Katie Holmes...

It is common practice during a photo shoot for the photographer, stylist, art director and writer to bring magazines and pictures of images that are inspirations for the shoot of the day. In my most recent photo shoot there was one table in the photo studio full of pictures that were assembled to give everyone who was working on the shoot an idea of the mood, feel and look for the shoot. It could be anything. A painting, a cartoon, a drawing, a fashion spread.... It is my responsibility as well to look at these photos so I know what the stylist, photographer and art director would like me to do in front of the camera.

There were over 30 pictures on this table. I looked at all of them. But the pictures which I just fell in love with were the ones of Katie Holmes in her recent In Style photo shoot.

I just stared and stared at these photos of her for ages.


There is something so elegant and timeless about these photos. And I prefer her hair more natural like this. Her body looks so toned as well. Makes me wonder how has she been working out.

At the gym I go to, there are several health and fitness magazines which the trainer Abang Man and myself fondly refer to as 'the body catalogues'. We have spent so much time looking at the various men and women in these magazines with their unbelievably fit, strong and firm bodies. I don't really like the look of those extreme body builders, but I have the greatest respect and admiration for them because I can only imagine the pain, sweat, dieting, sacrifice and the way they have obsessed themselves into achieving their bodies.

Me - "Wah! Abang Man! Tengok kaki perempuan ni! Macam mana dia dapat toning macam ni? I boleh order tak? I nak bicep dengan shoulder macam dia ni pula. Boleh?! Bila dah tempah, berapa lama I kena tunggu sampai I dapat?"

Abang Man-"tempahlah apa-apa you nak dari "catalogue' tu! You rajin datang gym, you boleh tahan diet, you pun boleh dapat macam tu! Rajin ke tak rajin eje...Untuk dia orang dapat badan macam tu, dia orang pun suffer tau. You ingat you seorang eje ke? Bila you buat, you konsisten, dapatlah result. You yang untung, bukan orang lain. Jangan risau. Buat eje..."

That's what I like about Abang Man. He makes you feel like you can achieve anything. The only thing you need is your own will power. And the best thing about working out, is that when you put in all the hard work, you are the one who receives the benefits. Not anyone else. In many ways, it is very fair.

I think I'll print these pictures out and show them to Abang Man at the gym today....

Tippex teaching Lord Derbyshire..

Tippex : "Hey you, little one. Why are you being all lovey dovey with the humans around here?"

Lord Derbyshire : "Isn't that we're supposed to do? Be all manja-manja with them so they look after us?"

Tippex : No lah! You only need to be manja-manja with them so they bring you home. Be nice for a while, then after that, just be all manja-manja and cute when you want food! Let me tell you, you're safe here now. They are not going to send you back to wherever it is you came from. Just chill! Be your own cat!

I am convinced the above conversation took place between Lord Derbyshire and his Abang Tippex. Let me tell you why. Lord Derbyshire has been hanging out with Tippex a lot, following him around, sleeping on the chair next to him, I assume Tippex is teaching him how to live life as a domestic cat. When I first found Lord Derbyshire, I had no problems at all carrying him back to my car. He just sat quietly in my arms. Now, I can barely hold him for a few seconds and he wants me to put him down. Same thing happened to Tippex. When my brother took him out of the cage at the animal shelter, he dug his claws into my brother's shirt and started rubbing his face into my brother, basically begging us to take him home. Once he settled in here, he refused to be carried anymore.

These animals are some kind of con artists!

A question...

Question
I'm 20 and my height is 157cm something. I used to be thin with my weight at 45kg. But recently I gained so much weight and I'm now 65 kg. I've been on a diet for 5 weeks and I already lost 6kgs. But now the problem is that I feel like my skin is not firm anymore. You know, lembik! I'm so worried about that. it is obvious. so how? can u help me?

Answer
Firstly, congratulations on losing 6kgs in 5 weeks! How did you do that?! I hope it was done through healthy eating. I can understand your frustration. I think to help your skin, you need to do lots of muscle firming exercises like weights and swimming is great. Usually skin hangs because you're losing weight but not exercising. There are plenty of websites and fitness magazines with exercises you can do to help tone up.

I hope this helps!

A photo shoot, a launch and a new book...

The photo shoot this morning went well. I loved the clothes, the hair and make up was nice... I can't wait to see the final results! It will only be out in the magazine in May or June, which is still quite a while away, but I will let you know when it's out! Sorry I can't share any more with you at the moment!

