weekends.

SLEEP IN & HYDRATE I am not a morning person at all and enjoy the luxury of sleeping in on weekends. The cats jump into bed between 7-8am and try to meow, or nudge us awake. Watson our ragdoll is especially persistent if he makes up his mind. My husband Nick gets up eventually while I sleep through until between 9 and 10am. I check my phone which is a really bad habit and then go through 2 glasses of water to hydrate.

COFFEE AND READING I fast every morning and skip breakfast until my first meal at about noon. Nick is usually out cycling with the boys and so I relish the quietness at home with my book and time by myself. I’ve been constantly glued to my phone and recently I started a reading challenge to get myself to be on social media less. I have gone through 8 books in the last 4 months. I enjoy the blocks of hours I get to read non-stop if I am on a good fiction. I used to only read non-fiction, got bored and now get inspirations from Bill Gates or what my friends have reviewed on Goodreads. One of the last book I’ve really enjoyed was Pachinko by Min Jin Lee.

ASIAN FOR LUNCH When my husband is back sweaty from his bike ride, we might pop out for lunch in our neighborhood on our bikes. One of our favorite places is a deli round the corner which does fresh sausage rolls. Part of the Sunday fun is convincing my husband to have Asian food for lunch. We love our neighborhood because there’s a great mix of local food and cafes all within cycling distance. We are big on our bikes and use them to go out to the train station on weekdays, and to get lunch on weekends.

OUT & ABOUT After lunch, if there are no errands that need to be done, we would either sit in a cafe and read, cycle to the beach, or do a grocery run. Nick likes to get groceries delivered but I love browsing in supermarkets and picking up bits & bobs for dinner especially if I am cooking that Sunday night. I also love visiting this little fruit shop and buying a huge bag of passionfruit for the week ahead. I am obsessed with passionfruit and have two every night after dinner. Sometimes we pop into the cinema and treat ourselves to gourmet popcorn, and recliner seats with blankets.

REGIMES, REGIMES I have an incredibly long skincare routine based on how my skin is feeling. Sundays are when I try to squeeze in time for a face sheet mask, or giving myself a face massage, or a body scrub – I am obsessed with the one from Aseop – or take a bath. I dim the lights, drop in some bubbles and a bath bomb, and then just lie in there for 20 minutes. I suspect the reason I like being in the bath so much is because it’s the only time I switch off and am not on my phones.

TAKING TURNS We used to do this thing where we take turns to cook on Sundays but have gone off it for a while. I recently re-discovered the joys of cooking with bon appetit recipes and have been making this magic crispy chicken. If he’s cooking, I catch up on my own Netflix shows. After dinner, we have a cup of fruit yogurt, some passion fruit and take ages to pick a Netflix film. One of us might fall asleep on the couch, if not we try to go to bed by 1130pm. Watson knows when it’s bedtime and comes into the room with us for his spot on the bed.

Seeing the world in 2015

What a year 2015 has been. I was determined to get more out of life in 2015, probably because of how 2014 was in some ways.

Never really believed in new year’s resolutions but I did make up my mind to see more of the world. I started saying yes to more trips and ended up going to..

Bangkok in Feb // triplets take on Bangkok, we shopped for matching clothes, ate, and explored Talad Rod Fai.

Cebu & Oslob. March // did a work trip and extended to go swim with whalesharks in Oslob.

Malacca, March // first holiday with Nick! Judy joined us and it was good fun exploring the streets and cheese prawn noodles.

Palawan, El Nido, Puerto Princesa April // 2nd time to Philippines and quite sure I’d never return again. The lagoons were lovely but hardly developed beaches, did the underground river tour which was also bit average. Good company though, first time traveling with Becs and Shaun.

Lake Toba, May // first trip with Divs, Andrea and Rish where we formed a Happy Family. Got to know Rish so much better – that moment when I found out our shared room had no aircon, his great taste in music.

Vietnam, May // work trip & got to know some of the folks in Ogilvy PR a lot better.

Bali, May // Nick went over on a business trip, and I followed. Amazing time in Conrad (and also sunbathing at Intercon lol) and at Asta’s place after.

Greece (Kardamili, Athens) & Italy (Rome, Tuscany), July // first trip with him and his parents. 2nd time to Greece and been great fun seeing the less-explored parts of Greece. Stayed in a seaside town, swam in the Mediterranean sea with Nick, ate lots of Kalimata olives and melons. Tuscany was gorgeous, quiet and peaceful as we stayed in a house and spent the days driving out to the smaller towns.

Hong Kong, September // last ‘fab ladies’ group holiday before Becs return to San Fran. Ate, shopped, ate.

Taiwan, September // spontaneous trip with the parents just before I started new job. Quite an experience! Saw Yi Lan, Jiu Fen and Yeh Liu for the first time.

Rawa, October // we packed 20 people in a bus and rolled up to Rawa for Rainbow’s birthday.

