and maybe, a New addiction

and so is the romance with K-dramas over? Have I abandoned an old love for a new torrid love affair and embraced my new french lover? 3 months, not a post about K-drama. 1.5 months, plenty of posts on the Bag, the "H", and all the pretty things that I'd need to rob a bank to buy.

instead of hours of couch slouching watching K-dramas, I'm now spending hours surfing and reading Purse Blog forums.

Indeed maybe a new era has arrived. And this era is called Hermes Addiction.

The Hermes Showcase

How shallow can we be? Very shallow. Once in a while we just need to indulge in silly little things....like a photoshoot. Showcasing our Hermes (actually most of the H-items there belong to Veron) impressively prepped on Veron hubby's new very expensive clothes-stand.

Yoga Schedule

My teaching schedule at Wasabi Yoga studio is out. Starting from next week!

http://www.wasabiyoga.com/

The Hermes Love Affair

Veron must have had a great day in the office where we heard her colleagues went ga-ga over her new bag. C commented, rather wisely, "the sad thing is, no one in your office even paid attention to YOUR bag right?". How very true. But to me, I wear the bag for myself, not for others. But I can imagine C saying, "then you buy the bag for what? Must show off mah".

The love affair with Hermes has started, and it's a torrid one. Birkin, Kelly, Evelyne, Twilly,....etc etc etc...all such lovely french names in assortment of leather I can't even pronounce. So I skipped Prada, Chanel, and LV. It's like, Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect your Salary. Go straight to Hermes.

Except now, how many (none-existent) properties must I mortgage to get to Hermes?

Bag Insurance?

Bf finally met the Kelly today.

"So, another entry level bag ah?"

And then he went on to describe how with the famous H bags, one has become rather paranoid. E.g..Wen gets hit by car while crossing road with Kelly in tow. Lies on floor, bleeding. Driver rushes out and apologizes profusely, offers to pay for medical treatment. Wen gasps, "the bag....the bag.....". Wen goes to TTSH, Bag goes to hermes for repair. Driver receives total bill. Cost of medical treatment, $200. Cost of Hermes bag, $15K.

So does that mean his insurance premium will go up?

Gasp. Do they offer insurance protection for designer bags?? 

The Bf, The Box and The Bag

The Bf spied The Box which had The Bag inside before I had a chance to distract him. And as he eyed me with a glint of amusement, he said simply, "so, no more apartment leow eh?".

Yes I must have been outta my mind when I did that. Completely set back my apartment plans. My so-called apartment savings fund in negative already during month 1 of savings. Maybe I need to join shopaholics anonymous.

The camel that broke the bank

"Nuff said.

Service Misfit

My phone conversation with a certain person-in-charge-of-abcbrandedbag-waitlist.

Me: So what's going on? It's been 5 yrs already. Still nothing?

She: *checking*. Well, in your request you specified a specific colour...

Me: (DUH! that's what everyone does when they put themselves on the famous waiting list). Yes and so?

She: well we don't have the bag in this colour.

Me: You mean you haven't seen a bag in this colour in the PAST 5 YEARS?

She: Well it would be easier if you specified other colours.

Me: (note to readers. The colour I wanted was THE colour they regularly made 5 yrs ago). Well shouldn't you call your customers to proactively offer another colour instead of letting them wait 5 yrs? And what about "thisotherdesign"? Also no news?

She: well you wanted it in gold...

Me: Don't tell me you also don't have in gold.

She: I have to check my warehouse.

Me: Ok so what colours DO you have?

She: I'll check my warehouse and get back to you.

Wow. Incredibly frustrating conversation. What makes them think people are willing to shell out big bucks for such deplorable and appalling service. I'll just buy a plane ticket and go somewhere else where they do sincerely want to earn my money. Thank you.

World Class Yoga Photograph

[photo taken from churumuri]

A breathtaking picture of yoga in action (or stillness). And the story behind it as documented in churumuri. 

