weigh in

During a recent trip, I somewhat ending buying a lot of stuff to bring back home and I needed to weigh my stuff as airlines ask for ridiculously high rates for excess baggage. While I usually just use the normal scale weighing my luggage (I would weigh myself first then weigh myself carrying the luggage--obviously, the difference is what I am after.

My dad sometimes gets obsessive about things . Such as this and thus, insisted that this time I use something more accurate.

I was given this to weigh my stuff with! It felt really funny weighing stuff here. I felt like a kid playing tinda tindahan or shop pretend. My sister was laughing when I told her about it, she said it would be something people did when they sell second hand stuff to the salvation army equivalent, ukay.

one that (swim)suits me

In line with a beach trip that had just been booked, I started to go through my beachwear stash. As I love going to the beach, I have a trolley filled with various beach outfits. As I went through them though, I realised that a good majority of them no longer represented the current me.

My heart broke a little, not because I choose to dress my age, but because there remain to be some pieces that I absolutely love. Still. Always.

I'm not throwing away everything. Instead, I had put aside some pieces that just won't make it, so I could give them away. Everything else would stay with me. I could definitely find different ways to put things together so they'd be wearable today.

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There was one glaring realisation though...

I needed a new "main" swimsuit.

I spent a significant part of the afternoon going around the mall (and complaining that my body ached from the yoga class I attended this morning) looking at swimwear and just when I was ready to give up, I found the next one!

It might not seem like a big deal, but trust me on this one. Holy grail.

It wasn't exactly like the one I pictured in my head (I'm particular that way), but it fit like a dream and is very consistent with what I was looking for.

The price tag pinched a little though :( I didn't realise that grown up swimwear went in a different price range from the already seemingly overpriced popular surfer brands that I usually get.

I am quite happy with the purchase :) I think this would last me a very long time and would stand witness to countless wonderful holidays.

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I think my woman-instead-of-girl swimwear choice had somewhat surprised the young sales person attending to me. When I was paying she asked my how old I was and after I told her, she said Oh, I see... you look young for your age.

Amen.

no ifs, no BATs

Just as i was preparing to go home on Thursday, I noticed something in my peripheral vision--something like a dark spot. As I had been a busy week, I thought my dizzy spells were at it again. Only...it happened again...and again.

It was when someone shouted "OMG! James, do something!" that I realised that it was not a blur in my vision. There was actually a bat inside the office!

I thought that was funny, then I came in today to see this.

fancy pants

I bumped into a woman in her mid sixties, and what do you know, we have the same sailor pants.

So either she is a hip sixty something, or I dress like a grandma.

Soooooo auntie. HAHAHAHAHA.

i'm a lover not a gamer

As my laptop battery was dying, I reached to the floor to retrieve the charger. I heard a beep which meant that it was a successful task...only, when I looked into my monitor, the screen was in landscape!

I had accidentally leaned over the keypad leaning over and I somewhat perfectly executed a command I didn't even know existed.

If only my luck picking toto numbers was as it is with trivial mishaps, I could retire early.Imagine that.

Oh, and thanks to Gamer RN :D

bus card

I wasn't too happy when I tapped my wallet on the bus card reader and nothing was being read. Imagine my frustration when I opened my wallet and found out that I was missing my bus card. To make matters worse, the bus door had closed and the driver had started inching towards the traffic. I had to ask the driver to let me out. Fortunately, he didn't make a fuss out of it.

I made my way back to the nearest MRT station to get another bus card--shaking my head the whole time. I began to think of when I lost it.

I decided that it was that moment when I was in queue and one of my business cards fell off my wallet. Surely, my bus card must have fallen too. I was not too happy about the fact that there were so many people around but not one person pointed it out to me.

I was able to secure a card and get home without drama.

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When I reached home, emptied my bag to the bed so I can get rid of receipts, foreign coins and other things I needed to clear.

And what do you know, I found my missing bus card on top of the heap.

captcha wish your girlfriend was...

And so I was doing something online that required me to key in the text in the image.
Who gets these words? Seriously. ME. Only ME.

left behind

This is really embarassing. And funny. I'm sharing.

After taking a bath, I took a cotton bud (Q-tip is a brand!) and started doing my left ear. I then switched ends so I could work on my right ear.

Something happened. I started to feel weird. When I pulled out the cotton bud, I realised that the bud was left in my ear.