Vietnam (Da Nang, Hoi An), November // Nick spoiled me with a birthday weekend at Banyan Tree. The most luxurious and wonderful birthday ever!

London, December // first Christmas with him back in London. Good times getting to know him better – how he grew up, his aunt who doted on him like a younger brother, his 96 year old granddad with WW2 stories who was quite an endearing character, his two baby cousins who he dotes on so much.

 

On aging

Lesson #32 in aging: you actually need to work out, and work hard for that body.

Gwyneth Paltrow said it before but I didn’t believe her when I was younger. Now, at 30 I know exactly what she means. I never used to bother myself with such physical details but lately I’ve noticed bits of flesh popping out of nowhere. I’d mistaken them for my butt but unfortunately it sits in that realm which is neither butt nor hip, and I’d like to think of them as Region X which developed as a result of sitting at my desk 8 hours a day.

“The reason that I can be 38 and have two kids and wear a bikini is because I work my ass off. It’s not an accident. It’s not luck, it’s not fairy dust, it’s not good genes. It’s killing myself for an hour and a half five days a week.”

And let’s not get started on how comfortable it feels to slip out of tight dresses into comfy pajamies, I’ll leave that for another day.

Random weekend of sorts

// cycled around and discovered a new route while areas were blocked off for SEA games. And, saw otters finally! By a random stroke of luck, we saw a fish leap out of water only to realize they were being chased by otters. Saw a family of six otters fishing, snacking on fish and rolling around in sand. So cuuuuuute.

// plant shopping, like old people do. Went to a nursery at Thomson and bought a bunch of plants and herbs for his place. I picked out couple of succulents and another unidentified plant while he got herbs.

// had so much fun watching jurassic park and he thinks I’m grannysaurus

Bali Adventures

1. Chilling by the patio with Asta, sitting quietly with Nick while we both read (‘Soul Journals of Bali’ or my kindle) while music from his playlist streams

2. Supermarket shopping @ Papito Express

3. Homecooked meals by Asta – beef stew with couscous, chicken katsu and her boyfriend stories

4. Asta’s good taste – her house filled with vintage cabinets, lovely plates and bowls, papier mache moosehead, and lots of gorgeous items

5. Making origami cranes together with Asta

6. Nick grabbing my hand as we walked out to the sea for a mid day swim @ Nusa Dua / Jimbaran

7. Jumping the huge waves as they rolled in, and sometimes failing & almost losing our sunglasses

8. Our couple twin moment – both reading our kindles on sun chairs, sunblock applied (him sunburning, me hiding under the umbrella)

9. Asta bringing us to a local warung for breakfast – quaint local place, unpretentious, once the order is taken, three women work to boil the noodles, add garnishings, scoop up a bowl of slippery wantons

10. Relationship give & take – him enduring beehoon for breakfast (bizarre concept to him) while I pretend to enjoy yogurt with muesli

11. Him suspecting I do not like my museli yogurt bowl all mashed in – and then promptly presenting me with a bowl of yogurt with chopped bananas, nuts, and honey drizzled over while his was all mashed

12. 101 ways of crushing – spinning crush, micro crush, kung fu crush, delayed crush, butt cheek crush

13. Our ‘being human’ conversations on pooping & napping

14. Three poops nuff said

15. Being carried around in the water

16. Our swimming pool serious conversations about our life stories, money and everything in between

17. Him bringing me to Potato Head

18. Getting lost in the huge Conrad bed

19. Sunset at Jimbaran

20. Ping pong challenge. I lost.

21. Him trying to scare me 8am in the morning hiding behind the door. I tried to scare him in the bathroom and saw him do a jump of sorts. We are like a bunch of 5 year olds.

weekends

saturday //

We walked around Tiong Bahru as his friend Gavin is in town, drinking coffee, wandering into concept stores and walking out not knowing what the store was for, browsing books (had a desire to flip through actual pages after reading on my kindle). Was made fun of for reading out every visible sign I see. Fun times.

Was cooking steak & mashed when he suddenly walked into the kitchen (from his game in living room) and said ‘babe I’m glad I met you’. I stood there sweaty and frazzled, and couldn’t understand what compelled him to suddenly say that. I asked why, and he said he just thought of it randomly (while slaying monsters on his PS4?!). Men can be weird and cute sometimes. I ended up ruining the mashed potato and carrot, and got made fun of entire night and day.

Supper and massage in JB with E3 was fun – but tiring!

sunday //

Din Tai Fung + bedsheets shopping.

Laid by the pool, read, napped.

Dinner at Robertson Quay w JC and him, and watched Man on Fire before passing out.

Lovely day!

Roll and hug

#moments

Instead of Ross’ version of hug and roll – a maneuver where he tried to get out of cuddling and gain some space in the bed, Nick performed a roll and hug.

He calls me a old granny because I fell asleep while watching Avengers 9pm on a Friday night.

His 1999 diving story.

