If it’s not obvious enough, evidently I am not one of those pure yogis who support the boycott of Lululemon for their ‘Designed In Vancouver, Made In China‘ frenzy (if you live in Asia like me, are you really going to tell me you won’t buy your clothes / furniture just because they are made in China?), their absurdly priced yoga pants (yes, they do cost more than most of my miserable and poorly sized jeans..) and the recent Lululemon murder.

I used to be sponsored by a major sports brand for five years until 2010 and this much I know,

• nothing ever fits me like all Lulus do (yoga tops and pants in glove-fit US size 2 [XXS] = genius!)
• most of their clothes are designed FOR yoga (don’t stink in Ashtanga, don’t ride down in Headstands, no cameltoe in Camel Pose..)
• their shopping bags (sleep on the lead hype already!) make the best grocery bag ever! No contest.
• WORD: reversible pants.
• EVERYONE could learn a thing or two from their manifesto (above title is one of my favourites). Peeps who keep complaining and finding flaws in everyone and everything (Lululemon applies) might want to check and reflect on their self-image #justsaying

And hell HELLO, they make the most wicked ads ever!

I think I’m guilty for 50% of the Shits Yogis Say here..
(Although I’m sure if you asked my husband and my students,
they will say I’m guilty for 95% of them )

As long as they don’t start making Wunder Under in leather, I’m sticking to being a lululemming for now (errr, actually I kind of have to.. Got one too many new tanks and crops from my husband for Christmas) 

Love and happy new year!

Photo by Colette Mesdag which I took the liberty of editing using iPhoto
Top from Flow Y bra IV by Lululemon,
batik sarong complimentary of Spa Village
Location: Spa Villa, Pangkor Laut Resort (March 2011)

Check out their window display at Yonge St store, Toronto during my visit last summer

and their window display this Valentine’s (via Lululemon’s twitter)!

Love and yoga butts!

Dresses by House of WANPA

A bride can still dream and visualize her dream wedding dress, right?

my nikah (marriage solemnization) dress is actually q-u-i-t-e errrr.. plain. I’m saving the over-the-top French lace for my wedding receptions in March – Insya’allah, LOL.

Where got bling-bling labuci one..

It was the intricate Petrovsky Swarovski (and manik are not the same, puh-lease..) crystal-ed veil + train and the 6-inches patent purple shoes (I did try my luck for the very blue Monolos Carrie wore during hers – not lucky enough!) that made me look all wrapped up

Bride’s dress & veil by Jovian Mandagie
Bride’s shoes from Miu Miu, KLCC
Maid-of-honour’s dress by Syaiful Baharim
Bride & maid-of-honour’s make-up by Shegar
Hand bouquet, hantaran trays & mosque deco by Flora ETC
Official photographers & videographers: Pretty Peektures & Motion Peektures

Pray hard for teasers of the celebrated groom next

I used to say, I have to wear make-up all the time because I don’t look like Kim Kardashian. Until I came across this..

From here

As confident as I have always been in my own skin, I don’t recall ever leaving my house without any make-up.

Sure you’d ask “Ickkkk, then you teach your yoga classes in make-up?”

Balispirit Festival 2010

Are you kidding? For sure I do!

If this is how I look WITH make-up before / during / after my yoga classes,

..trust me, you don’t want to imagine how I look without.

.   .   .   .  .

Unless I’m going to fancy dinner / glam party / wedding that REQUIRES me to apply smokey eyes, falsie and lipstick (for a make-up junkie, I hate wearing lipsticks)..

.. I only stick to the basics (by make-up standard, BASIC means = moisturiser, concealer, foundation, loose powder, blusher, eyebrow liner, mascara, lipbalm and I AM NOT KIDDING!).

This konon-konon I-can-travel-looking-fresh face
required all the mentioned make-up items above, believe me!

Then you’d ask – what’s the point of putting on make-up at all if you’re not gonna look any different?

So that we simply look like your perfect woman human!

Open pores, uneven skintone, hideous dark under-eyes circles and unsightly acne scars are not pretty. And we don’t have facial hair to hide ‘em imperfections under!

