Since no shopping in HK

So what happens if didn't spend shopping money in HK? Spend in SG lor. Crabtree & Evelyn sale (yes, biscuits for the colleagues), where hoardes of shoppers crammed into the store to get good bargains (umm, is it really recession????). And of course, my weak inner victim who (as usual) drawn to signs of SALE splashed across boutique windows, am now the proud owner of more new shoes. No doubt my phd shopping friends are laughing their heads off when obviously they got better bargains at the Peddar warehouse in HK where designer shoes on steep sale costs the equivalent of 10 big macs. As for the Birkin - well I went to the Hermes store to peek - and I can say, there's no recession in that store, cuz it's business as usual. It's eye opening for me to see customers paying for purchases of ten grand in cold hard cash. I thought it's only in movies that people ever carry around stacks of money in their designer purses whilst tottering around in their designer spandex and chanel high heel shoes. But ok, maybe in real life it does happen at Hermes. And probably LV too.

How not to spend money in HK

Easy. Go with hardworking very switched on boss for business trip. My record spending is 2 cups of coffee, 1 sandwich and 1 yoghurt. Total less than $25. The only shopping I did was a 5 mins rush at the Wing wah biscuits at the airport. Total damage? Under $40. Obviously my good friends who are the phd shoppers all think this is a disaster - how can go HK and NOT spend any money??

Actually not bad lah, at least help me save monies for the birkin. If it ever arrives of course.

One Night in HK

Well here I am in HK, for 1 nite only on a business trip. Moral of story?

1) don't travel with boss (cuz how to say to boss, can I extend more nites so I can go shopping), and
2) don't travel with boss especially if boss is workaholic (7.10pm I am still here in the office waiting for boss)
3) don't travel with boss (cuz boss is a real workaholic, even his lunch time is so efficient aka grab sandwich and go).

My new boss is a really really nice boss, but very switched on and with engine 250km/hr. I thought my engine is already ferrari, but his engine is obviously nasa spacecraft.

Double standards

The world is not fair. We know it. Even though we try not to believe it or ignore it. Especially when it comes to government. So town councils lost some $16million of taxpayers money (or rather, HDB dweller's money). So how? Nothing. No apology. No big deal they said. Public service is anonymous with beauracracy. The amount of paperwork is designed to be enormous so they can keep masses of people gainfully employed. You want to make an enquiry? Go here, take a number, fill in a form, come back in 10 weeks time (if you are lucky). To check on progress, call this other number G. Why is so and so and that is so? Please contact this other agency M. Other agency will say it's not us, please call another office K. Office K tells us the policy is like that one. Government cannot be wrong. Or can they? Or gainfully employed employees cannot be bothered? How much inefficiencies and inflated costs are a result of C.Y.As (cover.your.asses). You want transparency? Sorry, not from the government. Actually, no government in the world can be transparent. That's how governments work.

More and more....flabbery

We often wish for more. In today's society, the concept of MORE is better (except more work, more stress). So back at ulu Jurong when with my ex-company for 3 yrs I bemoaned the sore lack of eating choices. Whatever was available was so bad, we didn't eat much anyway. One would call this a natural diet I suppose. So I wished and wished for more choices, that one day I would come back to civilisation (having been spoiled rotten being located at beach road for 7 years) and encounter food heaven once more. And so it did, as The One Up There must have heard my silent pleas, sent me to HarbourFront. Other than Beach road, Suntec or Raffles place, there isn't another giant area with so much to eat and so many choices. Of course Heaven does come with a price --> an expanding waistline. Indulging in snacks in mid morning and afternoon, and anytime in between just because food places are so convenient (not to mention an extremely well-stocked and impressive pantry) put some weight on me within a month. We can be in denial, but even denial is hard to sustain when one's brand new pants worn for the first time, becomes hard to button that a "sucking in" of the offending areas is needed. Not to mention a very uncomfortable butt-flossing sensation each step walked that I have to constantly remember to 'suck in' at all times in order to create some breathing space. Uh huh. Macdonald's came up with a new double (or triple?) big mac, I'm sure they must have been inspired by the triple or more layer of flab resembling patties of my belly.

Houston, we have a problem.

Maybe it's time to join a belly dancing troupe. My only consolation of course, is C's belly is still bigger than mine. ha ha.

