the curse of cravings...

I am totally craving something chocolate based right now...

I can avoid the whole simple carbohydrate food group such as rice and pasta... but CHOCOLATE!!

Trainer : Kalau you nak perut you cutting macam chocolate bar, you tak boleh makan chocolate tu!

Aduh!!!


My triceps are sore and my back is sore. Tomorrow, is totally arm workout day and Abang Man, the torture trainer has told me to look forward to VERY high repetitions of everything. Such as 30 - 40 repetitions with five sets, with 3 different exercises for each arm muscle group which is bicep, tricep and shoulders. Looks like I'll be spending another 2 hours in the gym after work tomorrow.



Ladies, let me tell you that doing weight workouts is extremely important. Running on the tread mill or walking will get your blood stimulated but if you want real results, you have to lift those weights, many times in many different ways. Don't worry, you WON'T end up looking like one of those really scary female body builders because women don't bulk easily and for those female body builders to look like that, they do some crazy stuff that us normal people don't even know, such as taking pills and hormone treatments. Female bodies just don't have enough testosterone naturally to bulk up muscle.

There is such a thing of going to extremes and I have done that before. At one point, I was running 8kms on the treadmill withing in an hour, full body weight workout later, followed by a 1 km swim then yoga later. After 3 weeks of doing this everyday, I looked haggard, I was exhausted and just had to stop.

The good thing about working out with a trainer is that they push you harder then you will ever push yourself, and I find that I am surprised at how much stronger I actually am. To anyone who is really serious to get fit, get a personal trainer.

I went online to try and find healthy chocolate tasting desserts as a replacement and in hope of satisfying my craving for chocolate. I tried making one today which consisted of avocados, dates and carob powder.

IT WAS HOOOOOOOORIBLE!!!

But then again, I can't do anything well in the kitchen... I can only make a mess and whatever I produce tastes disgusting. Anybody who knows me knows never to leave me alone in a kitchen. I'm much better at cleaning bathrooms, making beds and arranging wardrobes.

Now I'm thinking about my friend Margarita's mum's brownies. She makes the best brownies ever! I have stopped eating brownies anywhere else.

To the beautiful beautiful people of the world like Elizabeth Hurley who claim to not do much to look the way they do, either hit genetic lottery or are lying...


I say they are lying..

another question..

Question - Sasha, can you give some tips on how you wear those heels? I always get blisters!

Answer
Ah Yes! I TOTALLY understand the horror of blisters! Has happened to me many times. This little tip is something a woman in a luxury shoe boutique taught me. Before you wear your shoes out to a function, event, or on a date, put a thin layer of baby lotion, or whatever body lotion you have on the inside of the shoes. This works especially well on strappy shoes. Then wear them around the house a little bit to stretch them just that little bit so they are not 'biting' your feet during your function or date. Another thing which can work well is a light sprinkle of talcum powder. In our weather, our feet sweat which can cause our skin to rub against the shoes causing blisters. The talcum powder absorbs the moisture.

But all of this still doesn't stop your feet from hurting like crazy after wearing 3 or 4 inch heels for 4 hours non stop. That, I know from experience too!

These two tips work well for men too...

Hope it helps you!

Some questions answered..

Every now and then I have some of you lovely readers ask me some questions about what I do about certain things. Here are my answers to two questions I have received recently.

Question
1 - "I saw one of your 2008 goals is 'to do more paintings'.. my question is, when you paint, do you 'just paint' or do you ' paint a picture'?"

Answer
Depending on how I feel, I have done both actually. Sometimes, I have an image or an idea come into my head at random that I feel the need to act on and paint. For example, the 'Water Goddess' painting I painted to raise funds for the Johor flood victims, that image came to me as soon as I received the sms from my friend who was organising the fundraising event. It didn't turn out exactly the way i first saw in my mind, but then again, nothing I first imagine ever comes out the way I see in my mind. What I see on the canvas turns out better. Even now, I see an image that wants to be painted and i have been seeing it for a while. It's like it's haunting me. I know I need to paint it. The image will not go away from my mind until I do. To not paint it, would be disrespectful to the image.

Other times, like when I have had a bad day, or a stressed or want to do something completely different, I just take a canvas, some tubes of paint of colours that I feel like painting with at the time and just paint.. whatever.... anything... no rules, no wrong, no right... just paint..

