are people who have said they will support me no matter what.
No, they're not Bruneians, they're from all over the world.

That's enough initiative for me to believe I can do it.


I CAN do it.


I know I can.

I need to believe that I can.

-Nisah-

Join The Glamorous Makeup Competition!!

On behalf of my friend, I want to share this exciting news to all the makeup artists and aspiring makeup artists out there in Brunei!

Organized by Sekolah Vokasional Nakhoda Ragam (SVNR), there will be a Makeup Competition on the 17th of March 2013, at 2PM with the theme: GLAMOROUS MAKEUP!

The prizes are sponsored by TONY MOLY Brunei and De' Most Salon!

If you've done a lot of makeup on people, you're just in luck to try out your skills!

With a registration fee of BND20, you can get a chance to be one out of THREE possible winners! You will also get a certificate even if you don't win (plus the experience you'll get out of it!)

If you want to test out your skills, do join! It will be fun, and you would be able meet a lot of local makeup artists and also be able to befriend some of your fellow beauty enthusiasts!

Here's the poster!

The rules are on the picture itself, but I'll highlight it here:

1) Bring your own makeup tools and cosmetics. The tools include brushes, sponges, makeup wipes, etc. Anything in your kit!

2) You'll be given 45 minutes to do the whole makeup look!

3) Remember, the theme is GLAMOROUS MAKEUP! Think Red Carpet, think Old Hollywood Glamour!

It will be held in Muslihun, SVNR, this Sunday, at 2PM.

Last registration is on the 15th of March (Friday) and the payment is due on 16th of March (Saturday) at 1PM.

*EDITED*

---

So, if anyone is wondering: Am I gonna join? We'll see.
I've never done makeup on anyone (except once but that was simple makeup)
So, if you wanna be my model do holler tomorrow, so I can practice on you ;D at least before the last registration date.

Want some inspiration? Here, take this gorgeous picture of Jessica Alba:

From the Revlon Ad

So yeah, do join!

Take care!

-Nisah-

Profit VS Scamming (Brunei Edition)

Disclaimer: THIS POST IS BY NO MEANS TRYING TO PUT PEOPLE OUT OF BUSINESS, BUT READ IT WITH AN OPEN MIND.

Okay, after I post this, I will move on to happier things, okay?

This is what I experienced and saw today at Airport Mall, Brunei.

----

We were on the way back to our car, so we passed through Airport Mall, and there were stalls around. I didn't even look around because it was late.

But then my brother got stopped by one of the stall shopkeepers.

So they started talking, and me and his girlfriend saw some makeup being sold.
I didn't care for it, as I just bought something from Etude House.

Until I saw that my brother's girlfriend gushing about how pretty this palette was....

...can you guess what it was?


It was the sought after Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette.

Urban Decay's Naked 2 Palette (Image from Jess Beez Adventures ) 

Actually, it's the "Naked 2 Palette".

It was the fake one, the Grade A replica ones China makes.

Replicated "Naked 2 Palette" (Image taken from Makeuptalk ) 

You see, I'm familiar with things like these because I myself have contemplated buying them myself, online, through the proper shops. They sell these at USD15-19 per piece, and then shipping. If you buy in bulk however, you'd get it cheaper.

Converted, that should be BND19 right? Roughly. Plus maybe USD2 shipping, which makes it BND21. However, if you bought it in bulk, 12+, you can get one palette at BND13 (plus the shipping, which I guess it around BND40 depending on weight).

After some calculating, one price of the palette would be roughly BND16.

But they were selling it at BND85, because my brother's GF asked how much they were, while admiring it.

Yes, you read that right.

BND85.

So, how much profit are they making?

They are making BND69 out of one palette.


So, what do you think that's considered as?
Is it genuine "profit" or a scam?


Plus, after I outed them by saying "Well, that's fake, I know."

The seller said, "No, they're real, my friend bought it from the US."


Okay, that's one thing to sell it at BND85, but to insist that it's real?
Sorry, I can't tolerate that.


