merry christmas!

merry christmas!

Have a blessed one y'all!

three's a crowd

three's a crowd

So one day, WTL didn't wear me out enough, and I decided that it would be an excellent idea to bring all 3 dogs out for a walk. With ONE leash. Because Kiki (mother) and Bimo (brother) came over for a visit and no one had ambitions so grand as to walk all 3 of them TOGETHER, there was no extra leash. But me, being me, was so excited about seeing all 3 of them that I whined Glenn into bringing all of them down for a walk with me.

It was a nightmare from the beginning. The moment we took out the leash, all 3 of them started whining and barking NONSTOP. Because all 3 of them were excited about going out. And when we finally put on all their collars and ushered them into the lift, the lift had to open on the 6th storey, where an Indian couple was waiting for the lift. The 3 doors, all hyped up and unleashed, dashed out of the lift barking at the top of the lungs. The Indian couple wanted to kick our furry monsters! ): We apologized profusely, and then hung on to them tightly when the lift door opened on the ground floor.

Glenn, knowing the dogs better than I do, chose to cradle Bubblez and hold Bimo on the leash. So I was left with Kiki. Now, Kiki is the size of a little sheep! And she has the energy of a cow! She kicked and struggled and scratched until I yelped for Glenn to decide on a spot to let them down. Once they were all running amok, things were good for awhile. Until we realized that Kiki has the tendency to run and bark at every human being who was not us. Especially little kids.

Kiki is in the bottom right photos - doesn't she look like a sheep??

Looking good for photos huh?

This is how it was like in reality!

Always trying to run out of sight.

So we had to move them away! Away from the the shady playground and into the sunny exercise corner. Once we were there, we let them all roam loose. Glenn stood in the shade holding on to Bimo's leash while I ran around like a headless chicken chasing Bubblez and Kiki to make sure they didn't get lost. Or knocked down by a car. Or kicked to death by someone else they terrorized. Or actually catch a bird and kill it. Or get scratched by a cat. (Yes, Bubblez is scared of cats.)

I tell you, I played 2 full touchrug games that morning, and nothing came close to chasing 2 crazy dogs who love to chase people and birds respectively!! And on top of that, they each shat at least twice and I had to pick the shit up while still yelling BUBBLEZ COME BAAAAAAAACK and KIKI SIT DOOOOWN! Glenn decided that his job for the afternoon was to remind me that it was NOT a good idea to bring all 3 of them down for a walk at ONCE. So he only came to help me when I was on the verge of tearing my hair out. So mean right!

And when we finally headed home after 30mins, we were EXHAUSTED. And the dogs? Happy and satisfied. No more barking symphony for the rest of the day. :D

Favourites, at the end of the day.

best memory: october

best memory: october

Cup noodles and Paddlepop icecream after training. 11.11pm wishes and peeking. Being the last souls alive in school in the middle of the night, filling the crisp cool air with our jokes and laughter.

my miracle water

my miracle water

As much as I've been itching to try THE miracle water, contemplation continues because of its pricetag and mixed reviews. So anyway, I want to share MY miracle water - Avene Thermal Water! It's the best thing ever, and it's a mere 10bucks.

I use it to replenish my skin's moisture during long days in the aircon room. You might ask why not change to a richer moisturizer, but my skin is CRAZY on oil production so anything heavier than what I'm using now might make me a target for the USA a new oil field. Hahaha. So I'm sticking to this spray, and I'm so used to it that a couple of hours into my day and I find myself reaching for my facial spray. It also perks you up a little because it's so cooling!

Even if you don't have the oil field/desert dilemma like me, the miracle water is great for setting makeup as well, so you don't look all powdery and flaky when you first step out of the house. On other days, I use it to freshen up after I wipe off the sunblock with facial wipes at the end of trainings. Even when you're not doing rigorous exercise, you can use it to cool off from our insane weather. There're a million other uses for it - like soothing skin irritation after waxing or shaving, calming sunburnt skin and whatever else you like to do with it! Because it's just water.

But it's awesome water. It's miracle water. So miraculous that I decided to create a new label (a in, new label in my blog and not some new cosmetic label or anything, wish as I might, haha) for it, and hopefully other awesome stuffs that I wanna share. :D (Well fine, this post probably has something to do with my boredom level with my essay at the moment. Hahaha.)

best memory: september

best memory: september

Friends coming home. A surprise from Phuay when she flew back for 5 days. I always miss my girlfriends terribly during term time, and the phone call from Aussie bringing the news one night followed by tea at Dempsey a couple of days later totally made my recess week.

Or just people being in the same place at the same time. It just feels like everything's falling into place. I was so happy to meet up with my exchange friends when Pui and Robert came over to Singapore together! :D Ping, we missed you!

those montreal nights

those montreal nights

I was terribly undisciplined with my bedtime when I was in Montreal. For as long as I can (or want to) remember, bedtime was usually when the boy calls to say goodnight. So with 5 hours of time difference and a few thousand miles between us, the daily goodnight calls went into hiatus for 4 months. So did my regular bedtime.

Without the routine, without a worried Mom to knock on my door at 3am because my light is still on, I became a full-fledged nocturnal, especially when deadlines are near. Since I was on exchange, I also picked up the habit of starting on work some 24hrs before its deadline.

