The Crease-less Frequent Flyer

Please excuse me for not updating as I was busy trading my pillowcase for a suitcase.

As you might have guessed, a lackadaisical lifestyle never stood a chance against an adrenaline-charged, jetsetting one with me. So in a typical Isabelle fashion, packed 3 pairs of heels, stuffed my Blackberry into my Birkin, and then up and beyond, away I flew to where the market beckons.

For the next few months, I'll be weeviling through the thicket of Bureaucratese to master the legislature and economics of each country, and serving the diplomacy-pie with a smile to anyone who is willing to listen to my spiel.

But for a vain, busy girl like me who is constantly on the go, finding the time to take care of my skin and stay beautiful is one of the hardest, but necessary task.

In my never ending quest to find the right balance between simplicty and perfection for my skincare regime, I chanced upon Hada Labo's Super Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Lotion, a miracle skincare product with a "One drop locks up an ocean" promise.

Hada Labo & the Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion

Hada Labo's Super Hayaluronic Acid Moisturising Line, is one of the hottest skincare product with a cult following in countries like Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The Hydrating Lotion, in particular, is supposedly so popular in Japan that one is sold every 4 seconds!

The star ingredient, Super Hyaluronic acid, has twice the moisture retention capacity of Normal Hyaluronic acid.

It goes on like a toner but with a much thicker consistency, and a slight initial stickiness to it. But worry not, for the lotion gets completely absorbed with no traces of stickiness after I gently pat my face with my palm after application.

While the term "Hayaluronic Acid" conjures up images of skincare for old women with dry skin, the Super Hayaluronic Acid Hydrating Face Lotion by Hada Labo, was absorbed easily into my skin without much of a struggle. My skin feels so well taken care of that I don't even get the 'oily saucepan face' when I wake up in the morning.

In a world where we go for the niftiest gadgets, smallest credit card and all-in-one makeup kits, I found that the Super Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Lotion is the perfect skin hydrating companion when I travel. Just 2 drops is all I need to keep my entire face supple, hydrated and nourished - through the night and in the day!

Being busy and keeping pace with your new lifestyle is not an excuse to neglect your appearance and disregard your usual skincare regime, because life is too short to waste time on being ugly. But you can keep it easy and fuss-free by investing in suitable skincare products.

Till the next time. XOXO.

PS: By the way, the KL Hilton is awesome in an omfg way.

5 Good (and naughty) reasons to vote for me

Yes, I am canvasing for votes again. But before you start rolling your eyes and falling asleep, let me assure you that it pays to read on...

Because Watsons says...

If your favourite candidate(ie. me) wins, you will automatically be entered into a lucky draw. From which you will stand to win attractive product hampers worth up to $50 in value and a $100 Watsons Voucher! The more you vote, the more chances you have.


But hey, I'll give 5 better reasons to vote for me:

• I'll give away my prize of sunsilk haircare items to 2 lucky voters
• I'll get wet for a picture
• I'll smell someone's armpits
• I'll serve Vietnamese coffee in my dominatrix outfit or a pink wig, whichever that floats your boat
• I'll flash my IC photo and leave it on my blog for a week. (It's that sua teng ah huay photo that even some of my ex-boyfriends have never seen)

In fact, if something good comes to your mind, leave me a comment and I might consider expanding the list :p

So help me win the Watsons You Award "Healthy Hair" category by voting for me...and you get to see me do all the above and more!

Moreover, how can you resist it when Valerie practically whore me out on her blog:

"For the Healthy Hair Award, I’ve picked the girl with the blackest, shiniest hair that would make be want to run my fingers through it. My vote goes to Isabelle Neo [A2] because her locks looks like it just came out from a shampoo ad! You know the ad where you put a comb through the hair and it just falls out immediately, I think I could do that with her hair. It looks so soft!"

Why you should look out for Watsons You Awards

Because I am one of the finalists competing to win the Healthy Hair Award.

And because you can help to support me.

Watsons celebrates everyone's the beauty in everyone's uniqueness with You Awards 2009 - For me, I found pride in my crowning glory.

Although I have the habit of saying that I have the messiest hair on earth, my healthy, long tresses defines me as a woman and I stride with greater confidence on good hair days. Being the queen of Vanity town, it is one of those things that you hardly notice when it falls in place, and then fret like hell when its too flat, too greasy or it's too kinky.

Why I want to win this contest

• If I win, you as my voter stand a chance to win attractive prizes such as a $100 Watsons voucher from Watsons
• I want to win the $2,000 to buy air-con for my house (Yes, I do not have air-con in my house)
• You get to see me making silly faces in Watsons brochures with my 1 year modelling contract
• Because I've never won a single contest in my life (Varsity Pageants that I got sabo-ed into doesn't count)
  
• Because I need to know that this works the legitimate way, and I do not have to pay people from China 10 yuan to vote for me 10 times everyday.
• Recession. I can smell a bonus cut hurling in my direction
• Because my hair IS REALLY VERY NICE

And here's how you can help me

Check out my profile under Healthy Hair when you log on to http://www.watsonsyouawards.com.sg/ or you can link directly to my voting profile [HERE]
and VOTE for me!!! Isabelle Neo (A2)

Simply fill in the blanks which include your name, email address, and mobile phone number

Each person can only vote from 1 computer once a day, with 1 email address, so that people like me wouldn't be able to play cheat. The tag your IP address or something, but you can vote intensively everyday for 14 days straight.