I do have one painting that I have been 'working on' for almost 4 years. I do not consider it finished. The background is totally wrong to me. I have repainted the background 3 times and it still is not what I want it to be. It's frustrating and I'm not too sure what to do about it. The composition is right, the colours are right, it's just the background that is bothering me. In situations like this, I don't force myself at all. The answer will come in it's due time. And I know when it's done, it will be one of my most powerful pieces.

I personally don't analyse the how or why I paint too much.

And I never think about which side of my brain I am using for anything! :)

Question 2
I had someone else ask me about how I look after my hair and what do I do to make it look the way it does.

Answer
I use a lot of conditioner and try to leave it in my hair for as long as possible. If I've had an event or shoot where a lot of hair spray or style product was used in my hair, i put a lot of hair conditioner in my hair first, leave it in for a while and then only wash my hair. Swimming can really wreck your hair so I put olive oil through my hair first before I go swimming to avoid drying it out as much as possible. I don't wash my hair everyday. This is because over washing dries your hair out too. And whenever I have to attend an event, I get it blow dried at a hair dresser. To save time, wash your hair at home, get dressed, go to hair dresser then straight on to event. To blow dry your hair only is also cheaper at the hairdresser. Another good natural remedy for your hair is to put really creamy mayonnaise through and leave for as long as possible. I promise you, your hair won't smell when you wash it out.

I hope these answers are helpful.. :)

Love Sasha

it's friday!

I am so happy today is Friday! Not because tomorrow is the weekend, but because today, the privately owned gym I go to is closed! Yay!

I have gone to the gym 6 times this week and was there until after closing time at one point because the trainer wouldn't let me go as I hadn't finished every single rep and exercise.

I really hate that totally sweaty feeling and when your clothes are sticking to you. All I want to do is just shower and have a good body scrub.

But still not a complete rest day. I have to go for a swim to relax the muscles so that tomorrow, they can be pushed a little harder.

I'm more curious than ever now to see how Madonna works out to get THAT BODY!

An update from Lord Derbyshire

Miaow...

I've been living at the Bashir residence 8 days now. I've put on some weight and my fur is softer and shinier now! I suppose that's what happens when you're fed good clean food 3 times a day.

Schizo still hates me. But I don't take it personally. She seems to always be angry with someone around here. I see what Sasha said about Schizo now. She really is some kind of mafia boss! I'm amazed that she gets away with the tantrums she throws. Someone should send her to anger management classes.. or some kind of 'kelas motivasi'...

Tippex growls at me a lot. Especially when I try to play with him. He doesn't seem to want to make friends. I hope I grow up to be nice and handsome like he is.

Joberg is the only one who lets me get about 2 inches away from her before she starts to hiss. That's definite progress since the first day I got here.

I follow Sasha to her car in the morning as she says she has to go to that strange place known as 'work' and I can't go with her. As soon as she starts her car and I hear the engine, I run away. One of the first few things I learnt while living on the streets is when you hear a car engine, run the other way!

I wish she didn't have to go. I would much rather she stay at home with me and play with ribbons. And sleeping in her arms is so comfortable.


But I'm still happy to be here. The cushions are comfy and the human company is much more fun than my cat siblings.

Til we meet again,

Yours Sincerely,
Lord Derbyshire

behind the scenes of Ning's upcoming wedding

What do you need to prepare for a huge production style wedding?

A Diva who knows what she wants...


A wedding planner that knows what she wants too....


A manager that knows how to handle both Diva and Wedding planner, all while maintaining a smile.

An experienced floor manager...


And some fabulous handbags and shoes to keep you looking stylish at all the meetings...






For other pics on preparations for 2008's celebrity wedding of the year, just click here

the torture of the gym

isn't it ironic that gym machines look like torture equipment? Everytime I'm sweating it out at the gym, I wonder how hard Madonna must have worked to get the buffed muscles that she has...

My trainer is a wonderfully positive person and his approach to the whole body image and desire issues is simple... "You nak badan macam Madonna ke, J.Lo ke, supermodel ke, semua boleh... you rajin tak rajin sahaja.... "

I think I need to start going to the gym 6 times a week for the next month or so in preparation for upcoming shoots...

they always have the tv on Channel V or MTV at the gym which is like some kind of tormenting teaser, with some of the most fabulous bodies in the world in skin tight clothes jumping around with no jiggle in sight.

