the men (i wish are) in my life

Since my last post where I went on quite a bit on celeb girls I crush on, it's made me think of the other half of the gender pool whose had a stranglehold on my affections.

Paring the list down I came up with the following: Hugh Jackman, Matt Czuchry, Ronan Keating and Rob Bourdon. Yea, these four men.....wait, should I include Kimi in this list? I mean, I don't LIKE HIM like him but I post about him an inordinately enormous amount of the time. Does that mean I am secretly in like with him? Am I in denial of the reasons behind my fervent admiration of this man? Ok, stop. Pause. Let's not make this about Kimi. Fine, he's in the list. So, okay, the FIVE men I have resolutely hung on to as my ideal men are.....in no particular order.....Hugh Jackman, Rob Bourdon, Matt Czuchry, Ronan Keating and Kimi Raikkonen.

Hugh Jackman. I first fell in love with this Aussie actor when I watched that movie he did wth Ashley Judd called "Someone Like You". To quote Paris Hilton, and this is the only thing I ever quote her on, "THAT'S HAWT!!!!!" It was Hugh J all the way after that. I even watched him in that weird movie he did with Meg Ryan, "Kate & Leopold" I think it's called. Hugh Jackman is the epitome of handsome, suave with a whole lot of good guy to boot. I mean he always comes across as such a sweetheart, so charming, nary a bad word is EVER said about him in the media. He's always so complimentary of his beautiful leading ladies and, no disrespect meant but, the leading lady in his life, Ms Deborra-Lee Furness, isn't actually comparable to all those beauties that surrounds him. Which is exactly the reason that makes me like him more. He is gorgeous, handsome, has an amazingly fit bod and he is completely committed to his, appearance-wise, average wife. There is most definitely something spectacular about her that he sees but that's the best part about Hugh. He comes across as a substance not superficial kind of person. And always portrayed as the everyday family man. God, his devotion to his wife and kids is just so swoon-worthy.

Matt Czuchry. I've done an ode to Matt once before when I talked about the Tucker Max book. Matt Czuchry. Logan Huntzberger. If there ever was a fictional character that I would propose marriage to it would be Logan H. I thought Rory was daft to refuse him in that last season of Gilmore and to this day I still cannot watch any repeats of that final season. I have marathons of season five and six but I don't touch seven. Crazy? Yea, tv show fans are the nuttiest. But that's Logan. The thing about Matt is, through all the interviews that I've read, he seems like a really down-to-earth great guy with a good-looking face. Great boyfriend material. He always comes across as chivalrous and is such a gentlemen. I dunno if that's a common trait of North Carolinian men but it really makes the heart melt. He is affiliated with the Black Knights basketball team which is a charity organization that travel the world playing basketball games to raise money for worthy causes. The teams are mainly made up of television actors. Paul Johansson of One Tree Hill fame is a member as well. Matt's acting repertoire isn't as varied as I would like it to be, acting is tough business but what he does appear in I've liked thus far. Realistically, I think he won't make it movie big as Tom, Brad or Hugh cos he doesn't seem leading men material but I hope he has a successful career in TV and in scene-stealing supporting parts in film. And I also hope he finds a great girl to settle with. Since breaking up with Kate Bosworth of "Blue Crush" fame (euggh, do not like her), he has weirdly remained single. Dunno if he is more careful about his personal life now or he is trying to focus on his career or perhaps he has switched teams and is not ready to reveal so. But whatever the reason, I hope he meets someone who'll make him happy.

Ronan Keating. Ah, Ronan. Your Irish lilt, that gravelly voice, the blonde good looks. You made me swoon and fluttered my heart from ages 14 to 18. I thought I was in love with you for 4 years. I followed you around when we were in the same country from airport to hotel and back again. Such was my devotion to you and yet, you up and married that model Yvonne. You broke my heart. Well, I was in love with G at the time so my heart wasn't broken by the marriage but there was a twinge of hurt at the news :P Ah, teeny bopper boyband love. Can't live with it, can't live without it. My mum and I were at loggerheads constantly over my obsession with Ronan and Boyzone it is so funny to think of it now. This is a man I actually went on radio to sing one of Boyzone's songs to get some free concert tix. If there was any question, there shouldn't. I did a complete smackdown and obliterated the competition. And promptly fainted at the showcase in my excitement to the proximity of Ronan and I seperated by the burly bouncers :D To this day, when I look back on those days, I am reminded fondly of the one-sided love we had. But ok, reminiscence aside. Ronan did a concert here 2 years back and as a reward for some team effort thing, the company gave us tickets to his concert. I am over Ronan but going back and seeing him performing LIVE, I gave in to the teen me and screamed-sang the lyrics to all the songs in his set. I was the only one who even knew all the words to the songs in his set. Nobody could compare to me that night, LOSERS! I even lost my voice. Such good times. I will always have a soft spot for him.