..and don’t get me started with how often us girls have to exfoliate, wax, pedicure..

Next you might ask - but when does your facial skin ever breathe?

I never worry about that as I wear mineralizer make-up and I sleep 6 hours a day with squeaky-cleansed face and I know my organs (you do know that skin is our biggest organ, right?) do get plenty of breaths everyday when I’m on my mat

And I secretly believe in my theory that -

.. at least WITH make-up, my pores are covered with a protective layer (LOL, listen to me!) that’s meant to be put on the face instead of bare skin that leads to absorbing direct pure toxin / contamination / cigarette smoke from all around.

[ To prove my theory: The longer I leave my face WITHOUT make-up, the more prone to breakout I get! ]

And c’mon boys – you don’t really think these ‘natural beauties’ DON’T have any make-up on, do you?

So my point is,

while we don’t wake up looking like your Hollywood dream girls..

BOYS – don’t complain if your girlfriends take some time to look her best (in my case, I love Petrovsky for he thinks I’m wearing make-up only when I put bright red lipstick on )

.. and GIRLS – the secret of ‘natural beauty’ OR ‘invisible make-up’ really IS – tonnes of make-up (with good blending technique)!

Love and light (looking make-up)!

Sorry girls ..

It is unbelievable how much junks I have collected all these years.

How many pairs of shoes I have.

How many dresses I have only worn once.

How I kept buying jeans in hope that one day I will find that one pair that makes me feel like a million dollars.

How many hair products and perfume bottles I needed to feel clean and complete.

As much as I want to let go of everything I ever own and start my life afresh abroad, I figured that I still can’t live (fine, at the risk sounding shallow – leave my house) without:

• my electric toothbrush
• Lady Speed Stick
• Gilette Venus razors (am still not ready to be au naturale. Should I decide to go to India for a year, I’ll save up to have permanent hair removal first, LOL!)
• M.A.C Mineralizer concealer, foundation, loose powder, blusher – to look like a woman human
• any mascara (washable all the way since I don’t want to care about eye make-up remover) for survival

(yes, I am seriously going to try and wash my face + hair + body with simply any soap. I figure I will still live, if not live happier . And I discovered something, all the Kiehl’s and L’Occitane don’t make me stand on my hands longer, do you?)

And that’s all I am bringing with me.

.   .   .   .   .   .

Nevertheless (come on, be real!) to be accepted in a civilised community, I have to bring

• 5 pairs of Thai / Balinese fisherman pants (with heavy heart, I’m giving up engineered adidas Techfit tights) & 5 literally-no-frills spaghetti strap tops for teaching / practicing
• 3 (they are different colors to match the above articles!) Lululemon HOLY GRAIL sportsbras I discovered in Toronto and I am sooo looking forward to being able to not wear bras at all [when I'm not teaching a yoga class, that is] outside of Malaysia, like I have for the past couple of weeks – so liberating!
• my tennis & rockclimbing shoes
• 2 pairs of jeans (they don’t have to be washed every week time I wear them, right?), 2 sundresses, 3 pairs of sunglasses  & 3 pairs of bikini (they weigh like nothing so bringing 3 each IS alright )
• 1 drawstring linen pants, 1 khaki hot pants, 1 stonewash denim mini skirt, 1 boyfriend (or motorcycle? I can’t decide) jacket, 1 hoodie sweater
• TWO flat pumps*, TWO pairs of high heels* (in case of Academy Awards invitation emergency), ONE flip flop* & ONE practical handbag*= * I’m sceptical I’d be able to bring only the underlined too but I promise my spine I will try my very best
  
• Complete 6 Seasons of Sex And The City (if I ever feel lonely – without my girlfriends, I mean!)
• laptop + charger, digital camera + charger, handphone + charger & international power transmitter for that matter
• Moleskine watercolor + Daler Bowney color palette + 3 crucial brushes
• The Kor’an & Kor’an’s translation in English
• Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, Anatomy of Hatha Yoga & The Language (A to Y) of Yoga
• Maha Sodhana Level II DVD with Dharma Mittra & Ashtanga Intermediate Series DVD with Kino MacGregor for daily practice
• 8 copies of SHAPE M’sia November ‘09 I still have (as yoga portfolio)
• Lululemon travel yoga mat in Bandhas yoga mat bag (they are both presents from my boyfriend , can I just pack him in my suitcase too?)

and I’m leaving and should I reveal now, selling EVERYTHING ELSE behind.

