Reverse Retail Theraphy in Langkawi

This weekend I headed to Langkawi for some 'reverse retail theraphy'.

Instead of BUYING something from retail, my business partner and I sought out to SELL something to these retail stores.

More specifically, we visited every 5-star and 6-star resort in Langkawi. We headed to the gift store or boutique of these hotel lobbies, with some bikini samples to show, and discussed the possibility and their interest in carrying Liquido bikinis in their store.

We visited about 6 resorts. The resort with the most jaw dropping factor has got to be Four Seasons Langkawi, cuz the hotel was stunningly beautiful.

Anything I say or write will never do justice to how stunning the place way, so I will let the pictures do the talking.

The front entrance

The view as you enter

First Courtyard

The torches and coal will be lit up once darkness falls

Heading towards the reception

Front desk and check in

I feel like I'm in a mediterranean palace!

Once past the reception and check-in counter, you will reach the hotel grounds which (again) looks like part of an incredibly wealthy, mediterranean Sultan's palace.

Reception Area

Also part of the reception area

The gift store which will be a prefect place for Liquido Bikinis!

The hotel gardens just before the beach

View of the main building from the gardens

One of the many courtyards

Off to the beach we go!

Private dining for two

The picture above is interesting. You can make special arrangements to have a private dinner for 2 on the beach. The price per person is RM650++. For that price, you get a personal, private, full-service crew (Waiter, Chef & Assistant) and an extensive menu which includes lobster.

Below are the pictures of the breath takingly beautiful beach of the Four Seasons Langkawi, which faces the Andaman Sea.

Close to the spot of the private dinner for 2 is a private BBQ pit. This BBQ is part of the dinner for 2. After your dinner, you are ushered to the BBQ pit, where you will be served hot drinks and given marshmallows to cook, while you and your partner chat/ cuddle and enjoy your time together, facing the Andaman sea.

Private BBQ for two

It was quite impressive. Chua and I discussed if RM650++ per person was worth the experience of dinner on the beach with a full service crew and the exceptional menu. I came down to the conclusion that it probably was... Heck, if you could afford it, why not.

Below is a picture of me. I look drunk... probably drunk off the beauty of my surroundings!

Happy Nadz :)

We decided to just spend more time walking along the beach and soaking up our surroundings.

The sand and sea between my toes

Hotel dining

 We stumbled upon the adult pool area...

It had an infinity pool which faces the sea...

 So we decided to stay for a bit and watch the sunset..

One word. GORGEOUS!

New stuff

After delivering the Liquido Fitness pieces to Zalora last week, I finally got round to sorting out the beach wear.

I looked through ALL the bikinis and wraps and had to figure out which ones I wanted to deliver to Langkawi and which ones to sell on my website.

It's done and the pieces that I want to sell in Langkawi has been packed and ready to be brought to Langkawi next week. (See below!)

Boxes full of bikinis!

Some of the new 2 piece bikini that I will be selling on my website is as below:

RM 179.00

RM179.00

RM 250.00

 The ones below will also be sold on my website, the photos below are taken from various photoshoots:

Same bikini as above, different shot

RM250.00

You can email me directly at nadia@liquido.com.my if you can't wait to get your hands on these lovely pieces. We ship to anywhere, be it Malaysia, Singapore or any where in the world.

Otherwise, stick around and visit my website next week (www.liquido.com.my) The new pieces will be uploaded and ready to be sold by then.

Till then, take care and have a good weekend!

20 cents that sparked the Brazilian Revolution

On 2 June 2013, the mayor of São Paulo, Fernando Haddad increased the bus fares from R$3 (US$ 1.41) to R$3.20 (US$ 1.51).  Trips by the subway (Metro and CPTM trains) were also adjusted by São Paulo's Governor Geraldo Alckmin (PSDB) - also from R$3 to R$3.20.