Not only are you making a HUGE profit from it, you're also LYING to potential customers.
Why can't you just say, "Oh, they're Grade A replicas from China."

And sell them maybe at a reasonable BND35 at least?

Might I add that China made the full replica now too, which comes with the lipgloss.

New Packaging of the Replica (Image taken from My Beauty Vanity ) 

You can also view the new fake Naked 2 Palette from this blog: Amna's Post

I also saw some of the replicas actually looking like this, but the palette is boxed like in the photo above.

So yeah, I have to back up Urban Decay telling me this when I asked them about this UD Palette I bought from eBay:

"Thank you for your email. We do not have any authorized resellers on Ebay. The only authorized resellers of Urban Decay are Sephora, Ulta, and Macy's as well as some international websites like beautybay.com. We do not have any individual authorized resellers. It is against our company policy."

Although after much soul searching, my palette (which I will write about in another entry), is possibly real, or a bloody good replica. LOL. Either way, I got it cheaply. And that's with shipping by the way~

Not expensively like BND85!!

So yeah, Brunei, is this even legal in our country?
Imagine all the unsuspecting people buying this palette.

BND85 isn't cheap you know.

Not only that, the ingredients in a fake palette can be full of dangerous ingredients and we wouldn't know!

But I did mention before that I considered buying them. Why would I not mind? Because I do have some palettes made in China.


My brother told me to let it be, it's some people's way of "making money to earn a living"

Yes. That's true.

But two things I can't forgive:

1) Insisting that the product is REAL and AUTHENTIC.
2) The pricing. Heck, even the original one is about BND70-75!

Not only that, they were also selling one of my favourite brands, theBalm. The fake one too of course. For that one, I didn't ask.


I'm just bringing this up.

How much of this is legal?
Can we protect consumers like this?

There's nothing wrong with admitting that they are replicas, and making just a bit of profit from it. Maybe double it. But that's about it.

I know you're a small business.


But I am also not a blind consumer.

Okay?


Sorry if I offended the seller should they be reading.

I am only saying it can be dangerous and very wrong.

Take care!

-Nisah-

Wow, February...Just WOW.

Okay, here's the deal.

You see, my experiences with online shopping has been 90% pleasant. 

10% is missing. You wonder why? 

It's because of my brother's lack of responsibility in asking for a refund for a product that was lost in the mail. This was last year, FEBRUARY, too.

I still want to believe it'll magically appear one day, this year. But pssh, that's just an empty dream.

Anyway, due to me having university now, the only person I can rely on to pick up some parcels is my dad. He's a sweetheart for doing that. Really, for this matter, I can't blame him at all. So today, as usual, he picked up a parcel for me while I attended uni.

Me and my sis were anticipating this one parcel for the longest time. It was my first time ordering from this place, they packed everything very fast. We waited. They sent it on the 20th of January. It arrived on the 4th of February. Or so they want us to believe. 'They', here, refers to the Post Office.

And so, my dad came home, he brought the parcel. It was opened, as to be expected, since we have to open them in front of the Customs at the Post Office. However, when I pulled the stuff out, we realized, me and my sister, that this parcel doesn't seem right.

"Dad, how come there's only two dresses? Where are the necklaces?" I asked, my sis frantically looking for her necklaces.

"What?! I didn't know that. When they handed it to me, it was already open."

Everything just died down around me.

The parcel, was opened.

The parcel....was OPENED.

I asked my dad again. Surely there's a mistake right??

"...are you sure? Did they say they received it like this?" I asked him, voice getting louder.

"When they gave it to me, I asked them 'Why is this parcel opened?', but they just ignored me." He explained.

I looked at my sister, rage just boiled.

THIS. MEANS. WAR.

I ran up to my room, took out my laptop, loaded the website I ordered from and opened live chat customer service.

I wanted to know, I needed to know if they sent it all in one parcel.

After a while of chatting, we found out that they only delivered one parcel. Everything was sent already.

We told them the parcel was prematurely opened.