You read me right – all my 3(0?) shoeracks of high heels, whole wardrobe of adidas by Stella McCartney & adidas Originals jackets, obscene array of yoga mats & adidas futsal shoes, half a library of books (that I thought would make me smarter), my treasured set of pots & pans , my bedroom set (matching queen bed + wardrobe + dressing table + queen mattress), my TV and they will all be available for The Banned Yoga Instructor’s Moving Out (Of The Country) Sale.

Unless they are my bedroom set, my pots & pans and 29′ TV, nothing else’s going to be over RM80 – I guarantee

Stay tuned to this space for time & date especially if you are an XS / UK 6 / US 0 or 2 / shoe size 35 or 36.

.   .   .   .   .   .

5 Things You Should Know & Be Prepared Of in New York

• Lotsa small bills for tips (in hotels, tip bellhops at least $1 per bag and tip the chamber staff $1 to $2 per day if you’ve left a disaster for them to clean up. Tip the doorman or concierge if they have provided you with special service, like calling a cab. In restaurants & bars, tip service staff 15% to 20% of the check and tip bartenders 10% to 15%. Tip cab drivers 15% of the fare.)

And TIPPING IS A-MUST except at cafeterias & fast-food outlets only!

They said only share this photo on Facebook if they look cute, how cute!

And yes, the American jargons – check (instead of bill), bill (instead of notes), change (instead of coins) & drugstore (instead of pharmacy)

• There is almost no free Internet / wi-fi service anywhere except for some smaller parks! Yes, not even in Starbucks or McDonald’s. I heard some American birds tweeted and celebrated the news that Starbucks will start offering free wi-fi from July 1st. And we complain on the limitless places (mamaks also have wi-fi now ya?) albeit slow connection in KL.

How have I been blogging & tweeting, you asked? iPhone around town & $19.95 PER DAY (about RM70 sehari!) for Internet in my hotel room.

• Lotsa practical scarves if you weren’t prepared for summer to be this cold!

You’ll want to wear your scarf like this too after you watch Sex And The City II!

• Sunnies for the summer. And to hide undrawn eyebrows for the walk back after yoga..

I brought FIVE from home, just in case . And say nothing about the bangles & dangles please.

and comfortable walking shoes. See how I bold the ‘comfortable’?

Listen, I need to match different yoga pants & those heels are for fancy dinners!

•  Walk, walk, walk, walk (I took the yellow cab to yoga at 5th Avenue every morning. When I finally use the Map on my iPhone,  I realize 5th Avenue is just 5 minutes walk from the hotel I’m staying at )

Look who’s walking too behind me?

.   .   .   .   .   .

5 Things To Do On Your First Day In NY Manhattan

•  Watch Sex And The City II movie, D-U-H! With typical American junkfood overload.

•  Dump your LUXE New York guide & buy TimeOut New York For Visitors

•  Hate yourself a little for packing only summer dresses & hot pants when the weather is 22ºC in the afternoon (except that they use Fahrenheit here). And you thought it’s summerrrrrrrrrrrrrr..

•  Eat lotsa crispy big apples. Usually they are complimentary by your hotel’s concierge.

•  Don’t forget to make reservations for all the fancy schmancy restaurants to have dinner at (the famous restaurants get booked by months ahead sometimes, yes. So we have to give up on Pastis, Nobu and Le Bernadine)

At La Grenouille, one of the most romantic (and expensive) dinner I ever had.

.   .   .   .   .   .