In the coming days after the increase of the fares, there were several protest held  in the city of São Paulo. On 14 June 2013, an article was released by the local daily newspaper, Folha de São Paulo. Here's a snippet from the article;

"The Military Police toughened the crackdown on protesters, assaulted journalists, left pedestrians and drivers trapped by tear gas and rubber shots, and the fourth demonstration against the rise in public transportation fares again brought panic and violence to the center of São Paulo."

(Link to the full article can be found here:  http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/saopaulo/2013/06/1294977-military-police-react-violently-and-center-of-sao-paulo-has-another-day-of-panic.shtml)

Local media depicts  the protestors as violent, but personal friends that were part of the protest have informed that the protests were peaceful and that the Military Police were using unnecessary violence on the public.

Here are some pics of what is happening in Brazil ever since the the increase in the fares:

 

Brazilian Military Police on horseback

 

 

Tired of supporting this shit

(Source: http://saladuprising.tumblr.com/)

I followed the news, saw the pictures and videos and was appalled with what I saw. What the hell is going on in Brazil? All this just because of 20 cents ???

I spoke with Thiago and and a couple of friends and learnt that this has snowballed into something beyond the 20 cents rise.

Brazilians are sick and tired of all the 'shit' that is going on in Brazil. The short video below (6 minutes) explains the Brazilian plight quite well. It was recorded and uploaded on 17 June 2013 (just 2 days ago) and has already generated 1.1 million views on Youtube:

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZApBgNQgKPU)

This video saddened me. Having lived and worked in Brazil for almost 2 years, it was my home, for that short period of time. Brazil is a beautiful country, but there is no denying that there are so many things that are FUCKED UP about it.

So this is me spreading the word (and the pics and the video) in my efforts to support the 'Salad Uprising' (http://saladuprising.tumblr.com/) in my small way. 

The Long Distance Relationship

Hey everyone! Meet Thiago!

Thiago is my boyfriend and we have been together every since July, 2012, which is close to one year now.

We are doing the long distance relationship since I have moved back to Malaysia from Brazil to grow my business.

We have been together for not very long (I don't consider one year long), but we have been through a lot. He was my pillar of strenght when I was all alone, away from family and close friends, after my father passed away in August 2012. He was always there for me, and everything that I needed him to be during those difficult times and something that I will never forget and will always be greatful for.

After I decided that I wanted to move back to Malaysia, Thiago and I had a loooooooooong chat. We want to be together, and I want to be based in Malaysia. So, he has decided to move to Malaysia to be with me by end 2014.

If this isn't love, I don't know what is :)

He has some commitments back in São Paulo, thus he cannot come over to Malaysia any sooner, so we have no choice but to do the dreaded Long Distance Relationship for some time.

I've done the Long Distance Relationship (LDR) twice before. Once when I was 18, when I went to Seattle to further my studies in Seattle University. I tried to do the LDR with my boyfriend who was back in Malaysia. And then my second LDR was with my american boyfriend, after I graduated from Seattle University in and moved back to KL.

I think the reason why those didn't work out was because we didn't have any future plans, but were doing the 'let's wait and see what happens' kinda thing. Ultimately, there was no commitment, and there were lots of distractions, so both LDRs ended within a year.

With Thiago, we planned to do the civil wedding in Brazil in June 2014. And then the kenduri in Malaysia when he relocates over in end 2014/ early 2015.

And the most important factor of all? I love him to bits and I want him by my side for the rest of my life.

I think that the distance is making me appreciate him even more. I think about him every day. I got invited to a couple of parties recently and one of the first few thoughts that entered my mind was - Thiago would love this! If only he were here :(

Last week, we didn't speak to each other for a span of 4 days due to his and my busy schedule, and also the friggin 11 hour difference between São Paulo and Kuala Lumpur. I missed him so much that it made me feel sad.

The strange thing is that I have lived all over the world and made so many new friends and at the same time, had to say goodbye to so many amazing people when it was time to leave. I've never felt this sense of longing for someone ever! I feel incomplete; it's almost as if I left a part of me in São Paulo with him.