March and April flew by real quick

Seven memories of March and April 2015

1. We survived our first couple trip (+ Judy) together. Malacca was awesome in every sense – good food (cheese prawn beehoon or snail goo as he calls it), wandering around the streets, sitting in cafes, lounging around in beautiful Majestic Hotel, working out at the gym, reading our kindles on the bus. I was amused by how much time he could spend reading without getting restless.

2. Brunch with Nick + Judy, Shawn, Becs at The Lokal. Quite fun hanging out with these people. I was declared a pop culture orphan.

3. Sunday roast with Nick + his friends. I still don’t get the appeal of Sunday roast.

4. Bahn Mi at Tracy’s place. So yummy. Especially the epic story of Tracy and her maid.

5. Wandered around Tan Boon Liat building shopping for his steampunk lamp. Nice relaxing day. Topped off by the best ice cream sandwich I’ve ever eaten.

6. Fixed our bikes (new brakes, and a better bell – no more sound of frogs croaking) and went to Daan’s place for a movie screening. Only to have his tyre go flat just before we reached. Ended up having to go back and fix it again. Makes for a wonderful story.

7. Dinner at Fern & Kiwi where he amused me immensely with his spreadsheet story 🙂

Hallmark’s Day

“Valentine’s Day is also known as Hallmark’s Day.” – the self-proclaimed practical romantic

So our first Valentine’s Day together came and went one week ago.

Few weeks before that, the partner in crime asked me how I felt about Valentine’s Day – was it very important for me, or just like any other day? While I like the fancy flowers and dinners, I also cringe at how well-intentioned men get ripped off by every establishment eager to charge triple rates and I’d rather not be one of the 48 couples sitting in a restaurant feeling like we’re expected to whisper sweet-nothings into each other’s ears.

I did however, under the kind persuasion of a male colleague, order a badger hair shaving brush for him from MrPorter. He got me a Kindle Paperwhite, as well as a cute little Valentine’s card (which I did not expect) addressed to ‘The Watson to my Holmes” (#innerjoke) expressing how much he’s enjoyed fighting crimes with me. Apparently he’d walked up and down Raffles Place trying to find a card – never expected him to write me a cute little card but the best things happen when you have no expectations.

When I got to his place, the partner in crime had already gone to the shops and bought cheeses, hams, olives, artichokes – and laid them along with cooler bags and cutlery. I was honestly quite surprised by how much effort he’d put in!

Was a lovely day sitting on our mats, enjoying the humidity sticking to our skins, and fending off ants swarming to any crumbs of food we’d left unattended. It was honestly like an episode of Man vs. Wild – Ants edition.

First month of 2015

1. Short weekend trip in Bangkok – panic moments trying to spot Andrea amongst short Thai women (#wheresandrea), awesome shopping at Platinum & Asiatique, checked out Talad Rot Fai a lovely night market full of hippies selling old sneakers and clothes from their vintage car boots

2. Weekend cycling trip with Andrea and Simon – and accidentally bumping into Divya at Bewerkz who was supposed to join us with her new bicycle

3. Laneway with Judy / Shawn / Nick x 2, was lots of fun, super laid back vibes, hipsters on mats, food trucks, really awesome.

4. Watching BBC animal documentary on the sofa and cracking up over the frogs trying to kick one another off while trying to mate with a female frog

5. Garlic salmon and oven roasted vegetables (WITH GARLIC) for dinner 😉 #everydayisvalentinesday

6. Making plans for Valentine’s day picnic at the gardens :))

7. Him offering me his little finger when I asked for a cuddle ._.

8. Being mocked at by ‘Simon Cowell’ for my ‘awful singing’ (la-la-la)

Turning Thirty

So I turned thirty recently; it felt like any other day except my knees seemed to feel more creaky than before.

Spent time with a whole bunch of people who are a part of my life, over good food and funny conversations.

2014 has been a great year so far, despite everything that has happened.

Made the best attempt of leave days and travelled to Ubud, Krabi, Ibiza, Barcelona, London, Nice, Cannes, Monaco, and possibly heading to Australia for year-end holidays, dived again in Tioman, scaled Mount Rinjani successfully.

Encouraged my highly hermit self to leave the house more, and went to the Annie Leibovitz exhibition, caught Breakfast at Tiffany’s at Films at the Fort, watched YSL at Design Film Fest, saw Chvrches and Jason Mraz perform, went to Mambo Jumbo for National Day and just might drag my 30 year-old body to ZoukOut. Who would have believed.

Moved teams in Ogilvy and got to know a bunch of crazy and sociable folks. Made new friends while still keeping precious old relationships.

Sat myself down and had a serious conversation about how I should take better care of myself in all ways.

Also somehow found an awesome sidekick, one who makes me laugh a lot, challenges my ego constantly, makes my eyes light up from time to time, and whom I enjoy spending time with. Kind of funny how life works sometimes.

Am thankful for all that has happened this year and am looking forward to another kickass year.