M.B.A.

Finally I've earned official recognition of my right and capacity as a Master(of).Bullshit.Ability. They'll even print my name on a certificate, and then I can frame it or plague it up and join the other masses of bullshitters out there. Of course, it does look very nice on my resume as well. OM Cow.

Picture perfect

Some 6 or 8 months ago I bought a swarovski keychain cum photo holder. I am using the keychain of course, but never filled the photoframe with pictures. Simply because I don't know how to print out pictures that thumbnail size (of course there is also the matter of HOW to transfer photos from my hp to the PC. Which I will not really admit to... yes, because I can be THAT stupid).

Ok so I figured out the bluetooth bit. Err but how to print pictures? Recently someone mentioned that hello, just go to any kodak or photo shop, stick a thumbdrive in and voila. I'm like, huh, like that ah? So finally I did it -- went to the shop. Only to stand there looking a bit lost. So helpful shop auntie (as in really Auntie) came over to ask me if I needed help. Of course auntie was flabbergasted for all of 30 secs when I told her I want to print pics but dont' know how. The look on her face clearly said, "Which alien universe are you from"? I don't think auntie meets many younger, well educated people who don't know how to stick their thumbdrive into a photo printing machine (and by the way, I'm equally flabbergasted at how these machines print pictures IMMEDIATELY). Even shop Uncle took pity on me and tried to help me out, by volunteering to cut my pictures into pocket sizes. Guess he was afraid I'd end up cutting it incorrectly myself.

Anyway, now I have it, 2 photos in my swarovski photo-keychain. Yay. Now, how do I transfer pics into my iTouch?

The mystery of Doraemon, and a Marsupial

A passing car with a Doraemon sticker triggered a funny conversation between C and myself. C claims doraemon is a cat, while I antagonistically bemused that it could be a sea creature.

C: Xiaodingdang is a sea lion??? OMG... does sealions have feet?
Me: Well err...sea lions move around the ground, surely they have feet to help them...
C: HELLO. Sealions have fins okay? Does XDD have fins?????
Me: Well maybe XDD is an otter..

and then on and on in went, I tried to explain to C that XDD could possibly be a ferret, a dog with a flat face (and yes, dogs have whiskers ok!), or a sloth. And finally, XDD is most likely a wallaby. C's head was pounding so badly he looked like he would wind down the window, hang his neck out and cut it off anytime.

C: Do you even KNOW what a wallaby is???
Me: err...is found in Australia. It's definitely not a kangaroo.
C: So what is a wallaby?
Me: well it's not a koala. A wallaby is definitely an animal...
C: (sigh). A wallaby is a marsupial, not just an animal. You know what a marsupial is??
Me: (groping with evasive tactics) A marsupial is not a reptile, neither is it a mammal..
C: So what is a marsupial?
Me: (happily) It's got a long snout!
C: Arrgh....not all marsupials have snouts ok. You know what it is or not?
Me: A wallaby is a marsupial...
C: (Aww my aching head)...

Poor guy was definitely going to commit car suicide any minute, he looked like he was ready to crash his beloved car just to get rid of the very painful conversation.

Actually, err, I do know what a marsupial is. It's just that for that moment, i innocently temporarily forgot lah. Really. Truly. It was just buried in the depths of my very brilliant mind that's all. As for C, I left him with 4 tablets of panadol for that aching head.

Shopping madness

Orchard road was strangely quiet today. Even the Metro 20% storewide which usually attracts hoardes of women is ignored, and cashiers and counter attendants look bored. I remarked to my gf that maybe this is the true sign of an economy in recession and belt tightening measures. But lol and behold, turns out most of the Orchard road crowd has descended upon the Club 21 massive annual sale. My motivation to go all the way to the sale (I generally dislike mass bazaars like such in general because the crowds stress me out) is just to procure a lovely top which I had spied months ago, but rather ridiculously priced. What was the sale like? --> C.R.A.Z.Y.

