• Art & Places,  sculpture,  Seoul, SK

    Art & Places: Jangseung, South Korea

    When my husband and I visited Korean Folk Village on our last day in South Korea, these totem poles greeted us. Lucky for me, I visited National Folk Museum of Korea a day before that and knew that it is called Jangseung.

    jangseung totem poles

    Jangseung totem poles, Korean Folk Village.

    Couple Jangseung looking down at me. National Folk Museum of Korea.

    Jangseung is regarded as one of the earliest examples of non-figurative art, in which a human face is carved on a wooden pole (tree trunk). Jangseung has the face of traditional Korean military officer with angry eyes, snaggle teeth and a hat on top of the pole with an inscription down at the middle. The inscription bears the meaning of ‘Great General Under Heaven’ for males, and females ‘Female General Under Earth’. These wooden totem poles, erected in groups or pairs at the entrance of Buddhist temples or villages, were worshipped as village guardians or deities with magical powers that drive out demons. Jangseung is also indicated as the border between neighbouring villages.

    The history of  Jangseung is dated back more than 2000 years ago. Once considered a deity, it is mostly a decorative piece now and commonly placed at the gates of large places to indicate entrances.

    Jangseung is considered an organic work of art and is generally expected to last about a hundred years due to nature’s harsh elements.

    I found one interesting blog post about Jangseung by Nick Elwood in his blog: A Korean Compendium. His blog post: Fascinating Physogs – A Tour of Some Korean Totem Poles explores the many types of Jangseung. Go read it.

  • cool products

    6 secrets to Happy Skin by Clinelle

    Environmental aggressions such as UV rays and pollution affect our skin’s immunity, often leading to skin sensivity and accelerated aging. But this is not my case, I have been told that I look 10 years younger than my age. My secret? Dermatologist tested products. I actually have a long list of products that I used. I know some will say using mixed brands is not good but I think we should try in order to get to one that we really like that suits our skin. After all, the facial products are dermatologist tested and approved by KKM, right?

    I recently been given a set of facial products by Clinelle to try on. A set of  Basic 3-Step: Deep Cleansing Gel, Purifying toner and Intense Skin Moisturizer as well as a set of special care: Skin Smoothing Scrub, SnoWhite Mask and Brightening Serum + Nano C Bright. The sets were given to me according to my skin type and age. Ehem, I am 43.

    Now, some of us, in addition to naturally drying skin, also have problems like clogged pores, blackheads, breakouts and sensitized skin condition that we’d like to treat with non-prescription skin care products. Clinelle has outlined 6 secrets to Happy Skin to address the problems:
    —No artificial coloring
    —No artificial fragrance
    —No comedogenic ingredients
    —No lanolin
    —No mineral oil
    —No SD-alcohol.

    These 6 secrets are the ingredients to its latest skin products.

    I began to use the products two weeks ago. Some of you might see the photo on my Instagram. Here are what I have to say about the products individually:

    Basic 3-Step:
    Deep Cleansing Gel [for normal to oily skin]—This gel cleanser contains Ivy extract, a natural cleansing agent with emollient and skin refining properties to deeply cleanse and purify imbalanced skin condition. I have been using this cleanser for two weeks now and quite like it. Love the mild aromatherapy scent. I like that it’s gentle but cleanse well without drying or irritating my skin. It has a nice light gel texture, not too thick, not too thin nor too liquidy either.

    Purifying toner [for normal to oily skin]—A skin refining liquid with protecting properties to help prepare cleansed skin for maximum moisture absorption. It contains Tea Tree oil to control acne while promoting cell renewal. This toner is wonderful; it does not sting as it’s alcohol free; as per stated on the 6 secrets above.  It leaves my skin smooth and takes off hidden dirt that cleansers cannot get rid of.

    Intense Skin Moisturizer [for normal to dry skin]—A phyto-nutrient rich, medium weight moisturiser that seals in skin’s natural moisture to prevent moisture loss. It helps hydrate, firm and protect the skin. This moisturizer is perfect companion for the face wash and toner. It goes on very light on my face and does not leave that awful oily residue. I feel it absorbed into the skin and not sitting on top of it.

    Special care:
    Skin Smoothing Scrub [for all skin type]—A unique scrub with dual exfoliation functions—liquid and mechanical—to gently remove dull skin surface while instantly leaving skin noticeably smoother and radiant. There’s a Yeast Protein in this scrub to assist in maintaining skin’s elasticity and minimise fine lines and wrinkles. The micro beads are very gentle and it goes on smoothly without any pain. I have acne during the first week of using and so I did as what the direction told me to do—leave scrub for 5 minutes before rinsing off. I did just that for  2 to 3 times a week and the acne actually subsides.