Let's get Kimi out of the way. Kimi, the way I am obsessed with your career confounds even me. I dunno why I am invested so emotionally and deeply. I dunno if I have a crush on you but what I do know is that your first race for Sauber Petronas was when you appeared on my radar and I was filled with such admiration for your pure talent. At that time I was a Mika fan (I can say without a doubt I never had a crush on Mika Hakkinen) and it felt a bit odd trying to fit you in the pic as well but I figured the two of you are countrymen, you will get along. Mika taking you under his wing somewhat also eased my conscience on the divided loyalties front. I have followed many a sport before but the reason F1 is tops for me is because it is the first sport I ever took a liking to without having seen a sports person and had a crush on him. I was following F1 based on the strength of the sport alone. Maybe that's why I am unsure if it is a crush or not cos I don't want to spoil F1 the sport for me if it is true I like you more than as a driver. Whatever it is Kimster, your driving prowess, your stoicness, your witty banter with the press, your laconic sense of humour, you're my favourite F1 pilot of all time. I love watching you drive, even on your bumbling, not completely there days. Watching you drive makes me happy. Sad but true. I am happy when I watch Kimi Raikkonen drive an F1 car around and around a race circuit for one and a half hours on a Sunday. The rest of the time, I obsessively google news him. I do it once in the morning before I go to work and a couple of times in the evening when I've come home from work. I google him intermittently during weekends. Hey, I don't want to be the last to know any Kimi (and to a lesser extent, Ferrari) breaking news. I have no idea what will happen once he's done with F1. Kimi, I got it bad and I don't even know what IT is.

Ah, Robert Gregory Bourdon. If there was a man I would love to meet it would be you. What I've seen so far makes me want to be your girlfriend. Pipe dream, I know, but a worthy and wonderful dream nonetheless. Tall (check), dark hair (check), creative type (check), great arms (check), usually quiet but game for silly fun type (check). You fill most criterias I have for the type of guy I would love to get to know. I have always been a drummer fan when it comes to people in bands. Lead singers and guitarists are common but drummers are always the best. They are the ones who control the tempo, the beat, the band when they perform. The whole banging on the drums and cymbals is completely hot. And all the footage I've watched via LinkinParkTV on Youtube has me adoring Rob as a person. Always quite deadpan, he is serious about the music. But he has a fun side. Perhaps not as out there as the rest of his bandmates but that's what makes him great in my eyes. He is his own man. I have an ongoing crush on him, I would really like to meet him face to face one day. Not silly enough to think of anything happening cos c'mon, he's a drummer in a wildly successful rock band but it would be great to be able to see him up close. As of right now, he seems to be single. He broke up with Vanessa, his girlfriend of about 7 years, back in Nov 2007 but there are no rumblings of a new match as yet. I do hope he finds someone gorgeous and great to be with. He seemed lonely being the only one not attached AND not married but since the demise of Joe Hahn's marriage to Karen (am actually sorry this happened), I guess Joe and Rob can keep each other's spirits up during those tough days on tour where the road life seems hard and looking at the other guys with their wives and family gets them down. Or not. I don't pretend to know if it's easy or otherwise. Just a silly comment. But, yea, the type of guy that is Rob Bourdon, is the type of guy I would love to be with. I heart Rob.