SO yea, vote for me. Pretty PLEASE????

Viva Woman Apr Viva Bella Giveaway

Those who know me will know that I am obsessed with having long, thick and fluttery eyelashes. And I will do anything short of getting eyelash extensions, to achieve and maintain the kind of eyelashes that you can do butterfly kisses with.

Of late, I've been obssessed with Eyelash serum, and in the past 2 months, I've made 3 such purchases.
1) LashFix from Watsons
2) Canmake Eye Lash Essence, after its reported overnight growth.
3) Talika from an online spree which I have yet to collect

Now I am on my way to try to win another LashMantra Eyelash serum from ma FAVOURITE BEAUTY BLOGGER, through one of her fabulous giveaways. Visit (here) for more details, and try not to contest for the LashMantra Eye Lash Serum.

I need it for research and review. :P

I mean what else am I going to do with 4 Eyelash serum?

Viva long lash!

M.A.C. Hello Kitty makeup comes to town

Unless you were born before 1950 or if you have a PhD (you are excused from anything if you have a PhD :p), you should have heard or read about the unexpected union between quirky makeup brand, M.A.C. and Hello Kitty, the pink sweetheart with a red bow from Sanrio.

So move aside, Majorlica Majorca, because M.A.C Hello Kitty is in town and is on the prowl! Meow~



Hello Kitty Mild, meet Hello Kitty Wild! Sweet and innocent or out on the prowl: when she's good, she's very good, but when she's bad, she's unmistakably M·A·C!

I had the good fortune of being invited to the M.A.C. Hello Kitty cocktail soiree that celebrated the debut of the adorable collections of colours, finishes, glitters and accessories. The M.A.C. kitty collection features the iconic cat in a pop art design packaging, with limited-edition colour in intense hues that are a signature of M.A.C cosmetics.




Topless men kitties (I was told later that they were known as S&M kitties - complete with leather pants and nipples) were the hors d'oeuvres at the event, as they stood around to take pictures with the celebrity-studded audience.

I simply couldn't give this a miss, could I? Oops, I look a tad too happy.




In between ooh-ahhing over the kitty-oriented cocktails, canapes and accessories that were served, we were bowled over by the huge array of kitty accessories that sprung out of this collection.





Being the beauty junkies that we are, Val and I also had a smashing time dipping our fingers into the limited-edition makeup palettes with quirky names such as Lucky Tom, Too Dolly, and Pink Fish.

While neither Too Dolly nor M.A.C.'s glitter pigments were my cup of tea, considering that I have the type of face that simply cannot wear too much makeup and colours, I was really sold on the Lip Glass.

Unlike some cheapo lip gloss that melts into a "greasy mouth syndrome" (think oily lips after eating oily chicken wings), M.A.C.'s lip glass works like a lip gloss but it sort of dries up to leave a beautiful glaze over your lips, making it look luscious and shiney without that sticky & wet feel that most lip gloss have.

I was given the colour Mimmy, a nubile peach pink with a slight hint of glitter, that is coincidentally so me. Use it on its own for a barely-there oh-I-am-so-beautiful-naturally look, or slick on a nude lipstick shade underneath for a an understated city chic.

You can tell how yummylicious the lip gloss is from the above picture, with me looking as if I was trying to crunch it all up for dinner.



The nice folks at M.A.C also gave us a matching eye colour each.
Isabelle -> Mimmy(the lip glass) and Concrete (the dark brown eye shadow)

Valerie -> Nice Kitty (the lip glass) and Nanogold (the pale golden eye shadow) that works beautifully as a base on Asian skin tones.

I'll be re-creating my own M.A.C Mild kitty look soon. So stay tuned~

Till the next time I blog. Images are a courtesy of Valerie, and here's the link to her blog...just so you know who's the real camwhore here. LOL~

Review on Everyday Minerals

After about 3 months of experimenting with Everyday Minerals (EM), I thought that it's about time that I wrote a review on it. In particular, their Mineral Foundations that are so highly raved.



The reason why I took so long to do this review, was because I had mixed feelings for EM's foundation and face powder.


Me (person on the right) using:
-EM's Foundation Beige-Fairly-Light, in Semi-Matte formula.
-EM's Blush, Pink Ribbon (very glowy light pink. more to light up your face, than for contouring)

The story:
After I started working, I found that L'oreal Liquid foundation proved to be too much of a hassle to apply in the morning. and switched to a powder foundation - something with a higher coverage and oil control properties. The switch proved to be lethal as my previously flawless skin started breaking out in painful, pus-covered welts and pimples (M.A.C studio fix I'm glaring at you again!). In a bid to find some cosmetics to restore the glorious past of my skin, I turned to Mineral Makeup with recommendations from Jessica. After trying out a couple of brands, I've decided that I like the EM's staying power, coverage, texture and colour-match the best, amongst the few Mineral Makeup brands that I've tried.