We finally chatted over Skype on Sunday evening and I felt so much better. It was so good to see his face, hear his voice and (pretend) to laugh at his bad jokes :D

I'm taking this as a good sign. That I love him so much and can't wait to have him by my side again. We will have to do the LDR for about a year, but I have no doubt that our relationship will last the distance and our time apart.

When he is by my side again, that part of me that is missing would have returned to it's rightful place :)

Liquido Fitness Wear to be Launched!

I have decided to relocate back to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from São Paulo, Brazil to work on growing my business of Liquido's Beach and Fitness Wear. On 30th May 2013, I packed my bags, hugged all my friends and colleagues and bid a tearful farewell to my fiancee at the São Paulo Guarulhos International Airport. I then walked to my gate, and ultimately, flew out of Brazil - with plans to return in June 2014 for the FIFA World Cup 2014.

During my first week back, I had a meeting with one of the buyers of Zalora Malaysia, about the sales of my bikinis on their website. Based on past data, the most popular bikini that the Malaysian women seem to be buying is this design below:

It comes as no surprise as this is also one of my favourite pieces! This bikini is absolutely gorgeous and what makes it special is the gold chain-link detail on the bikini top and bottom.

The second most popular design is this:

 

Which is also no surprise as this design is lovely.

The friendly folk of Zalora and I spoke and we have decided to introduce Liquido's Fitness Wear onto the Zalora website within the coming weeks.

Liquido's Fitness wear uses fantastic materials; Lycra, Lycra Sport and other fabrics which are lightweight, dry-fit and protect the skin against harmful UV rays. They are not only durable and suitable for active sports, but also pretty damn STYLISH and COOL. The best part about all this? The pieces are reasonably priced too.

The gym culture is strong in Kuala Lumpur, and there are more and more people that want to look good while working out at their gyms. Heck, the Finance Manager in my company met his wife at the gym! According to him, he was admiring her butt and decided to ask her out. 12 months later, they were married. Lesson of this story? It wouldn't hurt to look good while you work out! Save that old cotton T-shirt for sleeping :P

The Liquido Fitness pieces are different from your typical work out attire as they not only ensure your comfort during your workout, but make sure you look great as well. Below are some of the pieces that will be sold on the Zalora Malaysia website within the coming weeks.

Crazy, Sexy, Cool leggings

Pants that are comfy, suitable for running, yet stylish

Love the mesh top

We have the leggings and the matching top

Pants that can be worn from the studio to the street

We think that this will be a hit. Come join the club of ladies who choose to look great while they exercise! I will definitely write a post on this blog when this collection is ready for sale on the Zalora Malaysia website. And also discuss the results 3 months after the launch. My fingers and toes are crossed and I'm hoping for the best :)

Joyce the Fairy in a Liquido Bikini... and looking fabulous!

Recently, Malaysia's celebrity blogger, the Kinky Blue Fairy (Joyce) was vacationing in Pulau Rawa and was sporting a bikini from Liquido.

Awesome!

You can view the post on her blog here:
http://www.kinkybluefairy.net/2013/05/ok-i-think-im-gonna-stay-put-for-a-bit/

Shopping Galore!

Heya!

Today I headed over to the Liquido HQ in São Paulo, Brazil to purchase more stocks. We have plans to start selling in Langkawi, Malaysia, so it was time to stock up.

The Liquido HQ is located in the so-called fashion district of São Paulo, where a lot of clothing wholesalers and retailers are located. The picture below shows the unassuming entrance of the Liquido HQ.

Not too exciting from the outside

Like most pleasant surprises in life, what lies inside was nicer than what could be seen from the outside. This is what greets you as you make your way torwards the offices of the sales and marketing team.

And here's the waiting area with the Liquido 'Hall of Fame'. These are basically framed up magazine covers of some of their past and present catalogs.

I had a brief chat with their marketing team and we made our way to their warehouse. In respect of their privacy and security, I will not post any photos of their warehouse, but imagine this...