Hmmmm, so that's a rundown of the unattainable objects of my affection. Weird. I mentioned I prefer men with dark hair but the majority on my list are blonde. I SWEAR I DON'T LIKE THE BLONDES MORE THAN THE BRUNETTES. It just seems the ones that have impacted me more are blonde. Sigh. That's a weird thing I just found out about myself. I have always been resolute about my dark hair preference. Looking at the list, I also seem to gravitate towards men who are quiet on the outside but tend to have a more colourful personality away from the glaring eye of the media. Ok, enough psychoanalyzing. That's it from moi, this post is running too long anyway. Till the next crush. In the words of the California Governator, asta la vista!

jennifer paige once sang - it's just..... a lil (girl) crush

And that's EXACTLY what I'm going to post about. This is not a quirky prelude to an F1 soliloquy. Even I get tired of them.....but only for about 10 minutes.

Anyways, being part of the fairer sex and a completely heterosexual member at that, I have undoubtedly, from time to time, given in to adoring admiration for someone of my kin.

Personally, I think it's perfectly normal to find yourself intensely in like with another female. Admittedly, I might have worried years ago that it meant I wanted to play on the same team, or at best, wanting to play on both sides, but I quickly came to realize that the feelings are normal. Most my girlfriends have 'em.

Which is the reason I decided to roll out my thoughts on the subject. I was having a harmless convo with a girlfriend and we got to talking about women, mainly celebs, that we would not mind being bosom buddies with.

My list is short. Alexis Bledel, Alexa Chung, Liv Tyler and Agyness Deyn. Ooh, just noticed, at least I'm fair, 2 each from both sides of the Atlantic. 3 brunettes and a blonde. Ironically enough, my preferences also runs the same for men. I prefer dark haired men to blondes.

Alexis Bledel. Rory Gilmore. The two are one to me. I came to love Alexis from her turn as gorgeous smarty pants Rory. Here was a female tv character who was portrayed as seriously brainy and was gorgeous to boot. She didn't have to dress suggestively either. Most times, you'll see her in long sleeved tees and jeans. I guess credit has to go to the writers of "Gilmore Girls" as well since the allure of Rory came from all the things she said and stuff she did. Most of my early twenties were influenced by this show. The pop culture refs peppered throughout the epis fueled my need to be as culturally savvy. I wanted to be Rory Gilmore. Well, I like me but I wanted to be coolly intelligent like her. Alexis as herself also is no slacker in the personality department. Although usually coming across as hesitant in interviews, the girl has a great sense of humour. She's also a spokesperson for a non profit that is helping to eradicate illiteracy. A cause after my own heart.

Alexa Chung and Agyness Deyn. These two are apparently best mates. Not a reason why they made my list. Just a fun fact I thought I'd slip in. Anyways.....I first came to know of Alexa when I watched a show she hosted called "Vanity Lair". I was, unfortunately, and it was in a moment of complete and utter lack of common sense, crushing on one of the contestants (who shall remain nameless and in retrospect acted like an all round douche). But epi by epi I would start watching Alexa. She has this air of "let's have a good 'ol chat" about her while she's hosting which makes you feel comfortable I guess. She appears friendly. I also loved most of the clothes she wore. It was laidback but stylish, had a retro twist to it. Pics of her in mags also seem to follow along this concept. And she had such a cute face to boot. Each time I looked at her I saw feline-ish qualities (and I mean it in a completely complimentary way). She was also tall and had a quirky gait. It was cute.

And completely in sync with quirky top model Agyness Deyn. I first came to know of Aggie through Teen Vogue. At first her shorn blonde cut irked me but as I continued to flip through the various magazines she featured in, I began to fall for her gamine/elfin features. The tomboy-esque vibe paired with all the couture seemed so paradoxical. I loved it. I love watching out for her on Fashion TV (my channel of choice when abroad and living in hotels). Her personal sense of style isn't necessarily something I would look to copy cos frankly, I wouldn't be able to pull of 99% of the things she wears. There are one or 2 instances where even she doesn't quite manage to pull it together. But I love the moxie she has. She wears the clothes with 'tude. Her catwalk is quirky too, she has a thing for leaning to her right when she walks, a very boyish gait. But despite the tomboy leanings where I would have thought she's all about independence, she's engaged to some dude in a rock band. How much more model-esque behavior can that be :D

And lastly, who cannot love Liv Tyler. Another dark-haired beauty. Tall too. I first encountered Ms Tyler in the teen fave "Empire Records". I recall the days when I would watch that movie over and over again. It also featured a cute Renee Zellweger but I digress. Then she hit it big with Armageddon. I'll admit, she made me cry with that hand-on-the-screen scene after daddy Bruce Willis sacrifices himself for the good of all mankind. And when she played Arwen. C'mon, she totally fit the bill as fairy princess. Cate Blanchett was cool as well. Back on track though, Liv Tyler is just frickin gorgeous. I love her sense of style, she has boho chic down to a science, it's completely effortless. And having Steven Tyler as a dad AND not wanting to launch her own singing career adds to her cool points.