The EM foundation formulaes that I've tried, in order of my preference are Matte, Semi-Matte and Intensive

Matte My favourite formula. Clean, and silky & smooth finishing with minimal shine, so it looks like a more refined version of your natural skin, with minimal (but visible) glow.
I actually thought that this was one formula that I'd never try, because it sounded boring, dry and best for vampirish ah lians whose skin will crumble into ash and soot the moment daylight hits it. But this formula, IMO is perfect for Singapore's hot, humid weather where almost everyone has combi-oily skin. Just dust a light layer of Lavender Concealer as primer prior to the foundation, and voila, and you are on your way to look like you're born with naturally beautiful skin.

Semi-Matte A close runner up to the Matte formula on my fav list. This is the stuff that you'd want to go for, if you are into that dewy-skin-bursting-with-moisture-and-supple-ness kind of look. As the name suggests, it gives more glow to your skin than the matte formula. It was the perfect formula to use in drier climates, like when I was travelling in Japan.
However, this formula provided the least coverage and is the least lasting, amongst the 3. Personally, I find that my face gets a bit too shiny after a while in Singapore's climate. AGAIN, it's the fault of the tropics.

Intensive My least favourite formula. Oxidizes the most on my skin, to the point that everyone asked me if I had a tan at Communicasia this year, despite being on whitening pills. Though it was supposed to provide a more thorough coverage as compared to the others, it gets streaky the moment I sweat or my facial oils break through. Basically, it gets a little streaky at the end of the day no matte what. And my face always feels a little oilier than it usually does. Worse of all, it gives me those tiny bumps that looks like pimples, but goes away after a few hours of not wearing that foundation.
Me no like any sort of bumps on my face, be it pimple, allergy or boils.

The Good:
For one, I loved the idea of putting on foundations with built-in sunblock properties and that is Super-soft, silky, and, best of all, good for your skin. It was definitely more finely-milled than all the other brands of Mineral Foundations that I've tried (Lumiere, and MAD Minerals), and provides a MUCH more natural coverage than the REvlon and Loreal Mineralized Foundations that you get from the Drugstores in Singapore. Digressing, Mineralize Foundations sounded like a lame brother of the Mineral Foundations.

It also offers a pretty decent coverage, without being thick and cakey - the type that more or less hid minor imperfection by reflecting light off the skin; I'm not too sure how it'll fare on skin that are perpetually covered in huge cystic bumps and major discolouration.

Plus I am a fan of competitive pricing. It's always about how much it is, measured against how much I want that item. Giants sized EM foundations (8g) are priced at a very reasonable USD$12; 5 sample sizes are generous (and free!) and can last a few applications.

Best of all, it feels OH-SO-LIGHT on ma skin, like I'm not wearing makeup at all.

The Not-so-good
The foundation, though pretty long-lasting for something that just 'sits' on your skin without invading your pores, requires several touch-ups over the course of a day. As much as most people find it hard to believe, I hardly do touch ups when it comes to foundation (Yes, I have good skin!). Therefore, I find that a hassle.

Second, the oil control of EM foundation is almost non-existent. Although this was not a major problem for my combination skin, but looking too shiney can look a bit tricky in HOT, HUMID Singapore. And I found myself blotting my face for excessive oils - something which I have not done since Secondary School.

However my greatest make-up woe is the rate at which my skin oxidizes: very very fast.
Foundations that are applied would easily turn 2 shades darker by mid-day.
Pile on lousy foundation, and my skin will oxidize into something like a bright orange ball. **M.A.C. STUDIO FIX I am glaring at you!!**

Add the fact that I sweat exceptionally ALOT in Singapore's heat, which seemed to act as a catalyst to boost my skin's oxidization rate (uh-oh!). My face is usually slightly darker than my body by the end of the day.
Of course to be fair, this is not EM's fault alone, because almost all drugstore brand cosmetic foundations that I've tried before(Loreal, Maybelline, Bourjoius, even Lumiere) has given me the same problem.

Because it could not solve my oxidization problem, EM cannot be crowned my "Holy Grail Foundation". However, IMO, it's one of the better quality foundations that I've used. Once I've tried EM, there's no going back to my previous sticky messy L'oreal True Match Liquid FOundation.

I liked it enough to continue the range; but I can't say that I like it so much that I'll never search for a better one (with an equally okay price tag). It's also not the type of product that gets me hooked the first time I tried it on, but the type that grows on you over time, partially because you know that it is supposed to be good for your skin.

I guess my never-ending quest for the perfect foundation (with the perfect price-tag) is still at a very infantile stage. Having said that, I've recently embarked on this other new brand of preservative-free cosmetics, which already seemed very promising (except for the price-tag), and I'm getting all the tingly excitement to blog about it. But give me sometime to try it out, before I share it here.