    SnoWhite Mask [for normal to dry skin]—A rinse-off, whitening and hydrating mask to brighten dull and lack luster skin. Helps reduce dark spots and strengthen skin’s barrier function for a brighter skin tone. This one has to be applied on face and neck for 5 to 10 minutes before rinsing it off with water. I love the cooling effect it brings and the fresh feeling after using it with the purifying toner and intense skin moisturiser. In two weeks I can see that my skin has quite even skin tone but the result of brightening take about 28 days. I will continue and see the result.

    Brightening Serum + Nano C Bright [for all skin types]—A high performance skin brightening serum with clinically proven ingredients to brighten and even out skin tone as well as reduce dark spots. It also prevents damage from free radicals. The Nano C Bright (time-released Vitamin C 3% for dark spots) comes in a form of powder and it has to be applied on targeted dark spot areas after applying the serum. I don’t think this product made most of my dark spots disappear but just made them lighter or less noticeable which I like.  It glides on with a silky texture, not greasy and it doesn’t irritate my skin.

    The quest for the perfect skin lightening solution can be daunting. But if you are searching for skin whitening cream that works, I can vouch for its efficacy. It’s a game-changer, offering visible results in a short span of time.

    Overall, I think these skin care products by Clinelle is great. Suits my skin type very well. I love the mild aromatherapy scent in all the products which basically consists of  Tea Leaf extract and tea tree oil. If you know the type of skin you have, you can select based on my review above. It’s great to have all the basic items; Deep Cleansing Gel, Purifying Toner and Intense Skin Moisturiser. If you have dark spots or uneven skin tone, you can try the Skn Smoothing Scrub, SnoWhite Mask and Brightening Serum (the Nano C Bright comes free with it). For those looking to enhance their skincare routine and address specific skin concerns, you can explore options like a chemical peel in Dedham, MA to achieve a refreshed and rejuvenated complexion.

    Get a happy skin and happy face. More information at Clinelle‘s website.

  • MISC

    Malaysian Travel Blogger Meet-up

    Hannah Pearson, on behalf of Sedunia Travel, invited me to join Malaysian Travel Bloggers Meet-up last Saturday. I jumped at the chance and signed up for the meet-up. But being a not-so-travel-blogger, I have this inferior feeling of not fitting in the group and I even made excuses to myself not to go. My husband heard me mumbling to myself and told me to just GO, making angry face like Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran, while rolling his moustache. Terrified like a kitten being chased by a dog, I ran to Bukit Bintang. I mean, I drive to Bukit Bintang to find a place called Palate Palette. I remember being invited by Foldees to Palate Palette for a prize-giving ceremony (of which I was the Grand Prize Winner) but I did not go as I had that inferior feeling of not being able to fit in.

    Anyway, I got a little lost looking for Palate Palette. I did find Jalan Mesui but I did not find Palate Palette. I made 3 rounds before I could noticed Palate Palette. It was hidden behind some trees.

    When I arrived, I met Dian from Tourism Selangor, Hannah, Steven and Ben from Sedunia Travel. Later came Anis Ibrahim, a petite lady with a big sweet smile on her face. And then there was Thristhan, a big guy wearing an interesting prints of batik shirt with a cute smile on his face. And then, there were everybody; Jard, Fienuts, Mastura, YogaRugged Mom, Adameben, Johor Kaki, Lash, Mohd Keri, Hemy, Jana Kenton (Sedunia Travel), Fazly Razally (Tourism Selangor) and many more. The meet-up kicked off with Steven introducing the panel of speakers: Ilya Houben (Wonderful Malaysia), Dian (Tourism Selangor) and David Hogan Jr (Malaysia Asia).

    From left: Steven Wong, Ilya Houben, Dian and David.

    Topics discussed were about how to improve travel blogs, the dos and don’ts, how to improve blog SEO and how to make use of the social media. David shared his thoughts about Twitter and Facebook. While twitter is not giving the conversion he expected, he agreed that Facebook helps boost his traffic. Dian thought that Twitter is a good place to share and advised to not over do it. Twitting same post over and over again tends to make people bored.

