Blogmas Day 1: The perfect Christmas colors

So for those of you who don't know, when it comes to this time of the year, I always get very very festive and it's most definitely my most favorite time of the year. And although I am pretty against the idea of a "Father Christmas", I do love the idea of snow, and prettily decorated trees during this time of the year. And before the fact that Christmas was even around the corner, many people around me noticed that I am a huge fan of this time of the year and has been asking me about what are "Christmas colors" as some pre-Christmas parties have already set that as a dress code. So here I am, blogging about the best Christmas colors! *insert excited face emoji*

Code 1: Red & Green

The first color code is RED & GREEN which is pretty common considering Christmas trees are green and Father Christmas is red. Most people would automatically associate this color combination as Christmas, so I guess that's one of the combos. Moving on...

Code 2: Red & White

This isn't exactly my personal favorite combo (RED & WHITE) simply because if a male were to don these colors, regardless of your size, they'll start calling you "Santa Claus". If you were a female, they'll start calling you "Santarina". First of all, that's a pretty sexist thing, but that's another topic in itself. Secondly, you know how people say white makes you look fat? Unfortunately, as a chubby person, I agree. If the majority of your attire is red and there is a bit of white, it's fine. But if its the other way around, then you might wanna re-consider your attire, which leads me to my personal favorite combo...

Code 3: Blue & Silver

This is personally one of my favorite combinations during Christmas time. BLUE & SILVER are sort of the underdogs of Christmas. Red kinda always steals its limelight. But blue kinda gives that feeling of a cold and cozy Christmas, to me at least. Silver adds a touch of beautiful elegance to it. I've always wanted to decorate my Christmas tree with blue and silver baubles! When I do get one that is... Anyway, nowadays there are so many beautiful Christmas shades but this blue and silver combo makes me feel like there is a class of elegance in Christmas. Speaking of elegance...

Code 4: Red & Gold

The next elegant colors that I simply adore during Christmas is RED & GOLD. It's not only pretty but also incredibly elegant and classy. The gold adds a touch of class to the red, bringing out a lovely elegant side of Christmas. These colors remind me of a high-end Christmas party. Of course that's not all there is to it. The colors are just really pretty that's all :)

There are actually many other combinations such as blue & white, silver & red, gold & green... But these 4 are the top in most people's books. That said, Christmas is just such a fun time and color combos are the best way to just show it off, so don't go out and get yourself a new dress to suit the color scheme. Instead, save your money and give to those in need. Christmas is also a time of giving.

Christmas is not just about your dress code. It's about the presents. Giving to those in need, your friends and your family are just the best ways to celebrate Christmas. Also, don't forget about the food! YUM YUM! I love you, Christmas!

Love you always,
DancerGal Sheryl!

My first experience with Airbnb!

Before you even ask, no I wasn’t paid to write this article. It was just such an interesting experience that I am seriously considering using this accommodation method semi-permanently. Let’s be very honest. As I am typing this and I know I sound almost stupid for saying this, but Airbnb isn’t something that is unheard of. However, as I don’t get to travel very often (due to commitments), I haven’t exactly had the chance to try out this cool way of accommodation.

That opportunity however, came when my husband and I decided to make a weekend trip to Singapore to try out some of their escape games. I would’ve thought that we would stay in a hotel, but then, my husband noticed that an Airbnb was a LOT cheaper than a hotel room. And since we were only going for a short while, we knew that a hotel was just a shower and a bed. We wanted to make the most out of our time in Singapore.

For those of you who aren’t too sure what Airbnb is, Airbnb is basically a website for people to list, find and rent lodging. Users can be categorized as hosts and guests. There are different types of accommodation. Hosts can even rent out lodgings for up to months, or choose to host guests who are traveling for just a couple of days. You can rent a small bedroom from a house that a host lives in, or rent a whole bungalow depending on your budget.

Screenshot of the Airbnb website

So my husband logged on to the website and the mobile app and found us a quaint little place in Woodleigh Park. Our host’s name was Rick and he was such a nice person. We didn’t get to meet him when we first checked out our room though. He was busy at work. But his house helper let us in, and we were totally amazed.