So, those are the ladies who made my cut. I toyed with the idea of including Vanessa Hudgens as I find her completely adorable and her sense of style has been astoundingly good but the whole High School Musical thing as well as the singing puts me off. Rachel Bilson too was also a candidate. If I could raid anyone's wardrobe it DEFINITELY would be hers. But as an actress, the girl falls short.And the fact that she's done a celeb line with DKNY. As much as I love her sense of fashion, I can't particularly stand celeb lines. A celeb who formerly made the cut was Fergie of Black Eyed Peas fame. The reason I crushed on her: the totally fit body. I was in complete awe of her abs. And her ass, glutes, whatever you wanna call 'em, A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. But then she just got too mainstream and I fell out of like with her.

I guess, when I reflect on my list, the first quality I seem to admire is sense of personal style. Second would be their talent and third, their personalities as portrayed by the media. I'm sensing this list might appear to cast me in an unflatteringly shallow light. But it's ok, they are not my real friends so it doesn't really matter what aspect of their existence tops my list of criterias and therefore I am allowed to be as shallow as I want to be. Well, ain't much else to say 'cept.....who's your girl crush?

my own personal hells kitchen

A coupla posts back I mentioned my insomnia and how I was rabidly googling how to make risotto only to be foiled by the supermarket stock the weekend I was all gung-ho for my first attempt. Then I settled into a sleeping pattern and my dreams of being on the appetizer section making "perfect" risotto for Gordon Ramsay was also put to bed.

But I finally got around to it (just like how I finally got around to the point of this post). Well, not the making appetizers for Gordon Ramsay, the actual risotto making attempt. I went out and bought myself a box of Scotti arborio rice and following the recipe on the back, made a delightful serving of seafood risotto. The best part was I didn't have to invest at all in any cooking wine, those things can be bloody expensivo.


Anyways, I am pretty satisfied with my first 2 attempts. The instructions were real easy to follow and I enjoyed the whole process of making the dish. The rice was cooked in chicken stock and I added some tomatoes and button mushrooms for colour. I used fresh shrimp and crab meat to complement the dish and since I didn't have anything besides tarragon leaves in my kitchen, that went into the pan as well along with a good sprinking of parmesan. So I might have bastardized the original recipe but the point is to improvize so it'll suit your taste buds. And I have to say my taste receptors recepted eagerly :D

the diamond of the calendar

IT WAS INEVITABLE! When my post titles sound cryptic and weird, it's a hint that it's an F1/Kimi related post. And I am back to talk about my favourite F1 pilot who drives for the scarlet racing outfit.

Yesterday was the Monaco 2009 GP. And what a GP it was. The weekend started out fantastic. Qualis was actually a joy to watch, no bumbling strategic errors this race weekend. Kimi was even top of the timesheets in Q2 and was narrowly pipped to pole by Jenson Button by 0.0025 seconds (good job JB!).

And even while waiting for the race to get underway, I kept on saying that as long as we get podium, it's still all good. AND WE DID GET PODIUM! Kimi finished third at Monaco. Ok, if the pessimists want to point out that he dropped a position at the start of the race when creepy-looking Rubens Barrichello (I do apologize for calling him this but he totally does have the "crazy eyes" thing going on) managed to jump him but the point is, he kept his cool and drove a solid race all the way to third.

