Check-in #2

For this fortnight's check-in, I'm happy to announce that I finally managed to save the final $50 for this month, because I found about $700 in duit raya while I was cleaning my room. Syukur Alhamdulillah for small mercies. 

1. Winnow through my closet

I've done many more small rounds of clearing since, and I finally created enough room - the entire top shelf of one cupboard - to put my bags. I also cleared out most of one drawer and put my sports bras in there. Also, I cleared out the rest of my room while I was at it. 

I admit that I could stand to lose another 30 - 50% of stuff, but I think I'll save that for when I'm moving out, or something. :) 

2. Finish up one foundation

I've been using foundation daily for work, which is about five times a week, and I've been using the KVD one most of the time. I did try to work in the Hourglass sometimes, but it just doesn't last all day, especially when I'm rubbing my face, so, I dunno, naturally I keep reaching for the KVD. 

I'm actually falling more in love with my Infallible Matte foundation the more I use it. It feels so lightweight on my skin, but the coverage is excellent and the finish is more matte than KVD, which, like, wow! My forehead doesn't get shiny till late afternoon, even with all the sweating going on, which is more than I can say for the KVD. I wish I could repurchase it more easily, but I don't care - I'm gonna use it up anyway, if it comes to that. 

Oh, also I threw out the L'oreal Mineral Powder because let's be real, it was doing nothing for me and I haven't touched it in a year. 

Once I finish up one foundation, and if it happens to be the Infallible which I can't repurchase yet, I'll try the Laneige Pore Control BB Cushion. 

3. Low-buy

I messed up a little here. After my massive decluttering, I decided to reward myself with a bunch of organisers from Muji. I ended up spending about $120 on five PP drawers, three smaller PP containers, one PP carry box (for my skincare), and my prized possession - an acrylic drawer for my (considerable) lipstick collection. Ah, it looks so lovely. I'm so happy. I don't regret a thing. It makes my skincare routine much less kecoh, which is great. 

I also made my planned purchases for the month, which was the four Cosrx items I'd listed earlier. 

I did also mention that I wanted to try something from Pyungkang Yul, right? But the shipping from Ohlolly (clearly their exclusive retailer) was like $20-$30 (USD!), so that was an easy no. I'll survive on my Belif and maybe try a Muji travel size, thanks Ohlolly. 

4. Ride out once a week

Sorry, I really don't think I can keep to this goal. The inclement weather doesn't help my kemalasan. I can do a once-a-fortnight thing, if you will. 

5. Fun lip colour once a fortnight

Well, this is an easy one, I guess. Even with my chapped lips situation, I have the cream Vice in Venom, so I wear that like, every other Friday or so. Or whatever dates I can squeeze in. I wore it yesterday! Thank the Lord for traditional cream lipsticks. I may allow myself to buy one more next pay. 

6. One blog post a week

Still on track, as you can see! 

7. $1k to MKK fund

As I mentioned in my first para, I've saved the required $350 for this month, yay! I mean, Syukur Alhamdulillah. Two more months of $350 to go! Let's do this! 

Rants and raves

I'd mentioned my chapped lips in one of my earlier posts. And I'm sad to announce that they're back! It's my fault. I was reading on one of the subs (AB or SCA) that someone put the Hada Labo Gokujyun HA Lotion on their lips before an occlusive, and woke up with nice plump lips. So I decided to be gatal and try that. Yeah, one and a half days later, my lips started chapping again. This is even worse than the first time, because it's spread to my lower lip, and quite a large surface area, too. Lipstick looks horrible on now, even the cream ones I'd been exclusively wearing during Ramadhan. 

I'm sad and bingit sendiri because I love wearing my liquid lippies, and I miss them so much, especially L.U.V. Please wait for me, guys! I'm slathering lanolin as liberally as I can, and praying for the health of my lips too. Lesson learnt: Don't be slathering any kind of acid on your lips. 

In happier news, my skin seems happy with the changes I've introduced, which was mainly the Cosrx Pimple Clear Pads. So far, I've only done two rounds of that, about 2 days apart. Granted, my cheeks have gotten drier, but the whiteheads? white bumps? CCs? on my chin have all but disappeared. I can't believe I agonised over them for months and even tried to squeeze them out at lower points in my life, when this solution was just a subreddit away. Okay, yang lepas tu lepas. 

So with my dry cheeks, I have to be more careful to use a heavier moisturiser on those areas, and then seal them in with lanolin. Otherwise, I have no complaints! 

I'm itching to try my BHA and AHA Power Liquids, but I'm gonna give myself another 2 weeks on the Pimple Clear Pads before I introduce the AHA. 

Oh oh. I have to admit that I picked up some brushes at Sephora last week to up my eyeshadow game, and I regretfully got a Supergoop Defense Refresh Setting Mist after I met Holly and she excitedly demoed some of the products on me. I only realised, back at the office, that the reviews of the product were not-so-rave, and the tester spray really did leave odd beads of residue on my eyebrows and eyelashes. So there's no way I was keeping that. 

Thankfully, I managed to return the Supergoop today, and get the NARS Soft Matte Complete Concealer in Caramel. Yes, I like to make like I'm darker than I really am. I don't think it looks odd. In fact, I don't think my foundations oxidise on me - they seem to get lighter the longer the wear time. I guess my skin chemistry makes the stuff reduce, then. :P

Well, till next fortnight, or earlier!

Check-in #1

Quick check-in on my Summer Lovin' Goals!

I haven't bought anything yet, but I have a Sephora mini-spree (for brushes) and an OhLolly mini-spree (Cosrx and one Pyungkang Yul item) planned for this billing cycle. I'm really proud of myself because I was at Tangs with Nat on Friday and there were some nice Alia Anggun tops in my size, and on sale, and I didn't even try them on! Also I was at Sephora twice this week and didn't buy anything, just swatched lots of stuff. So keep it up!

Next, I managed to put away $300 to my MKK fund. That's short of $50 for this month. Not too shabby, considering this month I had to renew Ferb's insurance and road tax!

Also, I didn't manage to ride Ferb last week because I wasn't feeling well, but I rode out for my brow appointment today so that's great!

I'm well on track to using up one foundation. I'm focusing on the KVD and the Hourglass Vanish stick.

Till next fortnight!

posted from Bloggeroid

Chapped lips

We're just entering the fourth and final week of Ramadhan, and it's been a pretty challenging one for me. Or rather, my body isn't reacting the way it normally does during a fast. 

Last week Monday, my lips started chapping, and they were raw by the time I got home. I blamed it on the Peripera lip tint (Ink Velvet) that I wore that day. Lip tints are the most drying of all lip cosmetics, right? So the next day I went back to a "normal" liquid lipstick, but my lips refused to heal. So I just had patches of raw skin - no flaking pieces of skin or anything, just raw open "wounds"? - which hurt like heck, especially since I couldn't hydrate myself throughout the day. Even reapplying copious amounts of my Vichy Aqualia Thermal every half hour or so didn't work. I went crazy last week trying to find something that would work. My Fresh Sugar Lip Scrub, Bite Agave Lip Mask, random Belif Rose Oil.. Nothing worked. On Saturday I was heading out for a date and removed my protective layer of Bite Agave to put on my Huda Beauty liquid lipstick in Famous. I reasoned that Huda Beauty's liquid lips are the most hydrating, from my past experience and also they don't dry down, so I'd be safe. But God no, my lips started stinging the moment I swiped the doefoot applicator on. That was upsetting. I immediately wiped it off and smeared on my UD Epigram. That didn't hurt. Cream lipsticks ftw when you have sad chapped lips. 

I don't believe this has ever happened to my lips before. It must be part of getting old or something. Usually when my lips dry out, they just start peeling. So you slap on a scrub, remove the dead skin, and you're good to go. But yeah. None of the usual remedies worked. 

So on Tuesday I got off work early, so I dropped by Mothercare at Tampines and bought a tube of Lansinol HPA Lanolin. It's actually marketed as a nipple cream, but because it's pure lanolin, you can use it for similar skin concerns, I suppose.  It appeared to be the top remedy from my r/skincareaddiction searches. I was a bit bingit at having to shell out 30-some bucks for a lip salve, but on hindsight, it is 40ml of product, so it's a lot cheaper than Bite Agave, even. And it's so thick, you only need the teensiest bit to put on your lips. That tube'll probably last me till I actually need it for my nipples, insya Allah. 

Anyway, I was really impatient to see results, but it's been slow-going. Sigh, this internet age, making us want more things faster. (Fine, okay, I won't try to shift the blame.) However, I think that it is working quite beautifully. My lips no longer sting when I eat pedas food, so that's a step ahead. And I've been using cream lipsticks religiously (I miss you guys, liquid lips!) to avoid exacerbating the problem, so I'm gonna try and put on a liquid lip tomorrow, and see how it goes. Then I'll go back to cream for the rest of the work week, so that I'm ready to rock an intense liquid lip on 1 Syawal. 

Watch this space!

Baaaack!

Hello, I'm back and with a skincare obsession and some real #goals! 

So I've joined the MakeupRehab subreddit, which has been really helpful and given a new, healthier perspective on my latest obsession. There was a post today on Summer Lovin' Goals, so I came up with some and I'll post them here, because I'm too shy to post on the sub. 

