can you become... a new version of you?

I should be working right now, for stuff that I need tomorrow. But... I just don't have the heart for it. So I blog instead.

Does anybody remember that show Felicity? I do. I loved Felicity. It was to me what Dawson's Creek was to my friends. I never cared for the adventures of Dawson, Pacey and Joey. I never cared for the convoluted lives of Brandon, Brenda, Kelly and Dylan (that's the original 90210 for you young 'uns...). But I did love Felicity, Noel (pronounces as "knoll" in the show), Ben, Meghan and Sean. The story of a young girl impulsively changing her life, to pursue a crush who went to New York was fun and endearing to watch. When my roommate moved out with her tv (and I didn't have the money to buy one for myself), I faithfully followed the show by reading the transcripts online. Even on paper (errr... on computer screen?), I loved the show.

So, you can only imagine how excited I was when I found out that in Bangkok, there was a little cafe named (drum roll please...) DEAN AND DELUCA!!!

wheeeeeeeeee!!!

Now I know this is not the same D&D where Felicty's character worked, or where her lovable boss Javier was the manager (that's in New York, obviously), but this is the closest I have ever gotten to one. So I was practically giddy. :D So much so that my colleagues actually noted my change in demeanor. Hahaha.

I was initally afraid that this was a knock-off restau that 'borrowed' the name but it really was affiliated with the Dean & Deluca franchise in America. So even more to be happy about!

the menu board



your choice of bread and pastry

sandwich row

yummy desserts


The inside was bright and quaint. It had a nice casual, welcoming yet sophisticated appeal. I have no idea if this is how all Dean & Deluca's look like, but I didn't really care. It was just nice to feel part of a treasured memory.

interior decor

On one end of the room was an area dedicated to Dean & Deluca branded food items you could bring home with you. It was fun walking in between the racks, seeing what they offered. I'm not knowledgeable about gourmet food enough to know if any of them were worth buying, but they sure were pretty.

jellies and things

nuts and candies

sea salts

I bought some tins of colored sugar as gifts for friends at home. There's absolutely nothing special about them. But I thought it would be fun if they could serve green or pink sugar when offering their guests coffee! I just hope the sugar doesn't turn the coffee pink or green as well. Hahahaha...

Since we had come there for dinner, we of course had to order more than desserts and bread. In terms of taste it wasn't all that spectacular. I'd say typical cafe food: sandwiches, soups and salads. But I really wasn't into D&D for the food. I was just there for the fact that it was Dean and Deluca, man! :P

our food

with the food (of the group! that's not all mine! hahaha.. defensive)

our group

And of course, what to have for dessert, but the New York Cheesecake!

how you doin?

Happiness :)

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too far, you think?

Ok... before I get to the real point of this entry I will admit that I spent the last 3 hours trying to change those pictures moving around up there. I actually stared at the html codes long enough to figure out know how to do it (that was also probably another 3 hours...). But my problem is that I don't know how to edit the darn picture so that it fits perfectly into the needed dimensions.

I. am. techno. bobo. Hahaha... :P

Ok, moving on.

So earlier this year I promised myself that I would open myself up more to exploring and experiencing new things. I'm lucky enough that I get to constantly travel for work and I owe it to myself to take advantage of the opportunity it gives me. New restaurants, new cuisines, new things to buy.

In the 3 trips I've taken to Bangkok since the beginning of the year I have managed to amass for myself a handful of personal care products that would make any kikay girl proud. 

Behold:

Aren't they pretty??? Hahahahaha...

In total, that's about 2 shampoos, 3 body washes, 1 body oil, 1 hair treatment cream, 1 massage oil, 1 lipstick, a pair of fake eyelashes and the eyelash adhesive. Plus these 2 items that never made it into the collage:



another bottle of shampoo





i've never used a face mask before



Now tell me... who needs all that stuff at a single point in time?!?!
Me, apparently. :P

I've only tried about half of the products but that's because my bathroom ran out of space to hold the bottles. It's a little crazy to think that I have 3 shampoo bottles that are between 400-600ml in size when I'm the only one who uses them. And at least a week in a month I'm not even at home. The body washes are about the same fill. I'm going to have a product to wash myself with for the next 5 years of my life! Assuming I don't go out and buy more ha ha.

Of those I've tried, the body oil is my favorite. After you shower, you're supposed to just dab yourself with a towel (so you're still a little damp) and then slather on generous amounts of the oil. I know it sounds yucky but it's not that bad. I've got really dry skin so this actually feels a lot better to me than a regular lotion.