Clue: It's Japanese.

Communicasia 2008

Judging from the picture, what do you think is my business at Communicasia 2008?



A) A Janitor commissioned to clean the toilets during Communicasia 08
B) A Model for Samsung Electronics


For 4 consecutive days, I wore fake eyelashes (Flutter, flutter) ***MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT, because they're a bitch to put on, especially since I always end up glueing my eyelids together instead.

For 4 consecutive days, I STYLED my hair **Another Major feat, because I didn't end up loking like I'm the PRC guniang selling Char Siew Buns in the Forbidden City Museum

For 4 consecutive days, I woke up at 7am and spent close to 2 hours doing my make up and hair, because I am really really slow when I put on my make up.

For 4 consecutive days, for 8 hours each day, I mindlessly repeated how AMAZING/SLIM/SMALL Samsung Bluetooths are.

Am I glad that it's finally OVER.

This is the 3rd consecutive YEAR that I'm modelling at Communicasia, and each year, my uniform gets progressively ugly...

CommAsia '06

Eeps, I wore blue eye shadow.

CommAsia '07



CommAsia '08

All of Samsung's models in Ugly Garb

At the risk of sounding like an ungrateful, whiney bitch, I was thankful for the company of a bunch of really wonderful, fun and prettaye ladies, who braved the 32 hour of standing with me...





Some of the Korean dudes who helped and entertained us along the way...



And not forgetting my fav bunch of ladies whom I not only shared a locker with, but also everything from eye shadow palettes and hair spray, to grousings and bimbotic nonsense. Val and Zilei.



Zilei, Moi, Our Ultimate Momma, Val

PS: Actually, do check out the Mono Bluetooth headset from Samsung, WEP 500. They're one of the smallest in the world currently - about the size of a dollar coin, and comes in a myraid of attractive colours (red, blue, green, silver, black etc). It sports a futuristic "cute" circular design, with advance audio technology, simplistic control buttons and 2 Mic Solution to enhance the picking up of surrounding sounds.



Cool Enough?

They even have a limited edition set, co-branded with YSL, and it comes in a Luxurious Gold Design.

Still need more proof that it's worth a look?

I heard it's selling pretty well in India... :D:D:D

The Flawed Judgment

Things that I will do for a Raoul sale, especially when I sense one brewing over the horizon

1) Google for news of the sale on all Singapore Online Forums, every other day

2) Found the announcement at 3AM in the morning and text all my girly-pals.

Raoul Annual Sale

HITACHI TOWERS
#01-11/12
OPENING HOURS: 11AM - 9PM, MON - FRI
11AM - 5PM, SAT
CLOSED ON SUN & PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

3) Woke up at 9AM in the morning so that I'll be a pioneer shopper when the sale starts at 11AM. It's a major feat because 9AM is the time for birds to wake up.

4) Brave all the sweatiness and smelly armpits (of other people), and risk being spotted like an Auntie from the market, just so to dig through the pile of discounted clothes

I love Raoul Men's 2-ply cotton shirts in tapered cut, especially on tall, lean men. It gives them an extremely composed and in-control look, as if even the shirt is afraid of crinkling on them.


:
:
:
On the way back home, I took a seat on the train opposite a Mother with 2 young daughters (probably between 7 to 10 years old).

The younger of the 2 daughters was fixated on me, and after staring at me for 5 minutes, she whispered a very audible whisper - I guess all kids that young have severe volume control disability - to her mother.

Girls : Mummy, that jiejie is very pretty! Her eyes look like princess eyes!

The mother smiled at her daughter, while I pretended to not hear her...eh this girl will grow up to be someone with very good taste ley, I silently thought to myself. Plus she didn't call me an auntie. Smart girl. Not only will she have good taste, she'll grow up to be smart too.

Then the little girl continued...
"Mummy, can you make my hair curly curly like hers? And I also want that dot on the cheek", the little girl raised her pinky to her right cheek, all the while still looking at me.

The mother took a quick glance at me, as if embarrassed that her daughter is talking so loudly, and to my mortification, she whispered back not too softly either...

"Why on earth would you want a pimple on your cheek for?"

gwa gwa gwa..... I guess volume control disability runs in the family

I'm on TV!!

Moving on from the usual boring "boss-go-ESAD" ramblings that dominates my entries these days, I'm gonna be on TV, this Wednesday (19th April 2008), 8pm. Channel 8 to be precise =p

To be honest, I'm kinda thrilled to be invited as one of the judges for this Channel 8 TV programme sponsored by Bioskin, Bioskin 要你好看 SEASON II, to help Women rid of their horrible skin problems and other ugly issues to become presentable.
**I just checked the website, and apparently, they used more positive language than I did; the trailer actually said "programme sponsored by Bioskin help women with beauty problems become beautiful).

ANyways, I was invited as a model (read one who takes good care of my skin, hair, appearance, and is well-groomed), to judge the 'before' and 'after' of the contestants who went through the treatment programme, and be a judge to see if they can achieve their dreams of becoming a model.