Our room was part of a small little apartment in Woodleigh Park. The building has been around for about 80 years now. It really reminded me of the home I used to live in back in Taiping when I would visit my grandaunty’s home. The studio we were given was an annexe private room with an ensuite bathroom and private access to the room. There is a shared kitchen and living room which we didn’t really use since we spent most of our time outdoors anyway.

Screenshots of the photos of our accommodation

Although breakfast was part of the accommodation, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. We looked around town for a great dimsum place so we didn’t really partake in the breakfast. This apartment was a less than 5 minutes walk away from the Woodleigh MRT station. Since we were in Singapore, their MRT system is really one of the best I’ve ever seen. Everywhere is walkable around Singapore. We got our MRT card from a kiosk in the airport. And we topped up once only. That card (approximately $ 22 worth) lasted us the entire trip with about $6 remaining.

Singapore is definitely a place I would recommend as a place for a good weekend escape. There’s also a lot to do and discover there. For example, when we were there, we didn’t get to visit the Artscience Museum which is currently (until 14 February 2016) showing The Collider exhibition. This exhibition displays the Large Hadron Collider. This exhibition just sounds incredibly amazing and I would’ve loved to pay it a visit. Maybe sometime soon I will make a trip back!

Singapore is one of those places that I see myself visiting every now and again, now that I’ve realized the convenience and the fact that it’s a country that is closest to Malaysia. Now if only the currency would go down…

#blogmasday4 (so sorry I missed day 1-3!!! Will try and catch up soon!)

Love you lots,
DancerGal Sheryl!

Late Night Updates

So, I had a ton of coffee and now I realize I can't sleep. LOL. My fault, my bad, but I realized as well, that I could use this time to update my blog.

After my last blog post, I realized that I didn't really blog about updates in my own life, and it's been a while since my last actual blog post, so here goes nothing.

Personal

For those of you who didn't know, I have just recently tied the knot to my then-bf, then-fiance, now-husband, SammoBammo. We have been together for 5 years (as of May 2015) and decided to get married in August 2015. Other than the fact we are living together, nothing much has changed and I'm pretty happy with that. You know how most couples have this post-wedding-honeymoon phase? Our phase ran out within the same day of our Nikah. HAHAHA! It's actually not a bad thing (well, for us at least!) In my personal opinion, our wedding was just to make things official. I've never felt more comfortable with anyone else, so the wedding was kinda a formality. Also, being a wife is pretty fun.

Also, I've been working pretty hard on my ISTD examinations. I will be aiming (that's if I don't get preggers!) to take my ISTD Advanced 1 Tap Examinations in 2016, which is a pretty big goal for me personally. I've been attending regular classes once a week, and I hope to increase that to 2 times a week after the 2016 Chinese New Year celebrations. I really want to work hard and get at least a high Merit and then work on getting my Associate, so that I can send students in for exams under my own name. It's going to take about 3-4 years by the time this happens, but I hope it will all be worth it! My tap shoes are almost like my second pair of shoes. Lots of practice time and hard work! FIGHTING!

Career

Since I have left PR, I actually have not taken up a proper job, but I am now in the midst of starting up my own business. I can't really disclose too much at the moment, but when I can, I will. Other than that, I have been doing some freelance commercial dance gigs (actually only about 1-2 in the past year!), as well as some writing gigs. All freelance, because I am honestly dedicating my time to 2 things at the moment. My business as well as my tap exams. These are my main focuses for the rest of the year as well as the coming year.

Friendship

Since I've gotten married, my best friend got married herself and is in the midst of preparing for her own reception. One of my friends from the gang group is in the midst of having her second baby and is expected to give birth sometime end this year. Another friend of mine is taking her business to a whole new level by going all out in her marketing. All my friends are doing incredibly well and I'm so proud of all of them. We may not necessarily meet all the time, but I am glad to call them my friends and as I mentioned in my last blog post, friendship is something that I realized as something much more than just what we see on social media or even via normal messaging. Friendship is something I definitely hold a lot closer to my heart. Thank you to all my friends for being there. Love you all xoxo.