 

weekend fun

weekends //

1. avocado toast again (:
2. omakase burger party
3. he does not like root beer. how can anyone not like root beer!!!
4. walked around Pasarbella and Chillax Market
5. controlling me with his Playstation 4 remote – mute, go to kitchen

Europe summers

August 2014 / Some highlights from my two weeks of Europe summer. Summer in Europe is awesome, lots of lazing around on the beach, good weather, long days, ahh.

1. Going to Ibiza for the first time; and having the classic party island experience with Avicii and David Guetta at Ushuaia. Outdoor clubs with cool breezy weather and an awesome atmosphere!
2. Also saw Bob Sinclair. Not that it matters.
3. Lie on beach, apply sunblock. Repeat.
4. Did the French Riveria (area between Nice and Menton) coastal drive. Explored Villefranche sur Mer, Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, Eze Village, and Antibes taking in the lovely sea view along the winding roads.
5. Spent a day in Monaco and Cannes each; Monacco with her casinos, constructions and casinos reminds me of Singapore almost.
6. First time in London! Didn’t think I’d like London much but I was proven wrong. Getting lost in the tube stations is quite fun.
7. Saw my first musical in London – Billy Elliot. The experience of sitting in an ancient theatre felt kind of surreal and magical.
8. Went shopping along Oxford Street, and also Harrods.
9. Did Indian curry, and also went to Fabric, a club full of teens and early twenties.
10. Met the partner in crime, and his mom, and his dad. Spent days sipping tea, so typical and fun at the same time. Fell in love with bagels with cream cheese as well.
11. Had fish & chips, with mushy peas. Mushy peas is strange.
12. Visited Imperial War Museum
13. Did ghost walking tour in the rain. Kind of torturous because was raining the entire night and we wished we were warm at home. Guess whose idea it was to do the walking tour…
14. Saw the toppled phone boxes art installation, very cute.
15. Went to La Sagrada Familia again, but went in to see the architecture this time round. Really beautiful stained glass windows and decor.
16. Wandered around the Gothic quarters, as well as Zara.
17. Took the Montjuic cable car, laid on Barceloneta beach, had delicious seafood at a local shop where we picked what we want.

On growing older

The older I get, the more I realize life rarely ever works out the way we’ve planned them.

I say this from seeing a handful of long relationships break apart, from marriages ending in divorces, from engagements being called off, from friends getting sick suddenly, and dear ones being taken away from us way before time’s up.

It’s nice to remain the eternal optimist but growing older also makes you realize how relationships, marriages may never work out the way you want to, try as you might, and also life might be taken away without advanced notice.

I guess, that is really how real life is. And I have been holding onto a unrealistic, almost naive Hollywood-tinted perspective of “happy ever after”.

Time to grow up and take in the nice, and not as nice bits of life. Here’s to being grateful for the happy-ever-afters and being okay with the not-so-happy-ever-afters.

Busy decluttering!

Decluttering is like a heart-booster for me. Therapeutic and soothing at the same time.

Threw away two bags, two pairs of shoes, bunch of useless keychains, and badge pins today.

Emptied out a row of bookshelf and placed books on them.

Organized my lingerie drawer.

Washed my makeup brushes and laid them out to air-dry.

Scrubbed my sink until it was gleaming.

Dumped my sheets into laundry into an extra-long cycle wash.

Mmm, the joys of decluttering and cleaning!

Weekend Routines

10-11 Oct 2014

weekends // lazy days // exploring // trying new places // conversations

• Tried new place Buttero along Tras Street before catching ‘The Equalizer’
• Cycled out to get coffee beans and a bottle of wine; need new bicycle!
• Sunday roast at his friends’; old UK TV shows, lazy sperm, and ‘the fear’
• Explored Tiong Bahru, got coffee, wandered around hipster cafes and tze char places
• Poked around meat freezers and eventually buying nothing
• Greek lenthil soup for dinner; lots of stirring

> 3hree things

Sometimes it’s scary how months fly past without you realizing. July, August, and the first twenty days of September seemed like a blur of work and lots of out-and-abouts.

1. Brunch with the girls from work at Sabio and lazing by Rainbow’s pool reading; nice lazy Sunday
2. National Day #mambojumbo in one line: shoving drunk 20-somethings out of the way to 80s music. Kinda fun but never gonna do it again
3. First time going to Films at The Fort; my heart melted a little watching Breakfast At Tiffany’s
4. Developed a proper girl crush on Audrey Hepburn
5. Adventures with N began 🙂
6. Took two weeks off work and went to Spain (Ibiza, Barcelona), France (Nice, Monaco, Cannes) and London
7. Caught YSL at the Design Film Festival w Becs
8. Lunch party at Judy’s overlooking Holland Village, playing with her two new cats

I wish you enough.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.

I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final goodbye.

The one where my best friend got married

So Bean (one of my oldest friends who stuck through A’ levels History and other embarrassing growing-up moments with me) got married one weekend in May.

