Vacay 'Fits: Ipoh

Nobody asked, but I love clothes and thinking about outfits so I'm writing this for myself and any misguided soul who sees me as a fashion inspo.

I own a lot of clothes. Capsule wardrobe? Unfathomable. Give me a ball pit, but with clothes instead of plastic balls. 

So anyway, every time I go on a trip, packing is the hardest part as I try to stuff eight separate outfits for a four-day trip. But it's also a fun challenge, and it's rewarding if I hit a high utilisation rate and enjoy my outfits. 

Utilisation rate = % clothes I actually wear ÷ clothes I pack

This Ipoh trip was my first trip since the pre-cancer one to Mexico/SF. (The one night in JB over Good Friday doesn't count - what's one night kan?) And I don't think I did so well for the Mexico/SF trip because I forgot to pack warmer clothes for SF. My jackets and sweaters are disappointed they missed the trip. 

Day 1: Flight to Ipoh 

These Lululemon pants are the best! Fully elasticised waistband, drawcord, non-jogger cuffs, and deep pockets. I own three of these, and wish I'd bought more because they are perfect travel pants. The material moves with you so you can fidget in your seat or do splits or whateva. The deep pockets house your phone and passport. And they look smartish because no jogger cuffs! I always wear them for travel and for site visit days at work. 

Bra tops are my next staple for travel because who wants wires poking into you at times of stress? (I hate the "travel" part of travel.) So I wore this Alo tube top. It's so cute. Again, wish I'd bought more colours but they were already OOS. Did you know that bra tops are charged as "bras" when you do hotel laundry? You can save RM3 per piece! 

And because Malaysia, I added this Hani Mokhta jacket thingy. The embroidery details on it are so cute and help add the element of pattern to the outfit. I wore these Nikes almost the whole trip - they're a good smartish pair of sneakers with a slight platform so I don't step directly into puddles.

Day 2: Search for Nasi Kandar

I paired my Lululemon Align dress with this striped oversized shirt ($32) from Honsie Ponsie. The shirt is so cute, right? Again, love the embroidery. They had a gingham one too but I decided to limit myself to one piece. The Align dress is great because the shorts part is only half-attached, so you can pee easily. And also slot your phone in the shorts pockets. Aaaand, built-in bra top wins the day once more! I would buy more of these dresses, but I don't actually like scoop necks and they don't make them in high necks.

Also, we didn't find any Nasi Kandar that day because Yong Suan coffeeshop was inexplicably closed on a Saturday. Sorry, Cutes. 

Day 3: Pasar Pagi 

I was warned it would be hot, so I wore this Lululemon Align high neck top with lightweight patterned Gorman pants. Lulu, please make more high neck things I'm begging you! 

Should have added a shirt because the sun was *burning*. I was left with some tanlines even though we cabut the market within 40 minutes. 

Wish I'd discovered Gorman earlier. The Aussie fashion subreddit says their quality was better years ago. But these pants are pretty good, with deep pockets for putting your phone. Functional pockets are so important. 

Anyway, this was the day Cutes finally managed to eat his nasi kandar while I sat and watched, then I had to poop from spicy food so we went to Four Beans. Thank you Malaysia for having bidets in your toilets. Four Beans is a really nice cafe with fun desserts, so double yay!

Day 4: Going to atas hotel

I wanted to look cool, so I picked this weakforbatik mega mendung top (one of my faves! But I have to wear a bra with it.) and my pistachio midi linen skirt from Uniqlo. I bought this skirt on a whim and it turned out to be one of my most versatile pieces because it goes with anything including kebayas and t-shirts! It's cooler than the satin version of it (which I also have, in dark blue).

This outfit ended up going on a 10-minute hike with me from The Banjaran to the Lost World of Tambun. (The hotel calls it a "jungle walk" or something but I call it a hike as it involves elevation.) Climbing little cliffs in a skirt was not on my bingo card this year. But I survived!

Swimwear

I hate the idea of buying things for trips, but I did it anyway - I bought two Seafolly one-piece swimsuits! I've been coveting Seafolly since secondary school, because we used to pass by their store at Wisma Atria. But the shop always looked intimidating, so we just ended up in Flash N Splash. Anyway. Now I'm an adult with disposable income in the digital age, so I can buy Seafolly online!

I've been feeling too fat for my existing swimmers, anyway. And I don't have any quality one-pieces, so it's a totally justified purchase! I got this classic-looking black boatneck piece (worn with Uniqlo skorts here) and this more fun, colourful one. Again, I've been gravitating towards high neck things over scoopy neck ones so the boatneck one is a great find! Fashion buyers, some of us don't like our boobs hanging out, but don't mind a low back.

Jeff's Cellar 

I had planned to wear a Ratianah kebaya for this atas dinner, but I couldn't get my intended outfit to match properly while packing. Kept pulling out alternatives, but nothing worked until I got frustrated and saw my green cheongsam peeking out from the top shelf of my cupboard. I'd shoved it there a couple years ago when I couldn't zip it up but was too sayang to give it away. I tried it on for kicks and yess it fit this time! I also brought along my looser cheongsam as a backup, but thankfully I didn't need it. Both are from Golden Scissor Cheongsam, but sadly the tailor retired last year so I need to find a new cheongsam supplier.