Tonight was also the launch for this year's Cameronian Arts Awards. I am so honoured to have been invited to present an award to one of the winners this year. I'm not sure which category yet though. I'm not too worried about that. What I am worried about is what to wear though, because tonight they announced the theme for this year's awards. SUPERHEROES!

I really have nooooooooo idea what I'm going to wear!!!! Help!!! Any suggestions????!!!!!

After the launch, I headed to the nearest bookshop to buy the long awaited book - Dua Dunia Satu Cinta - the official wedding book of Ning and Omar's wedding.

I showed my pictures in the book to Schizo...


And Lord Derbyshire was interested to have a look too.....




I want to congratulate the team that put the book together. The photos are fabulous, the layout is so clean and easy to look at and the poems throughout are so sweet. Well done, everyone!

Go and buy this book quick before it's sold out!

I can't wait for Ning's new album to be fully released too. If her first single "Age of Pollution" is anything to go by, her album is going to be fantastic! I have heard the single played several times on local radio and I love it.

I'm still scratching my head about this SUPERHEROES theme..... !#!@$#$^$%&%^*%&*.......

Favourite pic from March's Jelita magazine

To my international readers who can't buy Jelita overseas and have requested me to share with you here my favourite picture from the article, here it is.

See what I mean about how the dress is gorgeous?! I love the puffed sleeves.

Better get to sleep now, tomorrow morning I have another photo shoot for a another magazine. As always, I'm looking forward to it!

JELITA magazine - March 2008

With jewellery from Habib jewels and two gorgeous gowns from Rizalman Ibrahim , I had a great time on this shoot. Inside the magazine, on page 24 is my favourite picture. When you see it, I think you will know why. The dress looks great!

peppermint tea...

If you really love peppermint chocolates the way I do, very, very strong peppermint tea is a good way to trick your taste buds into thinking that you just might be having some nice mint chocolates.

Of course, there is nothing like the real thing. I am very capable of eating a whole box of After 8 dinner mints all by myself. Not the small box, the BIG box!

And to my readers in London, the Waitrose peppermint chocolates are also one of my favourites. I tried to convince my sister to buy up every single packet while she was there, but she told me I'm insane.

I saw a gorgeous long dress at MNG that I would love to get. But I really shouldn't be shopping at the moment. And I do have at least 10 evening and cocktail dresses that have not been worn out of my house yet. I really have a major weakness for long dresses. I blame my mother for that. It's because when she started taking me to fashion shows at 5 years old, we always went to evening wear fashion shows. So I thought that is how a woman should always look and dress. t-shirts are boring.

I am so bored of wearing pants and jeans that one day last week, I wore a long maroon vintage dress to the office. Yes, I wore an evening gown during the day, to work. My colleagues just thought I had a shoot or event on. I didn't. I just wanted to wear something different. I kept it simple by adding no accessories at all.

Today, Lord Derbyshire, my little charming boy tried to claw the chicken I was eating out of my hand! He is one tough cat that really goes after what he wants. Silly Tippex who was also in the room didn't even know I was eating.

I haven't bought a new pair of shoes in about 2 months now... I think.... This must be some kind of record!

Better get some sleep... tomorrow is another busy day.....

losing it....

No chocolates
+
No carbohydrates
+
No sugar
+
No salt
+
No shopping
=
One borderline insane psychologically unstable human being named Sasha

It's ridiculous. I have read many articles about yoga masters that eat vegetarian meals every few days and fast the rest of the time while surviving on herbal water. They claim to have better energy and no illnesses because of this way of life. Let's see how long I survive like this.
I'm dying to go to a really huge buffet and staying for 4 hours to eat everything in sight.

According to yoga, that is just pure greed, and the body doesn't actually need it.

Whatever it is, I really feel like I'm losing my mind sometimes!

The showgirl has returned!

Question
Why are you pushing yourself to workout lately? Prep for Explorace ke? ;)

Answer
All I can say at the moment is that the showgirl has returned!

I promise, as soon as I can share, I will, because I'm dying to tell!

Another shoe question...

Question
Ermm Sasha, what did you do if your shoes hurt you? Most of my shoes are monsters. I don't believe that we need to bite our shoes for the first time when we wear it. It is a myth right?

It is hard for me to find a right shoes especially my feet is a malay type which is big at the front.

Any ideas?

Answers
Yes, most of my shoes are monsters too! Pretty looking monsters, but can still cause unbelievable pain sometimes. As I said in one of my earlier replies, I try and wear the shoes around my house before an event. Putting a thin layer of lotion or powder inside the shoes also helps. I have heard about the belief that we need to bite our shoes before we wear them for the first time (a colleague of mine at Istana Budaya told me about it when she saw me walking around in obviously painful shoes!), but I still think the lotion or powder method is better.. :) I think there are quite a lot of people whose feet are wide at the front. The best advice I can give you here is to wear leather shoes as they can stretch a little bit, and when you find a pair of shoes that fit you well, buy as many as you can in as many colours. Better to have 20 pairs of the same designed shoe that you can always wear than 20 shoes that you will only look at cause they hurt!