London Times Obituary of the Late Mr. Common Sense

Taken from several sources on the internet......

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; accidents may happen; If it ain't broken, don't fix it; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home but the burglar could sue you for assault.Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little on her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, his wife, Discretion, his daughters, Responsibility and Integrity and his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights; I Want It Now; Someone Else Is To Blame and I'm A Victim. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Toggi Wafer Chocolate

My all-time favourite snack. I can't get enough of it. So addictive, So good, So much better than Kit Kat. Yum Yum Munch much. Almost finished a whole pack within a day.

Love it so much.

Tempted by Eve(lyn)

The Hermes Evelyn was the other apple that caught my eye during my jaunt at the Hermes store. I found this pic courtesy of a member of the purseblog.com forum. My conversation with my new Hermes store associate friend today affirmed that I am half in love with this beauty already. Look at the delicious colours. Yum. The damage? SGD 3,800 for the smallest size.

Hmm. Re.si.st.ance needed.

Another yoga course?

Since I heard a couple of my yoga TT grads are taking up the Iyengar teacher certification. I'm toying with the idea myself. Actually I was keen to sign up on Peter Thompson's TT course, but it conflicted with my work schedule. I do still need to earn money to pay for lessons, apartment, bags, and shoes. :P

Iyengar teacher training is serious business, 2 years for a entry level qualification, 8 years and more for senior level. I must be a sucker for punishment - in recent years, 2 yrs for MBA, 1 yr for TT training, and now...another 2 yrs for Iyengar? Like some friends commented, "cannot sit still". 

It also means my yoga studio cum apartment will need to build in the Iyengar rope wall. And of course, give up Korean Dramas. Ouch.

Tempted, so tempted. Starts in Sept 09. Let's see.

Service makes a difference

Contrasted to the lackluster service at Liat Towers yesterday, today's encounter at the Hermes takashimaya boutique should be rated 100% excellent. All-in I spent 45 mins browsing, admiring, chatting, gossiping and bitching with a very attentive and knowledgeable sales associate; he's clearly into fashion and appreciation of the good stuff. Makes you feel already you are his best friend. I was shown over 10 items, and he didn't bat an eyelid when I said I would consider. Even gave me tips on taking advantage of sales and taka voucher chances to offset the purchases. Now that's what I call service. If I had to spend some 4K on a wallet, I'm buying it from this associate only. 

Note to Veron - they even have Bicycle in Hermes leather for sale. Yummy.

Sinful Addiction. Hermes

Sinful beauty. Delicious. Seductive.  YP and I saw a version of this wallet at the Hermes store at Liat Towers. Service was almost atrocious, as usual. The price? A nearly ridiculous SGD4,300 for the normal goatskin (pic above is in exotic croc, probably 3x the price).

Eversince my Birkin, I nearly have a new addiction. But luckily prices are so steep it's enough to hold me back, except not to deny myself the reading pleasure at the new purseblog I found. Can see, cannot touch, cannot buy. Else, apartment dreams go out the imaginary window.

I'm amazed however, at how much in detail these fans and devotees are into. They know every skin, fabric, colour and can probably write a yearbook on the history of hermes. If only we studied just as hard or had just as passionate an interest during our schooldays, many of us would have been prime ministers or brilliant CEOs by now.

Yoga classes....coming soon.

Will be teaching yoga classes at this studio starting from June.

Watch this space!

BAGAHOLICBOY.COM | Singapore's Only Dedicated Bag Blog: Bagaholicboy News #91 - Jimmy Choo Opens Flagship Boutique In Paragon!

BAGAHOLICBOY.COM Singapore's Only Dedicated Bag Blog: Bagaholicboy News #91 - Jimmy Choo Opens Flagship Boutique In Paragon!

Yogic Nightmare

Had a dream about me teaching yoga to an entire school of young adults.

Good news - at least 500 people were in my class. And my sequence was damn impressive, even by my standards.

