Liquido Miss Bikini 2013

Every time I find myself talking about the Liquido Miss Bikini 2013 competition, I find myself tearing up and my voice breaking with pride.

Pride for the girls. Pride for the team. Pride for how far we came and what we accomplished. And pride for throwing one of the funnest Brazilian Bikini Sunset Pool parties for 2013! I bet that the whole crew from Threes & Tees can endorse this! (just check out their album on FB - they had a smashing great time)

It's hard not to crack up when I see pictures like this:

Or these:

 

Hahahah. What a night. What a night.

Before I even begin, I would like to thank the following people:

1. Andy Kho for deciding to come along on this crazy journey with me... and what a journey it was! I don't know what what his best moment, but my best moment for him when he was on stage and everyone was cheering for him. I felt pride & joy. He deserves recognition after all the hard work and dedication that he put into this project. And his photos of the girls were simply STUNNING! I am very impressed and humbled by the person that Andy is. Cool, friendly, patient, down to earth... despite his fame and talent. Thank for you your faith and coming along on this journey with me. It was a wild ride and I look forward to more collaborations with you :)
2. Faisal Lee for being the best friend that a girl could ever have throughout this whole experience. Some of the best experiences in life are the ones shared with others and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to share this with him :)
3. Inbaraj for planting this idea. None of this would have been remotely possible if it wans't for that idea...
4. My partner Chua for his constant encouragement
5. Adrian J & Angela for being such sexy, fun and gracious hosts
6. Eugenie Chan for agreeing to become the Event Coordinator while juggling her PR job at the same time
7.  My friends for helping out as CREW on the night; Seow, Sunny & Deepti
8. Andy's assistants & friends; Spiel Chow, John K. & Michelle Loh
9. The Pixaworks girls: Neesa & Jean

 A special thank you to all the sponsors:

1. Sally Hansen
2. Biotherm
3. Living Social
4. Zalora
5. CherryCo Wax & Beauty Parlor
6. Peak Physique Health & Fitness
7. Threes & Tees
8. Make Art Academy
9. Gregs Videos
10. The Pool

 And most importantly, thank you to the girls that participated. You have inspired me to keep on going and continuing on this journey.

Liquido Miss Bikini Malaysia 2013 - Top 15

The past few weeks have been CRAZY - to say the least. Crazy in a good way.

Liquido, Brazil's most popular Beach & Fitness wear brand has recently debuted in Malaysia and is on a mission to find a Brand Ambassador here in Malaysia.

After months of promotions and 3 days of casting - we have narrowed our search to these 15 ladies.
12 out of these 15 women will be shortlisted to compete in the Grand Finale at The Pool, Jalan Ampang on 23 November 2013. They will be shortlisted based on 50% online votes and 50% judges votes.

In no particular order - I present to you the Top 15 shortlisted candidates of the Liquido Miss Bikini Malaysia 2013:


Carron is absolutely gorgeous and mentiones that she loves Liquido because Liquido is something different, which relates to both to fashion and fitness - which is SO her!

Elaine is a strong woman who gave up her stable job and stepped into the world of modelling, which is her passion. Through hard work and determination, she has won several local and international accolades for modelling.  In additional, she will be engaged in some charity programs, to leverage her modelling skills for the betterment of society.

 

Audrey Loke is our social media darling who has garnered over 800+ votes within the first 7 days of the online voting period. Audrey decided to join this competition because she wants to be a role model to show that inner beauty can be expressed on the outside, not just by how you look - but when you participate in charity and share your experience and knowledge with others. 

Mei Xian is the girl next door that you would love to hang out and grab a drink with. She is laid back, sweet, funny amd absolutely adorable. Of course it goes without saying that she is beautiful with a fit and admirable physique!

Jasmin is the tallest of them all and believes that every woman should be strong, independant and know what they want in life.

Wei Ni stands apart from the rest as her photoshoot was probably one of the most exciting. Her photos were strong, edgy and cool - just like her :)

 

Nicole is the sweetest contestant that we have in this competition. One look at the photo below and you are bound to go "Awww". Beneath this sweet exterior is a lady that wants to be Liquido's first ever Malaysian brand ambassador because she believes she is capable of convincing someone that they are beautiful and be able to give that person the confidence to believe in it. Nice! 

Cynthia is an auditor and decided to join this competition because she is more confident of her body than she has ever been. She want to show the world that it is possible to transform your own body if one puts their heart to it and hopefully encourage people with her personal fitness journey.

Sandra is a wonderfully fun, bubly lady with great, positive evergy. She hopes to inspire other women out there to practise a healthy lifesyle, stay positive and confident, be kind to others and be happy.

