Which one?

Should I get...

1. Chanel camera case in Navy?



2. Prada Saffiano Lux in exciting colours like Platinum, Gold, Turquoise, Camel?

Published with permission & love from http://www.trendora.com/ Copyright © 2008

3. YSL Muse in their latest Navy or Grey?

Published with permission & love from http://www.trendora.com/ Copyright © 2008

4. Miu Miu bow satchel in a light, pastel colour?

























5. None of the above. The economy is not doing great, there's a risk I may lose my job and I have a huge loan to pay off.


Oh, bother!

Saturday flea

Out with the crazies this coming Saturday fleaing at Tanglin mall. Really need to get rid of clothes to make way for existing (and new) clothes. Wardrobe is ridiculously bursting and I've been having difficulty squeezing my freshly laundered dresses into place. Can't wait!

Dollars and cents

July is really a bad month for me, where money is concerned. Firstly, due to the economic crisis and my transfer to the training department, I got a crappy bonus. When I saw the quantum, I wanted to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

To make matters worse, stuff that I bought off eBay has gone missing. It's the 3rd week since the seller mailed it and still nowhere in sight. I wonder why my bills can, with 100% certainty, never go missing but an innocent parcel is vulnerable to disappearances?

And to rub salt into open wound, Jetstar decided to slash their airfares to Taipei. Which basically means that I've overpaid for my ticket! Not by a small amount, mind you. In the heat of the moment, I told P I'm boycotting Jetstar (but first must give them a piece of my mind) and taking SQ going forward. (PS: As I'm cooling down, I think there may be a need to re-consider those words at a later date.)

Fuckety fuckety fuck fuck fuck fuck!

There, I feel better now :)



Edited on 27 July 2009
Add "incurring interest charges for unpaid insurance premiums for the past 2 years" to my list of July 2009 financial woes.

I wish July would end pronto, sigh!

Turning point

My mind's made up and I've communicated my intentions to the higher authorities. Was my decision right or wrong? I don't know. All I can say is that it seemed the best alternative given the circumstances.

Only time will tell. If I drown, I wish a plank of wood finds its way to me so that I can cling on for dear life until someone saves me. Wish me luck!

The overdue BKK post

After posting pictures of the BKK trip on Facebook, I was at a loss on how to blog about our escapade, without repeating some if not most of the photos, as well as the captions used.

It all began with one serendipitous Mambo session. J & Lu & I were hanging out at wine bar, chatting about life in general; the birds, the bees and the apple tree. And then J mentioned that he was going to BKK with a GAL (joke, haha!) and we started reminiscing about the good ol' Group B trip that took place 3 years ago. One of us gals (I can't remember who) very unabashedly asked J if we could tag along! J, being the warm and welcoming person that he genuinely is, could not decline us! And so Lu and I booked our airtickets and awaited the day with much hope and longing. Hope for the trip to be as fun as it was 3 years ago, and longing for a holiday to take us away from our dreary (and dreadful) work.

We were there for 3 full days and enjoyed every minute of it! These are the highlights of the trip for me:

1. Food, eat, shit (in that order)

Thai food is ohhhh so good, I salivate just thinking about pad thai, tom yum kung, papaya salad and the works. We had an excellent lunch at the Platinum shopping centre food court. Between Lu and me, our meal cost about 100 baht, which is what? 4 SGD? Where to find?!?!

Of course, Thai food, being spicy as it is, did result in a rather hot and painful shitting process :(

2. Oil massage at Healthland

Here we are, at Healthland, awaiting our oil massage. My masseurs all seemed to have a tough time massaging me. One was perspiring throughout and had to stop quite a number of times to wipe her sweat (I stole glances at her from under the face towel). And both had to turn up the aircon in the middle of the session, presumably hot from their exertions?!

3. Somerset Suanplu

This is where we stayed. The service apartment was spacious and very comfortable. Of course, the best part was the mini kitchen where J whipped up delicious instant noodles, fried sausages and wantan soup for us when we arrived in BKK late at night.

On our first morning, waiting for a taxi to take us to the 4-faced buddha.