5 Places To Go On Your Second Day In Manhattan

•  World Trade Centre ‘bathtub’ site

•  Empire State Building’s observatory deck

• Statue of Liberty via Staten Island Ferry (it’s my fifth day and I still haven’t )

•  St Patrick’s Cathedral on 5th Avenue (although I bet, you’d end up spending the rest of the day on 5th Avenue. Who are these Americans kidding, the church is designated in between Versace, H. Stern & Saks!)

I swear I was IN FRONT of St Patrick’s Cathedral! Can I blame St Patrick the photographer? Anywayyyy, if you take a look across, that’s the very Bergdorf Goodman which they shot the opening scene of SATCII in

•  Picnic (or yoga) at the park

.   .   .   .   .   .

5 Places You Have To Try And Go Anyway Anytime In Manhattan

•  Museum of Modern Art, West 53 Street

•  Museum of Sex , 5th Avenue

•  Chrysler Building

•  Classic movie screening at Bryant Park

.   .   .   .   .   .

5 Things You Just Have To Do In NY

•  Dress up for the ballet at Lincoln Centre on Thursday night

•  Stand-up comedy at West Village (I didn’t dare snap photos, I was being made fun of for coming from Malaysia enough..)

•  Shake Shack at Madison Park – some New Yorkers swear that the burgers at this food stand are the best in the city. I only tried the ‘Shroom Burger (for vegetarians) on the second day and I have been coming for more almost every evening! The queue is absurdly long though but it only proves its NYC’s best dine in small parks.

•  Be amazed at the abundance of naked man figures on the street and on top of every other building

•  Yankees game (yes, God is punishing me for making my boyfriend watch Sex And The City II)

.   .   .   .   .   .

5 Shops You Don’t Want To (or shall I write, Wanna) Miss In Manhattan

•  H&M, H&M, H&M, H&M, H&M – there is (at least one) H&M in almost every block you wouldn’t miss missing it

•  Prada flagship store Soho at Broadway

Yes, it’s the very Prada Carrie took Berger to.

•  Forget SAKS at 5th Avenue, go to Century 21 at Financial District instead. They carrie carry seriously discounted designer clothes, but – expect crowd & next-to-nothing-at-all service

•  Steve Madden flagship store Soho at Broadway

•  HBO Official Shop, 42nd & Avenue of the Americas where they house original merchanchise of True Blood, The Sopranos, Entourage, Big Love and of course, Sex And The City takes the biggest section of the store.

.   .   .   .   .   .

5 Yoga Centres You Want To Check Out In Manhattan

•  Kula Yoga Project, Warren St

•  Yoga Sutra, 5th Avenue (highly recommended for practicing Ashtangis)

•  OM Yoga Centre, Union Square

•  Dharma Mittra NY Yoga Centre, Third Avenue

•  Bikram Yoga NYC, 5th Avenue

•  Jivamukti Yoga, Union Square

What.. that’s SIX already? I have been refraining myself from going to corporate yoga centres to why I am not suggesting Pure Yoga & Exhale but I gave in for YogaWorks as I signed for 2-weeks unlimited classes and I’ll write another entry on who was in my class in YogaWorks Soho in another entry hopefully.

.   .   .   .   .   .

5 Things You Don’t Necessarily Have To Do

•  Empire State Building Skyride & 3D Movie. Unless you are a kid with kids.

•  The overrated Sex And The City tour. The bus only takes you to FOUR locations in the series / movies and you can’t take photos in the bus, I am not kidding! We are better off googling ALL the tour locations (because they rotate them and only go to selected four spots each tour) and walk to the locations, better still – on our heels!

•  Madame Tussauds – they don’t even have the SATC girls! And they are Madame Tussauds New York, what a shame..

•  Yes, I put much hype in Magnolia Bakery because of SATC & The Devil Wears Prada, but if you don’t have all the time in the world New York, try Katz’s Delicatessen instead. Movie lovers would know that it is the famous site for When Harry Met Sally.

•   Use the subway, maybe because I still can’t figure out how to!

.   .   .   .   .   .

Stay tuned for my next entry on my famous encounter(s) in New York City.

Love and big apples!