Chandelier.

Just two years ago when SPM ended, I desperately needed a change for my hair. It didn't have to be a massive change, but a change that was obvious enough to tell that it wasn't the old, monotonous hairstyle that was stuck with me for almost a quarter of my life. At least that was what I thought. I spent a pretty long time looking through google images for ideas and I ultimately decided to give hair perm a brave try.

Without a doubt, girls go through all kinds of exhilarating phases that could go beyond any range of expectations. Unlike guys whose life mostly revolves around video games, wooing girls and whatnot, we could go out of control just in less time than it takes to blink. At one point, we could be shaving half our head bald, or going for a tattoo leaving a grotesque scar that we thought we would never feel regretful of but we would, or wanting to follow where the trend leads us just so we could fit in to societal hierarchical clustering and so on and so forth. 

That is why many parents face predicaments controlling their daughters especially during our puberty. If we were on our highs, we could be giddily exuberant, and if we were on our lows, we could be miserably morbid. On a side note, my parents have three daughters. Exciting, isn't it? 

Following my decision to get a hair perm, my parents argued that I might not be able to pull it off due to my age and my mom kept trying to tell me how it would only make me look older and nothing better. The hair perm I pictured in my head was the ones we can see on Tumblr and WeHeartIt, absolutely amazing. But alongside my mom's incessant brainwash, the vision of me looking ten years older haunted me day and night. Henceforth, I've decided not to go for a hair perm. But you know, things can't only get better, right? Yeah, I was a rebellious kid. 

I then insisted to have a dip dye. Worst decision, ever.

I remember my dad's copious cajoling while we were on the way to the saloon. Everyone knows that I was a stubborn kid (still am) and nothing in the world could possibly change my mind when I've made up my mind. Haha, it's probably an inherent trait of a future lawyer because most law students are stubborn as hell. 

As you know, dip dying requires a lot of bleaching. I remember how my eyes were painfully stinging and tearing in the process of bleaching and at the same time, I dared not look at the mirror where a girl who I couldn't recognize looked back at me. It was crazy! Nevertheless, I felt much better after my hairstylist started dying my hair with blue and green. Well, I thought I looked pretty good. I shall show you a picture of the aftermath. 

When I reached home for dinner, my dad had the face of Master Bao. He was furious, so very furious that I could feel his feverish heat from far. My dad has always been upholding the vitality of self-principles while to me, it might probably be inclusive of the art of speaking, public etiquette, self-pride and the list goes on, which I'm guessing in between includes not doing exotic stuff like dying your black hair blue and green. 

I didn't think of it as a harmful thing to do. I thought it was fun and definitely something worth trying. Having said that, I completely took back my words when I started having problems combing my hair at the tangled ends even though I applied conditioner with hair treatment elements, and two different hair ointment products. Aside from that, the colour never stopped fading like the inconsistent colours of a chameleon. Thus, washing my hair had become a nightmare to me. I shall also show you a picture of the earlier stage of its fading process. I repeat, earlier stage. 

It only got worse and in less than two months, all I could do was to hope that my hair could grow faster so that I could cut off the dip dyed ends. If I'm not mistaken, I've dyed my hair black after the dip dye for three times. Of course, the quality of my hair had downgraded by a lot as a result of excessive exposure to all kinds of harmful chemicals. I knew my hair was in trouble when people around me started asking me 'Is your hair okay?' instead of 'Are you okay?'. 

Few days ago, I went to the saloon to cut off all my dip dyed ends, also cutting off the weight of my Rapunzel hair. The result was very much to my heart's content. I felt so light, and I've missed the feeling of being able to comb my hair without having to pull it as if I was in a tug-a-war game with my own scalp, obviously resulting in more split ends eventually. To sum it up, my dip dye experience had left me scarred in trauma and I can't be any more proud to say that I've managed to change my friends' mind of dip dying their hair because really, it does no good at all. 

On the same day, I baked apple pie for the steamboat dinner with the Hau Family. It was a tad challenging at first because I was worried of the crust. Fortunately, the end-product was great and the texture of it was just right. The sole mistake I made that only came to my realization after that was the salted butter that I used when I was supposed to use unsalted butter. As I dotted six small cubes of one tablespoon of salted butter on the apples, only certain parts of it tasted a little saltier than it should. Other than that, the recipe definitely deserves a thumbs-up. 

It was a wonderfully sumptuous steamboat dinner with them in overall. Ever since WenHui went to Singapore for further studies a year ago, we only managed to meet up maybe three times in a year, sadly. She's like a younger sister to me after all these years. At the start, I barely even knew how she looked like, but her name was often mentioned by Jane as they've been best friends since primary school. I never knew that we could get along so well until we were under the same flutist section back in Sri KL, and we also worked as facilitators for several workshops while volunteering as facilitators in a huge charity camp. 

It surely leaves me a little saddened by the fact that we might only be able to meet up maybe once in a year from now. That's if I really make it to the UK, haha. Result day definitely leaves me fingers-crossed! 

Two days ago, I finally met up with some of my Kuen Cheng friends after so long that it seemed like decades. We had dinner at Porcupine in Setiawalk, a restaurant which I enjoy greatly because all their dishes are equally mouthwatering and their service is definitely topnotch. Of course, with the friends who I never want to lose in my life, we could hardly drag ourselves up to leave. 

I absolutely love it to be with them because every single time without fail, there won't be any barriers in between even though we don't meet often. That's why I see eye to eye with the quote saying good friends are like stars, you don't always see them but you know they're there. When I left Kuen Cheng, a part of me was already aware that I might also be losing a number of friends who I thought would be able to last a lifetime. I knew it clearly because it was inevitable. My assumption was then proven right, knowing my huge circle of friends shrunk to a small circle of friends like I wasn't significant no more. At the start, it did hurt a little. But I discovered that it's a part of life, watching friends come and go, attaching and leaving. From that, we all know the ones who will always be there when we need them. 

You know you're with the right people when you can talk all night without having to scroll through Instagram and Facebook to clear your boredom or to avoid awkwardness; You know you're with the right people when time spent together passed faster than it normally would; You know you're with the right people when you can tell them everything in exhaustive details comfortably because, well, everything feels right when you're with the right people. 

It was a great night and I can't wait to meet up with the others too! We definitely need more nights like this before our respective separations in another few more months. 

Yesterday, the family and I went to Midvalley. We went to Madame Waffle during teatime, next to the cinema just so you know. Indeed, their waffles were absolutely succulent with a wide range of variety and it's definitely worth a try! We had tiramisu, honey and dark chocolate waffles. Sadly, their rose latte tasted pretty awful. Too much sugar was added, causing it to lose the essence of true coffee. All in all, considering they specialize in waffles, I think they deserve another visit.

Alrighty! I hope you all had a great week too! Have a great week ahead!