I haven't tried the Seaweed and Spirulina shampoo, but the rest are just ok. I probably won't buy them, or the body washes, again after. I have yet to try: the lipstick, the face mask and the fake eye lashes.

Meanwhile, I'm about to take another trip to Bangkok soon.... I don't think I should bring back home any more stuff, do you?

;)

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homeward bound

Spending your Saturday at the airport is such a waste of a weekend. And believe me, at the rate my schedule has been going, weekends are about to become a rare and precious thing.

It started out well enough. Rose from bed late, warm sunlight streaming through me bedroom window, the centralized aircon still on giving the room a nice cool feel without freezing me to death and me, wrapped up in a nice warm comforter with fluffy pillows and fabulous linen. Languid wake-up routine, relaxed breakfast of cold cuts, bread and tea, quick though warm trip to Boots for some last minute items, the final zip up of my luggage and finally check out. Over all, not too bad. I'd be home early enough to join friends for a late night dinner or drinks.

Imagine my horror on seeing the words 'DELAYED' flashing on the monitor screen as we lined up at the airport counter. Now imagine my horror multiplying exponentially when I see the numbers '1730' where it says, 'departure time'. At that point it was barely past noon.

Now looming ahead of me was hours and hours of waiting time. When asked for the reason for delay all I could get was 'late arrival' as an answer. What was the point? Knowing why wouldn't have gotten that plane here any sooner anyway.
So we make ourselves as comfortable as we can in an airport, when you're not important enough to fly business class and enjoy the facilities of the lounge. Angry Birds, Sudoku and ebooks can really only do so much when your body is craving to be on its way home. Meanwhile, there is the unfinished office work I've left behind that I can try to get done. But... it's a Saturday. Why waste a weekend?

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vanity

I once told a friend that I consider myself a late-bloomer the female art of vanity (i.e. kalandian). While my contemporaries started discovering the aesthetic benefits of getting manis and pedis in highschool, I only started enjoying that little luxury years into my working life.

Make up was never an interest and hair styling was limited to a pony tail, a half-pony tail or just letting it down in all its messy glory.

I don't know exactly what happened. Maybe I finally hit puberty. But in the last few years I've paid a little more attention to how I look. Not to say I've turned all fashionista (a look in my closet will tell you that I would still be considered dowdy and safe by all the fashion forward women of the world.)

And thanks to the wonders of technology, I've actually started to learn make up basics via YouTube. Of course, watching how it's done and doing it well on yourself are totally different things. But still... it's a lot better than when I knew nothing.

Next on the agenda are false eyelashes and fake nails...

Just today I went into my regular hair salon for regular haircut and this is what I came out looking like. :D



me likey!

just for context, I do NOT have curly hair! :P

Hmmmm... it's not half bad, I say. Hahahahaha....

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baby steps

Yay!

I managed to change how my blog looks. :D !! It actually looks pretty now. Of course, I have absolutely no idea on how to change those pictures that are sliding back and forth... or how to even make it just stop. I simply take comfort in the fact that right now, the pictures moving up there are at least nice. And if any stranger happens to pass by this blog, they might think that girl in the pix is me! wahahaha...

I also have no idea how to make the picture on an entry come out in the front page in a decent manner.

And I can't seem to adjust where my the tab for my pages are located (not that I have pages yet. But they are part of my long term plan - naaaks).

But oh well.

We celebrate the little victories.

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humps

For the last 2 months or so I haven't been in much of a mood for anything. Which would suprise people given the energy I've invested into cramming every little bit of free sched with things to do. I lived in mortal dread and fear of being alone and *gulp* thinking. Whatever down time I had I spent in bed, dreamless and unconscious.

Thus my grand plans of making this a fabulous website was put on hold. Pictures of things I've done and places I've been are still tucked away inside my memory card. Half-written entries are in my draft folder. And til now no one knows this site exists (except Kris. Hi Kris!)

Then finally, one night, lady inspiration hits me. And I started to care about this poor neglected space of the web. I decided it was time to make her pretty. Give her a little character. Make her easy to navigate and attractive to behold.

So I started downloading free blogger templates and tried uploading them for my site. Epic fail. Apparently, it is not as simple as copy-paste-upload. Font sizes change, links are different and I don't know how to use/get rid of/re-label some of the pretty things on the templates I like.

Boo.

Darn you lack-of-html-knowledge! You've foiled me again!!!

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