Duration: Now, 6 June to 3 September. 

Check-ins: Every Sunday

Here goes!

1. Winnow through my closet

I've done 2 - 3 rounds of this so far, this year. But I think there's still a lot of room for improvement, because I have so many clothes now that they're stacked to unsustainable heights. So I really want to do one giant, focused one this time. 

Guidelines:

• Mouldy, ripped
• Never wear it
• More than 2 sizes up or down

2. Finish up one foundation

Here's a list of the foundations I currently own: 

• KVD Lock-It in 62 (45% left)
• Hourglass Vanish Stick in Golden Tan (60%)
• Tarte Amazonian Clay Mineral Powder (no idea, you can't see through the container!)
• Maybelline Fit Me stick (98%)
• Nude by Nature BB Cream (90%)
• L'oreal Infallible 24-HR Matte (80%)
• L'oreal Mineral Powder (75%?)

That's way too many for someone who doesn't wear makeup half the time, thanks to Zumba. Soooo.. Let's try to finish up one of these soon! I'm favouring the top 3. I love the first 2, but the Vanish isn't long-wearing at all, and is more dewy (i.e. shiny on me), of course. And the Tarte one just doesn't do much for my face, so once I get rid of that, I will not repurchase. 

3. Low-buy

From here on out, I'm on a low-buy mode. This applies to clothes, makeup and skincare. It explicitly excludes date expenses, Uber, and food. I'm only allowed to buy replacements for whatever's used up or damaged (ripped pants, anyone?), and the following Cosrx items, because I plan to add them to my routine:

• Pimple clear pad
• Acne Master Patch
• BHA Blackhead Power Liquid
• AHA 7 Whitehead Power Liquid

4. Ride out once a week

Since I don't ride to work anymore, Ferb is tragically underutilised. I'll make sure I bring him out once a week, whether it's to the shops or the park, or on a date. 

5. Fun lip colour once a fortnight

I wear my brick reds, peachy nudes, and pinky nudes on the daily, whether it's for work or dates. I've almost forgotten how much I love my bright purples, dark purples, and vampy shades. I even bought a fresh tube of KVD's L.U.V. last month, but I haven't had a chance to open it. So I think that I'll have to make a conscious effort to work them into my makeup routine. Since I'll only be able to wear them on Fridays (if there are no meetings or interviews) and weekends, there's not much room to include them, so I've made it easy by putting fortnight as the frequency. 

6. One blog post a week

Starting with this post, I'll endeavour to put up one blog post a week, whether here on Blogger, Tumblr, Wordpress, or even Livejournal. As long as there are words accompanying the post, it's counted!

7. $1k to MKK fund

I saved the most ambitious goal for last. I'm hoping to save another $1,000 this summer for my MKK fund. I really do want to marry Cutes, and I want to be financially ready for such a commitment, so this would help immensely. This means I'll have to put away $350 each month, or thereabouts. 

Go Ain!

Well, that's it for my comeback post. I'll try to check back in the next couple Sundays or so! Toodles!

Whee! I'm like blogging on Shups' iTouch and it's loads of fun. Thanks Shups! Life's been tiring but loads of fun, I actually feel like I'm doing some good in this gorgeous store of mine. Been having lots of suppers with The Cute One. Hehe. It's so great that she rides too! Yey! And I haven't been clubbing in two weeks, how weird is that?! Ohwells. And I bet my favourite bouncer misses me. I miss you too, favourite bouncer! Okay I'm gonna change now cos I'm meeting Mai in awhile, toodles!

I Miss You

I'm sitting at the bar area and thinking, "The Starbucks in You've Got Mail has a bar area too, and Kathleen Kelly was sitting there when Joe Fox came and rapped on the glass." Yes, if you're wondering, I am giler. And when I'm not feeling my best, I tend to draw comfort from my favourite things. In this case, my favourite movie.
I'm sleepy, even though I'm supposed to have had eight hours of sleep. I don't feel like dragging my sorry ass home today. I wonder, if things had been different, if I'd been enjoying an off day today like I'm supposed to, or if I'd woken up this morning without shortness of breath, would I be sitting here moping at all. But even Dumbledore doesn't know that, let alone aku. Ohwells. Updates later then.

I went shopping the other day and got a yellow sundress, white bondage heels and a large tub of body butter. Woo! I also got a toffee crunch with caramel dip from Auntie Anne's. Yum. Da lama tak makan pretzel, it's so good! Thursday was DblO, I met someone new but I don't give out my number anymore, ha!

I'm currently into this song by Zee Avi, Bitter Heart. I told Mai that it's almost entirely about her. Haha. I'm enjoying my off day with no plans. Lots of things to do, though, so I got to try and get some done today and leave the rest for tomorrow. Speaking of, my braces come off tomorrow! I'm excited, aren't you? I wonder how I'll look. Been spending the past few days at Lido Shaw and Orchard Parade. Really relaxed environments. It's been enjoyable, espesh the parts with Imran around. Thanks be to God for granting my prayers thus far.

Step Supermodel

So I borrowed Mas' hooker heels the other night. Managed to stuff my feet into them a la Ugly Stepsister, and I even walked pretty convincingly after a time. After that I posed like crazy, but photographer Christina was sooo off her game that we only got this shot on the billionth try. Cool shit though. Can't wait to get my own pair, yey!

In the club

These two cuties went clubbing with me last Thursday. Well, we went to Dblo together, but they sat at Poolbar people-watching while I danced with my partners. And they made a merepek night better. Thanks, baby. Thanks, Ash.
Okay aku nak kencing and take a nap. Haha.

Three Shots

I'm back from Changi Beach with Mai. She let me ride her bike for one round at my place, and it stalled twice! Nasib baik electric start. Watching Cj7 now on the telly, it's my first time, and it's so adorable! I now have renewed love for my Cj7. Well, time to tids, nites!

We love Firman!

So Dblo was good, but Rebel was better! We spoke to Dinesh, made friends with more of Clinton's crew, and on Thursday I gave D and Nazim a lift home. D is friggin adorable with those sepet eyes and that cheeky smile. Takleh angs.
We were having supper at Mac's and this guy would not quit staring. When he left, he waved and I waved back. He asked for my number but I politely declined. So he came back in and gave me two numbers, his and his friends. Klakar kan?
Both Dayahs were at store yesterday, so cool!

Heart dblo

Cute boys and cute other elses.

For here iced cup

For here iced cup
Originally uploaded by norainne.

I'm back after literal months! I know, right? But I don't have much to say, really. I had a nice attachment shift the other night at Fusionopolis, which has the most adorable plastic for here iced cups. Sungguh loves!

Today I have an unexpectedly free day, but I don't have any money to do anything with it, so I'm listening to F&F4 songs online while waiting for nightfall.

My dad got me the C905, which is like a better version of my K800i, so life rocks in 8.1 megapixels, and Wi-Fi, both of which were used in bringing this photo online. Haha.

Hello once more!

I am back! Hehe. I have a new phone now so it's much easier to upload photos and shit. Yey.

Photo-update II

Life's been so starkly different lately. No more Clarke Quay, lots of sun, sand and sea, and car rides aplenty. Shopping, too. Let's not forget the shopping. I'm really glad I don't own a credit card, because if I did, I'd end up like Becky Bloomwood.

Cafe Del Mar. Yesterday and last week. Always a fave spot. Palm trees, pristine sand, cool waters, refreshing breeze.. What more could one ask for? [Well, cute guys, of course, but there is such a thing as pushing one's luck.]

Rail's unexhaustive range of headgear. I love modelling them, apparently. Anywhere and everywhere. Anytime and everytime. Gimme more!

OHwell. Other than what's been pictured here, I've stopped hanging at CQ so that means no more Tiger. Or is it the other way around? Haha. Tak tahu. Anyways I've got someone a billion times nicer than he could ever be, so I'm happy! But I've also been eating a lot, and we know what that means.. It means back to those late night runs!

Sad movies always make me cry

I watched this movie just now. It's such a lovely movie. And Jennifer Lopez never looked as hot as she does, here in this movie. Her dance outfits are amazing, especially the fur coat and the dress in the Santa Maria scene. Plus, I always end up crying at the last part of the movie, about two minutes before this escalator scene.

Here's to more peaceful off days, filled with nothing but pretty clothes, gorgeous skies and endless books.

Photo-update

I do realise it's been quite a while since I blogged here. The lure of LJ is too strong for me. However, I will summarise my life for the past couple of weeks, in a collection of photos. If it helps.

 
My three favourite chubby dodos from work. Rose5, Fazzy-Wazzy and Wanieeeee!

 
The ever-adorable Rail, Xtina's boyfriend. Don't go to NS, I'll miss you too!

 
With Sham at Marina Barrage rooftop. OMG the chilling breeze. And the wide expanse of grass. Fantastico.

Because the setting was just too perfect. I took off my Emilys and waded in.

Had a gorgeous 22nd thanks in large part to these dodos above. Much love!

D-day

Two years of Christmas Open Houses and I've always been ringing up the transactions. Today I was expediting the queue instead, with Evonne. It definitely requires a different skill set from my previous position. Haha.

But it was fun! I love all the disorder and chaos that goes on during Open House. Nothing can quite match up to it. It's almost like one of those performances I used to participate in--angklung, tarian, and the like. The downside is, just like the performances of my yesteryear, there's the post-performance depression to sink into. I hate that. Like, the calm after the storm. Hate it!