I hate doing lunges the most. I find full squats more bearable. and I need to keep increasing the weights to get better results. I think weights is the best form or exercise giving the best results.

So now, I just have to follow the advise the trainer has given me... "kena rajin..."

and avoid chocolate...that's going to be the harder part...

Lord Derbyshire

As a lady by the name of Miss Sasha was on her way home a few days ago, we spotted each other and I went up to her. I don't particularly like living on the streets and she seemed like someone who liked cats. So I went up to her and started miaowing a lot. She tried to walk away from me but I continued to follow her. My instinct told me is I persisted long enough I would find a home.

I was right. She thinks everything I do is cute. I think it's cute that she let me into her house compound. I wasn't very happy when she put me in a cage for the night, but she gave me some food and water and told me I would be safer in the cage. She didn't want me running around the house cause she hadn't figured out how to tell her parents about my presence yet.

She thought no one would notice me out in the cage in the dark of the night. Unfortunately, Sasha's father saw me. I think she got into big trouble after that.

The next morning, Sasha came to check on me and gave me more food and water. She sat with me for a while and I just looked at her and followed her wherever she walked. After awhile, she sat next to me and I think she was going to cry. Then she said to me,

"Listen my little one, I'm in really big trouble for letting you in here. My dad wants me to send you away but I really don't want to. But if you want to stay, you have to figure things out for yourself ok. My mum is going to get so mad and me and you haven't even met the other big cats on this house. Schizo is the mafia boss, she could make life a living hell for you, Joberg and Tippex won't be too hard on you but you're going to get hissed and growled at for a while til they get used to you being around. I'll put a little ribbon with a bell on it around your neck so people know someone cares about you, but you really need to figure things out for yourself. You think you can do that?"

I just looked at her and kept miaowing. She seems to think it's cute when I do that. So she put the little bell on me and went to 'work'. Humans seem to use that word a lot.... 'work'... I wonder what that is..

Anyway, I just hung around the house all day and didn't go very far. I hid under a tree when Sasha's mum came home but then suddenly it started raining so I had to find other shelter. I ran to the car porch. And that's when Sasha's mum saw me....

"Sasha! Is there something you want to tell me??!!!" she asks loudly... Oh no.. I hope Sasha doesn't get into too much trouble...

"I don't know, Mum... He's a little stray that seems to like it here...." Sasha replies softly...

"He's not that cute, but still kind of cute" Sasha's Mum says...

Sasha picked me up and whispers to me, "wow! that was a miracle! She's not angry! I don't know what you did but it worked!"

The next day, Sasha took me to the vet for some medicine and a bath. I looked and felt so much better after that.

Schizo is really angry about me moving in. She has gone on a hunger strike and refuses to walk into the kitchen if I'm there. She demands to be allowed into one of the bedrooms and sleeps on one of the beds. She has some serious attitude! Joberg and Tippex just hiss and growl a lot, but other than that, they seem to be ok.

I was still being called 'the little one' or the kitten when Sasha's mum suggested that I get a proper name. A few names were suggested but everyone seemed to like the name Lord Derbyshire (pronounced Dar-be-sher) which was suggested by Sasha's sister. She even checked online and discovered that I am the only Lord Derbyshire in the world. There is a Lord Derby, but no Derbyshire.

Personally, I don't mind what I'm called as long as I get food, water and a cushion to sleep on.

I hope Schizo, Joberg and Tippex can accept me eventually. It's no fun having to sit in one corner while they are around.

Other than that, life around here is pretty good...

Yours Sincerely,
Lord Derbyshire

Coach Club on 'Style with Sasha'

To read about the Coach Club event on 'Style with Sasha', just click here.

a carousel horse

While my sister was in London recently, she saw a carousel horse with my name on it.... Look on the pink sash on the horse on the far right of the above picture and you can just about see my name...

I would love to do a photo shoot on a carousel actually. There is something magical and eerie about them.

Happy New Year!

WOW what a year 2007 was!

This is the time where many make new year resolutions. Mine are (in no particular order)
1 - eat less chocolate
2 - exercise more regularly
3 - spend less, save more
4 - give more to charity
5 - successfully complete to the best of my ability all my projects
6 - learn to draw the world map
7 - do more paintings


I had my disappointments in 2007, but overall, I'm very happy with how it all went. Most of all I'm thankful. A lot of what I did was only a dream a few years ago.