Iva is simply inspirational. Period. If you haven't seen her pre-casting YouTube video, you should do so now. Click *here*  She had us at 'Hello' :)

Deviyah is a beautiful woman. She stands tall, proud, speaks eloquently and oozes poise and confidence. We quote her "I want to give other women a chance to believe, dream and chase after their life goals. I want to be able to make that change in someone's life."Watch out world - she is a force to be reckoned with.

Yvonne loves the beach, sand and bikinis and believes that the essence of a woman is being confident and allowing your natural beauty to shine.

Summer, Summer. There is so much that we can say about this amazing young woman. She blew us away during the Q&A with the judges when she showed grace and maturity beyond her years. One of her life goals is to be one of the top models in Asia and we believe she is well on her way.

Of all the ladies that attended casting, Mocchi stands proud as our only petite model participating in this competition.She was initially nervous about participating due to her height (150 cm) but overcame her fear and took the plunge. What she lacks in height, she makes up in terms of enthusiasm, cuteness and knowing how to pose for the camera to highlight her best self.

And least but not least, Gillian. Gillian greeted everyone with a warm hug and was bursting with excited energy. She was excited to attend casting and we were excited to have her! In her interview. Gillian mentions "I believe that, in anything that we do, as long as we have the will, commitment and determination to do it, success will come in our way". It's impossible not to like Gillian :)

 

So there you have it folks. 15 amazingly confident, admirable woman - all out on a personal mission to advocate that a confident woman is a beautiful woman.

12 out of these 15 women will be shortlisted to compete in the Grand Finale at The Pool, Jalan Ampang on 23 November 2013. They will be shortlisted based on 50% online votes and 50% judges votes.

If you haven't voted for your favourite girl yet, you may do so by 'Liking' their photo on the Liquido Malaysia Facebook page. Please follow this link here *to vote*

Mocchi

Hello everyone!
Meet Mocchi!

Mocchi will be participating in the Liquido Malaysia Miss Bikini 2013 competition. 

I first got to know about Mocchi through a common friend. She mentioned that Mocchi is a 'petite model'. I remember thinking, 'What is a petite model'?

I had the privilege of meeting this lady in person at the Liquido showroom on Thursday. When I first laid eyes on her, I completely understood why she was considered a 'petite model'.

Mocchi is 150cm tall and weighs 34kg.

 She's tiny! :)

I found out that Mocchi was initially nervous about applying because she felt that she wasn't tall enough. However, after encouragement from friends, she decided to take on the challenge and submitted her application. 

In her application, she stated the following; 

"I hope that I can bring a unique look to represent Liquido Malaysia as the brand ambassador because I'm not extremely "model looking". I wish to share a message with the audience that every simple girl can be the next Liquido Malaysia Miss Bikini if they have confidence"

:)

I salute Mocchi for her bravery. Chances are, she may be the most petite lady in the competition, but she has decided to not let herself be intimidated.

She rocks.

I wish Mocchi the very best in the competition!

Liquido Malaysia Miss Bikini 2013

Things have been busy at Liquido Malaysia.

We are running a September giveaway on our Facebook page.
The mechanics of our contest is simple:
1. Send us your BEST bikini selfie.
2. We will publish your photo on our Facebook page
3. The photo with the most number of likes wins a free bikini from Liquido at the end of the month.

We have received 8 photos and below are some of my personal favourites:

If you want to see more, you can check out the photo album titled 'Liquido September 2013 Giveaway' on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/LiquidoMalaysia)

In November, we are organizing a 'Liquido Malaysia Miss Bikini 2013' event that will be held at The Pool, Jalan Ampang.

 

We are searching for a special girl to be featured in all our photoshoots for 2013/2014. You do not have to be a model or a beauty queen. It can anybody - it can be you :)

We are looking for a proud, confident woman that practices a healthy lifestyle. Liquido celebrates proud, strong and confident woman. A woman who is not afraid to show the world who she is and carries herself with pride. Liquido’s mission in Malaysia is to advocate that a confident woman is a beautiful woman. If a woman truly believes she is beautiful and loves herself and her body, then the whole world will believe it too. So if you win this competition, you will be that special girl to uphold and champion these values.