Yes, I did bring the blue beaded heels just for this outfit. Really happy with the sustainability of these wedding heels!

Flight home

I didn't get a good photo because Cutes kept rushing me to check out and head to the airport even though the airport is tiny, with three flights a day. Like, asal tiba-tiba kiasu ni? He's usually the one sauntering to check-in at Changi Airport one hour before the flight while I'd been anxiously waiting at the airport for three hours. 

His answer is that "we are new to the airport, we don't know how they work". How differently do tiny airports work around the world?

Okay whatevs. I wore another bra top! This great Lululemon scoop back cap sleeve thingy I randomly found online. I've been checking back on their website, hoping they've released this in other colours, but sadly no. And my Popflex bellbottom tights with good pockets! The problem with bell bottoms is that they kinda flap around soaking up rainwater, and making swishy cloth noises in dry weather. But I've decided I'm okay with that. 

Hats and Keens

I didn't really plan the hats with the outfits. I just grabbed a handful of hats and stuffed them into the suitcase. Quite happy with the selection I had. Also, I wore my Keens a bunch. I love them so much - they're comfy AF and the orange-and-blue combi makes me happy.

So yeah, I had 85% outfit utilisation this trip, which is pretty good. When I go to Australia, it dips to 50% because I buy *a lot* of clothes there. Miss you, Australia!

Chemo Cycle Entah

Sometimes the pain is so intense that I can't see past it, then the next moment it subsides and I scold myself for being so lembek. Or the fatigue kicks in and it's a battle to keep my eyes open, even if I'm watching something engaging with the mintiest mints in my mouth. 

That's been what it's like since last Saturday (Day 4 of chemo cycle), and I'm just starting to feel normal today. I've had to beg off from work but then 15 minutes later feel quite normal and capable. Slept all day Sunday and still didn't feel rested. 

/endofwhine

Chemo Cycle Entah

Last Wednesday was another chemo day. These days I still have chemo every three weeks, but I only see my oncologist every six weeks. So last week I did see her, and after complaining of my continued vomiting experience, she decided to decrease my dose from 100% to 80%.

Spoiler alert: The side effects remain unchanged from previous cycles soooo yea.

The dazzle has pretty much worn off my chemo days. I used to come in, guns blazing, ready to journal or read a book or blog, hit up a cafe, all the productive things. But now I'm just tired. I spent my Wednesday primarily staring into space. Reach Level 10, wait for blood test while staring into space. Get blood drawn. Sit for 10 minutes scrolling on Reddit while pressing on the blood draw site. Go for second breakfast, stare at junglefowl and a squirrel. Wait for oncologist, stare into space. See oncologist. Go for lunch, finish lunch, stare into space. Get back to Level 10, stare into space at rooftop garden while waiting for chemo suite to call me up.

It's fine. I like introspection and my mind never runs out of things to throw at me. This week we also hit a high score on the number of Interesting People.

1. Mother-Son Duellers

A 70-ish auntie with her 50-ish son. They had almost the same treatment path as me so I encountered them at blood test and the oncologist clinic. Nasib baik they weren't at my chemo suite. She was muttering a lot at first, seemingly to herself, then the son came along to speak loudly to her about how they should move on. But she hadn't taken her blood test yet. 

At the clinic, the two got louder. The son kept yelling, "You are suaku mother ah! You Malaysia mother!"

Auntie: "I not suaku! You are going to kill me."

Son: "I not gonna kill you la that's a crime."

It was quite horrifying and sad and I can only imagine this is a fraction of their home life. The clinic was full and everyone was turning to stare but security didn't really seem to step in? It's really scary because I don't know how we will continue to deal with this in our ageing population.

But also, what kind of insult is "Malaysia mother"?!

2. Persistent Paul

This 50-ish uncle was already at the rooftop garden when I arrived. It's an open garden so you can hear the busy road sounds and stuff. Tell me why this uncle still felt the need to have his phone convo on speaker?!

He was on the line with a call agent (Claudia) trying to get an old issue resolved. Apparently the previous two agents had promised to get back to him, but didn't. So Claudia was placating him, then she got her supervisor on the line. 

Supervisor: "Yes so Claudia has been helping you.."

Uncle Paul to supervisor: "Ya but what if Claudia gets into an accident? Who will follow up?"

Relax ah uncle, no need to jump to extremes.

3. Young Dude

I was just chilling in my chemo chair when I noticed this tall cool guy walk past me to the restroom. The nurse scurried after him and told him not to bring the chemo tag with him and my brain broke because he was so young and fit-looking. (And tall.) (And handsome. With the mask on, anyway.)

When he came back and recited his IC number, I realised he's five years younger than me! Strapping mid-30s dude undergoing chemo beside me. 

I hope he gets through it. Not that old or ugly or unfit people shouldn't survive la. Just commenting on a rare cute guy at NCCS.

4. First-Timer

My chemo chair was facing an adorable uncle who seemed to be alone and undergoing the long Paclitaxel chemo regimen. He was super chill, didn't say a peep, declined the Milo and biscuits. I watched him get his Benadryl and waited for him to fall asleep but he didn't?! Hi, are old people resistant to the soporific effects of Benadryl or what? Please link me to studies.

Anyway here's how cute I looked on chemo day. Even though I trooped up and down the lifts 6-8 times, it was always full so I couldn't get a good lift selfie.