It wasn't as magical as Bahrain, nor his quali drive, but it was a worthy comeback statement. All around. From both drivers and the team itself. And I am happy to report, my zen state is still intact. At one point of the race when it looked like Felipe had the pace to overtake Kimi, I even suggested out loud that if Felipe took the third off of Kimi, that it was points for the team and we should all be happy. Does it matter that as my mouth uttered those words, I felt a pinch in my chest? Does it also matter that I was in my living room watching the race by myself? I think not :P

At the end of the day, we can lament about the loss of track position at the start of the race, the narrow, wielding and unforgiving streets of Monaco lacking in overtaking, the fumble with the wheel nut during Kimi's final pit that cost him precious seconds and potentially a wheel to wheel fight for second with Rubens at the end of the pitlane exit or the Brawn supremacy but I choose to focus on the fact that Kimi has finally managed this season to take a swig from his huge bottle of G.H. Mumm champagne. I have to say, I think he misses being in on the post-race drivers conference cos he uncharacteristically talked a mouthful of stuff and, in fact, I've had the pleasure of google-newsing a whole lot of his soundbites (newsbites?). He's been talking loads to the press. Weird for Kimi.....but good for moi :)

Next up? Istanbul. Let's break up this Brawn party with a Ferrari on the top step. Is it doable? I'm confident it is. Just which of the Ferrari's is the question. I'm putting my money on the Finn but I'd do it anyway even if he didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning!

tales of the great Thailand escapade: sun, surf, sand....and more

As much as I didn't want the vacay to end, it has and I'm now very much back at work. But what can I say, the trip was ab-fab. I mean an all-expense paid trip, company dime paying for my good times :D Who could complain? And there are none. Complaints that is.

Well, I did enjoy myself too much while we were sailing/yachting in the Gulf of Thailand and came ashore with a Kim Kardashian-style sunglasses burn. But I'm chalking that up as a testament of the good times had on the high seas. I mean, seriously, in my lifetime, I never dreamed I would be sailing on a magnificent yacht, mooring off private beaches and taking dips in the warm, crystal clear waters while exotic sealife abounds around me but thanks to the extravagance of "The Company", I, and 14 other colleagues, managed to do just that. Back on terra firma and reality-land, I just don't know how I'm going to cope with life as a worker drone. I know now that my life was meant to be spent living in style.....looks like I'm going to have to aim higher if I ever consider seriously taking the plunge into marital waters :D

Anyways, the overall trip was fantastic. ELEVEN DAYS OF PAID VACATION PEOPLE! The first 3 nights were spent in Bangkok, before moving on to the jungles of Kanchanaburi for a night and subsequently motoring off to Pattaya for 2 nights with a roundabout back to Bangkok for the remainder of the trip. It was good times all around. My own personal trips to Thailand mainly consisted of moi spending time in the main shopping arterial part of Bangkok and my only other sojourn outside the Bangkok city limits was back in 1993 when we stopped over to visit my aunt and uncle who were posted in Bangkok en route to the US for my sister's grad. It was good that I got to do all the touristy bits like visit the Grand Palace, Ba In Palace (where I managed to rip my faved plaid shirt in my over exuberance posing for piccies in the palace gardens), Reclining Buddha, Ayutthya, Bridge on the River Kwai (it was nostalgic cos I was visiting again after more than 10 years had passed) and the Hellfire Pass (pieces of tragic history there my friends). Most of the sites we visited in and around the greater Bangkok area had been featured on reality show "The Amazing Race" so for those of us who watch the show, we were ecstatic and kept going on and on with one upping each other remembering which season was the place featured in. Nerdy I know :)

I also got to overcome my fear of being mauled by a crocodile in the jungle river when I spent about an hour and a half floating downriver during the 2 days we spent at the River Kwai Jungle Rafts resotel. The water was about 4-5 metres deep and the current going downstream was so strong, basically all you had to do was slip yourself in the water and the current would do all the work of moving you along. Great fun! And the fact that I was assured multiple times before the trip that crocos were definitely not available in that area was a major confidence boost. I also managed to rip another piece of clothing here. I was wearing my favourite Old Navy cargo pants while doing the river float and as I was doing my second round, I slipped off the pier too close to a jutting plank and it caught and ripped the back of my pants. I suspected a rip but only after I was done and was changing did I get confirmation of the state of my pants. Sigh. Was a bit sad and pissed off but that's life. The jungle rafts were great. It's completely back to nature. No electricity at all. I did have a hard time cleaning off after the river dives cos it was past sunset and the lantern was not casting suffiecient light but a good experience nonetheless. We spent the night collectively hanging out on the pier in front of our rooms and one of the boys had somehow procured a guitar and we were raucously singing (and disturbing I'm sure) the night away.