Rows, and rows and rows of shelves containing boxes of bikinis in every cut, color, style and fabric you can imagine. The International Marketing Manager and I spent 6 hours looking through them - and we still aren't done with our shopping!

My main concern was choosing the right cut that will be suitable for the Malaysian market. The 'fio dental' style which is popular in Rio de Janeiro will be totally unacceptable in Malaysia (see picture below).

'Fio dental' bikini bottom

So we looked through the pieces and choose styles that were a bit more conservative that covered more of the body. Probably the sexiest cut (in reference to the bikini bottoms) that I will bring into Malaysia will be something like the picture below. Which is acceptable by Malaysian standards and still smoking hot! (Well, in my humble opinion, at least!) 

 

As mentioned above, there were so many styles that after 6 hours, we weren't even finished with our bikini shopping. I'll have to come back another day to wrap-up the bikinis and to also look through their beach wear (wraps, skirts, dresses, etc) and also their fitness wear.

Not that I'm complaining. Which woman doesn't like to shop? :D

Only one way to wear a Brazilian bikini - Proudly

Back home in Malaysia, there are some women who are too shy to wear bikinis.

I remember having a conversation with a friend from Colombia. We were just talking about beaches and cultures in general.

I was telling him about Malaysian culture; how there are some women who cover up, even at beaches, due to their religious beliefs. And then, there are other women who also choose to cover up, not because of religous believes but because they are too self concious about their bodies.

To which my friend Simon responded, "Well, in Colombia, ALL WOMEN wear bikinis. If someone doesn't wear a bikini, they are bad". I never really clarified what he meant by 'bad'... but with him being a 30-something year old Colombian, I would assume that if he had his way, ALL women would wear nothing but bikinis all the time (Hehe). Especially since typical Colombian women look like these lovely ladies below:

Before I lived in Brazil, I was one of those women who felt extremely self concious about my body.  When wearing a bikini, I would cover up (see picture below).

I remember the very first time I hung out on a Brazilian beach. It was Copacabana beach and I was with my buddy Daigo. We had just picked out a spot, planted our umbrella and were settling in.

And that's when I saw HER.

My jaw dropped and I did a double take.
I'm sure all of us (to a certain extent) are familiar that Brazilian bikinis are probably some of the sexiest in the world, but to see this in the flesh still very was surprising.

Walking along the beach, you'll see this..

Women, of all shapes, sizes and ages were wearing bikinis and being completely relaxed and comfortable in their bodies. Some were skinny, others were not. Some were voluptuous with big butts, wearing teeny-tiny bikinis and displaying their curves proudly.

You will see everything from this..

To this.. 

In Brazil, all women wear bikinis at the beach and you will be the odd one out if you wear a one-piece bathing suit (or a t-shirt and shorts). I saw 60-year old ladies sun bathing in bikinis. And even big women were not the least bit self-concious. If you think you're fat (which I always do) you will find other women more full-figured than you, wearing a bikini and looking fabulous. 

That day, I learnt why Brazilian women are considered to be some of the most beautiful women on earth. They are confident and proud.

Just yesterday I Googled 'Brazilian woman' and this is one of the first few pictures to pop up.

This woman is GORGEOUS. She is not super skinny. Nor does she have the perfect facial features of Gisele Bündchen. But she is confident and proud and oozes sensuality. And that, in my humble opinion is what makes a woman stand out.

Having lived in São Paulo for some time, I may have picked up a habit or 2. I am no longer self-concious whenever I wear bikinis. I have a few dozen in my wardrobe which I looove wearing.

This picture below was taken recently.

After seeing with my own eyes how some Brazilian women who are more full-figured and curvaceous than me can look like Goddesses wearing teeny tiny bikinis, I started to believe that I could look decent too. Once I believed it on the inside, it started showing on the outside. And others started believing it in too.

So to all my liberal girl pals, wear your bikinis proudly and shine like the beach goddesses that you are! ;)

The Kinky Blue Fairy

Good morning folks! (at least it's still Saturday morning in São Paulo, as I am writing this).