That's about it really. There's nothing much to update other than that. I hope you all have a great day and a great week ahead (as it probably will be that long before I blog again - if not longer)

Also, a special announcement: I would like to TRY (keyword: TRY) to document my very first Christmas as a married woman. Christmas has always been a crazy exciting time for me, regardless of my status. And since I don't vlog, it wouldn't make sense for me to do #vlogmas, so I will try to do #blogmas where I will TRY my best to blog every day starting from 1st December till 24th December. It may work, it may not, but I will definitely try. Also, the topics for #blogmas may vary, so please leave a comment if there are any topics that you would like my opinion on. I may or may not blog about it, so no promises, but do leave me some ideas.

Looking forward to Christmas!

Love always,
DancerGal Sheryl!

The Tests of Friendship - Marriages / Weddings

After attending at least 4 weddings post-my-own-wedding, I've come to the realization that friendship is a true test of whether or not certain people deserve to be called friends in your life.

The first thing most people must be screaming is, "Simple. If they attend your wedding, then they are your friends". In actual fact, no, it's not that simple. 

A friend, in my personal opinion, is not necessarily the person who is there physically. I've come to this realization when my own best friend could not be there for my own wedding. However, what made me realize this, wasn't so much the fact that she couldn't be there. It was more of the fact that I did not kick up a fuss and when she apologized, I scolded her for apologizing to me. 

We need to be reminded that your friend also has his/her own life. If circumstances have been placed in that way, it doesn't mean that he/she does not want to attend your wedding. It's very easy to get angry or upset at them. What makes them a friend, or let me rephrase, what makes YOU a friend, is to understand their situation. Imagine the dilemma going through their heads. Being a good friend means you help to understand what is going on. If they are not giving you trouble, why are you giving them trouble? If you don't sympathize with them, my question is why don't you? 

During the process of a wedding, the bride, groom, maid of honor(s), bridesmaids, parents and if you have one, your wedding planner, are already stressed out enough. The last thing you would need from a friend is more stress. Being a true friend means not adding on the stress. During my wedding, I would call up a few friends for coffee (they need not be named because they know who they are!) to actually vent about problems and the unnecessary stress I've already been receiving. And for that, I thank you all so much. I hope I was able to de-stress some of you during your wedding prep as well, rather than contribute to the stress. 

This doesn't just apply to friendship pre-wedding. It also applies to post-wedding. Bearing in mind that upon marriage, your friend and yourself no longer are alone. We all now have an extra person (or two, or three) in our lives now. If you honestly treasure your friendship, you can no longer view it as a two-person friendship. Every newlywed couple has to start learning how to live with one another, especially couples who are living with their in laws. Regardless of how you look at it, there's always some form of stress that comes along with it. As a true friend, would you really want to contribute to that?

To be honest, in my opinion, in times of weddings and marriages, do you really see who cares for you and who deserves to be called a true friend. Someone who loves you, someone who truly treasures your friendship.

A true friend never demands attention from you, but seeks to help behind-the-scenes. A true friend does not need to show your friendship to the world, but seeks to remind you of their value to you and you alone. A true friend does not need validation from you, but seeks to remind you of your own self-worth.

At the end of the day, to me personally, friendship is a relationship. You can drift apart, you can break up, you can realize that the friend that you have isn't the one you want. It takes work, effort and time. If you realize a certain friend isn't the right one for you, it's time to rethink your friendship.

And just like a relationship, there are times when you will have to break it up.

Friendship is one topic that is very subjective and personal. I am not here to give friendship advice. I am just merely giving my thoughts on what I have gone through myself personally. To the friends who have stuck by me, I thank you. To the friends who did not make the cut, I hold no grudges and wish you all the best. At the end of the day, our own happiness matters. I'm glad I found my friends.


Love always,
Puan Sheryl Ho. 

My Hometown: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia!