We've got some pretty cool prizes as below:


Winner 
* Cash Prize worth RM5,000 + Brand Ambassador contract with Liquido Malaysia
   (RM3,000 upfront and RM500 for 4 photoshoots or appearances in 2013/2014)
* RM500 of Liquido products
* ONE year gym membership worth RM1895 (with 2 FREE Personal Training sessions)
* Bust Treatments for 3 Months and Brazilian Wax for a year with CherryCo
* RM300 cash vouchers with Zalora

1st Runner Up 
* Cash Prize worth RM2,000 + Brand Ambassador contract with Liquido Malaysia
   (RM1,500 upfront and RM500 for 1 photoshoot or appearance in 2013/2014)
* RM250 of Liquido products
* ONE year gym membership worth RM1895 (with 2 FREE Personal Training sessions)
* Bust Treatments for 2 months and 6 months Brazilian Wax with CherryCo
* RM200 cash vouchers with Zalora

2nd Runner Up 
* Cash Prize worth RM1,000 + Brand Ambassador contract with Liquido Malaysia
   (RM500 upfront and RM500 for 1 photoshoot or appearance in 2013/2014)
* RM250 of Liquido products
* ONE year gym membership worth RM1895 (with 2 FREE Personal Training sessions)
* Bust Treatment for 1 month and 3 months Brazilian Wax with CherryCo
* RM100 cash vouchers with Zalora


If you like to know more about this competition, you can visit the website here: http://www.liquido.com.my/purpose-of-the-competition.html

To register, you need to fill in our online registration form here:
http://www.liquido.com.my/registration.html

(For successful registration, you need to fill in all columns and upload 5 photos of yourself. The size of the photos must not be larger than 1,000 kb)

We look forward to have you with us! :D

Brazilian Intense Pulsed Light (permanent hair removal at the pubic region)

I've been doing Brazilian waxing ever since I was 21.

Honestly speaking, I don't find it painful, but then again I do have a high treshold for pain.

The holy bible of fashion (and all woman related matters), Cosmopolitan list down a few things that women can do to make their waxing session a more bearable: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/hairstyles-beauty/skin-care-makeup/make-your-bikini-wax-less-painful#slide-1

Fun, helpful stuff for all women!

Anyway, a couple of days ago, I learnt that there is a beauty theraphy that women can undergo to 'lazer' off all the hair around our pubic region. It's called the 'Brazilian Intense Pulsed Light' or Brazilian IPL, for short. The idea behind the Brazilian IPL is to get rid of the hair around your pubic region... FOREVER!

I was intrigued. Brazilian IPL? I've done IPL for the underarms before, but this is something else!

Curiosity got the better of me, so I headed to the newly opened Beauty & Personal Care Spa, CherryCo to check out what this Brazilian IPL is all about.

Before I get into the details of the actual treatment itself, I HAVE to talk about the spa, because it's lovely!

 

CherryCo's decor is bright, inviting and there's candy everywhere. And the best part is that the candy is not entirely meant for decor, but can be eaten too. The receptionist handed me a handful of colorful mini marshmallows just before my treatment and said, "Just munch on them during your treatment, you won't feel a thing!" :)

Their treatment rooms are every bit as lovely as the reception area, below is a photo of one of them:

I had a long chat with the owner of CherryCo, about what to expect from my treatment.

To summarize my chat, an intense pulse of light will be shone on the bulb (roots) of hairs, killing them instantly. Since hair grows at different times, you will need to wait for 28 days until new hair grows and then have another session to get rid of those hairs. For IPL treatments, an average of 8–10 treatments are required to remove most visible hair.

So the picture below shows the machine used for the IPL

And the Intense Pulsed Light comes from this handheld device here...

Since the IPL produces some heat that may sting, a cold roller (see the picture below) is placed on your skin for a few seconds before IPL, to numb the area. So when the IPL is shone, you will not feel a thing.(The roller in the picture below is wet because it was being washed)

The whole process took 10 minutes.
It was completely different from a Brazilian wax. For those that have done the IPL for your underarms before, it was something like that, with an extra process (the pressing of the cold roller against your skin).

One of the taglines for CherryCo is 'The only hair you need is on your head', and their website (cherryco.my) proudly displays this picture to emphasize.

CherryCo is having a 50% promotion on their IPL treatments. Their current promotion is as follows:

1) Upperlip ( 2 years Unlimited) RM380

2) Underarms ( 2 Years Unlimited) RM700

3) Lowerlegs ( 2 years Unlimited) RM2300

4) Brazilian ( 1 Year Unlimited) RM2000

Shop around and you will realize that these are the best prices in town !!!
This promo is valid until 16 September 2013. 

For those that may be interested, CherryCo details can be found here:
Website: www.cherryco.my
Twitter : @ch3rryco
Instagram : @ch3rryco
Facebook : www.facebook.com/ch3rryco

This is my first treatment and I will be writing about the progress of my IPL here, so stay tuned.

New Arrivals & Giveaways!