4. Markets

Bangkok is well known for its markets. One of my favourites is Chatuchak market. If you're lucky, you'll find something nice for yourself here going for a song. And if you're even luckier, you'll find the same thing in a departmental store at ten times the price you paid. Unfortunately, most of my time (and Lu's as she accompanied me) was spent on my retro-ish fan purchase. Lugging the heavy item around impeded my movements and made shopping very difficult. In the end, I resigned myself to standing in the shade of this stall while waiting for the rest to return.

Another market which we visited was the flower market, which was very colourful and full of character. Bundles after bundles of flowers wrapped in newspapers, plastic, etc!

I chose the pink wrapper which J used to wrap my flowers! :)

The other market I enjoyed was the wholesale market in Chinatown. That was quite an experience, as everything had to be bought in minimum quantities of 3s, 6s or 12s for the wholesale price to apply. We had fun pooling our purchases together! :)

5. Fine dining in the clouds

Well, not quite so high but we were on the 64th floor of State Tower getting our hair blown to such disarray! Food was good but service was sub-standard at Sirocco. Frankly, good food is nothing without the good service to accompany it. The sky bar's worth checking out, though.

All dressed up for the occasion!

Round 2 - mini birthday celebration on the 59th floor of Banyan Tree hotel. Service here was much better but it lacked the poseur factor of Sirocco?


6. Self-orchestrated "studio" shots

Before the trip, J was already psyching us up for the "good and cheap" studio shots at Siam Discovery centre. We brought colour coordinated outfits hoping to emulate these Benetton ads.


Unfortunately, the photo studio was no longer there! Bummer! Since we were all dressed according to theme, we decided to DIY our own photo shoot. Presenting....

J the light coordinator,
CY the photographer,
Lu the model and
Gal the artistic director.

BKK gang - the young, wild and free-spirited.

Not too far off from this Benetton ad? :)

30 years later

12 July 2009 marks the 30th year of my existence on planet Earth. Truth be told, I did not feel the least bit excited at the prospect of hitting the big 3. Oh well, until we find a way to stop or reverse time, might as well get used to the idea of growing old.

Had a lovely dinner on Saturday with the family. Though one of my brothers is still not talking to me, I guess I'm starting to get used to the hostility? Anyway, Mom, Dad and little brother more than made up for it :)

Took a trip to the hair salon early morning. Decided on treating myself to a mini makeover - change of hairstyle and hair colour. Let's just say it's to mark the start of my 30s, bleh. Shawn the hair stylist recommended a kawaii look out of Vivi magazine. The new look makes me want to tilt my chin downwards and gaze upwards with wide-eyed wonder to complete the whole cutey pie look.

After a hearty lunch of home-made pizza, slowly trudged my way back to Singapore. Had to endure menstrual cramps throughout the entire journey. Not funny at all :(

xxxx

Once back in the SG home, things took a turn for the better. First of all, surprise surprise from Mr Evil.

Never have I received such a huge, beautiful bouquet of flowers. Thanks YJ, Luci, Stef, HL and the evil boy himself.

Next, P's surprise dinner. He's kept it from me the entire week and it was supposed to remain a surprise until we arrived at the destination but unfortunately, I found out earlier when he had to inform the cabbie where to take us *lol*.


Service at Morton's was impeccable and the food was excellent! The cajun rib eye steak came in such a huge portion we were glad we only ordered one serving to share. Sharing a main is perfectly acceptable at Morton's. They even split the steak into 2 for you! And no one asked if we wanted "still" or "sparkling" water. That's what I really loved about the place. Unpretentious, warm and genuinely good food.

Pretty birthday confetti sprinkled on the table.

Huge ball of warm bread. Our server went to the extent of asking us if we wanted to takeaway what we couldn't finish! At first, we thought he was just joking but when he asked a 2nd time, we reckoned he was serious. (FYI, we didn't la haha.)

Before the main course arrived, P presented me with my bday gift :) What can I say? It's beautiful, bought with love and I heart it!

Bling! Bling!

The helpful staff continuously offering to take photos for us. We didn't even have to ask! Notice me hiding behind P - he naturally lets me move behind him when taking photos so that my face won't take up the whole screen :)

At the end of our meal, the staff of Morton's came forward with a birthday "surprise" for me. You see, it wasn't much of a surprise as they had executed the routine at least 3-4 times before my turn came. So yea, the "surprise" is their much boasted chocolate molten cake (which was every bit as divine as they'd described it to be), on the house, accompanied by a birthday song sung by the entire Morton's troupe. Pretty innovative but it can't be fun for them as they had to do it 6 times tonight.