I've lived in Kuala Lumpur for the last 29 years of my life, and never did I really consider blogging about her. Well, not until I recently realized, I've been going out a lot around town, but never really "documenting" my adventures, so here goes nothing! :D

Kuala Lumpur is the national capital and most populous city in Malaysia. Most people will think it's just all skyscrapers and buildings, but it's surrounded by the best places for live theatre and music. So for most of you, you'll already know that I'm an avid performing arts fan. I love going to catch some musicals, live jazz performances, etc. So for me, in Kuala Lumpur, here are the top 3 locations of my own personal preference to catch some lovely works of art.

(Not ranked in any way, shape or form)

1. Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC), Sentul

Around the bustling city, lies this treasure trove. Supporting local and even international performances, the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre has a fair share of talents. If you're looking for a musical, or a ballet, or a theatre performance, this would be the first place to check out. It's serene surroundings provide a wonderful atmosphere for performing arts enthusiasts like me to come and watch a show in peace. Show prices depend on the performing companies themselves. Some may range from as cheap as RM 20 to as expensive as RM 200. Although it was the very first performing arts centre in Kuala Lumpur, it most definitely wasn't the last. 

I've been to KLPAC at least 10 times in the last 7 plus months alone. It's really a culture hub. It doesn't just showcase performances, but also organizes workshops every now and again for individuals who are interested in honing their craft as well. Definitely one of the first places to check out in Kuala Lumpur if you're a performing arts enthusiasts like myself! 

Do visit their link to find out more information about their upcoming schedules! 

2. Damansara Performing Arts Centre (DPAC), Damansara Perdana

Located in the middle of the bustling area of Damansara Perdana, when you walk into DPAC, you automatically know that you are walking into a performing arts area. DPAC has the ultimate box office area, sorta like what you see in movies from New York! What I like about DPAC is the way they have located their multiple stages. For example, the main theatre is located one floor below the black box. That way, they are not too close to each other and sometimes, that annoys me. I also love the fact that DPAC has their own ballet company. No, joining their company was never an option for me as I don't have the skills. However, I have joined workshops in their lovely studio located one floor above the main theatre. 

There are also MANY eateries around the area. So if you're feeling hungry before or after a show, walk around this beautiful location. Sometimes I even go to the area just to have a cup of coffee or eat! That's how much this place rocks! :D 

To know more about DPAC, click this link right here!

3. Alexis, Jalan Ampang

Alexis Bar and Bistro are famous for their live performances almost every weekend. What's interesting about their performances is that they are NEVER the same! From what I understand, performers pitch their ideas to Alexis (which usually includes a theme) and Alexis will give their approval. Now, here's the best part, ALL THEIR SHOWS ARE FREE OF CHARGE! Alexis provides a wonderful array of food and drink choices which you pay for, but you get to watch the shows for free! HOW WONDERFUL IS THAT? 

I've always enjoyed the food at Alexis, so when I have friends performing, it's really a no-brainer for me to just go early, have some dinner (the shows normally start around 9pm or 10pm), get a nice table, chat with some friends, and then of course, enjoy a lovely jazz/live performance show. The quality of the performers have been nothing less than tiptop and it shows a wonderful support for the local jazz acts. You can visit their website to find out more about their shows throughout the month. 

Of course, these are not the ONLY locations in Kuala Lumpur to get some performing arts action. These are just my personal top 3. Since I'm always on the lookout for new things to do and places to go, a great website to help me discover new places is Eventbrite! Eventbrite is a global marketplace for people to find events within YOUR geographical area! It's so cool! Whether it's for me to look for an event around my area, or to look for things to do while I'm traveling, it's perfect!

If you are interested in starting up your own event, first of all, don't forget to invite me (*wink*). Secondly, why not try using Eventbrite's event management and ticket selling pages? They're free event management tools for you to use to help spread the word about your event and track its progress. Click this link to find out more!

Have any of you used Eventbrite before? Any tips that you can offer? :D

Let me know!

Love always,
DancerGal Sheryl!

March 2015 Favorites!