We also made a stop at the Saiyok Elephant Camp for a special 1-hr long elephant ride through the jungle. That was an experience in itself. Now, I know that some places abuse the elephants and whatnot but this camp appeared to be legitimately humane and caring when dealing with these massive, gentle-ish mammals. The elephant that I shared with R was named Tetty and she is 45 years old. She is sweet and such a doll. I even got an oppurtunity to ride on the back of her neck but owing to my inexperience at riding bareback on wild jungle mammals that was an experience of scary porpotions which I graciously absconded in favour of the less comfortable but relatively safer steel seats harnassed atop of Tetty's back. R, however, rode her quite a distance as our mahoot (i doubt the spelling is correct but it means elephant caretaker) guided Tetty along using just the sound of his voice. After, graciously taking loads of piccies for us atop his elephant, he dutifully got back at the helm, since we were about to tread the river again and I don't think between the two of us, we were capable of guiding Tetty to the shore without either falling into the none too clear waters.

Another highlight was the 45 mins train ride from Nam Lok to Lua Phin on the old, rickety Thailand railway system was also an experience to be had. It was a throwback to the olden days and you just had to use a little bit of imagination to see yourself riding the trains fifty to seventy years ago. Another highlight of the trip was the Tiffany show we took in when in Pattaya. What's a Tiffany show? Well, it's a musical extravaganza put on by the most beautiful girl boys I have ever had the pleasure of seeing :D I mean, these men who are now women (or very much on their way to becoming one) are gorgeous with flawless skin. My female colleagues and I were in awe and we even had a few male colleagues feeling a bit confused about themselves after finding that they were slightly attracted to a couple of them :D. And they are a brazen bunch. A male colleague and I were seated in the middle of the VIP section facing the center of the stage and they outrageously flirted with both of us, winking at us and raising their eyebrows. Even I fell under their spell for a bit. Fortunately, it didn't make me question my sexuality cos at the root of it I know that they were males but for my poor male colleague, he felt a bit funny with himself after that night. He's recovered though now :P

And of course, what is a trip to Thailand if you don't help shore up their economy by doing extravagant amounts of shopping. One colleague of mine, the one who had her birthday party the night before we left for the Bangkok, ended up bringing back 10 handbags and a large amount of clothes. The best part of it was she only spent in total about USD200 on ALL her purchases. That's the thing about shopping in Thailand that I love. The goods are cheap and of reliable quality. It's definitely one of my faved shopping destinations. Even the boys in the group came home with a lot more baggage than they bargained for. We only had carry-on luggage going but coming back, everyone paid to have their luggage checked in. We wouldn't have passed customs otherwise! For myself, I did limited spending, just got a floor length kimono-style dress ala the Cate Blanchett Kenzo dress I coveted last year, 2 vests (one long one and a fringe-style waist vest), 2 cotton tie-front cardies, a pair of spiffy heels, some jewelery (includes my most favourite ring of the moment), 2 books, a shopping bag and a convertible clutch/handbag. A relatively tame haul if I do say so myself.

I can't wait for next year's trip, if there is one that is :D

que pasa?

Ok, let's be clear, my Espanol is non-existent, bar the few phrases I picked up from watching telenovela's during those Uni years. But I believe the words "Que Pasa??????" says it perfectly.

What could I be going on about? I'm such a bore so the only thing that would warrant such a reaction is of course F1-related :D. Let's be specific.....Kimi Raikkonen related.