I have big dreams for 2008. As I sit here and think of all I hope to accomplish, I'm overwhelmed. A combination of stress, nervousness and excitement.

I know a lot of you ladies who are regular readers are major fashionistas as well. I have a few 'fashion resolutions' too and can't help but have a fashion flashback of 2007.

To read '2007 Fashion Flashback Part 1 and Part 2' on 'Style with Sasha', just click here

Let's make 2008 better than 2007!

Love Sasha

I met Giuseppe Zanotti!!!

Not long ago, celebrity shoe designer Giuseppe Zanotti was in KL!!! And I was one of the lucky people to have the honour to meet this creative genius. Regular readers may remember the black patent really high Zanotti heels that I have worn to a couple of events. He actually signed them for me!



To read the full story on 'Style with Sasha', just click here. Again, the article is in two parts, titled Zany Zanotti Part 1 and Part 2.

Enjoy!

a new fashion mission...

Some of you may now know about Aunty Barb. She gave me her wedding dress which I wore to the recent Anugerah Skrin. I just received from her today from Australia another one of her old gowns. It's a light dusty pink gown which is almost 50 years old. It needs a bit of cleaning and some thinking of how to style it. It has already been sent to my dry cleaner who does a fabulous job with all my stuff. It will be there for almost two weeks as it need to be cleaned gradually so as not to damage it and try to 'revive' it as much as possible. Then I will have to re asses it's condition and start thinking again about how to style this 'new' treasure.

I'm looking forward to the challenge. :)

By the way, I received the most flattering comment on 'Style with Sasha' and this blog on an earlier post. It read -
'I love everything vintage since reading your blog. You opened up my eyes. Thank you for that'

Well Aneesa, I hope you can now start trying to add touches of vintage into your wardrobe!

Christmas Day...

On Christmas Day, my good friend Serena invited me to her house. And everything about her arrangements reflected her elegant taste. Just beautiful.


The Christmas tree...


The table...


The food...


The flowers...


And the best Christmas present....


Thank you Serena! You really do make the best salads! I should learn how to cook from you.

My red carpet preparation part 1,2 & 3 on 'Style with Sasha'

I think most people who know anything about me, know by now that I love vintage and antique stuff. For the recent red carpet walk at Anugerah Skrin, I wore one of the most ultimate vintage dresses in my wardrobe.

Because of the number of photos and length of the posting, it had to be divided into 3 parts. It's titled 'My red carpet preparation - Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3'

To read about it on 'Style with Sasha', just click here

Regular Readers..

To my dear regular readers...

I have now added a list on the right hand side of this blog with a list of links of all of my regular readers. I hope, if you haven't already, that you can link my blog to your blog too.

Have a look and see if your name is there. If I have missed anyone out, my apologies, I'm only human, and if you would like to be added to the list, please leave me a comment on this post with your blog address.

Thank you!

Sasha

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Hi everyone!

I know most of you are on holiday already. My office was pretty empty yesterday with everyone taking well deserved breaks.

Have a good time, create treasured memories with family and friends, and eat whatever you want. The healthy food will still be around tomorrow!

Love Sasha

TV3'S Indian Wedding of the Year - Hemanathan & Subhashini

Saturday morning. I mentally run through all of the major boring chores I have to do.....clean bathroom, do washing, fold clothes, do full workout, sweep floor, throw out rubbish.....

Suddenly I remember the date..hang on, it's Neerja's sister, Shubashini's wedding tonight....I think... Better call Neerja to make sure...

Me : Hey Neerja, when is your sister's wedding?
Neerja : Tonight lah!
Me : That's what I thought! Lucky I remembered and called you!
Neerja : You coming?
Me : Of course! I pakai sari ok! Glamour punya! Boleh?!!
Neerja: Boleh! Tapi jangan sampai you kalahkan my sister punya sari!
Me : Tak de lah! I will never steal the show from the bride!

So I slowly spent the day completing the household chores. Then came time to choose a saree to wear for the wedding. This is a wedding many were waiting for because Neerja, who worked with me during Explorace Season 3, her sister married Hemanathan who is the creator of Explorace and one of my bosses at TV3!