For the reason of not introducing spoilers, among OTHER reasons, I'll just give a face here (-_-)|| You gotta watch the programme to see if I'm lying.

On a separate note, my Everyday Minerals makeup is finally here. :D:D:D Say hello to gorgeous skin. Hopefully it'll be THE holy grail makeup foundation in my never-ending quest to seek the perfect set of makeup for myself.

The Closet Ah Lian

A closet ah lian is a true blue ah lian who keeps her ah-lian character suppressed. Given that she grew up in a completely chinese/hokkien speaking family, she prides herself on her air of sophistication that she can exude in front of most people, and her ability to speak impeccable english at times that call for it. Despite her seemingly harmless outlook, she can actually curse like a Hokkien sailor, and she can win a quarrel with a telephone operator from the bank.

She wears jewellery from Tiffany's and carries a mustard colour Braun Buffel wallet, but not Louis Vuitton because she knows that LV is so widely pirated that the public will start to doubt its authenticity regardless of it. Plus, she is not cheap enough to fish a uncle-ish sugar daddy who can afford to splurge on a Chanel Tote for her. That's why she's "in the closet". She selects her brands well, and she picks the total number of pieces that she'll be seen in each time, so that she won't be seen as a brand whore. Afterall, she's a cunning one...not quite like the typical ah lian because this one has actually been to NUS, studied in Arts and Social Science, so she doens't want people to think that she's a brand whore. BUT she is secretly pleased everytime people "OOooh!" at her exquisite taste in whatever branded (or "branded") item that she carries.

She likes her man with a little bit of edge, at least at the first impression. And she finds the ability to reverse the car with just ONE hand guiding the steering wheel, the gangster-ah-beng way, extremely manly and extremely attractive.

She also secretly thinks that Victoria's Secret is branded. Sometimes, she likes to carry her oversized, and super heavy metal studded GUESS bag, just because of the big metal "G" that is prominently displayed on the front flap of the black patent leather bag. It delights her for some reason that even I cannot fathom.

Despite being in love with clothing items from Victoria's Secret and shoes from NINE WEST, she harbours a secret ah-lian urge to shop in This Fashion whenever she passes by one of the local heartland fashion chain, with all the super garish looking clothes and mass produced halter neck tops with metallic buttons. She tries to suppress this urge, and luckily for her, there isn't many This Fashion boutiques around where she lives, or works.

But ever since she quit her lousy sonofabitch job, she started wandering around in the heartland areas, and then she chanced upon this huge-ass This Fashion boutique at where she used to hang out during her Secondary School days. So she took a deep breath, snuck in, and hoped to death that she won't be caught dead shopping in a shop that epitomizes the cheapo Ah-lian fashion. "It's unlikely...she thought to herself, it being in the middle of the afternoon, when everyone is either napping, in school, or at work."

She, the self-proclaimed fashionista cum closet ah lian snooped around in that heartland This Fashion shop, and while she outwardly snorted and wrinkles her nose as she picked up a gaudily coloured tube dress, like she would pick up a fish from the wet-market, she was smiling inwardly to herself.

What's more, there's 50% off the original price tag of $28. Goodness, the ah lian's body quivered with excitement, because dresses with price tags like this, she can buy more sexy bareback mini-dresses (with the super big and unclassy silver buckle)to wear when she go chiong with all her ah lian friends. Then out of the corner of her eye, she spotted an electric blue trio-palette eyeshadow set, which set her heart aflutter. Since there was nobody that she knew around her (because she has always condemned blue eyeshadow when she secretly thinks that they look damn chio), she quickly grabbed one and proceeded to make her purchases.

This closet ah lian then stuffed the content of the "THIS FASHION" bag, into the Victoria's Secret Duffel bag that she was carrying, perched her ELLE sunglasses on her nose, and trooped silently (and quickly) out of the shop, with her secret ah lian desires completely soothed and satisfied.

If there is any ONE beauty secret (or maybe it's already a widely known fact) that I've uncovered ever since I've started working, it will be one that has something to do with coffee.

All of us workaholics knows that drinking coffee helps to perk us up so that we wont produce chicken doodles while working: Americano, Cappucino, Kopi-peng, Kopi-C, Kopi-cino, you name it, the Indian Coffee Shop uncle downstairs have it, so I've probably tried about every type of coffee there is.

But in a bid to reduce my (unnecessary) sugar intake lately, so that i can save it for 3 double chocolate doughnuts sometime later in the week, I've resorted to consuming HOT, BLACK coffee WITHOUT sugar or milk religiously. Amazing as it is, I've found out that not only it perks me up, increase my heart rate by about 5X, causes me to slightly hyperventilate, it also does wonders for my water retention.

So lets say I go to work in the morning with a puffy left eye and cheek, or slightly swollen belly, all due to water retention, by drinking the HOT, BLACK coffee with no sugar or milk, it'll all subside within the hour.