Recently, I got in touch with Joyce Wong, Malaysia's celebrity blogger, which also goes by her (online) alter-ego, the Kinky Blue Fairy.

I have been advised that I should get in touch with people within the 'community' (online fashion and lifestyle bloggers) and introduce Liquido Beach and Fitness to them. The idea is to have these bloggers feature Liquido in their blog.With more online presence on various websites/blogs, more traffic should be directed to my site.

So I checked out the blog of the Kinky Blue Fairy.

She seems like a really cool chick. A petite beauty, with intense eyes and flaming red hair.

Picture taken from www.kinkybluefairy.net

We got in touch. We discussed if I could feature Liquido on her blog. She was super cool and we discussed some options. At the end of the discussion; we came down to a win-win conclusion.

She was heading to Thailand, and then Pulau Rawa and could use some new beachwear. I will sponsor the following outfits:

Tropical Palm Bikini

Mesh top and sportsbra

She will head for her trip, wear the outfits, take pictures and post about them on her blog. For her readers, we will run a competition on her blog. The winners will get to choose ANYTHING from the online store as their prize :)

It is going to be an easy competition and will take place sometime in June, so stay tuned. I'm excited to see the results of this little exercise, and of course I will share it here.

That's all for now. Have a good weekend, folks!

Working Lives: Rio de Janeiro

While surfing on the BBC website today, I came across this lovely article.

It's part of a BBC segment on Brazil, titled 'Brazil Direct - Going Beyond the Headlines'.

There were lots of articles, some interesting, some boring. There was a particular piece done; an insight into the lives of 6 different people living and working in Rio de Janeiro.

The people featured were the following:

A Doorman, Musician, Actress, Fashion Designer, Flight Attendant & Beach Seller

I watched all 6 of them, and my favourite was the doorman. He left his hometown in the Northeast of Brazil and headed to Rio at the tender age of 18 to find a decent job. He managed to find one as a doorman and has been working in the same apartment block for 55 years.

He earns USD 11,000 a year. Despite his humble lifestyle, his oldest son is now doing a postdoctoral fellowship in physics in the United States.

Awesome.

Please watch this video and read the article that follows. It's heartwarming and will bring a smile to your face.

Click on the picture below or click on this link here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-radio-and-tv-19531315

A doorman in Rio de Janeiro talks about his life

My Experience as a Seller on Zalora

I have been selling Liquido Beach & Fitness Wear on Zalora ever since January 2013.

 

So far, I have found my interactions with them quite professional and their services satisfactory.

I was introduced to a contact within Zalora by the awesome folks of Futsalworks. Futsalworks is an online store selling everything futsal related. It is run by 2 friends who are passionate about the sport. We met in São Paulo when they were in town to meet with their Brazilian vendors.

Back to Zalora. My first meeting with them was back in August 2012, where I presented Liquido Beach & Fitness Wear to them and we discussed the terms (margins, payment terms, etc) After a couple of weeks of back and forth negotiations, we settled on some terms that were agreeable to both parties.

I'm quite impressed by how they displayed my products on their site. They hired a model to wear my products as they did the photoshoot. Some of the bikin designs came in more than one color and they took pictures of all the colors. Zalora beared the cost to hire the model and the photographer and I was not charged for this service.

Liquido Chain-Link Design, available in 4 Colors - Red, Blue, Black & Teal

Let's take my best selling design, for example. The Liquido Chain-Link design that you see above comes in 4 colors. The model wore all the colors and pictures were taken from 5 different angles. All the pictures (of the different colors and angles) were them uploaded onto their website, for customers to view. You may view the pages here.

At the begining of each month, the zalora sales team will send me a report of the previous month's sales via email. I will check the figures and send them an invoice. And then I get paid based on our agreed payment terms.

One can expect to receive the sales report by the 5th or 6th of the month. If you don't receive your sales report, you can just drop them an email and they will usually respond within 24 hours. No complaints there.