A little memento from Morton's.


And there ends this special day for me. No birthday wishes this year, but I made a little vow to savour every bit of the next 9 years before I hit the big, depressing 4.

Chanel camera bag

Love the retro look of this bag! I saw it in navy blue at the BKK airport and I want it soooo badly!


This is what I'd call love at first sight :)

Stunned

I'm supposed to blog about the recent Bangkok trip (Mr Evil's been calling me lazy) but somehow I just haven't found the inspiration to. Blogging requires inspiration, otherwise all blog entries will look like this.

Went to Bangkok last week.
Had great fun.
Ate a lot.
Shopped a lot.
Dead broke.

Anyway, I am sure the inspiration will come soon :)

xxxx

Today was the first day of training for the newbies. This has in a way become "my baby" as it's an easier and less stressful course to conduct. Also, I'm the youngest in my department so the narrower age gap is supposed to make the newbies want to relate to me more (huh?).

Anyway, the weirdest thing is this girl came up to me before lunch break and asked me whether I remember her (errrr no, I don't?). In order not to hurt her feelings, I told her she looks familiar but I can't remember when and where I've met her. She told me that I spoke to her during the recruitment drive at one of the local universities last year. She also said we had a lively discussion about falling eyelashes (huh!!). Of course, all the while I was smiling and nodding my head (she is rather cute and bubbly). And then she said something that stunned me:

"You told me to come to P** and here I am!"

Oh man, what have I gotten the poor girl into???

Mind boggling questions

Do you want to be a partner?

Do monetary gains excite you?

What do you want?

Where do you see yourself in 3 years?

My conversation with my coach went along those lines. We were, afterall, discussing my development plan for the coming year, especially since my stint with my current department is ending soon.

My coach has always been supportive of me. In fact, he's always shared a listening ear and given me good advices. So when he expressed his view that I will be "wasting" myself if I didn't go back to my old department, I was 75% bought over.

Have I forgotten the agony and stress that I used to struggle with? Have I gotten so bored and friendless in my current department that going back to the old lifestyle actually seemed like an "attractive" option? Maybe it's time to stop hiding? Maybe it's time for me to grow up and start acting like an adult? *shudders*

So yea, time's up. Play time is over. Time to get back to reality. I'm keeping my fingers crossed :)

Taiwan here we come!!

It's ON!!! The girly Taiwan rough-it-out budget trip! Haha, the statement in itself is full of ironies I can't help but laugh!

But yea, I am real excited that it is going to happen. Although it will probably be my last proper trip of the year. So goodbye to thoughts of going back to UK, or Japan, or Hong Kong, or any other fancy places. Next year perhaps!

I saw Bobby Chinn in Penang on TV a few days ago gorging himself silly at Gurney Street. Penang laksa, char kway teow, orrr jian, cheng tng, and all sorts of hawker delights. I am soooo tempted to make a trip there one of these days, just to eat, heh. Maybe over a long weekend, anyone interested?

And the super efficient me will start researching Taiwan and build up a fun-packed, adrenaline-punching itinerary. Just wait and see :)

Retro radio

I want a Crosley radio!!! In metallic pink no less! Unfortunately, American appliances don't work in Singapore unless I get a transformer, but even with that, I risk blowing up my house or damaging the radio. All that trouble, not to mention the exorbitant shipping charges! Hate it, hate it, hate it!

How about an Asian alternative - TEAC? I saw this in Japan last year and later at Challenger (in SG) but the sound quality sucks? Anyway, just called Challenger, Audio House, etc and they don't carry this model anymore. Sucks big time!

Why can't I find nice, retro stuff here? Angryyyyy!!!

Catching fleas

The flea market my ol' friends and I participated in last Saturday was, as anticipated, fun but tiring. It destroyed my entire Sunday - I was lethargic, lazy and found it a mammoth task to lift my hands, or legs, to do anything (excuses, I know).