Of course I panicked. But I was able to contain myself. I knew that if I started poking, I might end up pushing it further in.

Tweezer. That was the first tool that I thought of utilizing. After four attempts, I decided that it was not going to work.

Hair pin. I held the two pins apart, put in my ear then slowly release in an attempt to catch a piece of cotton in between the pins. It didn't happen. I tried thrice. No luck.

Then I cried a bit. Maybe for two minutes.

I thought that if I had a crochet hook, it could do the trick. I started rummaging through my sewing stuff. I might have something there.

I didn't.

At this point, I admit thinking of sleeping on it and going to the doctor tomorrow morning. I also made a mental note of my morning schedule, I didn't have any meeting set up before ten thirty. I should be fine.

I was prepared to do just that, sleep on it and go to the doctor tomorrow. Only, I couldn't leave it alone.

I went to the other room and looked around.

I found a letter opener, paper clips...and a stapler. Nothing I could use. Except, maybe, staples.

I took out a staple, straightened it, curved one side into a hook using a nipper and then, said a short prayer.

With a hook at hand I closed my eyes and started at it. It sounds funny, but I actually hear when the hook hits the cotton. It gives the expression play it by ear a whole new meaning to me. The idea was to (1) poke, (2) hook and (3) pull out. The poke part was easy enough. The hook part drove the cotton further in. Bummer.

I couldn't imagine my luck when finally, I was able to pull out the staple hook--with the cotton trailing behind.

My right ear hurts like crazy now. I think it is more due to embarassment than anything else.

I feel like an idiot. But an awfully lucky, awfully blessed, awfully resourceful, awfully self aware idiot. Not too bad in my book.

left behind

I never grow my fingernails.

Yesterday while eating one of my favorite chicken wings in Singapore, I noticed that I accidentally left out the thumb nail of my right hand the last time I trimmed. It's no biggie as I cut quite frequently that it is only a little bit more than a millimeter longer than the rest--still, I couldn't wait to get home and take care of it for it was the only nail with a (very thin) white rainbow on top.

Boooooo.

run (and fly)

I ran this morning. That's a good thing right? Well, not really.

The lift door was closing when I saw something dangling at shoulder level. It took me a second to realize that it was actually a lizard. It seemed like it was caught by the closing door not more than a few hours ago as it still looked... ummm, for the lack of a better term "fresh". I couldn't make out the head so it was probably pushed deeper into the door slits.

When the doors opened at the ground level, I dashed out never looking back.

(I probably grossed out everyone with the second paragraph, if it is any consolation, a mental picture is stuck in my head. I need a distraction.)

what is your height? really.

Since highschool, I believed my height to be 5'3". Whenever I was asked or whenever I accomplished forms, 5'3" it was.

When I started working, I did a physical exam. When asked for my height, I said that I was 5'3", the nurse looked skeptical and said she would need to verify. After I stepped into the scale and she adjusted the thingamajig, she said "I knew it. You are only 5'2"."

No, my life was not shattered, but I understood fully how it felt to live a lie.

Hahaha. Okay, it was not dramatic--at all, but I couldn't help but write that bit.

I did another physical exam yesterday, it was deja vu. But this time, the nurse said, "You know, you are actually 5'2.5"."

This got me thinking. Am I wrong about other things that I believe to be true?

Hahaha. Okay, it was not dramatic--at all, but I couldn't help but write that bit.

Deja vu.

how about some yarn and knitting needles?

If I list down the things that I did today, you'd tell me to get a cat (or a cactus).

1. Watched Private Practice (finished the entire season)
2. Started (and finished) reading He's just not that into you
3. Went to the gym <-- this totally destroys the list
4. Ate a bag of Chippy (original flavor) after my afternoon nap
   
5. Had tacos for lunch. Three. Crushed in a bowl. Taken in front of my laptop while watching an ebay auction end.
6. Decided which shoes I would wear tomorrow (and Thursday--and Friday)
7. Thought of writing a blog entry about He's just not that into you
8. Replied to a kid cousin's wall-to-wall message in Facebook
9. Sent an offline message to a friend in YM
10. Wrote a blog entry about how a free day was spent
    

boy magnet?

I was walking when a kid ran towards me, locked my arms with his hands and licked my shirt (not that it matters, but it was around the stomach area). I was so shocked I couldn't move. It was a good thing that his nanny was there to get him to let go of me.