Similarly, it does wonders for photoshoots. I always have the problem of bloatedness due to water retention if the studio gets a lil too cold, or that I'm prancing around in tiny barely-there garbs, I'll take a shot of that and it works beautifully all the time. That's why DP always indulge in my horrible habit of drinking black unsweetened coffee (even if it gives me stink-O breath after that). Oh but the only downside is that I might get a lil woozy from all that caffeine high.

But I seriously swear by that poison to make me skinny.

BOYS...

I'm depressed on the Boyfriend's birthday.

I promised him that I'll try to cheer up for his sake, but I can't.

Y? Because I've been working so much that I didn't manage to get him a present.

Sure I made reservations at 5 places that I stumbled upon while looking for places to hold my media events/press conferences. 5 nice places with fine dining style cuisine and attas ambience. I told myself that finally, now that I am working, now that I have a stable income, now that I am no longer ad-hoc jobs as a model trying to earn pocket money while juggling school work, I can finally treat my mao cow to somewhere nice. Finally. But I left out the present.

But alas, I'm stuck in front of the damn computer doing a fuckened media list, for a pointless project (in my personal opinion), which is due tomorrow morning, first thing at 9am.
After which as in after the media list, I'll be doing up a goddamn Proposal for a nation-wide campaign that will most certainly be gunned down by the boss once it reaches the office in the morning. Which more or less translates to : I'll only get to sleep at 4am.

It's hard to be happy when you are tired. It's hard to be happy when you love your job, but hates the company. It's hard to be happy when you want to do so much for someone who has given you so much love, but you are just too tired to do anything. And it's really hard ot be happy if you were doing a fuckened media list at 2am.

SPeaking of whom (the boyfriend), for all of you who knows me personally, knows that the bf is particular about cleanliness. Yours truly, however isn't.
So it's always a case of him nagging at me to not drop crumbs on the floor, not to get my hands sticky with Coke, not to eat food that has fallen onto the table, to wear the clean slippers in his house, to change into clean clothes before climbing into bed yada yada. It's always him who makes a big fuss out of a coackroach sighting (and for my sake, I shall insist that he doens't yelp when he sees insects), him who always had an issue about me leaning on lift walls etc.

In a nutshell, him = clean, neat
me = dirty, unkempt, disorganized

But surprisingly, my bf is not meticulous about washing his face.

The other day, I caught him applying pimple cream to a spot on his look-slightly oily face. Immediately, i asked him if he had washed his face.

This was his reply," Oh yes, I washed the spot where the pimple is, because you told me I had to wash my face before applying pimple cream."

BOYS...

手贱

This glorious term is more commonly manifested in Hokkien, and it's pronounced as "Chiu Jian". For the benefit of those non-Hokkien speakers, when you say that a person is 手贱/chiu jian, you are saying that the person has itchy fingers, is meddlesome, and KPO.

Chiu Jian is when you were young, despite your mother's repeated warnings not to touch that boiling pot of water on the stove, you had to have a go at touching the shiney metallic surface of the pot. You end up burning your hands and you cry, even though you know that your mother told you that you will. That is being Chiu Jian.

It is also when you were in your adolescence, and had a small tiny pimple somewhere hidden, but you are going on a date the next day with the boy you've been eyeing for eons. So despite knowing that the pimple is innocuous, and that popping zits are a big no-no, you just had to have a go at it. In the end, the pimple got bigger, redder and angrier looking, and you could feel the boy of your dreams talking to the pimple everytime he looks at your face, and the dream bubble being pricked.

That is Chiu Jian. Meddlesome. Itchy hands. And I'm a damn bloody Chiu Jian person.

Because recently, as part of my quest to becoming a domestic goddess, the bf bought me a sewing machine as a gift, at my request. A small, white, portable electric sewing machine by BROTHER, all for me to conquer. It was a really cool gadget, and my brain immediately churned out a sewing agenda the moment I laid my eyes on it.

Without first signing up for some sewing course at the Community Club near my house, I nose-dived right into my new found hobby, and I set out to 'beautify' the existing clothings that I have.

I took comfort in the idea that I wasn't exactly the type that had no sewing skills, despite breaking 3 FAT needles on a sewing machines in 1 hour during HOme Econs class in Secondary School, that I had to pay a fine of $1.50 ($0.50 for each needle that I broke)after that. I tagged the hem of my school skirt when I was in JC, so that my skirt was substantially shorter than the "nerdier" girls; I sewed on extra paddings onto my old Bikinis to build something upon nothingness, and I used to mend all the popped buttons on my clothes, by hand, all the time.

So I told myself, hey if I could do all that by hand in the past, why not by machine? And who cares about the stitches at the back of the cloth, nobody's going to see them anyway. And all I was doing was nipping in a little of the cloth here, and sewing a little there. Nothing too difficult.