Anyway, the outcome of the flea was unimpressive on my part. I made just enough to cover rental with a paltry balance for lunch and dinner. My gal friends fared better and made healthy profits. Money aside, all of us had fun marking down prices, collecting $, recording our sales in a little notebook, people watching, snacking and making silly comments all day long.

As for the clothes that wouldn't sell, we got to pick what we fancied from one another's leftovers. Well actually, some of these items never made it to the display as they've been "choped" even before the flea had begun! As the saying goes, one person's trash is another's treasure...

Modern retro

Was surfing for home decor ideas and stumbled upon this website which excited me terribly! My modern retro mid-century dream house! Sweet! :)




The good - Room & Board ships to SG
The problem - The exorbitant shipping charges
The challenge - Look for similar pieces at reasonable prices in SG

I'm psyched!

BKK...in less than a month!

Excitement, excitement....can't wait to go back to the Land of Smiles! Am going to shift my focus this time though...not gonna lug back a luggage full of clothes, but hopefully lots of quirky retro stuff for my new pad!

Am salivating just thinking about Tom Yam soup, papaya/mango salad, and everything spicy! And massage! One every day definitely!

Can't wait, can't wait! :)

Flea Fly Flo Fun

FLEA.FLY.FLO.FUN - The Indie Eclec-tric Flea Market presents:

FLEA.FLY.FLO.FUN goes MASSIVE!!!
13th June 2009, 1pm – 9pm
3rd Floor, Pit Building (next to Singapore Flyer)
Pit Building, 1 Republic Boulevard, (S)038975
Free Entry

xxx

Come, come, I'll be there! :)

Finale in London

Last 2 days in London. I promise this entry is going to be short - in fact, there aren't even enough photos for a long post, so rest assure.

Day 12 (16/5): P goes to Manchester for another football match

The ardent fan P took off as soon as we arrived in London for the Man Utd v Arsenal match. I checked into the hotel, had a shower and breakfast, and headed out again to meet my friend, Maesy.

When girls meet up, the very obvious thing to do is to go shopping! We had a nice stroll through Hyde Park, did great damage to our purses in Kensington High Street and dreamt of the day we would own one of the georgian houses in the Kensington area. It was a slightly chilly day, with occasional short drizzles.

P joined us in the evening looking very pleased with himself (as Man Utd had emerged victorious!) and we headed to Harrods to gawk, ogle and for some, to splurge. After dinner, P and I rushed all the way from West to East for the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. I had managed to obtain invites prior to the trip (thanks to Lynn), so it was something that I was looking forward to. Unfortunately, due to the circle line closure, we arrived a tad too late. I felt very disappointed but I guess there's always another time? So we hung around, took pictures of the illuminated Tower Bridge, and headed back to our hotel.


Day 13: Last minute shopping before heading home

Here we are, at Old Spitalfields market in the East End. We had gotten here a tad too early and very few stalls were open. In fact, there was still a queue of people with large suitcases waiting to be allocated their stall!
While waiting for more stalls to open, we had a yummy breakfast of crepes and hot chocolate/coffee! Our breakfast cost 13 GBP, which is about S$30. Ridiculous amount to pay for crepes and coffee man, on hindsight.
As I had mentioned in my previous post, the East End has a very different vibe as compared to the West End. It was hip, trendy and had an edgy feel to it. You won't see any of the high street brands like Uniqlo, Topshop, M&S here, but instead, you will find quirky art and craft shops, standalone boutiques, thrift shops, art galleries, home decor and antique stores. Very upbeat and vibrant atmosphere!
Look...P has gotten himself a pair of preppy white moccasins from the UK brand, Office!
We explored the Sunday Upmarket briefly. It is located in a large warehouse playing house music and sold mainly vintage clothes, accessories and Indian food, perhaps due to its proximity to Brick Lane. Brick Lane, or Banglatown (named as such due to its large Bangladeshi community) is famous in London for its curry houses. In fact, all we had to do was follow the scent of curry like hounds to find our way there!
The last few hours in London was spent scouring the West End for last minute gifts, before rushing back to our hotel to await our transport to Heathrow airport. It's amazing how quickly 2 weeks have flown by, and such a pity we had to leave just as we were getting used to the cold and having so much fun. But with our funds depleted, leg muscles overstretched, coupled with 2 bursting and overweight luggages, I guess it was about time to call it an end. Bye bye London, and hope to see you again soon!