It seemed like only a couple of weeks back I did a February faves! Can't believe it's already April! I contemplated doing a March favorites because I wasn't sure if I had anything to "favorite", but then I realized I did so I decided to blog anyway. Here goes nothing!

Food/Lifestyle/Health:

Frozen fruit smoothies!

FROZEN FRUIT SMOOTHIES have been something I've been really enjoying. I love getting seasoned fruits, chopping them up, putting them in little baggies, then freezing them. Depending on how I feel and what happens to be in the fridge at the time, I'll mix a couple of them in the blender and just go to town with the frozen fruits. They make a refreshing and yummy treat as well as a health booster! I also found frozen fruits sold in supermarkets, but I have yet to try them and because some of them are imported, they could be fresher stuffs. I'm not too sure because I haven't tried it myself. But even with my current supply of like dragonfruits, strawberries, blueberries, kiwis, grapes and others, they already taste pretty yummy. :) I intend to try and keep this up because it's a really nice treat for myself and it feels pretty healthy because there's no sugar of any kind. :)

Coconut Water! 

COCONUT WATER is another thing I've been LOVING! Whether as it is, or mixed into my fruit smoothies, I've been seriously enjoying the hydrating benefits from coconut water in my lifestyle. I don't get the ones that are processed, but the ones from the fruit stalls that the guy cuts and removes the water right in front of me. I just really love the taste, and since I don't really like drinking water, I thought that drinking this would be just as beneficial. However, because they're pretty hard to find, I don't have them very often. If you happen to know a good, reliable coconut vendor around the Klang Valley area, please let me know! This would be especially useful to me once I move out.

Naengmyeon!

NAENGMYEON... This should come as no surprise considering how much I've been loving Korean food and culture. That said, this particular dish, I'm really starting to love and enjoy! This is Korean cold noodles, otherwise known as naengmyeon in Korean. It's basically buckwheat noodles (or any kind of noodles really!) that is cooked then rinsed in ice water, and placed in a icy broth, topped with some pear, apples, cucumbers, and a hard boiled egg. It pairs really well with kimchi and even BBQ meat! The mixture of hot and cold just makes it a very nice treat. I am starting to have it with every Korean meal. Maybe it's about time I try something else? *wink*

Skincare/Makeup/Beauty:

Ombre Nails!

OMBRE NAILS are something I've seen around the internet for a very long time and I've always wanted to do it myself, but was never into the whole painting my own nails thing. Now that I've discovered a joy in doing my own nails, I finally tried the ombre nails and I loved it so so much! It was so much easier than I thought it would be! Only problem was, because I had only 3 colors and they were very similar in color, the ombre effect didn't turn out as well as I hoped. I do intend to get more colors and try them out soon! Will update you on how that looks. Basically, using the same technique as above, I got the following results with the colors I currently have.

Innisfree Camellia Essential Dry Conditioner!

INNISFREE CAMELLIA ESSENTIAL DRY CONDITIONER is one product I've been using pretty consistently throughout March. I try not to wash my hair too often these days. It's simply because I feel like washing my hair every day is just such a chore! It's so long that it takes forever to wash, then takes another forever to dry! Sure it's not as long as Zoella's old hair, but still! So I tend to get lazy (obviously I wash my hair the minute I sweat!!) and use this dry conditioner instead. Especially when I want to leave it down. I just squeeze a handful of foam and rub it into my hair and VOILA! :D 

That's all I have I think for this month. Everything else has been pretty routine over the last month. I am still in the midst of getting used to being someone's fiancee. I just spent a couple of days in Jakarta with my future mom in law and just recently got back. It was a great trip and I'll blog about it soon enough, but I've also been busy with so many things, it's getting a bit hard to keep track of. I'm still figuring out a lot of things, and because I am not married yet, a lot of things are currently in transition. I know not many people notice, but I've also stopped vlogging. Don't really have a good place to vlog (for now!), but when I do, I will vlog. 

Thank you everyone for your support! 

Love always,

DancerGal Sheryl! 

February (2015) Faves!