We could not find the necklaces, and some of the accessories from my costume dress was missing.

They told us to take photos, we did. And then we were referred to a person under Customer Tech.

After a while of checking, they reaffirmed that they sent it all in one parcel. The person even told us to check the pockets, but trust me, I looked. I burned HOLES into the parcel with my eyes.

There was nothing.

Nothing at all.

Out of the 8 items, 6 were missing.

The thing with this is that the parcel ACTUALLY arrived, it got to my hands but items were missing.

It was not missing, whatsoever.

They told us to take photos, and after a while, they concluded that someone must have opened my parcel and took some things.

I then turned to talk to my father again, and he explained to me that the person in charge of giving us the parcels actually KNEW the parcel was opened.

How?

Because before he handed it to my dad, one of the dresses slipped out and he put it back in.

He PUT it back in.

He must have been blind or super oblivious.

He did not even explain to my dad what happened.

Whether it was received like that or someone who's a kleptomaniac who happens to work in the Post Office decided to pry the parcel open and take these things out.

Seriously, don't they take oaths or something?

The thing is, it might even be cargo people. Heck, it might even be outside post offices' job BUT tell me why, Brunei Post Office...

WHY did you not say anything about the fucking prematurely opened parcel???

WHY????

MY DAD FUCKING ASKED AND YOU IGNORED HIM.

I was so outraged.

I ranted. Of course I ranted.

Then I found out that the Bandar Post Office does that often. They would often open our parcels without our permission. So, do they re-seal the parcels then? Because all this time, none of my parcels were ever opened. Ever.

We were given the choice of opening the package in front of the Customs Officers.

I asked my brother and found out that the Post Office would only open packages or parcels that they are allowed to, like supplements, medicines and whatnot.

So whose grubby hands opened my parcel?

It's supposed to contain 2 dresses and 6 necklaces.

Are they medication? Uh, no?

Are these necklaces against the religion and country? Uh, no?

I see these necklaces sold at local shops for a lot more.

So WHERE did the necklaces go?

WHERE?

At the end of it all, I decided to write an e-mail to the newspaper.

I hope it gets published.

I feel unsafe.

Where's the trust? Where's the responsibility?

And I have to rely on this postal system to send out my prize mails?? Heck no.

This turns me off to hold international giveaways.

Maybe I can have them in the form of giftcards instead >_>

Either way, I'll try post out the prizes soon.

AND pray that the grubby kleptomaniacs won't take them and send empty parcels to the winners of my last giveaway.

SIGH.

Take care, everyone.

Sleep well.

-Nisah-

New Dairy Queen Opened at Lambak!

Okay. Oops, so now you know where I live.

Anyway, this isn't an advertisement LOL I'm just so happy about the opening, I'd like to share it with you guys!

Dairy Queen, or DQ caused my fats to develop a lot in 2009.
With it being so close now, I pray it doesn't get back to that. Always, always order small unless you're gonna share it with someone ;P

So here are some photos I managed to snap of the place, I asked permission too (from inside only and not all):

Friendly staff :)

A cozy place to catch up with friends :) 

Last photo before I had to take my Blizzard before it melts!!

What I missed taking photos of is the exterior of the place and also a corner where you can use the internet for free (I think so) with a maximum of 30 minutes. I dunno if they provide wi-fi. The computers provided are Macs btw. There are two of them. Side by side.

They have a tiny sink there :) which is nice.

Basically it seems like a nice place to hang out! If you live close by.

Oh yeah, and Pizza Hut (for takeaways and deliveries) is next to it too :) What's DQ without Pizza Hut, right?

I honestly really liked the design!

The chairs look comfy.

Unfortunately I was there only for a takeaway of one of my favourite Blizzards:

Green Tea Chocolate!

It melted just as soon as I stepped outside LOL.

It was a hot day.

So yeah, yay for us Lambak-ians!!

If I ever crave for them, I can just go there, no need to prettify myself. Maybe.

Oh man, now I crave pizza D:

Okay, take care then guys!

-Nisah-