Hope this helps. :)

Stylish Sarees on 'Style with Sasha'

To read latest posting on Style with Sasha, just click here

The weekend.....

5 hours.. That's how much time was spent at the gym over the weekend. But I still managed to enjoy 3 of Margarita's specially made brownies. They are the only thing worth wrecking my diet for. And I didn't tell my trainer Abang Man about them. :) Lord Derbyshire is really showing his 'warung cat' roots by stealing food off plates on the table. He even stole a tandoori chicken drumstick off my plate when I just happened to look away for 5 seconds. He's a smart little boy though.. and impossible to get angry at cause he is quite charming.

And what a crazy week ahead!

Valentine's Day...

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day.. Never have. Not because I don't believe in romance or love, but because I believe that you should show your appreciation and love to those who matter to you as much as you can, as often as you can and no particular date should matter.

So what did I do for Valentine's Day? I had cupcakes at home with my family..... Margarita's mum made them. They were good. Everything she makes always tastes good.

In other news, Lord Derbyshire has put on 1 kg since he moved into the Bashir residence and the vet, Hasnul has said that he will grow up to be a lovely handsome cat just like his Abang Tippex. And I spent 4 hours sitting in a hairdresser's chair reversing a bad decision to dye my hair jet black. I looked like I was wearing a wig. It's now back to what I think is my natural hair colour. I hate to admit it but what my father told me over 10 years ago is so true, your natural look is always best. Don't mess with what you were born with!

Have a good weekend! I know I'll be spending most of mine at the gym.... again! sigh!

And writing....

GONG XI FA CHAI

A belated GONG XI FA CHAI to everyone! I hope those who were on holidays enjoyed your time away from work. I was shooting all through the holidays, so I didn't get any days off. But that's ok. I'm working on something I am very passionate about so I will actually be thinking, working and living this project 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, until it's all done, which will probably only be December this year.

And despite all the hours in the gym, my director told me he wants me to be more fit and have more stamina. So that's means more cardio exercise for me on top of the weights workouts I'm already doing. I managed to do a 4 km jog (ok, it was more like a fast walk) first thing this morning and I hope to be able to do that every morning for the next 2 weeks, at least.

Somehow, I still managed to drag my body to the gym on Sunday for a painful full leg workout.

Getting fit really is a full time job in itself! And boring most of the time...

And the next few days are full of meetings where I need to convince people to support my project. And do a lot of budget calculating. And a lot, and I mean A LOT of writing and research.

But it will all be worth it. Because it is a dream come true...

My apologies for the delay, but my posting on Anugerah Juara is now up on 'Style with Sasha'. To read it, just click here

Ning and Omar's kampong wedding

The Diva begins her transformation....

The food tasted sooooooo good and the very old fashioned vintage cola/ cordial bottles were very nostalgic

The wedding cake arrived in pieces and was then put into place in the hall.


The set constructed from scratch created the perfect kampong atmosphere... Live animals such as chickens and goats were included too!



Datin Farida (wearing white on the right) attended to the floral arrangements....



Ning and Chris looked absolutely stunning together in every costume change, wearing designs by Rizman Ruzaini, Jovian Mandagie and Michael Ong








Never have I been to a wedding where was so much dancing!!



The team that created the magic that was Kampung Nekmat!


To Mr Manager and Datin Farida, please get some sleep and go on a holiday.



Ning and Omar, Alhamdullilah, all went well.... I wish you both a marriage full of love, respect and honesty.

By the way, this was the most meriah wedding I have ever been too!

Rehearsal's for Ning's kampong themed wedding

Friday night was rehearsals for Ning and Omar's kampong themed wedding.

There will be people working there all night to ensure everything is ready for the big event.

My shoes were absolutely killing my feet! I had to tuck my pants into my shoes to prevent the blisters from bleeding. I am definitely NOT wearing these shoes on Saturday night!

Mr Manager Vernon Kedit has been working around the clock. I really don't know how much or little sleep he has had the past few days. At least he was wearing comfortable slippers during rehearsals.

Datin Farida and Ning showing Omar some joget moves!

Do come back here on Sunday to see pics from the wedding of the year!

Selamat Pengantin Baru, Ning & Omar