Turned out that the beautifying effort wasn't exactly what I had in mind. Perhaps I was a little too ambitious, and cut up a bit too much cloth, but mostly I was just very chiu jian. The clothes that I took to mend were mostly already fine in their original state, but I just had to "change the straps a little to make it sexier", "cut the skirt shorter", "pull in the waist, so I'll look less like I'm swimming in it". Meddlesome, itchy hands. A few of the attempts ended in success, like the tube top from Victoria's Secrets, that I had to take 3 inches from each side, so that it wraps around my bosom nicely without slipping down to a free-for-all show, and my mother's boring satin top which I sewed on black lace to sexify it; most of my 'subject' clothes ended up strewn all over my room in a tragic sort of way.

Chiu Jian-ess is like an infliction. It never goes away. And I never learn from my lessons.

And in case you were wondering, I was recounting my experience as a kid and as a teenager, with my aforementioned examples of itchy fingers.

I have been faerie struck since about 2 years ago because I was enamoured with Arwen and Eowyn from LOTR. Or more specifically, their hair, like that...




After contemplating for about 2 whole years, and asking almost everyone to cast their vote for my hair to be straight or curly, I finally gave in to temptation...

Straight hair yesterday...


Curls today...


Yayness~

Recently, I'm addicted to this blog. http://www.xanga.com/ricebunny

Seriously, I think the blogger is wayyy cool and I lurrrve her tutorials. She has a serious talent for wielding the brushes and sponging her face. At least to me, who uses her finger to put on all sorts of gunk onto my face, she is good.
She is pretty and she knows all the tricks of proper cosmetics/beauty application, yet she is not stingy about sharing them.

I mean, think about it this way, she could just hoard all the beauty secrets and secretly wish that those who are ugly will forever remain ugly, and those who are already pretty and well-versed in make up tricks, will never surpass her. Right?

And the coolest part is she gets down to the details, which sits really well for people like me, who loves to be spoonfed.
For example, my favourite - her tutorial on the Aspirin mask. She even tells you what brand of aspirin is good to use, so that you wouldn't spend a bomb trying different brands of aspirin. And I love it when she tells you to "sprinkle and I mean sprinkle drops of water".

Anyways, enough of gushing. You guys can go check out her blog yourself. BTW, I'm in no way related to her, I'm just sharing a cool new site that I found, to all those makeup junkies/wannabes/dunnohowtobes out there.

Let's just say that sluts get all the fun...

With nothing less than flirty fake eyelashes, 5 inch strappy heels, boobs perked to dizzying height and confidence the size of 5 Moses Lim, one could gain entry into any clubs in town for free, by just posing outside the door.

Coupled with some slinky moves on the bartop, and a devil may care attitude, you can bet that guys, who don't already have a girl in tow, will be fighting to buy you drinks.

Accept the offer, bat your super long eye lashes, down the poison in a couple of gulps....

Then RUN....

I know this may seem like a silly present, but I actually suggested to the BF to buy a giant 6 litre bottle of Camphor Oil (or commonly known as the yellow colour liquid that you pour on cuts and wounds before you paste the plaster) as a Bday present. And then Genie granted me my wish...



It'll be good if I actually become the spokesmodel for this brand of herbal oil, because I'm so accident prone, that I manage to finish in a year, what the bf AND his family took 25 years to finish. Somehow. And I apply it on any fucking place that I feel like applying it on. I think I might be addicted to this grandfather's ointment.

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So I demanded for a Yam cake from my dad the weekend before my birthday, for my birthday.

SO the silly BF went around Singapore to search for the PERFECT Yam Cake because he know I luuurve Yam cakes. He googled, checked forums bla bla bla, and finally found "The Best Yam Cake in SIngapore", and placed an order for a huge one.

So on the day of my birthday, while I was still snoozing in bed, he went out to fetch the "Best Yam cake in SIngapore" hoping to surprise me.

When he picked it up, he saw a small container of chilli sauce nestled comfortably in one corner on top of the box with the "Best Yam Cake". The box was lavishly wrapped, with maroon ribbons that had gold borders. It was after all the "Best Yam Cake" So he catiously asked the auntie there "Auntie ah...why is there chilli sauce? I thought I ordered Yam cake?"

And Yam cake it was... But not the sweet, creamy Western type that I craved, but the savoury, Chinese steamed yam cakes that our ah ma will make occassionally, or what we call the Or Kuey.



The silly baby was so afriad that I'll be angry, that he sweetened me up with a bit of "Singapore's most famous crepe"
Waiting...



then plied me with wine until I was silly, then he asked the staff at Fish & Co. to sing me a birthday jingle immediately after they brought out the cake.


Maybe it was the wine, but I found the whole thing immensely amusing. But I also thought that the Mao is the sweetest mao on earth....

....Despite the fact that he bought me ugly hello kitty (or idunno what cartoon is that) pyjamas from Pasar Malam.
Okie la...to give him credit, he also bought me a nice book, and the Estee Lauder Vinyl Lipstick set that I was searching all over the place for, and brought me to watch a musical. :P

DAMMIT I so wanted to upload my bday video of the people singing the bday jingle with my steamed chinese yam cake

I wonder why the majority of the teachers are so damn fat. I've been screaming out lessons everyday, and I fully utilized my diaphragm and every single biological voice projecting tool in my body. And I scream lessons from 8 to about 1:30pm almost everyday.