I'd make coffee for myself at 1am, so that I could stay up all the way till about 7 or 8am, and my surprised roomie would wake up to her day while I end my night. I know it's very unhealthy, but I actually miss the crazy nights somewhat. I really enjoy the hours when the sun starts to come up, and I'd watch its reflection climb the building across the street. Here's what I mean:

Tonight, I'll be attempting a Montreal! And let's see what morning brings. (:

grief on a rainy afternoon

grief on a rainy afternoon

The rain, grey and heavy, falling.

The grief, dark and swollen, breathing.

The love, warm and present, smiling.

For the girl with her father's smile -

the rain will clear,

the grief will ease,

but the love, the love will always live.

shoe/bag dilemma

shoe/bag dilemma

With nearly 30 pairs of shoes, I couldn't find a pair that matches the simple blue dress I chose to wear for a date last Sunday! I sought advice from two dears of mine, Meljane and Kaiyi, before finally deciding on one pair that seemed to match the least. Kais and I even had a skype session with my tower of shoes.

See, I have at least 3 pairs of black shoes, that'd easily go with the blue dress, but horror of horrors - I'm SUCH a shoes girl that I totally neglected my bag department. I do not own a black bag! The closest thing to a black bag I own is a glittery black clutch, which is way too formal for a casual Sunday afternoon. I also didn't want to be too matchy with blue shoes, and my red shoes are too uncomfy for a whole afternoon of walking. See, so troubled!

I really wanted a relaxed but classy look for the afternoon, and for some reason, I was adamant about using my brown holiday sling bag. So here's the look we (Mel, Kais and I) put together in the end. Haha!

Green/nude shoes from Nose, KL.

Dress from BonitoChico.

Chain from Tiff&Co.

Bag from H&M.

thru the boy's eyes

thru the boys' eyes

What do you think of when you walk into a store with decor such as the above? COSMETICS! FACIAL CARE! EVERYTHING PRETTY!!! Right? And then you start the endless debate on which brand, which product range, which shade, which price, which... It goes on.

Now, let me share with you what was going on in the boy's head the whole time I was battling the million little voices in my head. When I turned to him, and asked him, "So how, babe? Which brand to go for!"

He replied calmly, "Have you noticed how they cut the whole piece of acrylic just so they can fit ONE product nicely into each slot? Every slot has the exact dimensions of the product it was made for. Now, what if the company decides to change the design of the container? Or even simpler, make bigger bottles of whatever's inside there? It's not very practical, is it?"

See these were the little potholes that attracted his attention.

And there were MANY of them. Bad.

I blinked twice, and dragged him away from the little potholes on the cosmetic shelves and ventured towards another counter with perhaps less precisely cut potholes.

"Hmm, should I give Sephora's house brand a try or should I stick to the tried and trusted but very expensive M.A.C.?"

He went on, "And now if you look at the way these mirrors are tilted... A girl your height would find it perfect. But how about a taller girl? See, someone my height won't be able to see her face in the mirror. What if there was a sudden increment in the average height of the population?"

I plodded on, dragging him towards the very pretty display of the colourful Sephora bath gels, hoping it might distract him a little. And what can he say about a simple glass cabinet, right? Afterall, there were neither precisely cut potholes nor weirdly angled mirrors.

But the boy proved me wrong: "And I was looking at all these shower gels. Notice how certain colours are never full while others are filled to the brim? And it's the same old colours with an empty gap in the bottles. I suspect there's ethanol in those few colours, and the ethanol evaporated, therefore leaving the gap."

I marched out of the store, with the boy in tow, and a sweet smile on my face, "Let's go look at boys' stuff now." I was truly afraid that too many long minutes of boredom would do further damage to both our brains.

Post-script: Photos stole from all over Google and her.

my fav girls in nus

my fav girls in nus

Ever since I left JC, I've been increasingly lazy to make friends. I think I've evolved into a social hermit in university. I go to class, be nice and civil to everyone, make a couple of precious good friends, and then run off to hide somewhere with these few close friends I've made. And really, there have been precious few classmates who became close friends.

So, if it weren't for my touch team, I'd probably be a social outcast in school. Everytime I think about my time so far in NUS, these girls are always close to heart. Nothing in the world really replaces girly afternoons spent laughing over nothing in particular, or smearing mud off each other's faces after trainings.

We've recently finished our SUNIG season and came in 3rd. I thought I'd be more disappointed with our final standing, and I was surprised to find out that I wasn't. It's been a special season for us as team. We grew closer, and pulled each other through tough times. When we came together, I do feel we gave our best under circumstances. That's not to say we played our best because we know we play better touch than that. That's a pity, I can't deny, but more important than results on paper, I think our team won a bond that no medal can replace.

So this one's for my favourite girls in NUS. I'm so glad I decided to stay on in Year 1 and hung on till now. It wasn't always easy (eating mud and collecting scars and cursing refs), but we made it through. We made it to become a real team of friends. I love these bimbos!

From lazy Starbucks afternoons,

to silly antics at carnivals,

to taitai Sunday brunches,

to ultimate camwhoring sessions,

to playing sparklers after trainings.

Alf, before you complain about your absence from this post, I dedicate one whole photo to you okay.

And of course, Karen, the best coach we could ever have. (: