Up to a higher power

This afternoon i had my presentation cum interview for my scholarship application. I have been in somewhat of a nervous wreck the entire weekend, preparing the presentation slides, rehearsing and thinking about all the permutations on potential questions that might pop up. And at 3.45pm today, after about 30 minutes or so... it was all over.

How did i do? Well, i did present my slides without a hitch, i did answer all of the questions raised. I also managed to inject some humour and into my arguments, all delivered in a natural, BBC-esque British accent I thought I lost years ago (hehehe). On the other hand, I somehow lacked conviction in some of my answers and perhaps did not project a more confident outlook as I have hoped for... so i suppose my chances of getting the scholarship or not are more or less balanced.

Whatever it is, as they always say, it is now beyond our control and that it is up to the powers that be to decide my fate. In the meantime, i better start sending in those long overdue application forms before the closing date inches closer.

Here's hoping that the next time you will read about my study plans, i will be able to give a definite and most importantly, a favourable outcome. Wish me luck ;)

Celebrate Worldwide Festival with Diesel

Wishin' i was in Singapore this weekend... sigh

Somethin' sweet n sticky

These two confections arrived in the mail today. Cant wait to Hershy's kiss these licorice later tonight... hehe

Smells like a winner

It is not DIESELFREAK it he does not share all things Diesel. So for the nth time is a interview & review of Fuel for Life by the Malaysian newspaper NST...

Smells Like a Winner

by Syida Lizta Amirul Ihsan / NST Online /4 may 2008

Diesel has unveiled its new fragrances for men and women. SYIDA LIZTA AMIRUL IHSAN is charmed.

For the perfumes, Annick was inspired by Renzo's wine and a lavender balm. AMONG the new perfumes hitting the shelves lately, Diesel's Fuel For Life for women stands out with its strong but sweet smell.It’s not citrusy and definitely punchy. It has the allure of sexiness without being too flashy or grown-up. It smells young but not girlish. In short, it smells great. All my friends and colleagues agree. Finally, fashion houses have realised that to sell the “dream” of the brand — fragrance is usually the entry-level product in any fashion empire — the perfume needs to be able to stand on its own and not live in the shadow of the fashion label. Juicy Couture managed to do this with its award-winning Juicy Couture fragrance and it looks like Diesel may just follow this successful step.

For the uninitiated, Diesel is a well-known denim brand (its jeans stands in the same league as 7 for All Mankind, True Religion and Citizens of Humanity) owned by Italian Renzo Rosso, who was one of the members of the Genius Group which created Replay. For the fragrance, Renzo met with Firmenich perfumer Annick Menardo who later joined forces with Jacques Cavallier and Thierry Wasser for Diesel's men and women perfume respectively.(Firmenich is a Switzerland-based laboratory which produces designer fragrances including Aqua di Gio pour Homme, Lancome’s Hypnose and Giorgio Armani’s Armani Attitude.) The fragrances are called Fuel for Life. They are, after all, by Diesel.Here, Annick Menardo reveals a thing or two about Diesel’s new scents:

Q: What do you think of Diesel the brand?

A: It is a very creative brand that has been able to take the best of our past to inject it into the future. Inspired by the Diesel jeans, I have translated the brand’s sexiness into fragrances.

Q: Can you tell us about the two fragrances?

A: The women’s fragrance starts with the fruity notes of blackcurrant and extends to an ultra sensuous jasmine-based floral. I chose high quality jasmine from the south for its warm and languid temperament exalting the sexiness of the floral. This is followed by the depth and woody texture of patchouli.The men’s perfume opens up with aromatic lavender, followed by anise and grapefruit and finally, vetiver.

Q: How did your meeting with Renzo influence these fragrances?

A: I met Renzo at his home. He opened a bottle of wine whose fruity blackcurrant essence I found particularly interesting. I used it as inspiration in updating the structure the fragrance.For the men’s fragrance, I was inspired by an anise and lavender balm that I discovered through Renzo.

Q: What do you think about the Fuel for Life concept?

A: I like the idea that my fragrances are alive, that they give energy to those who wear them. I want to create “long-life elixirs” — potions that give energy and life to their users. I find that this new way of presenting fragrances has shaken up the world of perfume — and I like it!

Q: You usually create very strong men's fragrances. The FFL for men is very ambiguous and feminine. Are men ready for this type of perfume?

A: I wanted to create an astonishing perfume that could be multi-cultural and worn by different types of men. For my creation, I took inspiration from the young and fickle modern man. A laid-back man but with a sensitivity to beauty. A man whose existence brings a new element to our society.