I'm glad I was paired with Evonne, because instead of asking for customers' names like I was supposed to, I just grabbed their receipts and scribbled down my first impression of them instead. For example, Evonne was screaming, "Singapore t-shirt! Singapore t-shirt!" because that was exactly what I wrote on the receipt. Or I would write, "Semi-cute guy" or "3/4 cute guys", but there was never any fully-cute guy. Then there was one time I scrawled, "Gay" but thankfully she misread it as "Guy".

Funfunfun.

Sorry I couldn't pick up the pieces so well. You can't really expect a freshly-certified shift manager to be able to just vroom around and put everything back in order, right?

In other news, I just came back from a run, which was terrific as usual. I realise I haven't been running the full 2.4, but I'm just gonna take it slow [ like I'm doing with a certain someone], and hopefully by this time next year I'll be doing 3k at one time.

Seven days closing straight! It's time for a break, but I won't be getting one yet, because tomorrow I need to get some things done to Baby. Sigh. Well, I'll try and sleep in anyways.

I'm a cert!

I'm a certified now! No more babysitters, I'll be going solo all the way! Excitingggg. Unfortch, my first solo shift will be TOMORROW, which is D-Day. I'll have to clean up the mess caused by 294827593 transactions! And deal with the Thursday crowd, to boot!

Tiredtiredtired. This would be my sixth closing in a row. With one more coming up tomorrow. Can you believe it? Plus, I'm getting old. I'm not even enjoying the last precious days of my 21-dom. And the crowd now comes in at ten instead of nine, and they don't wanna leave, even at midnight! Still. Trickling. In! I had to extend operating hours today because the higher-ups said so, but at least I came pretty close to the target. I'm talking like a manager now! So annoying!

Starving. Since I became a manager I've hardly had time to eat. Which can only be a good thing, I suppose, considering my size, but I really love and miss eating!

I put up the Christmas tree just now, because if I don't do it, no one else will. It was less complicated than I expected it to be, thankfully. And it looks pretty good for my first attempt, I daresay. The final, rewarding touch, was of course putting up the lights and turning them on! Sedih though, they're not multicoloured. But it still looks festive!

I love it.

Jessie says I remind her of Mima sometimes. Haha! I wouldn't argue with that, I think that like her, I do like to buang muka when I'm angry.

And Tiger messaged me just now, first! Yey!

Tiger, lion, both buas!

"John, you came late for your shift, you came back late from your break, you take fifteen minutes to do frap mix, and you STILL want to ask me for a cookie?"

I'm SO tired. Sometimes I feel like I'm not cut out for this kind of work. But when I see my bankfloat add up beautifully, or when I talk to Adib or Colin or Eril, or when I meet cute boys applying for a job, or even when I rescue Wenyong from a bar slam, I feel like I'm made for it.

The other reason I'm tired is because I went for another run [technically it's "jog", but "run" sounds cooler], baru ni, when I got back from work. I know it's three in the morning on a "malam Jumaat", but I wasn't scared at all. Until I was stretching afterwards, bending over to touch my toes over and over, and I was like, Shit, wasn't this scene in The Eye 10? Lepas tu I hurriedly left, before I could see anything.

Sorry aku giler.

But other than minor glitches at work, it was a terrific day. I came to work smiling, despite a certain blue KR I saw, three traffic lights away from work, and I was smiling most of the time. I even had the balls to say to a customer, "You have really nice eyes. Like, really nice!" And he was smokinnnn' hot.

I suppose the reason I was in a good mood was because of last night. I managed to borrow the car again [pushing my luck, that one. But I'll be really busy next week anyway!], so I drove down to store, did some ordering, hung out with the Yazid gang, and then went to Le Noir with the girls after closing. The girls = Von, Chris, Has, Rose. By the time we got to Le Noir, we were practically the only ones there. Besides the regulars, of course.

Chris [the manager] was there, and he greeted me macam kawan lama gitu, which I totally appreciate cos it totally set me at ease. Tiger was looking hot as usual, hehe. And my friends agreed that he looked muscular rather than fat, but of course he doesn't wanna believe ALL of us. He also refused a lift home from me, sedih. He keeps saying "Next time" but I think I know the real reason he keeps declining.

While waiting for him to finish closing, Has, Rose and I went to The Arena. We bumped into Alex, again. He offered to buy us drinks, but I declined, of course. I didn't even want a fruit punch because I'd already had two at Le Noir and my throat was starting to give me warning signs. Alex is really friendly and generous, but he was totally cramping my style! There was a bunch of cute mats I was eyeing, but I bet once they saw Alex talking to us they gave up! BODOH. Haha. Ohwells. Not meant to be?

After that I went back to Le Noir, and waited for Tiger's dad to arrive. He's so cute. And hot. And it makes me so happy to be around him. :D

I COMPLETELY and UTTERLY forgot about the Ain Awards this year, and no one bothered to remind me! Some friends! Now I'm nearly a month overdue, and there's not even been any hype or publicity about this. BAH. Okay sorry aku giler.

The Hitlist
1. Tiger
2. Yummy Arms
3. Gab
4. Faz
5. Juju
6. Wawan
7. Barak
8. Ims
9. Zul
10. Telefon
11. Alfie
12. Adib
13. Firdaus
14. Eril
15. Irish Creme Guy
16. New Loner Guy


Most Perfect
Barak
Adib
New Loner Guy

This one has gotta be Adib, hands-down. The utter hotness of him is mind-boggling. He's Malay with exotic looks, great hair, great skin, great bod.. Speaks well.. Dresses even better.. Need I say more?


Most Missed
Tiger
Telefon
Irish Creme Guy

It's a tough fight between Tiger and Irish Creme Guy, but I'd have to irrationally say Tiger. Even though it's only been less than a week since I last saw his face.


Most Charming
Gab
Juju
Firdaus


Uhhh.. Well I'd have to say Juju cos he has a funny way of making sure I never stay mad at him for too long.

Cutest [Little Boy]
Faz
Wawan
Firdaus

Alamak this is macam so obvious. It's gotta be Faz with his big hands and big calves and big butt and megawatt smile and endless library of funny faces and pouts!


Cutest [Model]
Tiger
Yummy Arms
Barak
Adib

Siapa nak menang this one? I can't decide, I really can't. It's viewer's choice! I'll survey my friends but conclude this at a tie for now.


Nicest-looking
Faz
Wawan
Eril
Ims

People are gonna disagree with me here, but I'll have to say it's Ims pasal I was captured by his amazing baik-looking smile the moment I set my eyes on him. Yey Ims!


Nicest
Faz
Ims
Barak

The nicest of the lot has to be Barak, because he's sooooo handsome yet he talked conversationally to me anyway. Yey Barak!


Current Favourite
Tiger
Gab
Firdaus
Eril
Ims

I would have to say this is quite obvious, and orang bodoh pun will know who the winner of this category is. It is, of course, without a doubt, my beloved Tiger!!!


Subsidiary Awards:

Okay, first up, we have the James Bond Revolver which goes to the hottest old guy! It's been jointly awarded to 27-year-old Yummy Arms and 30-year-old Gab, for being the hottest abang-abangs I've seen in forever! Woohoo!

Next, the Justin Timberlake Fedora is awarded to Eril, only the cutest guy I've ever seen don that topi in my whole career at Starbucks! Haha.

I have the Christina Award, awarded only to the rarest of the rare. Very few manjen guys make the cut to look like a Malay dude while retaining his unique identity, so Irish Creme Guy is the winner with his delicious tan, biteable body, and adorable tiny eyes!

Finally, but no less important an honour, I have the Superboy Cape, awarded to the guy who can blend irresistible kiddy charm with just the right amount of mature manliness! It goes to Mr. Crinkly Eyes himself, Firdaus!

Woohoo! Awards are over! Let's hit the after-party! Okay aku giler. Hope everyone enjoyed this, because I managed to spit it out through sleepy blackened eyes that have only had one hour of sleep. :P

Went shopping with Christina and Diana on Saturday. Actually there was supposed to be more of us--Tasha, Vonne, Rose, Has, etc. But they were busy, working, and/or sick. So it was just the three of us. Diana was our stand-in boyfriend, carrying all our shopping bags with nary a complaint.

I bought two t-shirts--Batgirl riding a bike, and Superman accompanying the words "I love goodies". HAHA. I guess I have something for superheroes or whatever. But the Batgirl t-shirt means a lot to me. It reminds me of my favourite crush, Allif, because he wrote in my autograph book as Batman in primary six. She's riding a bike, which is totally me. And there are accents of pink hearts and purple strokes. My favourite colours! I love that t-shirt, I do.

I also got this adorable translucent black top with a lace panel at Topshop. I'm saving that for a hot date or something. HAHA. Yes, aku giler. That might be next year or something, if I'm lucky. Ohwells. Almost got sluardalams too, but I decided I'd spent enough. Also, on some impulse shit, I got this adorable purse made of an audio cassette tape. CUTE! It hardly fits my phone, though.

