One of the things that you can do to make your way to become a millionaire is to buy bargain items. Think about all the money you can save by buying a fairly good condition item for the fraction of the price. Some items that are sold in second hand stores are really cheap and it is probably not worn at all.

Traditionally, you can get second hand goodies in flea markets but in Malaysia, street vendors has already spoilt the name. Flea Markets are usually for normal people from homes setting up stalls to sell their unwanted goodies, much like a garage sale. Flea Markets are also for budding craft or jewellery makers to show off their stuff and sell their hand made items. Sadly, Flea Markets in the Klang Valley are filled with small stalls selling brand new items, which are quite expansive, I must say.

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Let’s face it: We all love to snack. No matter what our moms or doctors tell us about eating between meals, or how much we try to resist, we still give in to temptation and indulge in this guilty pleasure. Since it is unavoidable, why not snack the healthy way, and feel great about it at the same time, knowing that what you eat will have great benefits to the body.

Eating in between meals might even have greater benefits than your usual meals! Here are ten snacks to make you feel and look great:

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Picture courtesy of matchstick

Some people “eat to live” while some “live to eat”. Guess which category do most Malaysians fall in?

Although we do not go to the extreme extent of eating until our health deteriorates, most of us do have a passion to satisfy our taste buds. Big or small, young or old, many Malaysians like me, know how to appreciate good food. This article is my tribute, also recommendations to you, to some of the best food I have ever had in the PJ/KL area.

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I’m sure many of you have heard of ‘futsal’ before. You might play it yourself, or you might know someone who does. Futsal has been the new craze for quite some time now. Heck, a movie was even made about it! If you’ve watched the local production ‘Gol & Gincu’ before, you would know what I mean.

Futsal fever is currently encapsulating most of the globe but it owes a great deal of it’s success and all of it’s appeal to the streets and playgrounds of South America were the game was first conceived. Futsal is therefore an indoor version of football and is the only small sided game sanctioned by FIFA.

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Cosmopolitan Hong Kong has always been famous for its film stars and shopping rather than its natural landscape, a small country that is divided into an island and the mainland by a short ferry ride, it is certainly one of the better known Asian countries and a very happening Asian city country. With the recent opening of Disneyland at Lantau Island, it has certainly made itself into a place where it is almost a one stop center of tourism. It is also touted as a country with the highest number of millionaire per square foot , although I believe they mean a small part of Hong Kong.

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If in the last issue, we visited Phuket, Thailand, this time around, lets visit somewhere nearer shall we? Sabah is a state in the East side of Malaysia. It is most frequently called the “land below the wind” and the “land of sacred mountains”. Sabah may be part of Malaysia, but when I visited there, it was like I¡¯m stepping out to a different country altogether! First, we had to go through customs to get past the airport and we even had a visa stating how long we can stay there. Now, isn¡¯t that bizarre, considering that we are in the same country (well, almost!). Here are a few interesting thing about Kota Kinabalu (KK).

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Since it is Visit Malaysia Year 2007, let’s travel to Pulau Redang Malaysia. Pulau Redang is located in Terengganu, a 10 hour drive from Kuala Lumpur. It is an island filled with beautiful coral reefs and pretty fishes. Redang is also known for its diving sites. With a 30 minute speedboat, you can get to all the pretty diving sites that are crystal clear. Be sure to visit only during the months of April till October, as the sea is at the most calm and clear.

When I was at Pulau Redang, all I did was eat, sleep, relax and snorkel. Bliss! Here are some pictures for you to feast your eyes on, Enjoy!

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by hellgirl

1.  Not wiping the sweat off. This has become a habit for fellow gym go-ers who just don’t have the decency to wipe their sweat off the machine they have used. If you’re a member of a particular gym, you’d know how I feel. I attend RPM regularly and since the class requires a whole lot of energy because what RPM does is allow you to experience cycling like an actual sprinter. So you can imagine how wet a bike can get after only an hour of cycling. Even though the instructor would graciously remind the member to wipe off their bikes after they’re done but there are a few who choose to walk out right away, leaving the bike all smelly and wet. There are spray bottles being placed everywhere around the gym, why is it so hard to spend a few more minutes to wipe off your own sweat?
2. Taking a little too much time. I had a very busy day. My finals were just a few days away and I’ve spent the last weekend munching every bit of chocolate chip cookies my sister had baked. I NEEDED to go to the gym to burn all those calories. I had precisely managed my timing so I wouldn’t get carried away and end up spending longer hours in the gym where I was supposed to stay at home and study. I don’t like wasting time in the gym. I don’t favor people who enjoy coming up and chattering while I’m doing my routine because I know what I want to do and once I’m done, I leave. The most I spend is an hour. That night, I wanted to use this leg-press machine but since someone else was using it, I thought I could do stretching while waiting for him to finish. I think I took about 10 minutes for stretching so when I walked back to check if he’s done, I was puzzled to find him still using it. What bothered me was how he’d take a break every now and then and stare blindly at god-knows-what. If you get tired from the reps, then get up and use some other machine. If you feel you’ve gathered enough energy to use the same one again, then come back for it. Don’t be selfish and act like the entire gym is yours.
3. The “arrrhh” sound. You don’t see girls doing it that often, only guys do. Okay, so you have strong big muscles and you love it when those heavy weights you’re lifting are pumping up those muscles. Is it really necessary to shout about it? This is exactly why I often find myself staying out of the weights area.
4. Not-too-friendly trainers/instructors. When I first signed up for my gym, the membership consultant couldn’t stop bragging about how much friendly their trainers are or how they could be helpful and spend time to teach you to use each of the machines. After a few weeks of being a member, I found out it was the other way around. If you ask for assistance, sure they’ll come and help you out. But if they see you using something wrongly, they won’t even bother. For instance, I never really had the time to do strength training (because I wasn’t exposed enough to the fact that it can burn more calories than cardio work-out), so one day; I decided to give one of the machines a shot. I was looking up and down, front and back of the machine, trying to figure out the right position I should be in, so it would produce the result I that wanted and also, not make a fool out of myself. It was around 2.30 in the afternoon; the gym almost seemed empty while most of the trainers were nowhere to be found except for a few who had a personal training session. One of them, who was in session at the time stood right next to me but didn’t have the courtesy to ask if I needed any help with the machine. Of course I couldn’t just ask him to help me because I wouldn’t want to interrupt him doing his work. It’s not like I’m asking for a free training session which would be inconsiderable and inappropriate, but just a little friendliness would have cut it for me.This article was written solely based on my own experience. I apologize if you find this article offensive because that really isn’t my intention.