Q: Making a fragrance as a group effort, is it a comfort or constraint?

A: A joint effort made it possible for us to complete one another and develop the notes that we were working on with greater ease. Team work is often enriching because it is the result of several points of view.

Q: What is your Fuel for Life?

A: Music and dance.

Brunei, Abode of Peace

Here are some pics from my recent trip to Brunei. Apparently not much, cuz of the tight schedule and it was raining on our city tour. So, enjoy anyway....

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Night market at Gadong. Just like a Ramadan bazaar, only it is on every night.

Selling a local favourite, nasi katok. For only just B$1, you get a generous portion of rice, two choices of sambal and chicken.

Course participants from DOSM, MIDA & BNM, proudly representing Malaysia (at the dinner table, hehehe...)

Traditional Melayu Brunei culture

Mosaic of the famous floating village, Kampung Ayer at the Brunei Museum

The real thing...

PPC at Dataran Yayasan, Bandar Seri Begawan

The royal palace, Istana Darul Iman from afar

Interior and exterior of the luxurious 7 star Empire Hotel

Juicy red gossip...

Another briliant partnership coming our way? Here's hopin... (ps:- With the Black Gold Collection coming onstream, and now this...It seems that DIESELFREAK needs to have a word with his credit card issuer, hehe...)

HEDI FUEL

Jessica Bumpus // 2 May 2008 //Vogue.com

Could a collaboration between Hedi Slimane and Diesel's Renzo Rosso be on the fashion cards? Having left his creative director role at Dior Homme in turbulent circumstances last March, Slimane is rumoured to have returned to the LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton family following talks with its chairman, Bernard Arnault - talks in which a collaboration with Diesel was apparently pitched as a possibility. Whispers of a new Diesel Red Collection to be designed by Slimane have since surfaced, though Diesel has not yet made any official comment. Only this year, the fashion label expanded its repertoire, launching its Diesel Black Gold collection.

GEMPARAS!!!

As a rule, DIESELFREAK rarely blogs in his mother tongue. Not because Im not proud of Bahasa Malaysia, but rather as a way to reach out to a global audience (yeah right, hehehe). Anyway my posting today warants such a rare outburst. For i can not pot so eloquently in any other way...
So, ceritanya begini:

Esok dah nak checkout dari hotel and leave for Malaysia at 8am. So, ingat tonight nak settlekan bill la, supaya esok tak rushing. Kat lobby, bill is B$1,200. Oklah, Bank sponsor. Bila nak swipe card Amex Maybankcard... kena reject! FINE! I tought nak collect 2X treatspoints. Then cuba Visa Maybankcard pulak ... kena reject lagi!!! I taklah bawak any other credit card pun. So the cocearge pun cubalah try call Amex call centre. Diorang suruh naik bilik and tunggu.

1 jam kemudian, concearge call, suruh kita call Maybank call centre. OKlah... turun lobby, cubalah call guna nombor yang tertera kat credit card. 1-300 number (kira toll free lah). TAKLEH GET THROUGH! Sebab call dari overseas. FINE!! So kita tanyalah concearge kalau boley guna internet kejaap je nak ambik number for overseas. diorang cakap kena internet kat guna business centre, but minimum charge is B$6 for 1 hour. APAKAH INAS?!! I want to use for 5 minutes only. So, mau tak mau, terpaksalah.

So call lah Maybank call centre, nasib baik diorang jawab at first ring. Mula nak marah nie, dah siap hujah good paymaster la... credit card balance zero laa... Rupa-rupanya, the reason my cards are rejected is technically I DAH OVER CREDIT LIMIT, WALAUPUN BALANCE IS ZERO. Macam mana tue?

Let me explain, remember my baby, my new laptop that i bought tue? Well, i pay using credit card via EzyPay Scheme (so ansuran 12-months at 0% interest laa..). Well, it turns out that there is a catch. Walaupun Ezypay ansuran, Maybank dah block RM5,750 dari my RM6,500 credit limit (dah pecah lubang). So thats way my hotel payment cannot get through. HANJ CORAZON TAK? Anyway, as an emergency solution, Maybank had temporarily increase my credit limit for another RM6,000 until 6 May so that i could pay may bill and do some shopping at KLIA tomorrow. So i kena tunggu another 1/2 jam for that to happen. In the meantime I am here, at 12 midnight,writing to you at the business centre, just to use up my 1 hour allocation.

OK, dah habis ranting
later i will post some sights and souunds of Brunei, when I ahve sufficently cool down

Salam