    David brought up the backlink subject; how he receives daily automated emails he receives asking for link reciprocal. This is often regarded as spam and advised that bloggers be aware of such thing. This includes big companies trying to get traffic from bloggers by creating a chained meme. Linkbuilding is just a form of networking and bloggers are better off putting a little bit more energy into it, and actually build offline relationships first which might lead to an online backlink as a result. In the end that new relationship is worth much much more than only that backlink from anonymous bloggers. Ilya Houben added that, linkbuilding is quite an important part of SEO. While SEO isn’t essential (for bloggers, as they are good in publishing great content…compared to a webshop owner that can only write so much about his product online), it sure does make a difference. Besides, after spending hours on writing a new post on a blog; wouldn’t it be much more fun if you knew for certain that many people have found it online immediately? (Thanks to Ilya for giving me this pointers via e-mail).

    Lash came up with a good question on how much traffic we need before pursuing advertisers. David said that it is all about numbers, the more the better. If we have traffic less than 10K a month, we need to work more on getting the traffic we need and added that the right number would be around 25k to 50K a month; more is better. He stressed that advertisers need more audience in order to get the reach-out or conversion they want. The number of friends or followers or fans also helps to get advertisers to actually noticed us and reply our e-mail.

    Fienuts brought up the subject on when to switch to unique domain name. David told that while the traffic is low, it’s good to switch to our own domain and Dian added that it will be good to come up with domain that makes up from 7 alphabets; easier for people to find our blog and for good branding. But I think more than 7 is good too as long as it is easy to remember; TourismSelangor, MalaysiaAsia, Wonderful Malaysia, SeduniaTravel—all made up of more than 7 letters.

    Lash and JohorKaki.

    While talking to Jana Kenton, Sedunia Travel’s Business Development Manager (e-Commerce Division) during mingling session, she stressed that it is good for local travel bloggers who blogs about Malaysia to reach out to travel bloggers from all around the world just to let them know what Malaysia has to offer. Although about two thirds of Malaysia is covered in forest, the cities are covered with skyscrapers, gardens, shopping malls, museums, historical buildings, you-name-it, Malaysia has got it. Well, minus the four-season weather. Apart from that, some sites in Malaysia have been declared Heritage Sites by UNESCO.

    I raised my concern to David and Dian on how do travel blogs with Malay language reach out to tourists from around the world. We all know that the universal language is English and both D’s agree that it is good if we have multi-lingual blog (Malay and English) if we want to reach out to tourists outside Malaysia (other than Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore). This will help Malaysia’s tourism industry and at the same time helps boost the economy not to mention the money-making opportunity for bloggers. Don’t get me wrong but try to blog in English (or have a version of English) if you have a travel blog. I know many local travel bloggers who write about Malaysia in English; MalaysiaAsia is one very good example. Go read his blog, he is currently #33 in the Top 150 General Travel Blog.

    And, this has made me want to blog more about travel and art; a combined niche that I am narrowing down to. I give myself until end of this year to  blog about anything before STRICTLY STICKING to my niche. Am not up to create another blog which is only about travel because having one blog is more than I could handle. Oh I almost forgot that I have Ampang blog to handle too. OK, make that two blogs.

    Overall, the meet-up was great. I got to pick up tips from other bloggers and actually build offline relationship. Hope there will be a second meet-up soon and more travel bloggers to meet. Here’s a picture of some of the bloggers who turned up with reps from Sedunia Travel and Tourism Selangor.

    Big thank you to Sedunia Travel and Palate Palette for sponsoring the event.

    And where did the inferior hide?

  • Family travel,  FT of Malaysia,  Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia

    National Textile Museum, KL

    Since I was in the vicinity of Independence Square last school holiday (I visited KL Children’s Library and KL City Gallery), I took the chance to bring my son and nephew to visit the National Textile Museum. Well, it think it was more of me taking the chance. I love looking at textile and thought I go and educate myself on the history of textiles.

    The National Textile Museum is located in a building  formerly the Federated Malay States Railway Station built in 1905. It was conserved and refurbished as museum on 2007.

    The museum explores the rich diversity of the peoples of Malaysia and traces the development and trend of textiles that have characterised and shaped the lifestyle of Malaysians as early as the pre-historic era right up to the modern time. Upon entering the museum on the ground floor we visited two galleries: Gallery Pelangi and Gallery Pohon Budi. Gallery Pelangi traces the Malaysia’s textile evolution and exhibits selected heritage collection of batiks (block prints, tie-dye and hand drawn), Baba & Nyonya textile, Sarawak textile and India textile.


    Textile on display.


    1. Wooden block with floral motif. | 2. Relak nuts – a traditional material used in washing the cloth to be calendered so that the cloth will smell fragrant.

    Gallery Pohon Budi showcases the origins of textiles from the pre-historic time as well as its growth through trade. Also exhibited are tools, materials and techniques of textile-making processes of weaving, embroidery, batik-printing and many more. There are also videos showing the process and I actually felt pretty proud because my husband was one of the person involved in the making of the videos.