There was the staycation with the girls; mostly floating around in a tiny infinity pool, eating delicious Spanish paella at Binomio, feeling old at Butter Factory – BUT SO MUCH FUN! I hardly hang out with Bean and friends these days, so it was awesome taking in those little moments.

Of course, there was also The Wedding where we woke crazy early, posing for photos, stopping the boys from getting in, worrying about cleavages (not mine since they’re non-existent anyway), walking everywhere holding her train (I got new muscles for that), getting people drunk, ordering crazy expensive pina colada, and slurping down ramen noodles. Kinda insane how weddings mean so much when you’re watching your favorite person walking down the aisle 😉

Other days were spent checking out the Annie Leibovitz exhibition, catching Happy Ever Laughter, exploring the Singapore Arts Museum, cooking chicken mushroom quesadillas, and catching up on the Russia-Ukraine / Iraq crisis.

Oh, and I climbed Mount Rinjani. In one sentence, life gave me a huge ass challenge and I stood up to it. More on that another day!

A spot of ambiguity.

Anything that puts you in a spot of ambiguity is never a good thing. 

Going Places, Seeing Things

April was a month that saw me going places with people, doing things, and being quiet.

Spent a laid back weekend in Tioman diving amongst turtles, spotting nudi branches, and trying to remember why I liked (and also feared) being underwater. There’s a certain idleness in Tioman, the type being in another country besides Singapore and away from my always-refreshing work emails can give, and that was very nice, thank you. Plus, I got to bond with the girls over conversations on the boat, at the dining table, on the beds – that’s something I don’t get very much given I grew up with two brothers.

Explored IKEA with colleagues trying to set up our ‘standing desk’. It was tiring, but fulfilling in a way only IKEA can deliver. I love how IKEA creates make-believe living rooms and dining rooms that make flawed human beings feel like their lives would and can be better if only they bought into a $399 HEMNES coffee table. And, I still cannot believe we spent the span of a coffee discussing the merits of soaps vs shower foams. That’s what happens when you get into a discussion with vegan and worldpeace type of folks. And, in other news, I am now a glycerin soap convert.

Spent a stuffy Singaporean day alfresco in a cafe eating toast with Pohty and flipping pages quietly. Work takes a fair bit of energy out of me and it’s always nice to be able to sit still and not do anything for a few hours, except concentrate on the words and the meaning they form when laid side by side with other words. It’s been an insane month of non-stop reading in April – finished ‘Endurance’ by Alfred Lansing and ‘One Click: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com’ in the span of a few weeks. These two books were so good I couldn’t put my iPad down when it was time to. You know what, I’m really happy I am now a bookworm again. Used to read copious amounts of books as a kid but my attention span got seduced by micro content and I could never sit still to finish a book. Am now well on my way to finishing my book goal of 24 books this year, isn’t that super sexy!

Quirky Yet Wonderful Weekends.

Past two weekends were kind of wonderful in a queer sense. When work becomes kind of crazy intense, you feel almost relieved when the weekend rolls around because you finally have time to be still and just read, to scrub those moldy bathroom tiles, to just do nothing!

1. Crafting joy at it’s purest form when I stenciled, hammered wobbly nails in, and yarned across a wooden block. Nothing beats the proud sense of satisfaction at the end when you stand back and admire your final output with a huge smile.
2. Conversations along Liang Seah street with Joycie; talking about the joys of our new work places (week #2), and remembering my first internship. Time flies!
3. Fourth Chinese lesson; and making good progress with Little Miss Charlotte. Damn nice feeling knowing you made an impact on another human being.
4. Pop up corridor sale: success! First an idea, that materialized on our calendar, took the form of a flyer which was stuck all over the neighborhood, lugging my suitcase of clothes and shoes over, 5 hours of talking to strangers, trying to sell them our pre-loved items, collecting money, lounging by the stairwell with my Nora Ephron book and the warm Singapore breeze, a packet of iced coffee (super strong, according to the prata guy) and a 8track playlist. Made fifty buckeroos out of items I wouldn’t have worn again, and glad to know they’re going to better homes!
5. Catching a sunset on one of those days when the sun set really late at 715pm. Feeling really good on a 5km run as your legs just keep striding against the gravel. Gasping for air, pushing yourself just a little harder, and finally reaching the end point. Feels damn bloody good.
6. Haagen-Dazs with Modern Family; need I say more?
7. Putting everything else in order because you don’t have time on a weekday; bushy eyebrows,  overzealous fringe, the toilet bowl, growing pile of dirty laundry, the sink, moldy bathroom tiles, you get the idea…
8. Spending time with my pile of books: Nora Ephron’s “I feel bad about my neck”, “20 something manifesto”, stacks of Nylon mag and Monocle.

 

A Recap, Sort of.

It’s almost funny how life whirrrs past you and suddenly “things that happened a while back”, becomes “things that happened half a year ago”. With my goldfish memory, I figured out I should take a quick moment to do a recap of sort for a good half of 2013 and the 1st quarter of 2014. This is mostly for the benefit of my 80 year old self next time.