Bad news - 500 people is damn hard to teach when they are not in the same hall, and I had to rush from hallway to classrooms to make sure people were doing it right. And 200 of them were probably running amok around the class like monkeys. What can you expect when it's a school of teenagers-cum-young adults? It was like a riot.

Sure didn't feel like zen.

Twilight

Veron is crazy over this show, or to be more specific, Robert Pattison crazy.

I finally watched the movie, paying $19 for the DVD.

It was painful. I don't get it. Dark pictures, weak story, thin dialogue and what is with that red lipstick? And seriously, can't they find a better looking chick? The movie director could have used some of the vampires from Buffy, even those ones in Buffy looked better.

Twitter

So I joined Twitter. So now what? No idea what exactly it's about. It's the new thing, apparently even the celebs are on it.

Facebook and Twitter seem the same.

Inspiration

[photo courtesy of shaktiactivewear.com]

Picture worth a thousand words.

Question is, WHEN can this happen to me?

The yogic answer is, it doesn't matter. We just go where we can be with our bodies.

Bagaholicboy

Bags Bags Bags. Love them. Hate them. Can't do without them.


But these objects of beauty, for me now are a thing of the past. I can only admire, no longer acquire.

Veron's blog has a link to this bagalicious site, one can only drool. No wonder she's always so motivated. LOL

House House House

Zoomed by bt timah road, I just looked at all those houses in amazement. Some very pretty, some ugly, and some not extroadinary. But the thing is, with all these houses and how much they cost, how could an average singaporean afford them? And the answer to this, C says is , CANNOT. Cannot as in , no matter how many times I would stand under the lamppost in Geylang, still won't earn enough monies to afford those houses in bt timah or chancery.

Moral of story? Those places are not for average Singaporean. Next lifetime lah.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.

Cheap Date

So the hot topic of my future (and now imaginary) apartment remains a topic of interest for my good friends. Women, it seems, enjoy mentally decorating other people's apartment. Frankly, we could never have enough - even our current houses, we are imagining, or planning, how to redecorate, buy new stuff, redesign it. The concept of wanting More is embedded in our DNA. hence, MORE storage space needed.

So I tell C, from this point onwards on our dates we can spend only $20 since I have to save monies so agressively. So we're debating what we can do for $20.

1. 2x weekday movie tickets. $3 left for popcorn.
2. Go to night safari. C gets in free as he is friends of zoo, I try to pretend to be under 12 yrs to get child price.
3. Round trip in monorail to sentosa. $5 left for fried rice?
4. I'm out of ideas...anyone?

Think hawker dates are cheap? Think again. When the bf has a tendency to +, ++, +++ i.e UPSIZE the meal portions, plus extra ingredients. $20 is a tight limit. You can see the hawker uncles and aunties eyes so delighted when my bf orders from them.

I dunno how long our $20 dates can last, we only had 1 date so far. But I suspect bf will soon complain of malnourishment.

And the formula for Area is...?

Back to the point on storage space. The whole trigger for me to want to buy my own apartment is...lack of storage space. So really my apartment needs to satisfy these conditions:

1. space for yoga studio
2. space for walk-in wardrobe cum storage. Ultimate aim - boutique style open display. Showcase!
3. Large kitchen. I'm not greedy, something the size of my current kitchen will do (which is even bigger than most private apartments!)
4. large bathroom, enough for bathtub, separate shower stall, 2 basins, the bowl.
5. private room for dogs
6. bedroom (I dont' mind small, but C will definitely complain).

And as I told C, my walk in wardrobe must be well designed with 'potential for expansion'. C rolls his eyes, at this rate, he said, might as well I start off with a 3,000sq ft apartment. It ain't all gonna fit, he said.

Maybe i need to move to australia, some remote suburb in order for all this to happen, on a limited budget.

This would be ultimate. Move to Australia just because I ran out of storage space. I can see my friends' eyes rolling to the back of their heads and getting stuck there.