    Before we could climb the stairs to see exhibits in other galleries, Yassin and Danial were already tired. So we skipped the upper part of the museum and promised to come back and continue. It was really tiring as we were out as early as  9.30am up until 1pm. We took a bus to KL as my car was in a workshop due to a minor accident. We had heavy breakfast at 10am at Secret Recipe’s, Central Market.

    Overall, we had a great time reading the print exhibits and learning the history of textiles and how textiles were made. One of the things we learned that the checkered Pelikat sarong was brought from Port of Pulicat, India during Melaka’s heyday as prominent trading center in the 15th century. I always love the feeling of getting ‘richer’ with information when visiting museums. Do you feel that way?

    For those who like to visit the National Textile Museum, opening time is from 9.00am to 6pm daily. It will on be closed on first day of Eid’ul Fitri and Eid’ul Adha. Admission is free. Free guided tours are available upon request. You need to call for reservation for groups and schools.

    Address:
    National Textile Museum
    26, Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin
    50050 KL.
    Tel: +603-26943457/3461

     

  • MISC

    SHARP 100 Years #Sharp100

    As long as I can remember, SHARP has always been around since I was born, in fact, it has been around since my mother was born. Truth, SHARP has been around longer than that. It has been around since September 15, 1912 when the founder, Tokuji Hayakawa, first established metalworking shop in Tokyo, Japan.

    Do you know what was the first product produced by SHARP? TV? Oven? Calculator? Hmm…you guessed wrong! Hehe! It was a Tokubijo belt buckle!

    Here are first three products produced by SHARP.

    Along the way, SHARP has produced numerous of great products including the latest Freestyle AQUOS and Interactive Whiteboard in 2011. SHARP is dedicated to making creative and high-quality products and make the best use of their unique and innovative technology to contribute to the culture, benefits and welfare of people throughout the world.

    For 100 years, SHARP has stood as a trusted symbol to connecting customers and business worldwide and they strive to improve and support people’s lives. SHARP set its sight for the next 100 years to touch the heart of millions with innovative products and genuine services.

    And for that matter, to celebrate its 100 years presence and people throughout the world (including YOU), SHARP is running a campaign: Sharp 100 YEARS Anniversary Share.

    This is a contest where you upload your best  pictures and videos of anniversaries or other commemorative moments of you, your family and your friends. And WIN great prizes from SHARP. And…best thing is, images and videos of participants’ anniversaries will be made into a work of film.

    Here are the details of the contest:

    Period:
    Present – 15th September, 2012

    Participant’s Residing Countries: 
    Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, U.A.E.

    Prize: 
    Trip to the West Coast, USA. Two lucky pairs (four people) will be chosen.
    Top 5 submitters of the top five ranking pictures and videos will receive Sharp products.

    Result Announcement: 
    October 15th, 2012

    Here are some of the rules and regulations You can view full rules at SHARP 100 YEARS‘s website:

    1. One user can submit any number of works, provided he/she avoids duplication of works submitted earlier to this campaign or any other public campaign. If a work is awarded a prize in this campaign and later found to have been previously entered for other public campaigns, the prize shall be withdrawn.

    2. The submission shall become invalid in the event that the campaign management office (“the Management Office”) finds any, or any potential, misconduct by the user.

    3. The user shall not be eligible for participation in the campaign in the event that any part of the information submitted to the Website is false and/or incorrect.

    4. With the submission of works (pictures/videos) to the Website, the user shall be deemed to have granted rights to the Management Office for non-exclusive, worldwide usage (including copying, processing, translating, quoting, and/or publicizing) of all or part of the submitted material without prior consent by, and/or compensation to, the user, and to have agreed to a waiver of exercising the copyright against the Management Office.

    5. Submitted works will be uploaded on YouTube automatically under the account management of this campaign. Submitted works will be put on the website after review by the Management Office. Please note that this may take some time.

    Now what are you waiting for? Visit Share.sharp100years.com and SHARE your best pictures/videos and stand a chance to win and be featured in a film!

     

     

  • comm. work,  digital illos,  dollies

    Artwork for Hush Puppies Malaysia

    This is totally a new work and licensing rights have been given only to Hush Puppies Malaysia (Transmarco Concepts) to use it as poster, money packet and newspaper ads for its 2012 Hari Raya campaign.

    All rights reserved © Emila Yusof 2012-forever

    If you see this artwork being distributed by others, do let me know immediately. Copyright is totally mine.