Crazy because 30 mins queue to get into the building. It's the giant PIT building which our lovely country built for the F1 race. The crowd inside was still bearable. 2hrs for shopping; and the grand finale, a whopping 1.hrs in the cashiers queue. Unbelievable. I don't recall ever queuing more than 45 mins for anything. Ok ok so if it was a Tiffany sale I'd gladly maybe even queue overnight. The sale is crazy, but incredible. Most stuff going for less than $50, it's no wonder people are spending like they are at a wet market. My best buy - a pair of Stella McCartney raffia plantforms for $150 discounted from $1200. Frankly speaking, who would pay $1200 for a pair of shoes made from raffia string?????!!! Anyhow, I'm very pleased with my finds especially when I had to guess if the clothes would fit me.

Lessons learnt:
1. Bring cash. Whopping amounts of it (to avoid long credit card queues).
2. Bring water. Else be prepared to tahan all the way (not necessarily a bad thing, since don't have to go to loo).
3. Wearing tight fitting clothes definitely good idea. So easier to try clothings on.
4. Bring a friend. So we can take turns queuing and shopping.. saves time!!!

Singapore in recession? Maybe. But Shopaholics recession, definitely not.

Now I desperately need a leg massage. Anyone wanna buy me an Osim leg massager?

Pro Shoppers

38 emails in 4 hrs and we're still talking about shopping. That's how intensely focused we are. My good friend, frankly, can earn her stripes and instant PhD in Shopping psychology if there is ever such a course. In fact, I think we would be darn good proxy buyers - those types you often see at auctions bidding on behalf of a mysterious person behind the mobile phone. And there it was today, a perfect example of proxy purchasing by my friend who was armed with her trusty blackberry, and me on my laptop. Thousands of miles away from each other, separated by an ocean, but we were unstoppable.

I think this is a great second career. Now we just need to find people who will hire us.

Trumpet blowing

So yes, I suppose from time to time each one of us would at some point find some unobtrusive deep dark corner, doing a quick 360-scan of the immediate surroundings before breaking wind rather satisfyingly. But it's something else altogether when farter does not exercise due diligence by scanning surroundings to ensure innocent victims are not compromised. So there I was innocently (after yoga, mind you, and in a blissful state) standing at the front of the restaurant waiting to give my takeaway order when I heard a very loud, offending, drum-beat rolling, lengthy "trumpet blow" that crescendo'd into a high note before the burst into grand finale.....all exercised by a fat, bespectacled chap in front of me. Blissful farter was too busy yapping into the phone to see the very dirty look I threw his way. Of course my blissful zen-like state quickly evaporated into one of panic. This is one situation where the yogic state of TAKE A DEEP BREATH and BREATHE is not relevant and must not be exercised.

Bread-talk

I must be undergoing some sort of wierd food phase. As you know I recently succumbed to triple cheeseburgers, making it a record no. of burgers in a day PLUS achieving this record whilst being vegetarian (Huh. I know). Today I set a new bread record. How much bread can a vegetarian eat in a day? Dunno, but I had 3 large slices of bread and 4 breadtalk buns. Total 7. And still have stomach for nasi lemak for lunch. And right now, I'm still hungry. Huh.

Italian Sausages

The last time I checked, I thought I owned 2 Italian greyhounds, not 2 italian sausages. Seems like possession is 9/10ths of the law. One tries to possess 2 dog beds, the other just possessed my bed.

Books books and more books

Borders 30% coupons. How can I resist? Especially not when Borders preferred members get an extra 10% off. I acquired what must be my 35th (or 36, 37,??) cookbooks. Venezia by the Tessa Kiros, and Skye Glencell's A Year in my Kitchen, and My Favourite Ingredients. Now, cookbooks I have plenty. But time? Time is like a commodity. When will I have time (and when will that designer kitchen come true?)?

It's a bird, a plane, no it's Lamborghini

Spotted these beauties outside the Hilton recently. Very yummy colour candy pretty. So in my imaginery world, let's see, one for me, one for C, one for Biscuit (who will use it to run Holly over).

Melbourne

Six years since I've been in Melbourne. The last time I visited, I met my dog Biscuit who was just only a 3 day old puppy then. Time flies. Don't think the city has changed much, but certainly think it's a very nice place to live, retire, or raise dogs. Speaking of dog, there's always Slick, who is probably the most well travelled beanie in the whole world. Here he is enjoying his ride on SQ business class. . And another where he shared half of my dinner. . As for my shopping conquest in Melbourne? Well I should say I proudly spent more on biscuits and cheese than I did shopping in Japan.