1. Made a sushi costume for Halloween, and painstakingly sewing orange roe-furballs on. What a fun night, and even more fun making the costume!
2. Tried pole dancing for the first time, and decided slutty just ain’t my style. Um, and there was a guy in the class. No offense to men in pole dancing classes – but this shall remain as yet another thing that doesn’t make sense in this world we live in.
3. Played a couple matches of tennis; ooh, one of my favorite games in the world that I don’t get to play very often and the rare game gets celebrated out of proportion!
4. I discovered apple toffee cider.
5. Jumped along to The Killers, it was a wonderful night out under the stars on a grass patch.
6. I discovered I can cook pesto pasta. Let’s just say lots of basil was harmed in the process.
7. Office burrito parties 🙂
8. Office basketball matches 🙂
9. The joys of working in Ogilvy
10. I discovered Haagen-Dazs chocolate fondant ice cream.
11. The joys of outdoor rock climbing at Railey Island
12. I rediscovered the joys of Left For Dead 2. I mean, the joys of myself getting killed by zombies.
13.  I am actually quite a good runner clocking 5 mins a km. And the difference this time round? I actually enjoy running, and having my heart and lungs work so damn hard each time feels damn good.
14. Saying goodbye to my only grandparent left. It was horrible, but it is also how life works. My “wai po” will always be remembered fondly!
15. Chasing sheeps in Cing Jing, nuff said.
16. Realizing sunrises are way underrated.
17. Signing up for Mt Rinjani!
18. Tried acrylic painting with “Bert and Ernie” and promising to do another one.
19. Got promoted at work! Switched teams! 🙂 Yet another adventure beckons.
20. Growing up, growing out of situations, and keeping certain memories as they are.

Thank you, sweet sweet life.

And dear 80 year old self, I hope this brought a smile to your face.

My Imaginary Makeup Feature

Having grown up with 2 younger brothers, I’ve always wondered how it would be if I had a sister. Would we share clothes? Would she let me steal her makeup? I think all these imaginary-sister-activities explains why I always wonder about the skincare/makeup routines of other women. That’s why I talk to my girlfriends a lot about their mascara, their blusher, and when the opportunity arises in the bathroom, I pry into their makeup pouches disguised in the name of curiosity. Add to that my guilty obsession of reading The Face / The Top Shelf on intothegloss, and Beauty Minutes on garancedore; you get a good sense of how enthusiastic I get when it comes to skincare & makeup in general.

In the spirit of self-indulgence (and mainly because no one will ever interview me about my routine), I’ve decided to put together a special feature on my little makeup routine. *crickets chirping*

I don’t have an  elaborate routine because I’m not a morning person and every minute I can shave off is considered a mini victory. The most time-consuming part of getting ready has got to be blow-drying my hair and drawing on my eyeliner. I’ve tried ways but the fact remains that I look homeless if I try to leave my house without shampooing my hair. I don’t understand how girls can get by without shampooing their hair. The most I’ve gone was one day and I was dying to shampoo it that very night. Because I have colored hair, I use Loreal Vitamino shampoo followed by their conditioner. When my hair is semi-dry, I rub some pure argan oil on my palms and through my hair. I love the smell of argan oil and it seems to be improving the texture of my hair.

The amount of precision that goes into drawing my eyeliner (I have actually put on eyeliner while stuck in a traffic jam just to save time) would definitely put a German car engineer to shame and I would get a permanent eyeliner tattooed on if not for the fact that it sounds too dangerous.

After cleansing with an instant foaming cleanser from Caudalie (#minivictory because that thing pumps out bubbles and I don’t have to waste time lathering), I pat on Clarins Daily Energizer Wake-Up Booster. It is nothing special but I like that it smells nice, and has a nice name. Sometimes I swab a cotton pad soaked in SKII Facial Treatment Clear Lotion if I feel like I need a double-cleanse. After that I always put on sunblock, I never skip sunblock on my face which explains why my face tends to look fairer than my neck and the rest of my body. It’s a problem I’m trying to fix but might take a while.

Next comes makeup! I am usually wearing minimal makeup, just enough to look refreshed for work because I hate elaborate makeup. I feel that it can be distracting at the workplace when you have too much going on your face.

If I’ve had a good skin day (yeah…right), I skip foundation which happens to be a really cheap drugstore brand called Elsia I found in Japan. It’s less than $20 and does an okay job so I’m letting it stay until I run out. I have heard so much about air cushion and am waiting for my IOPE one to arrive from Korea. Apparently air cushion lends a radiant glow and natural look compared to normal foundations and BB creams, and IOPE is the most popular brand faved by Korean girls. If I were a beauty blogger, I would tell you to come back again for my review on IOPE but I am not so you would have to ask me about it in real life.

The rest of my face is kept quite simple; eyeliner from MAC Liquidlast Liner because Elianto which used to sell the most amazing, lasting cheap-y eyeliner has since folded. For blusher, I use NARS Orgasm although I am harbouring thoughts of crossing over to Deep Throat instead. In case you were wondering, I wasn’t talking about my sex life.