The Spanish GP has come and gone. Without much of a peep from Kimi. But a whole lot of tactical blunders from the Ferrari team. For both Kimi AND Felipe. So it's not like I'm just favouring my Finn, I am a team player. I'll be indignant on both their behalfs. Just more so for the blonde one :D

Just to make sure everyone's in the know, I didn't exactly get to watch both Quali OR the race. My flight came into Suvarnabhumi Airport around the time of the live telecast of the qualis but I was no where near a sports channel that broadcasts F1 so I could only find out what happened after checking into the hotel. Yes, my first order of business on the company retreat was to head to the business centre and google news the Spanish GP qualifying results. That's when I found that Kimi didn't even make it out of Q1, the team suggested strongly the time he already posted was good enough to take him into Q2 but as everyone went faster and the time ran out, Kimi and Ferrari found themselves on the fringe of the top 15. SIXTEENTH TO BE EXACT. That's what you get for resting on your laurels. Por que? Por que Ferrari, por que?!?!?!? On a side note, Felipe did great though. I think he qualified 4th.....or maybe fifth.....well, somewhere better than 16th.

The race proper. Kimi got off to a great start. He was tenth and fighting to pass Nick Heidfeld as his car was quicker when it unceromoniously died on him on lap 19th. So, all tifosi, and I'm pretty sure Luca di Montezosomething (the Ferrari big kahuna), devoted their full attention to Felipe Massa, who at the height of the race was running third I believe. But after his second pitstop he was doing a solid fourth and was giving hope to one and all that the Ferrari resurgence was on. Until he got a radio-in from his race engineer to drive as conservatively as possible cos they short fueled him by one lap and he might not have enough gas to keep going to the finish line at the pace he was driving. Wow! Ferrari! Let's give a hand to the team with the worse strategic record this season. Needless to say, but will be typed anyhow, not only did he lose fourth to Seb Vettel but after having to do a splash and dash and coming out retaining fifth, he got overtaken by home hero Fernando Alonso on the last lap or something. Woohoo!

And how did I manage to know all this? Firstly, there was no sports channel carrying F1 coverage at the hotel we were staying at. Secondly, the night of the race, we were headed to a company dinner so I wouldn't have been able to watch the race even if there was a television showing it. What I had to resort to was going to the ESPN Start Sports web page and following the race via their LIVE timing broadcast (?) I sat in front of a computer the first proper night I was in Bangkok to follow the Spanish GP. I did this before heading out to dinner AND immediately after coming back from dinner. I hogged that business centre PC (there were 2). If I haven't proved how absolutely nutty I am about F1/Kimi, I think this is the height of my crazy.

Last words.....all in all the car's development looks good, let's minimize the stupidity tactics-wise and bring on the jewel of the F1 calendar that is Monaco in 2 weeks time. It has got to be better than this.

livin it up

Just came back from my colleagues birthday do. The same colleague whose sis got married earlier this year. Her family throws the wildest parties and they're always a trip.

Buffet-style bite sized food, fast music played loud and enough drinking to drown a small country. And after all that they still manage to drive straight :) For the record, I don't condone drinking and driving but I don't have an international license and it's late. The kind chica who offered to send us back responsibly drove my colleagues and I home.

Just thought I'd give her a birthday shoutout.

Happy turning 18th for the nth time :P Welcome to the club babe! MUAHS!

Ok, both you and I know we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.....it's the start of our company retreat! So this post is a shorty. Need my beauty sleep.

gladiators, flights and infallible colours

What do those three words have in common? Nothing much except those are the key descriptions of the three items I just paid for via target.com.

Yes, my love for most things Target knows no bounds. And I can readily admit without (much) shame that my New Year's resolution to stop buying bags was always going to be an impossible (practically insurmountable) one to keep. I should know myself better by now. A bagaholic can never resist a great bargain. Also, who am I kidding? I already broke that rule when I got the gray Miu Miu inspired (henceforth known as GMMI) large hobo, I was never going to survive the coming months without making another purchase before my Paris trip, I'm too much of a bag lover to restrain myself.