When I arrived, the first few people I saw were (from left to right in photo below) Yasmin, Kama and Neerja.
Yasmin, Kama, Neerja and myself used to share hotel rooms or apartments while we were travelling shooting Explorace. Kama was one of the producers in the show and Yasmin and Neerja were production assistants. Yasmin, Neerja and myself were always in trouble with Kama because we were the messiest people to share a space with. We used to have shopping bags, clothes, shoes, food, production notes, props and all kinds of things all over the place! I remember Kama always saying, "APA NI?!!! Kenapa bilik ni macam kapal pecah?! KEMAS!!!"

Once, Neerja had the nerve to answer back to her, "Too busy, tak de masa nak kemas. Kita lebih sibuk mencantikkan diri!"....."Ye ke?!" Kama would reply.."Tak de beza pun!!"



Kama says to me, "Eh, cantik juga you pakai sari.."
Me : "Thank you. Kalau Aishwarya Rai tengok I, dia menangis tak?"
Kama : "Dia bunuh diri terus sebab you lagi lawa daripada dia!"
Me : Oh thank you Kama!!! (though I really don't believe her!)


To Neerja, I say a.k.a my "Bollywood Sister"

Me : Wow! cantiknya sari you!!! Sesiapa yang belikan sari ni untuk you, such good taste they have...
Neerja : Yes, Sasha, I know you made a good choice...

(When I was in India shooting for Beauty Secrets, Neerja asked me to buy a nice sari for her so she could wear it to her sister's wedding. The one she is wearing is the one I bought for her. Cantik kan?!)

Not long after, the bride and groom made their entrance into the ballroom.


Nathan gave a thank you speech to all of his colleagues and guests for their presence.


The food was fantastic!!!! And look at the names given to the food dishes. They are all TV3 shows that Nathan has been involved in.





Some other familiar TV3 faces.


Intan Suraya a.k.a Che Ah! on Apa-Apa Aje and her husband, Abang Pian who was producer of Gangstarz.

Recognise this comedian?


Some of the 'TV3 family' who attended the wedding.


With the bride and groom...


Me : Subha, I love your jewellery set!!!!
Subha: Thank you! Ask Neerja to take you to the shop....
Me : I will!


To Nathan and Subha, congratulations and may your life together be filled with love and happiness. I'm so happy for both of you.....

A few sentimental things...

All of us have sentimental things in our possession that only really anything to ourselves. Mine are all kept in a wooden display cabinet in my room and here is a few of them that have very special significance to me.

This little chef looking man is a actually a cookie container.

My late grandfather in Australia (my mum's father) used to keep his cracker biscuits in here. I remember as a child that he would always be opening the cupboard throughout the day, taking a few, popping them into his mouth and then come back in a few hours for more. If my mum wasn't around, he would give me some. When he passed away, one of my strongest memories of him was those moments when he opened this cookie jar. A few years later, I told my grandmother the significance of this cookie jar to me and my memories of my grandfather and said if she ever didn't want to keep it anymore, to please give it to me. Thankfully she did. I don't keep anything it. It just sits safely in my cupboard.

When I was about 4 years old, I was in Germany with my family when I suddenly became very sick and needed an operation. I don't know what operation was done. Of course my parents were worried sick about having a sick child in a foreign country that needed an operation. My father really wanted to give me something when I woke up after the operation. And this little soft toy hedgehog in the photo above was the only suitable thing he could find in the hospital gift shop. Amazingly this soft toy did not perish in Highland Towers. Just by chance, the year before it fell, I took it to my grandparents place in Australia and left it there. So it survived. I was so happy to see it again. It's the only soft toy that remains from my childhood.

This blue soft toy was given to me by my cousin who lives in Scotland. He came down to Malaysia for a holiday and my dad took us all out to dinner at the Shangri-la hotel. He didn't realise it was my birthday and when he did, he went to the gift shop at the Shangri-La hotel and bought this for me. I think it's so cute and it has a squeaky thing in it so when you squeeze it, it squeaks. This is the only birthday present I have ever received from any of my cousins.

And last but not least is this really corny italian 'warrior' (?). One of my bestest buddies, Vernon Kedit aka Mr Manager bought this for me while he was in Italy. This is his idea of bringing back an Italian man for me.... ha ha ha... :) He still owes me a Dior handbag and 10 bottles of Armani Diamonds perfume. There is still space in my display cupboard.

I feel lucky to have small things like this that remind me of little fun moments in life. They are worth nothing to anybody else, but their significance to me is priceless.