I didn’t start using lipstick until a few years ago when I realized it made a whole lot of difference in brightening up my look. I go with colors which are ‘my lips but better’ and favorites include Bobbi Brown Soft Rose and Tulle, Chanel Secrete and Exaltee. Bobbi Brown lipsticks are like the best thing ever, except their colors are not very exciting. Chanel has greater color range, and with really good moisture formula but I doubt I’ll be getting them again because it sounds delusional to pay so much for lip color and I’ll not be a delusional woman twice. Exaltee was a bold bright pink color I got thinking I would use them at night but the reality is I am either at the yoga studio sweating or cooking at home and both activities are a waste of lipstick if you ask me. I used to be really into bright red lipstick but suddenly stopped using them one day. I think it’s great if you use red lipstick on a bare face, or have a very dramatic, short statement cut. Red lipsticks always turns out great in photos but can look a little overwhelming on me in real life.

If I have the luxury of time and patience in the morning (which is almost always never), I curl my lashes with a Shiseido curler and Kiss Me Heroine Make Impact Frame & Curl mascara. I’ve tried a couple of mascara and Kiss Me is the closest I’ll ever get to caterpillar eyelashes without putting on falsies. I really think falsies and colored contact lenses (okay, make that two) look kind of scary and artificial. If you look so gorgeous with them that no one can recognize you after you remove them, I think that’s kind of sad.

At the end of the day, I love removing my makeup with a cotton pad doused with Caudalie micellar water although I heard Bioderma does the same at a fraction of the price. All the beauty salons I’ve gone to always struggle when it comes to removing my waterproof eyeliner but my trusty Garnier eye makeup remover does a brilliant job at removing them without having to tug at my skin.

The Balinese Way of Life

January 2014 / Spent 5 lovely days in Ubud, Bali with Joycie and Becs. It was a trip of discovery, of being still, and learning about myself in more ways than one. 

Trekking across rice paddy fields, taking in the green lush fields and the powder blue skies.

Seeing families of ducks going about their own business; wanting to sneak in for a shot, only to see them waddle away quickly while quacking excitedly.

Being woken up by the rooster crowing at 6am on the first morning.

Sipping on a mango lassi on the second-storey patio on a warm day.

Discovering the long-gone feeling of striking a matchstick against the box, and seeing a flame appear. #magical

Sitting at the villa balcony, enjoying dragonfruit and a random holiday ciggie. #walkingcontradiction

Cycling across the countryside, rolling downhill with the warm summer breeze hitting your face and ending the day with ugly tan lines and a dip in the pool.

Falling in love with calories from the legendary ‘babi guling’ (suckling pig) from Ibu Oka, and Nuri’s ribs. Oh, and the martini that burned. 

Making friends with Bingo, the friendly retriever at Ibu Oka. Becoming an accomplice and smuggling out chicken for the lovely stray at Nuri’s.

Walking on the streets with a furiously-melting caramel gelato in hand, and not a single worry.

Trying to eat clean, learning to be still, open-minded & without expectations.

Girly activities; getting my hair braided, massages and milk baths, and bedtime conversations.

#thelittlethingsyo

The taste of guacamole and sour cream making love on the tongue.

The smell of books as you walk up and down the library aisles.

Rummaging through pre-loved clothes and finding something you sorta like, but buy it anyway because it’s six-freaking-dollars.

Chuckling out loud while reading “The hundred year old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared” by Jonas Konasson.

Letting my phone battery die and not giving social media a damn. Fuck FOMO (fear of missing out).

Dressed in light linen on a breezy, sunny day.

Experimenting in the kitchen with basil, avocado, salmon, broccoli, french beans.

Buying batches of dragonfruit, grapefruit and blueberries.

 

Summer inebriation in Krabi

They say life is about collecting moments; here are some carefree, spontaneous moments from Krabi.

Kayaking around limestone caves and mangroves at Ao Thalane, specifically crashing and having to do “limbo rock” to avoid getting pierced by the edges. There’s a certain serenity you derive from paddling and watching the ripples you create spread further and further away from you.

Scaling what might be the mecca for rock climbing enthusiasts at Railey. Super challenging, and great fun! I’ve always loved rock climbing, and was happy to have conquered all the assigned climbs. (Below’s a photo of me checking in on Foursquare halfway through a climb)

Discovering a hidden emerald pool perfect for canonball jumps, kind of like a secret paradise. And seeing poor abused elephants being ridden by tourists, and swearing never to take any such rides provided by unethical elephant camps.

Befriending the hotel’s resident stray; an extremely shy dog who loves sausages. He looks like he’s constantly wearing goggles so I’ve taken to giving him a nickname Mister Goggles, except he doesn’t respond.