Finally, I tried Borders for the latest MHC, Where Are You Now? but tak kelihatan langsung! What an appropriate title. So I got a Madeleine Wickham instead, Gatecrasher. Madeleine is also known as my beloved Sophie Kinsella, you see. I can't wait to devour that book. But my next off is only on Wednesday. Takper. Pelan-pelan kayuh.

I'm selubung-ed like some loser here at store. Pasal si manager aku is late, thinking that we start at two when it was SHE who set our meeting for ten! Ohwell. Takper. It could have been worse. It could always have been worse. At least I've got Khai's laptop to amuse myself with while waiting.

Yesterday I was sufficiently sad because of, ohwell, kalau kau tahu, kau tahulah. Just understand I was sad yesterday night. I was using the laptop again last night at store pasal malas nak balik so early, then Gab came in. Dunno what kind of Gatal Gene took control of me, I said to him in my "Ow sakit" voice, "Gab, bila nak hang outttt..??" At first he told me to join him outside with his usual drink, then he said, "Next time I'm on MC I'll msg you.."

Well I did hang out with him outside anyway. I AM gonna die of lung cancer someday, with all these smoking friends of mine. Yeah I just sat there for an hour, listening to his nonsense. He's funny. And merepek. And he sounds amazingly matrip at times, I almost gasped in horror. And he may look quiet but he's not! He talks five words to one of mine.

I dropped by Clarke Quay that night with Nazeera and Addynna. But. Hajat tak tercapai. I miss him. And you know me and my escapist themes. Instead of going home to wallow in sorrow, I texted Gab and decided to meet him instead. At JALAN BAHAR. Remember where I live, my friends? I got lost balls. I pusing-pusing like three or four times around the area. It's all interconnected, it appears, but I'm not sure how. As in, he actually doesn't live that far away from Shafa, Atikk and JJC. All three places of which I've been to before. But entah. When you say "Jalan Bahar" it just sounds super-far to me.

Well it was fun. Mostly we just sat in the car, or at the open space, and talked. While drinking my apple and aloe vera. Which he hates. And. He. REFUSES. To tell me his real name! BAH.

Got home late, of course. And I only had one hour of sleep before I trudged reluctantly to store. And here I am, my friends. Alone and YZ-less!

With respect to Hot Guy, I admit I like him. I add the disclaimer that I don't know if this is a lasting "like". But whatever it is, I don't expect him to like me back. It would be a nice bonus, of course. But it's not a requirement. I'm really just content to like him from where I am, and if I can get more kisses and bites and pinches and sniffs, cool! Anyways. As of last night, I've done all I can do. So all that's left for me to do now is sit back and wait.

Sorry long post. In the words of one of my favourite cute guys, I'm done for now.

Different eyes now.

Ever since the promotion [which I have yet to tell my parents about], I have to view things differently at work. No more punch-in-go-bussing. No more sitting around on tong sampahs during lull periods. No more being stuck at POS or bar for hours and hours on end. The work's not all roses. In fact, it's really hard! But it's a different kind of challenge from what I'm used to.

It's a lot of fun though, this learning process. Filing is fun, KPI is fun, cash management is fun! Settlements, jangan cakap! It's a colourful roller coaster ride, all of this, and I'm enjoying every minute, even though I may not look it. I still find myself stuck in between the position of "partner" and "manager" though, wanting to manage the responsibilities of both positions, and it can get really confusing.

Gab was at store today, on MC for "sakit hati", in his words. I was talking to him while he was still at POS, and then I asked Mima, "What do you want me to do?" I heard her reply, "Float dulu.." but she was saying, "Flirt dulu.." !!!

Also, I was talking to one of Yazid's gang, the dude with the crinkly eyes that Rudy has. I thought I was just being plain ol' friendly, but then Mima came out and gave me that Look, and accused me of flirting again. I was not! Yes, I was macam leaning against the handoff plane, but it was totally unconscious, I swear!

And half an hour later she caught me doing it again with Gab, who was in for his second cup.

I think she finds it amusing, because when we first met, she thought I was one of those Untouchable people, like someone who doesn't really give a damn about anyone else. So she didn't expect me to be one of those dodos who goes crazy over cute guys.

And tonight there were loads of them. Hehe.

Ending off with pics of the first night at Le Noir.

Barak

Work was a little bit of a dream yesterday. Because one of the regular cute guys walked in, and I was at POS as usual. I'm trying more actively to talk to the customers [cute or otherwise], so I offered him the samples of White Forest Cake I'd cut earlier, and he happily took one, and enjoyed it. So after he ordered he kinda lingered at the counter, so I decided to talk to him some more.

Kental: "So do you work around here? I see you quite often.."
Handsome: "Oh no, I don't.. And I don't even live nearby..!" *laughs*
K: [I wanted to ask, "So where do you stay?" but malu.] "Ohh.. Okay.."
H: "Yeah but my friend works around here.."
K: "Oh, so it's convenient for your friend huh.." [Feeling sedih cos I assumed "friend" was a girl.]

Okay, here we are, talking about inane topics, and yet, and yet, my face is turning resolutely, and rapidly, RED! MALU GILSSSS. And then YZ even interrupts, to instruct me to collect the application form from some Pinoy lady. But my face remains stuck at Stubborn Red.

H: "Anyway I see you working a lot too, so what's your name?"
HE ASKED MY NAME!
K: "Oh.. It's Ain.. What's yours?"
H: "Barak.."
K: bimbo-ly "Oh, like in Obama?"
And he laughed and we talked about the elections for awhile. Then he got his drink and as he left, he smiled at me and said, "Bye Ain!"

WOOHOO!!!

Okay whatever Ain, maybe he was just being friendly. Kau giler Ain. You're just asking for one tight slap.

Next, Chris and I were bored, so we trawled the club circuit [on bike]. There was nothing much, it being a Wednesday with no MOS and all. So we walked around instead. It was so sad, walking past my beloved MOS and reading the sign "MOS has left the building". Almost cried, I did. We bought some drinks and sat by the steps to the river in front of the The Central and talked. After that, we went to Mac's for hashbrowns and more drinks.

The moment we sat down, heads turned. Then this Shermeen-like girl came up to us, armed with a handphone, "Sorry.. My friend want your number.." So I asked, Chris or mine? And the girl said mine. So I obliged. Told her my name's Nora, which I've been wanting to do like, in forever. Two mats sitting on the other side shouted to "Shermeen"'s gang, "Eh, cermin mata! Cermin mata!" referring to Chris, I suppose.

Next, the mats, seeing the helmets, asked for a lift or some shit la. Then they did that phone-call signal and I said, "Datang sini ah!" One of them obliged, but close to, I realised that he has funny girly eyes. Haha. But since dier dah mintak, we just gave him our numbers. Again, I was Nora. Haha. It was funny, him calling me Nora.

Lastly, we were walking to the carpark and there were two mats crossing the road to the same carpark. One short one cute. We all happened to reach the carpark at the same time, and Short Mat stared at me as I walked to Baby. So I gave him a friendly smile. And he immediately said to his friend, and the entire carpark at large, "Eh kau balik sorang ah, aku tumpang dier.." Haha. Cute Mat was riding this orange Gilera Chris had admired earlier. So I told her, why don't we switch? Haha. There were two drunk losers at the carpark entrance, and we were fussing about them, so Cute Mat said to me, "Kau langgar satu, aku langgar satu.." While Short Mat said, "Bawak pelan-pelan eh.."

We left. But not quickly enough to miss the altercation between the two mats and the drunk losers. I was so worried, I turned back but they were gone by then. I hope you're okay, Cute Mat!

Lord that was long. Okay bye!

Night Safari

Shups, Kent, Shermeen and I went to Night Safari for the last night of their Halloween Horrors promo. To save money, we opted for the walkabout tickets. Barely five minutes into the first trail, we were accosted by a Chinese vampire, a tree-zombie, and a Poison Ivy who came this close to me, and glared at me as I screamed fitfully for all to hear.

THEN, best part! We stopped at a trail marked "Tiger", and contemplated entering it, when an Indian man dressed in black stepped out of the shadows and said in his deep voice, "Yah, the tiger is this way.." I jumped backwards, out of my skin, screaming bloody murder! I had NO idea he was there, no idea at all! And meaning no disrespect, of course, since korang tahu that dulu aku suka Siva and all. You can't accuse me of being racist. I just say it like it is.

After that we trudged around, checking out the animals. My favourites were the Indian Porcupine--adorable spikes!!!--and the show-offy lion.

Spent the rest of the night at store, alternately helping out with Xmas setup and talking to Khai, Tasha and Wawan. It was super-duper fun. But now I'm sleepy, so nites!

p.s. Ohyeah forgot to mention, we took a photo with Sala [Din] the Vampire. He looked quite dashing, I didn't even recognise him at first! Haha.

Too sleepy to function

I'm soooo tired. I haven't had enough sleep for too many days, to function properly. Saturday I went to pick up Baby from Kelvin's, and then it was the Raffles Raya thingy at The Legends at Fort Canning, followed by Wan's old classmate's wedding dinner at the Shangri-La, which, by the way, rocks. I ADORE the toilets. ADORE. And the lovely jazz music floating down to the lobby. KILL ME NOW.

After that kita sempat watch a movie, at GV Gold Class at Great World. Max Payne. I fell asleep reluctantly, thanks to the comfy recliner and cosy blanket. HATED the movie, no offence. But loves the theatre. I should so totally watch the next Harry Potter there.