They are also good paymasters, so no complaints there either! :)

Overall, I am quite happy to be selling Liquido through zalora. The only problem I am facing is that my sales are not as spectacular as I was hoping. I guess I was naive enough to believe that once I had my products online, potential customers will magically pop out of nowhere and start buying.

Not the case! It dawned on me that no random person would actually go to Google and search for 'Liquido Beach & Fitness Wear' if they don't even know that we exist. I'll need to do a lot, a lot, a LOT of marketing. 

I'll have to start getting creative and work HARD. I am a small startup with minimum capital, so it's not as if I have the luxury of throwing a lot of money into a nationwide marketing campaign.

Well... That's the fun part, I guess. If this were easy, there would be so many Brazilian Bikini Tycoons in Malaysia already :)

If you readers have any tips for me, please share them in the comment boxes below. Any feedback/ tips/ advice will be very much appreciated!

Little know Brazilian Culture

Every country with 4 seasons will have these:
- The summer blockbuster movie of the year
AND
- The summer hit song.

In 2012, there were 2 particular songs that caught Brazil (and the rest of Latin America) by storm. The first was 'Ai Se Eu Te Pego' by Michel Telo. For those of you who do not know this song, you are missing out on the most awesomest thing that ever came out of Brazil in 2012! (You can't really go wrong with a YouTube video that has 498 Million views)

Here's the video, please watch it now! : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcm55lU9knw

'Ai Se Eu Te Pego' was crazy popular. During Carnival in February in 2012, this song was played everywhere, over and over again. Back then, my Portuguese was still crap, but yet, I still memorized this song.

This song came with it's own dance. The dance moves involved grabbing someone and humping them (I'm serious... hahaha! You can't expect anything less from a Brazilian summer hit song!)

In fact, this song was so popular amoung college students in the USA that Michel Telo made an English version. The lyrics sound ridicolous in English, but it is still very, very fun. The English version can be seen here (amoungst beautiful Brazilian women in Brazilian bikinis).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pavp93_RweA

In my humble opinion, the Portuguese version sounds cooler compared to the English version.

The other song worth mentioning is 'Tchu Tcha Tcha' by João Lucas & Marcelo. This song is really fun and silly with ridicolous lyrics, and was crazy popular during the summer of 2012 in Brazil too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO-DatNb5D8

Here's part of the lyrics (translated from Portuguese to English)

" I arrived at the party, craving for a beer
The guys here are in the vibe, everyone wants to dance
A girl called me and said: Do the "tchu tcha tcha" to me
I asked her "What is it like?" She said "Let me show you"
It's a sexy dance, it catched on in Goiania
It was an explosion in Minas (Gerais), it catched on in Tocantins
The girls from the North dance to it, it's gonna catch on this summer
So do the "tchu tcha tcha" to me. The whole Brazil will sing it along
With João Lucas e Marcelo"

For the benefit of those who are not familiar, Goiania, Minas & Tocantins are names of states in Brazil. 

In 2013, a popular Brazilian summer hit song was, 'Ah Leleke Leke Leke Leke'.

Remember the first time you saw 'Gangnam Style' on YouTube?
I remember mine... I was like.. "What the hell IS THIS???" Well, you might have the exact same reaction when you watch 'Ah Leleke Leke Leke Leke' for the first time.
Don't say I didn't warn you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPhmwR3cIeo

'Ah Leleke Leke Leke Leke' is Brazilian Funk, popularized in Rio de Janeiro. Here's what wikipedia had to say about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk_carioca. "increasingly popular amongst (mainly) low classes in other parts of Brazil" - kinda explains a lot doesn't it. :P

If you enjoyed 'Ah Leleke Leke Leke Leke', you might enjoy this next video that I am about reveal to you. It's like, the ULTIMATE Brazilian Funk; you will either love it or hate it; laugh ot cry. The choice is up to you to click on this link. Again, don't say I didn't warn you !!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CpKLRxtFzmI

That's all and have a great weekend you all !

If these videos inspired you to go shopping for a sexy Brazilian bikini, check out this awesome website here: www.liquido.com.my