Taking the classic long tail boat out to Chicken Island, Poda Island and doing kamakazi runs into the waters until we fell flat on our faces. Poda Island is hands down the most beautiful beach I’ve ever been on. Soft sand, quiet, Tiffany-colored waters and clear blue skies as backdrop; what more could one ask for!

Lots of boat rides; out to Railey Island, out to the beaches. Sunning on the boats with your hair flying crazily like you don’t have a single worry; priceless.

Taking the public bus (hanging at the back of the bus gives you 10 baht off the ticket price, but you might lose your life) to Krabi town for the night market. It’s like a farmers’ market except it happens at night and everything sold is non-organic. I love the communal, pre-historic feel of the market with vendors selling homemade foods, and handicraft items. Obviously, we stuffed ourselves crazy too with sticky mango rice, dubious skewers, spicy salads, and freshly squeezed mandarin orange juice.

Eating ourselves crazy; street stalls that had amazing shrimp fried rice (that I will always remember), papaya salads, grilled fish and glass noodles. Everything was full of MSG (even though we told them not to put any “pong chu rot”, MSG in Thai) and oh so good.

Nightly Thai body massages that cost 200 bahts, and always, always hit the spot. Buying cheapie ‘made in Thailand’ dry bags, and Beer Chang tshirts except they aren’t so cheap afterall.

Watching old movie reruns on fuzzy hotel cable; I don’t understand why my hotel has a gorgeous pool but fuzzy cable.

Lying on my favorite “pestemal” (Turkish towels) at Aonang beach, soaking up harmful UV rays while reading. Introduced by Kat, these towels are like the best invention ever, super lightweight and absorbent, perfect for summer holidays! Apparently Gwyneth Paltrow bought 20 of them one summer.

A Day In The Life Of.

Obsessing with my Jawbone UP sleep data; I get crazy happy when I hit 8 hours

Dressing up as a sushi for Halloween; actually, sewing orange fur balls on my sushi outfit

Dragging my ass out for Sunday evening runs, and wishing I’d gone for more yoga classes – that shit costs $40 when I go only once a week

Making pesto sauce from scratch. Hello basil, pine nuts and parsley!

Trying to rationalize a ‘brunch-once-every-two-weeks’ routine in my life; I’ve not become a hipster yet

Conquering the DO Brief at work and experiencing the brilliant minds of planners

Gushing at baby Ruzgar’s photos; some babies are born rockstars

Reading Jeremy Dean’s ‘You are not so smart’, watching Dustin Hoffman’s ‘Kramer vs Kramer’ & listening to Concorde

Little routines

1. Morning coffee before anything else. The coffee place below my office knows me as the girl who orders ‘KOK SST W’ – go decipher. I like my coffee thick, less sweet, and at a temperature ready to be drunk immediately.

2. Grapefruits > oranges, definitely.

3. Lemon-ginger juice sounds yuckie, but it’s probably good for your insides.

4. Sunday sprints; effective way of working the metabolism rates up in just under 30 mins! Perfect for people who hate tedious jogs. And hello, toned legs!

5. A little serum goes a long way.  Just spent $$ on a tiny 35ml bottle, ouch! I now need a serum to make my heart feel better.

6. Everyone knows the importance of sunblock for the face, but don’t forget the arms, legs, and back of your neck!

7. Do some abs workout; you won’t regret them. When in doubt, youtube has millions of videos that you can watch and do at home.

8. If you want a strong back, yoga is the way to go. I swear by 90 minutes of Bikram each week.

9. Read, and let it be non-fiction. They are great for your brains, and seriously who still has time for fiction?

Reasons To Love Sundays

1. Brunches that easily last for hours and preferably outdoors where you can sit with your legs crossed.

2. The kind of slow, luxurious conversations with friends because no one’s rushing to go off to anywhere.

3. Tying up the last bits of loose errands and feeling sufficiently productive before the new week brings with it new ones.

4. Planning a meal, shopping for it, and then spending time in the kitchen cooking it;  one of those meals you’ve always wanted to but never got around to doing on weekdays.

5. Sleeping in till you wake naturally, and still having the audacity to grant your body an afternoon nap when 5pm rolls around.

6. Massive spring cleaning that has been on your to-do list for weeks; the kind that  requires thorough scrubbing and wiping, and in return gives you a quiet satisfaction that lasts the entire day.

7. Watching the sun set by a window/balcony/your car and feeling like the weekend has been nothing short of wonderful.

8. Finding time to unplug digitally and feeling contented sitting quietly with your book. The one that you’ve been trying to read for the longest time.

9. Being outdoors in the evening; sitting on a picnic mat or standing around a barbecue as the weather starts getting cooler.

10. Feeling like you deserve a lemon tart and not giving a shit about calories.

11. Lacing up and going for a run with your favorite songs.

12. Pausing in your tracks because you see a cat that you absolutely have to instagram.

13. Clearing your tabletop, paying off bills, throwing away letters, and occasionally finding something that reminded you of the fun you had the week before.

14. Happy whatsapp conversations full of emoticons because everyone is happy on Sundays.