And yesterday after work I chaperoned Chris to some dude's house in Woodlands/Admiralty. I was so bored to death though. I understand if the dude tanak layan aku, since I'm just Christina's friend, but he hardly talked to her! He spent all his time watching TV, smoking, and/or playing guitar and singing in the darkened kitchen with the other guys. BO-RING. I nearly committed suicide. Tapi when we left, he was all messaging her, saying he wished she could stay. What the hell. Look dude, I understand if you're shy or whatever, and maybe you didn't want to make conversation with her in front of all your friends. BUT. You could have asked her outside, in the corridor, for a smoke, and talked then, in full privacy! Mengapa bodoh sangat? Chris, DUMP HIM!

We ditched Boring Dude for Danial, who was living in the same estate, coincidentally. He was with Rizal, who stays in Woodlands too. And yes, it turns out Danial was pissed drunk that night, he couldn't remember a single detail of our meeting that night. Rizal remembered though, so that's one for my credibility.

Okay, aku dah ngantuk giler bebeh, so nites!

I am a spoilt brat

I am a spoiled brat. I have been spoilt by Baby. I've owned private transportation for close to two years, so when that privilege was taken away from me, I simply refused to succumb to public transport! Today Mat very kindly gave me a lift to work, while Wan sent me home, HAHA.

Work was such a bitch today somehow. I think cos I was sleepy from last night. BAH. And tak cukup tido and everything. Eh but even though I pride myself on being independent, riding alone, and being responsible for my own life and stuff, it's fun to be the pillion sometimes. Espesh if you're on a big bike.

Wan's Z1000 is super-comfy. And I could lean over and read off the speedo anytime. 110, 120, 130.. Sejuk nak mampos, and my S-size helmet was rattling all over the place.

We watched HSM3 because Saw V wasn't available at a convenient time. Damn. But I think we should watch Saw V next time. Yey. Then he took me on a tour of the already-closed-for-the-night Dempsey Hill, and sent me home! Thanks Wan! Now I know why pillion girlfriends sometimes look so kerek even though they're not the ones riding the bike. HAHA.

Okay, it's another big day tomorrow. The days are just packed, as the Calvin & Hobbes comic goes.

Up to my old tricks again

Yesterday night I was bringing Baby down before closing when I realised the rear brake freeplay was waaaay too much. So I checked it, and guess what? The lever was disconnected from the brake pump! I nearly died of shock. I gave Mat a ring, and he came down, but there was nothing much he could do for me. So I have to get it towed later this morning.

Which, SO buang duit!

Well the point of that story is to say that I drove to the store meeting just now. Because once you get used to having private transportation, you just can't turn back. So I drove to LT, with minimal mishaps, Alhamdulillah. I only parked at spaces free of cars. HAHA.

And after the store meeting, Chris and I went to Double O! Yay! Thank God ada car cos anyway it was raining all night. Tak cool naik motor. Haha. It was okay inside, but pretty hot even though I wasn't wearing baju-baju panas. Less manjens than the last time though, nasib baik. There was that girl who stripped down to her bra again. Okay look, actually I don't have a problem with her lounging around in her lingerie. Even though badan dier tak perfect and whatever. It's just, number one, tak payah lah nak stare at semua orang macam kita ni buat salah, and kau sorang hebat in this world! And number two, make up your mind already! One moment your t-shirt's on, next moment it's off, and then it's on again. I mean, just make a choice, what's wrong with that? Nak bukak, bukak je lah, campak t-shirt tu dalam locker! Nanti sampai rumah boleh sarungkan balik. I don't have a problem with that. But her frequent Superman imitations is what annoys me la, basically.

Yup. That was one angsty paragraph right there.

Next, there was this guy, KIV-cute [KIV cos it was dark, of course, and I didn't wanna make any hasty conclusions], who really gave me the shock of my life when he put his hands around my waist--one on my stomach and one on my back--then maneuvered himself around me, stood facing me, gave me a Look I could only construe as weird, and walked away. Chris and I were both like, Giler ke lelaki ni? Later, he reappeared and "maneuvered" himself around Chris by poking her at the sides of her waist. So I decided it was time to take action. Kalau dier boleh raba-raba kita, kita boleh raba-raba dia balik. I said to Chris, "Okay next time he comes here, I'm gonna do this to him," and I demonstrated accordingly. And you know me. I didn't hesitate, when he came back, I just did it! Then I quickly signalled Chris to walk away, and I practically ran from there! BUT. The idiot macam grabbed my hand! And started dancing with me! So I humoured him for awhile. It was funny. Chris said his reaction was really funny. OMG. That was giler fun. Last time I did that.. Okay let's not go there.

After everything was over, baru I bumped into Ali. He was weird as usual. But it was fun. Ali left when I said I wasn't gonna send him home though. Haha. Then there was this semi-cute, but young, mat at the fountain who walked around with his t-shirt up, and who said bye to us before he left. When I drove out, Chris found him at the other fountain. So we stopped for awhile but guess what? He asked for a lift home! OMG. Kau tak that cute lah lelaki. Am I a taxi driver? Which was, by the way, the exact question I asked him. You can't use me like that, lelaki. I may be dumb sometimes but I'm not that dumb.

Yeah that was my night.

The meeting was fun, although kaki aku semut-semut right now. I'm so touched by the Christmas messages I got from Nat and Juju. I wasn't expecting either one, to be honest. But it's nice to know that although Nat and I don't hang out together much anymore, we can still click like old times.

Dah, saya ngantuk, nights!

Are you a true friend or not?

YESSSS!!! I can blog here once more! Freedom is mine, my friends. And nothing will take it away from me again.

Last night Hanom, Atikk and I popped over to Dayah's for a Raya visit. Atikk drove. Totally fun, cos we spent most of the time laughing at Sofaz fans who were watching their televised performance or whatever. Later I went KTV-ing AGAIN with Wan and Yazid. Totally fun, as usual. Yazid is so generous, he always pays. But that is NOT why I always hang out with them, thanks.

It's so funny how people can change.

Hey, pop quiz: Would you make friends with someone who actually used one of your close friends as a sex object? Well, personally, I wouldn't. But you know, it's a personal choice. Maybe it was just a normal friend who was used, so it doesn't matter, right? Maybe the friend was asking for it, so it's not that someone's fault, is it?

I've been surrounding myself with friends these few days, the same way I surrounded myself with friends last year. And on Friday night I channelled Tasha, and chatted up this "cute" customer at the Esprit steps, on Rose's behalf. With Christina's help, of course. It's been lots of fun, really.

Juju got a KR! He gave me a ring yesterday when he couldn't start his bike. It's black with red accents. Nice! We should totally take a photo soon, once I've washed Baby. HAHA. I'm so happy for him, and so glad I have a new KR friend.

Talking to Mat on the phone now. Dredging up the past is so painful, isn't it? That's why I usually blog about the good things, hardly the bad.

Khai's 20th.

Wednesday was Khai's birthday so we went to Fish & Co at PP for break fast. I had the NY Fish & Chips, of course, only because I'd been fantasizing about it for the past 846294 weeks. And Khai tried the Mussels Penne.

I asked them about birthday promotions and Khai got a scoop of vanilla ice-cream, plus a mortifyingly embarrassing birthday rap. Ohwell, it would have been more embarrassing if the rest of the restaurant hadn't joined in.

I adore the decor. No leceh tablecloths, and red cushiony sofas with little square and bolster-like cushions.

We watched Mirrors that night. I spooked myself out for most of the movie, then at the end I was wondering why I wasn't surprised at the purported surprise ending. As I read the credits rolling down the screen, I realised that it was adapted from the Korean flick Into The Mirror, which I watched with my mom years ago. Patutlah macam kenal gitu!

Then yesterday we got the car, so we went to Evertop, haha! Finally I got to tambah the nasi. Yay. Hajat tercapai. After that we had absolutely no idea where to go. So we just sorta buang minyak for the rest of the night before going to Budget Terminal to receive my Perth relatives. Let me tell you something, Budget Terminal is so dead and boring and budget, I wanted to die.

Okay. Tired. Nites.

Chicken rice

I had a date with Naz yesterday. We went to buka Hainanese chicken rice at Clementi. WTH, the HDB carpark is gantry-controlled! Mampos. The chicken rice is terrific. I avoided the sambal, because I avoid all sambals that don't come from my home. Until Naz told me to just try it. By that time I had only a few grains of rice left. OMG the sambal was sedap gilssss! I was so annoyed at myself for not trying it earlier. I wasted all the earlier rice by not eating it with the sambal, and now it's too late. And I'm still bitter over it. Haha.

After that I actually rode to Bishan, without getting lost! I am such a genius I swear. I haven't been to Bishan in only five years, you know. I'm made to become a taxi driver or something. Okay no, my driving sucks. Well a bike-taxi then, like they have in Bangkok.

You know what? The more I eat during sahur, the hungrier I feel when I wake up in the afternoon. BODOH.

And tomorrow I have a hot date with the BRE girls, I can't wait!

Geylang bazaar

Hanom and I did the Geylang bazaar today. We buka-ed at Beach Road like we did last year, and Hanom got frustrated at the drinks stall again. Next time, we'll order from another stall okay? Anyways.. Dinner was alright, but I'll order something more exciting next time..