I scream history lessons to 5 classes of brats, English class to 1 class of brats, and 1 more history lesson to 1 class of older brats.

And I totter on my usual high heels, carrying tonnes of books to climb up flights of stairs everyday.

I get so exhausted by the end of the day, that I have no appetite for anything for the rest of the day.

Unless I'm the only one being over-worked, I don't see why teachers should be fat. But almost everyone of them are.

I think it's pretty sad, when a guy looks like an ah niang.

SKinny, lanky, , mummy's lil' baby, wimpy-looking ah niang.

But I think it's more sad, if the guy, who once looked like an ah niang,
went for a total makeover, buffed himself up etc, and end up looking like an

AH GUA


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I need to do something about my thighs. Actually my whole body. Bumming around hasn't been good for the beauty conscience. I don't even suck in my tummy these days. Too lazy. But in order to fit into that pair of skinny mango jeans that I've been eyeing since the sale, I've gotta work hard.

I wanna look like this.



I need to stop stuffing my face with food. And now that the BF has steered clear of things with "trans-fat" (godknowswhatsthat), I should too.
Strict diet, some excercise, more sleep, early bedtime.

And MAYBE, just a tinge of hope, that from the back, with a fleeting glance, I'll look like VB in skinnies.


PS: The pair of skinnies that I bought for $20 in Taiwan grew so fucking loose that it looks like 2 cylinders encasing my thighs. I wonder how did that happen...

PPS: Which brings me to another thought...How come all the shirts that I buy from Thailand all shrink to a baby size har?? Then all the clothes that were bought in Taiwan, got stretched and expanded so much that it can pass off as a Dorothy Perkins size 14 har???

WHY WHY WHY???

I love almost everything from Salvatore Ferragamo. Not Prada, not Gucci not LV. Ferragamo. If only they will sponsor me...Right...*knocks myself on the head*

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A couple of days ago, an ex rang me up, and asked me if he could bring me out for dinner to 'catch up' since the exams are over. I was kind of guarded when he said that especially after a shitty, draggy breakup almost 3 years ago, and tried to think of a nonsensical no answer kinda answer, . Besides, I'm not the type who believes in keeping in contact with the ex, because the platonic feeling can never exist. Not if I once cared for this person, not if I once could feel jealous over a person's actions.

And what could we talk about? The weather? Our latest module/lecturer/school? It would be like blowing horns to the cow (Esp since I'm already ZY's mao cow), because he's from engine and I study history. I hate engine stuff, and he has absolutely no interest in mine either. Common friends? We had none. Our current partner, or partners ever since each other? I don't think I want to know... And to pretend that I'm really interested in would require quite an act. Seriously, I don't know how to behave when it comes to ex-bfs. I dunno where I stand, and the slightest glint in the eye could be taken as flirtation, because after all, we were ONCE attracted to each other. We could always sit down and PRETEND and act nonchalent, but the fact is when you see an ex's face, a text message, a stream of images from the past comes flooding back. You know you had a history.

I have been guilty of going back to the ex. Not this ex that I've mentioned above. Some other one(s). And it all came from meeting the ex for a dinner or a drink or something like that. Because it all seemed so harmless, "nah, he's just an ex, we've broken up, we're just friends. Nothing more" SO you let your guard down, because this is someone whom you've used to trust; whom you must have enjoyed your drinks with and whose scent you find so familiar that you just want to re-experience the feeling of melting into his arms. Even if it's just for a while. And suddenly you find yourself making out with someone whom you've supposedly sworn your hands off ever after.

If my instincts were correct, this ex cheated on his then gf to be with me. Either that or their relationship was on the rocks before I came and charmed him away from her. But this newer gf had just came into Uni, and like all not so ugly girls who had just stepped into Uni, she had a hoard of suitors. It didn't help that she had just started her modelling career, she was a fresh face and she met cute guys with amazing bods and 6-packs who calls her "cutie" and "sweetie" and "darlin", or rich towkays who drives mercedes and invites her to expensive restaurants and offer her a position as their mistresses. It didn't help that it was near V-day when we just got together, and most of the gifts that I had received from other guys surpassed his in monetary value. So he got insecure, and I think he started to miss HIS ex, and frequently compared me to her. (except of course I'm like 10X hotter in my own opinion). Somehow, his ex calls him up more than I do, and feeds him with information about how she saw a guy had his hands on my waist,and how some of her friends saw me at MArche with another guy. Finally, he used these as an excuse and broke up with me. I was truly heartbroken.

Later I heard from some friends that he had gotten back together with THAT ex of his, whom he had broken up to be with me.

Then while I was still mulling around in my own thoughts, he msged back again and asked me if I was seeing anyone at the moment, carefully adding a I'm just curious after some obvious after-thoughts. So I replied saying "Yes, why?"

ANd this what what he said, "Nothing really, I bought a pair of tickets to a concert and I thought it wouldn't be nice to bring you out on a date if you were seeing someone =p"

WTF...