How is that as an answer to the question "How was your weekend?".

pick me, choose me

I think I made an entry about this in the past, but I will still write about it regardless. I always see people pick their noses. I don't know why, I am not in a constant lookout for such acts, but I do, I always chance by it. Today I saw one on my way to work, during lunch and on my way back home. Bad things really come in threes.

i'm (like) a babe

I wore my basic pantsuit for the first time today :)

I still can't get over the fact that I don't look so terrible wearing one. Sewing your own clothes comes in handy sometimes. You can experiment with cloth and if it turns out great, you are high for a few days, if it doesn't then you could try and make something else out of it. In sewing there are second, third, up to ninety-ninth chances. (I think this is a certain girl with big curls' cue to say "unlike love".)

But with the high (from the pantsuit) comes the low. After going to the toilet, I was convinced that the pantsuit wouldn't quite be as popular as other clothes (like the wrap dress) because seriously, it is such a hassle to go to the toilet! You take everything off! Geez. This is what being a babe is about--not that kind of babe though.

I think whenever I wear this, I should opt for the cubes that allow for diaper changing.

assembler?

I recently had an inventory of my jewelry (and was not surprised to realize that these are no crown jewels) and found out that there were a few items I never wore. To mitigate the situation I scouted the internet for some tahitian pearls, I figured I could string a few with different colors, something like a spectrum of green into an invisible omega that I have had for ages. Because I scrimped, I ended up winning two of the five pearls--so much for my spectrum.

A genius (or indulgent) idea came to me last night, I could play jewelry designer and make a lariat necklace off the pearls and a necklace given by a friend (Kristine, this is you). I'm trying to be modest here, but I think I did well! When I looked at the finished product, I could not stop smiling.

(I didn't assemble it with my bare hands, I needed special tools though, these comprised of a cuticle nipper, scissors and tweezers. It was also convenient that the pearl seller half-drilled the pearls for me.)

a very simple complicated dress

You can imagine how totally exhausting it is to take pictures of clothes that you sew. I accidentally pressed the button, it is like I am gesturing the loser L sign to myself. Great.

This looks simple enough but trust me, it is quite tricky, I suddenly have some respect to similar clothes (from this specific shop) which I bought. I ended up doing a lot of tweaking to make this dress wearable. I did take my time on the finishing as a dress (that seems) this simple should be well finished, otherwise it just looks like you wore a flour sack hoping it would pass off as a dress. I don't think I would sew a dress like this again. Oh, and one would notice that I picked a fabric more colorful and printed then those that I usually wear. I could almost hear a certain Ms. October say that you can actually break free from the norm. This is me, living dangerously (I feel like a Dalmatian).

ulam ko, patis

I found myself home alone for Sunday lunch. Neneng is off today, my sister in law is still in transit to sg and my brother will be away for one more week. I had to put something together for lunch, the initial intention was to have prawns but upon inspection of our ref, I found that there was none! I cooked garlic in oil and crab fat then put the rice in. To incorporate vegetables into my diet, I sliced some tomatoes to go with the meal. I ended up having patis (fish sauce) as my ulam. This reminds me of what students from a certain school would shout at kids for the other school during NCAA, "Ulam niyo patis".

For dessert, I had one of these.

push the button

I have this thing about pushing the button when taking bus rides. Each time the bus moves one meter from the bus stop before my stop, I would immediately free one hand, bend, stretch, reach out, mutter 'excuse me' and press the button. I know this situation should really something to be done with much urgency, but I do it each time. I don't consider it a quick. It's just my thing.

Today as I pressed on the button, the person in front of me pressed too. She pressed over my finger pressing the button! I look at her and she kept on pressing! The 'bus stopping' has lit up but she continued pressing. This made me wonder, is this her thing?

You're my shooting star (or red comet, whatever)

I was singing this morning, from the shower till I was fixing up, till I got out of the house, till I pressed the lift button, I was singing the same song.

It is Michelle Branch's Goodbye to You (Michelle looks, by the way like Ara Mina. Feel free to google if you don't know her).

And just when I was singing the bridge, something happened.

"I want you, but I'm not giving in this tiiiiiiiiime..."

The lift opened. Inside were two tall chinese brothers smiling at me. I smile sheepishly and went in. I then continued humming the song. There was no way I will let them think that it was darn embarrassing.