The bazaar seems to sell an even greater variety of things this year! Pocketbikes, tie-wraps, coloured contacts and kiddy-themed playing cards, of which we bought two each. I got the Disney princesses and Pixar's Cars. I wish I could get a pocketbike to match Baby, but it's macam redundant, especially since I don't have any form of technical expertise whatsoever.

We had the famous putu piring from Banquet, haha. There's such an array of food there, it's hard to pick just one! Or two. Or three. I also bought six cupcakes and a fat cheesy hotdog. I also got my Hari Raya cards, yey!

I wanna go back soon cos I wanna try out the rest of the array of food that I missed. Kebab, Ramly, satay burger, and you char kueh! But actually there's three Ramly burgers sitting on the kitchen counter, I'll prolly have one later, haha!

Ramadhan is the best month of all, bar none!

There is such a thing as being too honest.

Yesterday was supposed to be my movie date with Naz, Chris and Evonne. But we ended up KTV-ing at Ming Arcade. Haha. It was fun, cos Evonne would sing cute-ly while Christina would whisper, and yeah it was hilarious.

Before that we were with Naz and her family outside store and she was telling Yana [her sister-in-law] that Chris and I are in love with Abang [the older twin]. NOT TRUE! Well, not true anymore, anyway. I don't find him cute anymore. Not after the night outside A&E when both twins were blasting songs from their handphones.

Anyway after that, Naz left us for Addynna as usual. So the three of us remaining dropped by OPH and we ended up spending the rest of the night there, watching the Kupu-Kupu Malam walk by, and telling our stories. It was most illuminating for most of us, I'm sure.

4BIA

Khai and I watched 4BIA yesterday with my two free GV tickets. Hehe. It's fucking scary, is what it is. The first story consists of one word of spoken dialogue, and it will make you never want to respond to unknown numbers messaging you, "Hi boleh berkenalan?" again. The second one was just plain gory. The third one is hilarious. Like, really funny jokes and stuff. Consists of four cute Thai guys. But in the midst of the hilarity, it's super scary.

By the third one, I was closing my eyes except for daytime scenes, or to read the subtitles.

Also, I finally found Victoria Jomo and I got an adorable necklace featuring a guy riding a bike with a sidecar. Too cute! I wanted to get the lunchbox but I couldn't afford it, sedih.

I'm a bitch

Today was my second and final visit to CBTL for at least a month, since Ramadhan is fast approaching. I had a Banana Chocolate Ice Blended this time, but I prefer Malibu Dream any day. It was an even more gorgeous day than the last one, and I finished my book all too soon. I lingered for a while, starting the book from the top, but then this matrip-minahrep couple came along, sat at the other end, and started smoking. I turned to glare at them and the minah glared right back at me. So I got annoyed [and infinitesimally afraid], packed up, and left, but not without informing the barista that "there's a couple outside smoking".

Obviously, having been in the same position before, I know that whatever I said might not have had any effect at all. But it's nice to know I tried.

I told Dayah this little anecdote when I met her later, and she exclaimed without preamble, "You're a bitch!"

Haha. And proud of it, babe.

Fuel prices drop!

I'm so happy, 98 is back to less than two bucks a litre! I've giddily skipped back to 98, and to celebrate, I bought one of those adorable Coca-Cola miniature collectibles. Hehe! It's too cute! I had to get it.

I am, by the way, exhausted beyond belief. It was a slow day at work, but I guess the pressure of being there to guide all the attachment partners got to me. I kinda scampered around doing everything, afraid to tell them what to do, and afraid they'd do it wrong. And maybe the all-day-rain made my tulang reput or something.

YZ gave me short shifts for the rest of the week. There's no way I'll be able to match last month's pay now. =(

Remember Me?

I finally got a chance to pop over to CBTL-DTE for some luxurious reading time. I bought Remember Me? the other day and I haven't allowed myself to read it since, cos I was saving it for CBTL. Lame, I know, but it's a different experience reading it under the sun with a Malibu Dream next to you, as opposed to on your messy bed in your cramped room.

Well, it was my first time, and let me tell you, it was great. It's a nice view, plus it was a beautiful day, so I just sat in a corner and got lost in Lexi Smart's life. Reading: the original hobby.

I haven't finished the book yet, because Khai showed up, but it's cool, I'll save it for my next session. Yey!

Baju Raya!!!

Khai and I went to Geylang today. To hunt a baju raya for me. My mom told me to get a ready-made, but no First Lady for me, thanks. I didn't even step into that overhyped place. [I did love First Lady once. But it's become too common, I guess.] We went to the second floor and walked around.

There was this late-twenties mat who was with his family at one of the shops and he just kept staring at Khai and I as we walked past. Khai was all ready to beat him up. BOYS.

Anyways.

I actually made my rounds twice. Tried on this lace-kimono-cut thing which cost $200 and made me look fatter than I really am. SAD. So I went back to Yasmin and got myself fitted for a baju kurung for one dollar less. Hehe. That's actually $49 more than the amount my mom allocated to me. PLUS, it's not ready-made, haha. But it's exciting, it's modest, and I hope it turns out great.

The lady asked me if I was making the baju alone, i.e. wasn't Khai getting one too? But Khai will be spending most of Syawal in Australia, AGAIN. So we won't get to spend Raya together, AGAIN. So, no point getting matching outfits.

However, we do have outfits that happen to match, so I'm trying to convince him to go out with me for a couple of hours, pretend we're going jalan raya, but actually not. Haha. Yes aku giler I know.

We had lunch at Delifrance BV, because we just HAD to get out of the infested place that was Geylang Serai, and then dessert at Ice Cream Chefs, finally! It's such a nice, cosy place. Loves it! We are so going back, espesh since we now know they have free private parking.

And I just got back from Shafa's place, MAN is it far away or what? But it was a nice looooooooooong ride back la. I just forgot how far away that part of Singapore is. My right foot almost got semut-semut due to lack of movement for so long. Clear roads all the way back home. Gorgeous.

DblO

Yesterday I borrowed the car again and we hit DblO. Haha. It was my third consecutive week, how embarrassing, I hope the bouncers don't remember me or anything like that.

We = Khai, Shafa, Fir, An, Gegerl, Arep, and two of An's friends from CD or whatever.

Yes I still don't know his girlfriend's name.

Bumped into Zeek outside. Hehe. Apparently he told Shafa he prefers to be called "Zali". Well, remind me to ask Nat his real name.

It was fun, but some of us were tired, and somehow, last night was more crowded than usual. And the guys outnumbered the girls by so many! Incredible.

We were gonna go for supper, but no one was hungry cos we'd drunk so many Big Gulps. So we sent Shafa and Fir home.

Loves having the car, but it's so leceh parking and stuff.

Updates!

It's been a great weekend cos my pay was more than expected. Insya-Allah I'll be able to pay off next year's insurance, inspection and road tax comfortably.

In the meantime, I got Sophie Kinsella's latest, plus a new pair of jellies from River Island, plus four new Topshop undies yey!

We've been eating lots, too. Delifrance at Bugis Village is a really nice place.

I was looking for Peepshow at HMV but I didn't find it. Well, maybe it'll be at the Heeren one. Next month.

Matrip.

94275064.

Busy busy busy bee.

I've been working almost every day except weekends, and it's been fun.

Chevrons

Camaraderie: friendship and thrust within people. - from a real-life comprehension exercise

Wrong in so many ways.

Anyway I had my chalet for the past 60 hours. It was great! Thanks for coming, the invited!

Thanks to Dan for doing most of the BBQing.
Thanks to Hanom and Yoyo [a.k.a. JoJo] for buying snacks no one ate. Haha.
Thanks to A'an and guest for bringing cards.
Thanks to Baba for updating me on informasi terkini, and Hirman for coming along.
Thanks to Atikk for the Bau-Eh song in fifteen different genres.
And thanks to Dayah for the marshmallows.

Thanks to my beloved for ikuting my every perintah while I basically sat around like a princess.

Hope you all had as much fun as I did! It was fantastico! [A far cry from my two previous chalets.] We have to do it again next year, insya-Allah.

The Chevrons is a great place to have a nice, private chalet. The only problem is the non-view. But everything else is perfect. Free aircon, free phone calls, free parking, free mosquito coils! Gorgeous pool, sheltered pit! Too bad there was a Chinese wedding reception next door, which meant Ah-Lians squealing outside and drinking.

Okay, I'm off! We extended the car rental another day. Hehe! But now we have nowhere to go.

"The night is darkest just before the dawn"

Yesterday I was one of the first few people in Pasir Ris to legally watch The Dark Knight. It was great! Intense and dark and painful, etc. The scars on Joker's face are eeewww. And he never told the real story behind the scars. Just many different versions. Oh, it's a really long movie, by the way. At least two hours long. So be prepared.

We tried the fare at the cafe and it's not bad. They're generous with the amount of cheese given, and the cheese is yummy too!

Plus I learnt that XL is not my popcorn size.

nEbO

I am now a nEbO member, totals!!! You know what it means, mostly? $6 movie tickets on weekdays, $8 on weekends! Okay, so I already have $6 movie tickets on all weekdays, but whatever, I'll save $2.50 per ticket on weekends! Hebattt!