3D2N at the Isle of Skye

Day 9 (13/5): From Edinburgh to Skye

Last leg of the trip was a 3D2N tour to the Isle of Skye. We chose Rabbies Trailburners, a company that organises tours to the Highlands of Scotland, as it promised a small group (not more than 16 pax) and it seemed to have a good reputation based on the reviews I read. Our tour guide for the trip, Pete, was a smiley and friendly chap. In fact, throughout the trip, he impressed us with his multi-tasking skills, humour and openness. He could drive, talk, point our location on the map, answer queries, all at the same time. I did worry for our safety at times!

On our way to Skye, we were captivated by eye-popping, head-turning, breath-gasping scenery such as this.
Ben Navis, the highest mountain in the Isles. It is located at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Lochaber area of Scotland, close to the town of Fort William.
Near Eileen Donan castle, which we were to visit on our last day.
After crossing the Skye bridge - Red Cuilin mountains on the left, Black Cuilin mountains on the right.
Boats sailing in the harbour of Portree, the little quaint town we stayed in for 2 nights.
The quiet town of Portree. This picture was taken at 9 plus pm. It was an interesting experience for us as daytime is unusually long here in spring/summer- sunset occurred at about 10pm and it got dark only at 11pm.
The colourful buildings near the harbour comprised B&Bs and seafood restaurants. It is said that the buildings were deliberately multi-coloured to ward off evil sea spirits!
Walking back to our B&B at 10plus pm. There was absolutely nothing to do except to visit the supermarket for cheap wine, trashy magazines and snacks.

Day 10 (14/5): Full day in Skye

In the morning, Pete took us to Neist Lighthouse at the most westerly point of the Isle. Some of our tour mates had opted for a visit to Dunvegan castle, but the idea of being out in the gorgeous sunshine appealed to us more.

Here's a picture of a highland cow grazing.
A rare picture of P & I together. There was a friendly Spanish family in our tour group who always offered to take photos for us.
Neist Lighthouse.
We were taking a rest from the rather strenuous walk to the lighthouse. P was posing away.
Baaa baaa white sheep & lamb. Lambs are such frisky little things...you can't help but smile just watching their cute antics.
A fierce looking highland cow. According to Pete, highland cows are gentle animals. Well, it was really hard to believe that with the cow's sharp horns pointing our way.
P enjoying some irn bru, one of Scotland's best selling carbonated soft drink produced locally. Apparently, this drink is banned in some other countries due to a certain colouring it contains. Well, it tasted like ice cream soda, nothing special.
The harsh landscape of the Quiraing mountains.
Retro-ish picture due to the faded signboards, which said "Beware - Dangerous Cliff".

Day 11 (15/5): Long drive back to Edinburgh

Visit to Eileen Donan castle. The castle is relatively small, compared to Edinburgh castle but apparently, it is one of the most photographed castle in Scotland. The castle also appeared in films such as Highlander and the more recent Made of Honor.
The castle, surrounded by cliffs, greenery, lochs and bens, is indeed very beautiful and picturesque.

After the castle visit, we began to make our way back to Edinburgh. Pete took us to Fort Augustus, where Loch Ness is located, for lunch. We had a nice (but very chilly) stroll along the river leading to Loch Ness but there was no sight of Nessie the monster!

We arrived in Edinburgh at 7pm. The weather had taken a turn for the worse and it was rainy and cold. I forgot to mention that 15 May was also P's birthday. To celebrate the occasion, I had made advance reservations at Hotel Du Vin (chosen because part of P's name is in it) for dinner.

Here's the special dessert that I secretly ordered to surprise P (who by the way was rather impatient with me for trying to stall time in the restaurant). Happy Birthday darling boy! :)
After dinner, back to Waverly station to board the overnight sleeper train back to London. The corridor was extremely narrow, with the "rooms" on one side of the train.
Our claustrophobic room. The train creaked and made all sorts of awful noises in the night as it trundled along, but the bed provided a small degree of comfort that allowed us to catch some sleep before arriving in London in the morning.