Maths Problem

My last post on buying an apartment certainly got a lot of comments. Friends are already imagining in their heads what they want in my apartment. Hello, it's living area convert to yoga studio, and 1 room for sleeping, 1 large kitchen, 1 resort style bathroom. That's it. Oh, and 1 room for my dogs lah.

Now that I'm paying attention to focusing on achieving this 'dream', I can't figure out how the heck people can actually afford cash for downpayment on private. The sums are staggering (10%? 20%?), not to mention more cash needed for renovations, and so either people who can afford this much cash are cash-rich from high salaries/ bonuses; don't spend on shopping; struck lottery; inherited lotsa money; invested aggressively in stock market.

Have to start from scratch since broke from Birkin, HK and Viet holidays.

1. Save 4k/month for 2 yrs(alamak. How??)
2. Can't lose my job in next 25yrs.
3. Can't full time teach yoga (cuz yoga doesn't earn much money).
4. Feed dogs more scraps. Sorry no more beef steaks. Or let them turn vegetarian.
5. I convert to full vegetarian. Cannot eat anymore seafood.
6. Pimp the boyfriend out? He can be a good social escort.

Any other ideas? Maybe my banker friends and math teacher expert friends can comment.

More Storage

I *seriously* need more storage space. Having spring cleaned in the past 2 weeks and thrown out a lot of old stuff, I still have stuff lying on the floor in my room, and am still out of space. Mightly wierd considering now I co-own the house but only have my room as my own personal space. So I mention gaily to C, perhaps I should get my own private apartment. Then I should get something with a huge hallway so I can teach yoga, a spacious kitchen for my DREAM KITCHEN, a resort style bathroom. Where is space for bed and dogs, C asks? Anyhow, his eyes rolled so much it got stuck at the back of his head I think - here he is thinking his demented girlfriend is thinking of buying an apartment just cuz she has no storage space. (Reminder to one and all who knows the story of how I remodelled my bedroom cuz I ran out of RAM on my PC).

C's answer? Option 1 - Garage sale. Option 2 - when Bro decides to move out and get married, knock down the adjoining wall to our rooms and convert to a walk in storage.

But I don't think that's the point.

Actually now I'm quite taken with the idea of having my own yoga studio cum apartment. Anyway the long of the short is, I need moolahs for downpayment, and I'm working on saving enough so I can put down for an apartment in 2yrs time. Focus. Focus.

Unfortunately that means No more Birkin bags, and No more Tod's.

(psst, but surely when Tod's on sale it doesn't count right?).

The Checklist

Think it's time to take stock of my life and what I've done so far. When I was very young, I wrote myself a checklist of Things I need to accomplish in life. Well as I remember here it is -

1. Amex card, Citibank card, UOB ladies card - check.
2. Graduate from tourism and/or Business - check.
3. MBA - check
4. own dogs - check
5. 1st car is BMW - TBD
6. own apartment - TBD

Notably missing from checklist is the famous Birkin bag, which was ironically, only a late discovery and focus of committment some 5 yrs ago.

At this point the BMW seems like a faraway reach, maybe I should change to a BMX instead. :P
As for the apartment? How many birkin and tods bag I need to sacrifice before I got enough money for the downpayment? Not to mention many more sacrifices for THE DREAM KITCHEN.

Strike lottery soon I hope?

Reality checks

Men from Mars, Women from Venus. Guess you could say men are also reality checks, and vice versa. I returned from Vietnam with 20kg in baggage, C was surprised - what the heck do I have in there? Well, there was 5 bottles of B&BW handwash I asked my american friend to bring which is probably 2kg.

C's response (together with an expression that says, "EH?") - BUT WHY? The soap in america is more soapy is it?

Next was about my beloved Precious bag. So C tells me, while I was away, some photo in newspaper where all the socialites were photographed with their various exotic skinned birkin bag. So his take is, moral of story, want to be tai tai, must have EXOTIC birkin bag. He looks at my bag and comments, "yours, entry level one ah?".

Ahbish.