Everyone loves a bargain, especially me! What is a girl to do, when the media bombard her with tons of advertisement of beauty products ranging from cosmetics to skincare from different companies? There will be the typical consumer range such as L’Oreal, Maybeline and Nivea, and there are also upscale range that cost a lot more such as Stila, Bobby Brown, Lancôme and Estee Lauder.

A normal college student or a yuppie (young professional) that just started working would most probably be not able to afford these much nicer upscale brands. So when there is this thing called “warehouse sale”, ears would perk up everywhere. The prices of these ranges would drop and are comparably cheaper to the market price.

These warehouse sales would usually pop out of nowhere, and in a short notice. One would need to get ready and be prepared for bargain hunting. Yes, during the sale, you HAVE to be dressed up with appropriate gear.

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Sa-Wa-Dee Kaa! I was very privileged to get a free stay at Phuket, Thailand. It was my dream to go to an exotic island somewhere away from Malaysia. I’ve never been out of the country before, well, except for Singapore, which I personally think was just like being in Malaysia. From what I have heard from friends, Phuket is a wonderful island filled with life and adventure. So, I took the liberty to do some research online to find out more about things I could do and places I could visit. Surprisingly, there were many websites that gave excellent reviews and pictures that I could ogle and drool on. I went to the entire hotel’s websites and I even learnt the language! Filled with excitement, on September 2006, my family and I boarded Air Asia to the Phuket International Airport.

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It’s known that in many parts of the world, some of the best fashion finds are made in flea markets. These may consist of second hand clothes, one-offs made by aspiring designers and those by vendors who have travelled the world looking for unique pieces. A few years ago, flea markets were rare in KL. Recently however, there have been many credible ones sprouting up on weekends.

For trendy clothes, head to The Curve on Saturdays or Mont Kiara on Sundays. These are usually open from 11am to 6 pm. Both of these had some delightful pieces at affordable prices. Other places to look for great items are certain charity or cultural bazaars that are occasionally held. These usually have stalls that are set up for a short time that sell various things. Weekend newspapers advertise these and are definitely worth a visit.

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by Lins, emmagem overseas correspondent in France

Overheated autumn, local recipes and Voltaire?

In L’Ingénu, written in the 18th century by Voltaire in the wake of a popular movement to liberate the minds of the French people, the reeducated Gordon made these words a famous catchphrase that ends the short story: «Malheur est bon à quelque chose. Combien d’honnêtes gens dans le monde ont pu dire : malheur n’est bon à rien ! » (Translation : Misfortune is good for something. How many honest people in the world can say: Misfortune is good for nothing!) For this entire semester, we will be working on ‘inter-disciplinary’ tools that involve the methods of forming composed commentary based on the philosophical tales and correspondences of Voltaire. Hmm¡­

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In this day and age, lots of girls I know, go for movies alone, eat alone and even plan yearly travel sojourns alone. Well, to some it may seem weird and pathetic to be so alone, but ask any of these independent girls, they’ll surely tell you they won’t have it any other way.

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by Lins, emmagem overseas correspondent in France

Vanity trips down the shopping lane: confessions of a shopaholic

It feels strange, the fact that summer is at its final week and autumn had already announced its presence in advance. It has been raining since three days ago and there isn’t any sign of the rain stopping, at least not for those who have to suffer flash floods down South East of France. I’ve been told that this year, we are set for ‘un été indien‘ because the heat is going to be prolonged into autumn, heralded firstly by a sudden cold period towards the end of summer. These last few years had seen rough weather, a phenomenon that’s obviously not restricted to France or Europe alone, many scientists citing global warming the culprit. I am personally for that but it’s the policy makers who need to take definitive actions. Here in Europe, recycling household garbage is a daily ritual and I am quite happy that everyone does try to make a difference. I would say that in general, the attitude is upbeat towards preserving the environment here, up to the point that there’s now a growing trend in buying produce labeled as ‘équitable‘, ‘eco’ and without issue of OGM; ‘equitable‘ meaning fair - fair for the producers who worked hard for it, and fair for the consumers because they are consuming a product with genuine interests for the people, culture and the environment.

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by Lins, emmagem’s Malaysian correspondent in France (learning Francaise and immersed in French culture) from France

Besides the sightseeing on a boat to catch a quick snapshot of Paris, there are also city tours on top of an open roof double-decker bus. These buses cruise the popular tourists routes and by buying a two-day pass, you get to ride on one, come down to visit the monuments and hop up the next one that belongs to the same tour company for the entire period of the pass. Not bad an idea if one is tired of walking.

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