We caught Hellboy 2: The Golden Army the other day. Fantastico! I didn't watch the first one, actually. But whatever I caught that day was great! Ohyeah we also watched Hancock, which was alright ajer cos I don't like the ending. Haha. I think they should have ended up together. Plus, I don't get why she dresses so trampy-hot just to go meet Hancock. ???

I'm becoming a regular at Coffee Bean E!Hub! Haha. Thank God we don't get fired for disloyalty. Sorry, my employer company, but their cakes are waaaay better, at a lower price too! Today it was the warm chocolate cake which was all that and more. Yummmm. But my all-time favourite is still the Homestyle Carrot Cake. Khai doesn't like it though, he can taste the cinnamon in it. I *heart* cinnamon. Anyway we're gonna try out all the cakes and decide which tastes best. Haha! Aku giler, and I'm so gonna meletup of fatness from my new alliance with CBTL.

Ohyes today was Commencement but it didn't start out so great because I didn't have breakfast, and you know I can't live without breakfast. When I finally approached the buffet, I only had a piece of cake and two breaded prawns. :P Bings. But it was great catching up with the rest of the Chem peeps again. Yes, Nat and I are in the minority, the rest are all guys!

Anyways. Yea that's it. Aku lapar. Goodbye.

Life's like that

Hanom and I met up with Dodol today. He is STILL the same! We had dinner at ZamZam, where Dodol and I had to finish half of Hanom's yummy murtabak. Then chilled at SB-BG.

Going out with Dodol reminds me of simpler times, days when I had nothing better to do than to while away my hours at BC, watching Alfie work. Nights lepaking at Starbuckses and the bazaar at Geylang. Going out at the drop of a hat.

Well, it was fun. But life's not like that anymore. Not for me.

Today I parked at Kampong Glam Cafe as usual and, like before, the pakciks were making lots of unwelcome noise at me. I ignored them. I hate them. They should sadar diri a bit.

LC workshop

Yesterday's LC workshop started off disastrously but turned out to be great. Juju and I did a coffee tasting of French Roast with caramel creams! WTH. Thank God no one was mean enough to jump up and scream, "You frauds! WHO does coffee tasting with sweets?"

Anyway, the thing is, I bumped into Mai!!! You remember Mai. Short, big eyes, cartoon voice? I had no idea she was a partner, and she's 23 months to my 21 months! I was wondering whether or not to tegur her at first, cos she didn't tegur me, but after a while we ended up in the same group so I nudged her and said, "I didn't know you were a partner!" and she was like, "But I told you that time what.."

Okay, maybe she did tell me, that time she was at my store with her friends. But I don't remember or something. Entah. Anyway, she's exactly the same but tembamer and she got rid of the Ben Adams hairstyle, thankfully. Haha. And she had to craziest funniest comments throughout the session.

The other people were nice too. Yep that was fun.

Siva!

I'm soooooooooo tired. I sliced my thumb on the clingfilm cutter just now, it was a crazy crowd from 9-1030! Please kill me! Kill me! Even after I turned off the lights, people still attempted to order drinks from me!

Oh but guess what. Across the road, at International Building, TCC is opening, and it's 24 hours! So I'm sure the crowd will naturally filter there. Then again, that site has undergone quite a few tenancy changes in the past 1.5 years I've been working in the area. So maybe it won't last. Well. Time will tell.

The true reason I'm blogging is because I bumped into Siva at work! Haha. I was sooooo surprised. He was with this non-RJ Malay guy, sitting outside, NOT smoking, thank God. Way too many people smoke these days. Anyway it was cool. He very nicely dropped back inside to say bye too. I remember bumping into him when I was working at Swensen's last time. What are the odds. So. It was funnay.

Updates

The family chalet was nice.

I booked the most private room, with a queen-size bed and its own balcony, on the second floor. Not that anyone else really wanted an upstairs room.

On the second and third day I managed to drag Khai along, so we cycled tandem on the second day, and went swimming [I used a float], Jacuzzi-ing and cycling [non-tandem] on the third day. Dayah came by on the second night, picked up Rayyan, and refused to put him down. While Hanom and Yoyo came on the third night for lontong [yums!] and Connect Four in my room.

Yey!

I'm so tired. Work is so tiring. I've never ever ended a shift feeling energised. Is all work like this?

Oh Dodol called me last night. Haha. I miss him. We should totally go out some time.

Shoutout to Ahmad and Amy [who were both wearing pink] who dropped by store just now. Sorry couldn't spend quality time with korang. Haha.

More where they came from

Woohoo!

 

Photos courtesy of Riszuan. Dayah's interested in the dude next to her. Haha!

The last remaining KR girls

WOOO!

Today I had a photoshoot with a bunch of other Kawasaki bikes at Labrador. At the same time, my beloved Khai was also around, less than 100 m away, so it was cool.

Dayah and I were the smallest bikes there, and together we formed about 67% of the female riders there too. Sedih. Anyways, takper. It was cool. And fun. Like when the photographer said, "Can the girls stand closer? Without looking like lesbians.." which just made me crack up and lose all focus. Haha.

Riszuan got some nice shots, because mostly he didn't pose for photographs, but I'm still waiting for him to send them to me, so I just have a few right now.

Labrador is still gorgeous, by the way. I will never forget the night Sean took me there, on my birthday. And it's beautiful every time I go back. Day or night.

There was this adorable little boy on a pedal-less bicycle. To help him balance, said his father. SO CUTE. He doesn't talk a lot, but he's still cute. Such a looker. At 2.5 years old. When he kept hovering around us, I asked him, "You want to sit on the bike?" and he quietly put his bicycle down and went up to Dayah, who was sitting on her bike. So she gamely picked him up and sat him on the fuel tank. He was so fascinated. SO ADORABLE, I could have died that minute.

Omg the other day I went blading with Khai. It was my first time and I just kept falling all over the place! I wanted to die of frustration and pain. The last stretch, when we were going back to return the skates, I fell HARD on my butt twice! There's a gargantuan bruise there. Yowch.

Also, another photo of Rayyan.

Dil giler!

Dil organised a Chem outing, and Nat and I were both excited. We arrived at Arab Street at about the same time, expecting to see the usual suspects, Amy, Shah and Ahmad.

WE WERE WRONG.

It was the other Chem clan! Saad, Khairil, Azlan, and of course Alfian and Fizaa. Haha. So funny! Anyways we hung out at Amirah's Grill at the other end of Arab Street [that's what I call it, figure it out yourself] in one of the Cosy Corners or whatever it's called, and ate, KTVed without mikes and watched music videos, some of which were highly international.

Some of us sheesha-ed. And got high. Bahaha.

SO FUN! We gots to do it again!

Life after exams

I've been working for the past three days, it's like.. indescribable. No, I mean, before I get to work, I feel so reluctant to wake up, shower, and get my ass to work. But once I'm there, everything seems to fall into place, and it becomes quite fun in the end. Then I'm reluctant to go home after work. Vicious cycle, that one.

I've been having stupid dreams involving people and things I DON'T wish to be thinking about, let alone dreaming about. But I have no idea why they creep into my dreams anyway.

Yesterday I popped by the Lime Flea Market especially to look for AGL. I adore AGL. Loves their clothes. There were quite a few things I wanted to buy, but you know, tight budget, so I got a nice kimono top, and also a translucent top from another stall. Kesian guys at flea markets, there's not really ANYTHING for them to look at. Guys' things just don't appear at flea markets somehow.

Attachment at Wisma just now. Attachments get me nervous because I don't know most of the people there. I'm shy, remember? No one believes that, of course. But it was relatively okay. It wasn't crazy busy, but even though it's fully air-conditioned, I found myself sweating a fair few times. BODOH. But quite fun la, there are some nice people there and at least I had Zain as well.

Today I happily horned at some light gold Cefiro that cut into my lane. Wahhaaaa!

Feeling hothothot

It was another of those terik-ly hot days, so we impromptu-ly decided to go to Wild Wild Wet. I KNOW, right? I haven't been there in only two to three years.

But it was fun. We went on all the rides except the stupid bicycle thing, and I skipped the purple/yellow slides cos I hate falling ungraciously into the water and swallowing copious amounts of it in the process. But we went on everything else at least twice, it was really cool. Hot sun and cool water really are a good match.

Funfunfun! And I can't wait to play board games at nEBo soon!

Sayang MadMike!

Okay, Changi Exhibition Centre is like, the most gorgeous place in Singapore.

Riding there, I was stunned at the clear unobstructed view of the laut and Pulau Tekong; the straight road that stretched endlessly; the trees that lined both sides. I felt like I'd been transported out of Singapore back to Perth because the colours were just different. Well, except for the fact that I was sweating crazily, of course.

I was still sick from the Seram Sejuk Virus, so I didn't really have a good time of it. But it was so bloody cool, I have to say. The crowd [and my] favourite was MadMike, who was driving a really hot white RX-7. He's from New Zealand and when I watched the last few drifts I realised how he got his name.

He was, by far, the only driver who consistently tried to cut off the leading driver. And he must have succeeded some three out of five times? The last few times were crazily dangerous. He langgared the other car, causing it to damage its parts, and consequently forfeit the second run. So yes, he's Mad.

But he's also like bloody cool, and I don't care if he's mad, he should have won. Haha. He's also one of the cutest drivers on the track! All that blond hair! Adorable!