Recently, I contacted a friend and fellow entrepreneur, owner of Peep Boutique to ask if she was interested to model some of Liquido's new arrival items (fitness wear) for Liquido.

She kindly obliged.

The results were lovely and the photo below happens to be my favourite photo from the shoot.

The outfit looks great and her pose is lovely! Do check out this link to view our new arrivals (fitness only): www.liquido.com.my/new-arrival---fitness.html

Wei Ni then asked if I was interested to participate in Peep Boutique's 5th year Anniversary Giveaway. Sharing is caring, so when she asked, it was my turn to oblige :)

How would you like to win this gift pack below (4 available for grabs!) :

• RM100 Mystery Gift Pack + 50% discount voucher from Peep Boutique
• 3 fun, button badges from Badgestique
• 20% discount voucher from Liquido Malaysia
• 10% discount voucher from Nail Fiesta
• RM20 cash voucher from Glasses Online

Please click here to view the super easy contest details to win one of the 4 gift packs above!

Hiking up Trilha da Pedra da Gávea

Did I ever tell you guys that I absolutely LOVE Rio de Janeiro?

Ipanema beach on an easy Sunday morning

I must have told you about a million times already :)

The pic above and the pic below were taken on my very last trip to Rio de Janeiro, on the very last day in March 2013. I relocated back to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in June 2013.

Surprisingly, today's post isn't gonna be about beaches or hot Brazilian women clad in bikinis. (I can SO hear some of my guy friends groaning!)

Aside from the beaches that Rio is famous for, they also have some awesome hiking trails. My buddies and I did the 'Pedra da Gávea' trail on this very trip back in March 2013. Pedra da Gávea is one of the most popular hiking trails in Rio de Janeiro because this hill is located by the coast. Upon making your way to the top, you will be rewarded with stunning views of some of Rio's most beautiful beaches (Barra da Tijuca, São Conrado & Ipanema).

The picture below is of my boyfriend Thiago, standing at the foot of the hiking trail. Notice that he is still smiling because we had NO CLUE what we were getting ourselves into.

If you can see the board in the picture above, it states the following:
Altitude: 844m
Distance (to the top): 1670m
Hiking time: 2.30 hours (each way, btw)
Level: DIFFICULT (!!!)

Naturally, we completely dismissed the 'Level: Difficult' sign because we assumed that we were superheroes.

As we started our hike, we soon realized that we weren't exactly hiking our way to the top... we were pretty much climbing our way to the top. About 60% of the trail looks like something in this picture below.

After an hour of hiking, we were presented with our first clearing and view of the other hills.

That's me at the clearing wearing my favourite Liquido long workout top.

About half an hour later, you are rewarded with your first views of the gorgeous beaches of Barra da Tijuca.

It was a rather cloudy day, but at least we had some views... and thank god it wasn't raining either.
Faisal lived in Barra da Tijuca, so here's a pic of him showing us exactly where his apartment was located. LOL!

There is an apparent inscription carved into the rockface, which appears to be some sort of Semitic language. There are some theories, but no one really knows for sure the origin or the purpose of this inscription (below). 

After 2.5 hours of hiking, we reached the 'Carrasqueira'. I later learnt from Thiago that carrasqueira loosely meant 'execution point'. And it wasn't difficult to figure out why...

We had reached the steepest point of the trail, where we had to scale up these rocks to get to the peak. None of us knew that we had to bring ropes, so we had to climb those rocks without a safety rope. And if we slipped and fell, it could potentially spell death.

Thiago managed to take a good picture of Faisal and I standing at the foot of the carrasqueira. What you cannot see in this below photo were our ultimate 'what the f*ck' expressions.

What you CAN see in the next picture is me looking not too happy... and Faisal looking pretty excited.

After hiking for 3 hours, we didn't exactly want to turn back without reaching the top, so we bit the bullet and climbed.

Faisal was the first to pass the carrasqueira, and this photo was taken from his Iphone.

The video below shows a group of friends at the carrasqueira. It's 2 minutes but you don't need to watch the whole thing. The intent of this video is just to show you the extent of how dangerous this section is.

When we finally reached the top, we should have been rewarded with views such as these:

Instead, it was a cloudy day, so we were greeted with views like these:

I suppose we were all happy that we were still ALIVE after the carrasqueira experience and proud that we made it to the top, so the lack of views didn't damped our moods too much.

So in a nutshell, it was a satisfying climb, and one that I would certainly recommend. It took us about 7 hours to hike up and back down, which includes the one hour we spent at the top, just chilling. We all plan to do this again, next time on a good sunny day with clear skies, if the opportunity ever presents itself again in the near future :)