Anyways, on to my goodies. First up: clue flight. I blogged about this item waaaay back in December of last year. At the time, I said that I would hold off long enough to see if the clearance price would be up my alley. And what can I say, Target does not disappoint. I've been eye-ing up the Hayden-Harnett for Target Flight Tote in black from time to time since the previews last winter. It was retailing for $49.99 and at that point, although coveted, I was staying true to my word, I would not conduct any bag-buying. Then came lil Netty (my HP 2133, and yes, I named her) into my life and suddenly I was faced with the conundrum of making my fashion loving self merge with my tech loving side. I was not going to lug around Netty in a non-descript, ugly nylon laptop bag. My Netty is fun, fearless and too cool for that. Hence begins the obsession of finding the perfect accessories to complement Netty. GMMI was a start but Netty never seems to be in her element, not a discredit to GMMI but it simply is the way it is. LeSportsac's Lexie was elusive and I was not even completely sure if she and Netty would have gelled well together even if Lexie didn't make like the abominable snowman. And my other last ditch effort ended in disappointment when I failed in procuring Stella McCartney for LeSportsac's Everyday Bag on Gilt. So, it was without any expectations that I was wandering the virtual aisles of target.com when I found the Hayden-Harnett for Target Flight Tote in black going for the clearance price of $12.48. I did some pondering for about 15 minutes, reading the reviews, checking out the images (for the nth time) then decided to go the what-the-hell-it's-just-$12.48 route and click it into my cart where my first item already lay waiting to be checked out.


And it is here that we segway into what brought me onto the site in the first place. I was looking for a pair of platform heels. Specifically, I was looking for some gladiator heels. The trend is still in, I already own a pair of gold gladiator flats but I wanted to complete the whole gladiator theme with a pair of heels. I had seen these particular heels on target.com for the past couple of months and the reviews both on the site and elsewhere (numerous fashion blogs I read) were always complimentary. The only problem was that each time I was online, there was never any stock in my size and in fact, the last time I went, the shoes were completely sold out. Which ones am I talking about? Why it's the Mossimo Petrova Gladiator Sandals of course! Ah, Petrova, you toyed with me, got me feeling down soooo many times with the whole size-lessness and later, complete absence. I tried to find alternatives but none could compare to you. Basically, the Petrova, stylishly marries 2 trends together, the gladiator and the cage. The flushing reviews of its fashion forwardness and comfort just served to amp up my desire to have them. Again, I was not expecting to find them online as they had been sold out for the past 3 weeks I was checking and I was close to getting a different pair. But as fate would have it, I clicked on the gladiator option under trends and, praise sweet god almighty, there was Petrova, staring me in the face on page 1. My cursor tripped over itself in its haste to press down on the link for full details. I steeled myself for disappointment though, not getting my hopes up in the least in case.....well one should always have hope. I went to select size and.....sigh. I am in blissful contentment. Restock heaven. Size 8.5 promptly got clicked into my cart. There was no hesitation. $29.99. No sale. I don't care. Dream shoes = priceless (ok, I still do lust over those Melissa Plastic Dreams but let me fulfill my shoe fantasies one at a time).


The last thing I got took me a lil more than 2 hours to decide on. What is it? A L'Oreal Infallible Never Fail Lipstick in Primrose. I don't use L'Oreal and this will go directly to my mother. Why then did I get it? Target has the spend 50 and above free shipping deal and my total at that point was about USD42.++. I was in no way going to give up my free shipping. Hence the looking around for a coupla hours, doing mental math adding and subtracting the prices of different products to see what would total closest to 50 bucks AND would ship within 24 hours. The L'Oreal lipstick filled these shoes. I get free shipping and my mum can have a nice new lippie. Win-win :)


So there it is. I don't care (much) that I have failed one of my (many) NY resolutions cos in the end, I saved over 30 bucks for a bag that I so coveted. I also own one of the most sought after gladiator heels for the budget yet trend conscious. I am a happy camper. What makes this post even better is that there is no talk about prancing horses or making it to the finish line with points. It seems my life does involve other things besides F1 :D

UPDATE: My two important orders have arrived at the delivery point, am awaiting for them to be delivered to my loving hands, most likely in late June. No worries, I waited many months to purchase, I can wait a few short weeks more to actually get my hands on 'em. Why only 2? Cos, while I was away gallivanting throughout the bottom half of Thailand, I received numerous emails from Target informing me that the L'Oreal lippie I purchased to round up the free delivery special was apparently out of stock and if I still wanted it I had to click on a link on my Target.com accounts page before the 19/05. At that point my contact had already gotten the Hayden-Harnett Flight Tote and Mossimo Petrova Gladiator sandals without being charged for the shipping so, yay for me!, I just let the deadline lapse on the lippie. I'll get my mum something better.