There's a nice one of his ride. Anyways I don't have any great drifting action captured, because I didn't bring any hebat camera other than my phone, so too bad!

Seram Sejuk Virus

In slightly more than 12 hours, I'll be parking my bike at Changi and parking my ass at the grandstand seats to watch Formula Drift! *excited giler babi*

Unfortch, here to rain on my parade is the Seram Sejuk Virus, which, as its name suggests, gives me chills and aches and stupid nightmares for e.g. someone breaking my lock down at True Yoga. Side effects include scarily painful jolts, when I stretch my neck to the left or accidentally knead the right side of my neck.

But NOTHING will keep me away from CEC! Just watch me.

I love The Sims

That's my new nephew, if you haven't already guessed. Maybe I'm not experienced with kids or whatever, but he doesn't seem to cry a lot. Or maybe I'm just deaf. Entah! Haha.

How's studying going? Mine's progressing very very slowly. I might be ready for exams in about a month. Unfortch, I don't have the luxury of a month, do I?

Today I wasted half the day watching TV, eating and playing The Sims 2 Pets on PSP. My very-cooperative boyfriend lent the PSP to me, because aku kemaruk Sims. I love them! I used to waste my life playing The Sims back when the PC was working, and I'd even tahan kencing so as to be able to continue playing without pausing the game. Hehe. It's so bloody addictive, I have no idea why.

Now I wish I was going public again, so I can spend more time playing on buses/trains.

I've been missing loads of Boxing, I sincerely believe I'm going to die when I finally drag my ass back there.

Saturday as usual

Reopening of the store today. It was busy, but that wasn't the problem. There were lots of jams around the bar/frap/handoff area. It really didn't matter if you were fat or thin, because you'd still get in each other's way. Aircon decided to break down around ten-ish, and the steam wand sensors both happily broke down too!

A couple of cakes were given to inconsiderate people. I will never be satisfied by such people's usage and abuse of other people's kindness.

Essential Dance was great! I wish she hadn't changed the song, though. I liked the J.Lo better, plus it was half a beat slower.

It's a boy!

I am officially an aunt now, thank you very much. His name is Md Ryan Ma(r)tin, however you spell it. White like a cheena! Haha. Very cute, like most babies are. Photos soon, but just a short update in case people e.g. Shafa think I'm dead.

Tomorrow never comes until it's too late.

Today I hung out with the Chem boys [Alfian, Azlan, Naufal] at the Milo truck after lecture and among other topics, we talked about tunang, marriage and the future. It was weird, but fun! Haha.

Oh I watched Step Up 2 The Streets the other night, did I mention? It's fantastico. And I can't wait till Cathay DE opens so I don't have to travel so far just to watch a movie. Well, technically I don't travel to watch the movie, I'm usually already there, but STILL. At least I won't have to travel home. Cos I'd be home! Practically. 

No more lab reports for the week so I'm FREE on Sunday! I think I'll book a class. Yey!

Oooh ooh. Okay I love love love the HK cafe at Simpang Bedok! It's hebat! I'm not generally a fan of HK food or anything, but really really the food and prices rock. The service is great, and they have two TVs, with TV3, no less! They play Warna or Ria, I can't remember, and they have a packet of tissues for your use, as well as free-flow chilli padi and chilli jeruk and whatever chilli you can think of. We started off with a bowl of noodles each and ended up ordering one side after another just because it was all so goooooooooood.

I can't wait to go back, I really can't.

You'll be at my graveside

We had another gamelan test today, and I happily finished first cos anyway Atikk's crush was sitting next to me, so distracting. I had to get out of there. After that I went to check out the KR thread after 83749824 years of signing up, haha! I was basically looking for more evidence, which I eventually found.

Anyways. After that I went to CDC for circuit revision. It was SO BAD because it just wouldn't stop raining! And omg Bahawdin loves to kacau me! When he came in [I'd seen him outside earlier with some road training people], he claimed that the way aku bawak motor is scary. He further accused me of blow-blowing, and making eyes at him! I DIED. Then he told Raime, and Raime was like, "Wah, really ah? Your KR what colour?" in front of SEMUA ORANG! Sungguh embarrassing. And this Bahawdin just wouldn't let it go, he continued to torment me until he finally had to take a lesson.

I felt like I was in primary school all over again.

PLUS, it rained like nobody's business! I have found out that my beloved Aeroblade [which all the instructors have, hehe!] is not infallible after all. Sedih. My matching red-and-white Vans were soaked to the core. They became 1.5 times as heavy by the time I got home. The E-brake area was a paddy field, and the first few times I just bypassed the bumpy course altogether. But Alhamdulillah, I did not fall. I came close though.

And BP asked me, "What bike you ride? Oh KR ah? Wah so fierce! Then ride KR how come scared to go bumpy course?" HAHA. He's so cute.

I SO wanted to go for a class today but the rain and all.. I mean, why risk my life to lose maybe 30 grams? Haha. So I stayed home and slept. Tomorrow I'll be going. Yey! I know this costs me a hundred and fifty buckeroos each month, but it's SO FUN! My body's already aching gloriously from yesterday's boxing. MORE PLEASE!

Until the break of dawn

Today it was raining like balls again. But I rushed to store anyway, cos I had this stupid theory that it might get heavier [it didn't]. I also thought I'd be relatively dry in full raingear. I was wrong. Along Commonwealth or thereabouts, I was in the second lane going pretty slowly behind a Z4. There was another car next to me in the first lane. SUDDENLY, I got splashed BIG-TIME by the car next to me!

I'm not talking the kiddy-splash around your legs there, this one splashed me right in my face [well, the visor anyway], and my whole entire body got drenched. I was blinded for a full second because I couldn't see through the water splashed on my visor. I am a slow-reacter, so when I could see again, I screamed. EEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Of course, no one could hear me. I prolly looked crazy, with my mouth wide open aje. The driver of the car macam, glanced at me worriedly, prolly thinking I was gonna blame him, but I understand that he didn't know about the enormity of that puddle. Anyways he wasn't even speeding, we were going at the same speed. So. It's okay, Uncle!

Also, really glad I wasn't following the Beemer too close, cos can you imagine if during that one second of blindness, I'd crashed into him? There'd be hell to pay. Literally.

 

Well. Enough of that. At store, I was doing some work before my class started. It started raining heavily again, so this little boy and his mother and younger brother shared the table with me. I didn't mind, cos the boy [he's six] was so cute, he was asking about my camera necklace [a real talking point, that one], and demonstrating the properties of the strong magnets he was playing with. SO ADORABLE. In between layaning him, I chatted to his mother about Singapore and how they're settling in here.

WHY does my best CDR have to happen when I'm NOT on shift?

 

I went for boxing with Hanom, our first time and OMG, it was murder, murder I tell you! I wanted to run out like halfway through the workout. I felt like I was doing hellish P.E. all over again. But afterwards I felt satisfyingly worn out. Yey! Kalau aku smangat maybe I'll try it again next week. I like May even though she's a sadist. Haha. She said, "Do come regularly so I can torture you again.."

I bought a Ferrari today!

Woohoo! I'm trying out the Windows Live Writer, it looks fun.

 

Anyways I was isi-ing minyak just now, it came up to more than twenty bucks balls! [That's cos I let it run to reserve and stuff, but STILL! I'm totally considering switching to 95 now.] Well there weren't too many people inside, so I took the opportunity to press the "Engine Sound" button on the Ferrari display. And the auntie smiled and said, "You want to buy?" so I said, "I where got pump so much fuel!"

She told me that the guy who went before me qualified for the offer, but dier tanak beli the car, so I could buy it as his privilege. Of course, I said yes! I got myself the 575 GTC for $5.95. So cute! Totally in a good mood, and I didn't have to waste fifty bucks after all!

At work on Friday, there was this man who ordered a brewed coffee from Diana. She was R1 and I was running R2. Aleh-aleh the man shouted, "Yah, I want milk and sugar! Put everything! Everything!" I was a bit spooked out, but I decided that he's just some excited new customer, first time try Starbucks [that's what he said].

Si Diana giler, malas nak layan, just added milk and instructed him, "You walk straight, turn to the right, the sugar is there. Brown sugar, white sugar, Sweet 'N Low, all have."

I wanted to laugh but I was still in shock from his loudhailer voice.

Fifteen minutes later, from a table where he was sitting alone, Loudhailer shouted a collection of prose filled with angry profanities, mostly directed at.. ENTAH? We all stared in shock. But I dunno, being Singaporeans, we ignored him.

Suddenly he shut up and calm prevailed.

But later he started up again! Something about "don't be racist, we all walk side-by-side, fuck you!" if I remember correctly. Zul called in Security while the American dude who was waiting for his coffee commented that he'd never seen such antics in Singapore before. I was like, "Yeah, it's my first time." He laughed and said, "It happens every day in New York!"

Well, I wouldn't survive in New York then. Excuse me for living but I like my peace and quiet.




Oh I was going home that night and I stopped at the traffic light in front of Lido. There was a small Pooh bear lying on the road. So I put the sidestand down, got off, picked it up, and stuffed it into the bubble. It's like having a riding companion. I'm just gonna leave it there. Wonder how long it'll be before it's gone.