A vlogger would usually do this in a video format, but to be honest, I don't have the time (and the skills) to really get this done, and it's already well into the first week of March, so I decided that it would be a great idea for me to blog instead. Here are SOME things that I've been really loving in the past month.

Lifestyle: 

Original Bootcamp, Malaysia

Would this even be new? ORIGINAL BOOTCAMP, MALAYSIA! My one true source for everything health and fitness related. I've been going strong (attending most sessions unless I'm sick) and I even made the effort to go on the FIRST day of CNY which really impressed quite a number of people. I am VERY FAR from where I used to be. Getting DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) on an almost daily basis proves that. I can honestly tell you, I haven't lost ANY weight at all, but I have lost size. I hope these two weeks without Bootcamp will not jeopardize that. Sigh. BUT YES! Bootcamp has been such a positive influence in my life and I'm so incredibly happy about it! :)

La Juiceria (Hartamas, BSC, Mid Valley)

COLD-PRESSED JUICES are another thing in my life that I've been LOVING! So far, I've only tried two companies (La Juiceria and LifeJuiceCo.), but there are many more companies out there which provide a great selection of juices. However, I prefer getting them in person, which is pretty much the main reason why I have only tried the mentioned companies. If there are any out there that you suggest I try, please do leave me a comment below on their locations and their names so that I can go try them out!

Spotify

SPOTIFY! For those of you who haven't tried using their service, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you try them out. For paying subscribers like me, it's basically like Youtube for music, with the opportunity to save them offline. It has an amazing list of songs, and like iTunes, you can create playlists, etc. I have been using this in my car, whilst waiting for classes to start, and even using it for some of my classes! Not to mention, when I had trouble syncing my services, they did it for me in less than an hour, despite not having offices in KL. Amazing customer service and I love it! Well done, Spotify! Loving you tons!


Facial and Skin Care:

Innisfree

INNISFREE is a skincare and beauty brand from Jeju Island, Korea. I've heard about this brand several times thanks to other vloggers and bloggers, but when I found out about them appearing in Malaysia, I decided to pay them a visit myself. Been loving their stuff ever since. What I love about their products is that it's not harsh on the skin, lovely smells and as natural as they come. Using some of Jeju Island's famous natural ingredients such as green tea, tangerines, orchids, etc, they create a wonderful range of products. Not only that, they are pretty affordable too!

If and when I have the time, I'll blog about some of my fave stuff from there! Their skincare is definitely a part of my daily skincare routine now, and I've been using quite a few of their make up products as well. I'm just specifying the brand, cos it's hard for me to say which are my faves so far.

Lush's Dirty Springwash Shower Gel

LUSH'S DIRTY SPRINGWASH SHOWER GEL! I got this from America and this is my SECOND bottle! So far, I have used 4 of their body shower gels, but this is my go-to. I love the scent. It's kinda grassy and minty, and it has this wonderful feeling after using it. It doesn't make your body feel like you've washed off a layer of skin, but it feels like you've used moisturizer in your shower. Only quip I have about this is that Lush isn't available in Malaysia, and it costs quite a bit. That's why I don't use it everyday, but it's really tempting me to. I will definitely get more when Sammo goes on his next trip to America! :D 

Fashion (more like comfort wear!): 

Uniqlo's Lounge Pants - Pink

UNIQLO'S LOUNGE PANTS (PINK)! Unfortunately for myself, I only got my hands on one pair of these, but I definitely need more of them. They are INCREDIBLY comfortable and I can choose to wear them up or down. When I wear them down, I'm usually at home, lazing around. When I head out in them, I just color block it with a nice top and VOILA! Chances are, I wear them when I'm too lazy and because I only have one, I don't wear it out often. I definitely need to get more of these soon. 

That's all I have so far! I've been busy working out some stuff since I got engaged and with CNY, it was tough to really get down to the faves. I hope to try and keep this up every month, and hopefully, someday start vlogging about my faves! I hope you enjoyed it! See you very soon! 

Love always,
DancerGal Sheryl!