what is in the water in Texas?

Before this I would have said it's just me and my hormones but I think this season of American Idol's Top 12 guys have proven that guys from Texas are usually very good-looking specimens of the male species! Let me do a rundown of the three Texan boys on the show that caught my eye.....

My fave is the delectable Casey James. Yes, I get the attraction, Kara, although not to your level of adoration. Plus, I like that I don't have to feel all squicked out when I ogle him cos he's well within the legal ogling age :D Talking about Casey, I thought, looks aside, that he gave the best performance of the night. I loved his rendition of Bryan Adam's Heaven and he took the weird going-ons at the judges console during his song in stride. Props to Casey.

Then there's Tim Urban. Who I have to say gave a rather painful performance of One Republic's Apologize but I just tuned him out and looked at his cute face instead. It was difficult as I could not help the constant wincing through the song but concentrate hard enough and you'll be able to ignore the terrible singing. Ok, it's nice to pass judgment on someone's singing abilities when it's not yourself up there on that stage. Props for chasing the dream and I hope Tim gets another chance to show America he can actually sing. Felt a lil squicky because he's a babyface but the dude's 20 so I got over it quick.

Last and least (cos I don't fancy him per se but do think he qualifies as a sexy Texan) is Alex Lambert. I keep thinking he's a relation of Adam Lambert (due to the obvious same last name, not a physical resemblance of any sort). He's 19 and is good-looking but no squicky feelings cos I'm not attracted to him. Performance-wise, I felt he was a bit all over the place, it seemed a tad messy, just a tad but definitely better than the aforementioned Tim.

Anyways, my interest in Texan boys came about with the existence of Matthew McConaughey and peaked when I crushed on, then 17, Will Makar who was a Top 24 finalist the year Taylor Hicks won. I felt EXTREMELY squicky then cos there's an 8 year age difference. But he's a cutie pie and it's over anyways. Yet, he opened my mind to the idea that there is a quality about the boys coming out of Texas.....and now that I've seen these new AI alums, I think I can safely affirm that my theory is halfway right :D I do realize that not ALL Texan guys are good-looking. Perhaps its only the ones who make it out of the state and on TV, hehehehe!

Dan Bergstein has reaffirmed my choice

I am unequivocally stating I'm definitely on Team Jacob.

The Twilight Saga came on my radar via the gossip site imnotobssessed.com. Back in 2008, the site was covering the filming of the Twilight movie which stars none other than the Robsten duo and co. Every day or so I'd see a snippet about the progress on set and I started wondering what the hell is this Twilight? Then, one of my favourite bloggers, closettherapyblog.com, did a post about her being a Twilight convert and I was further intrigued. Not enough to actually go out and get the books though. I'm not really into vampire prose.

The movie came and went. With the release of Twilight came completely insane levels of explosion in popularity for the cast and the books itself. I still didn't get into it until January 2009. I was bored, there had been a lack of movies to watch when I remembered that vampire movie that created all the hoopla. I promptly downloaded it. But again, left it on my hard disk, languishing. In the meantime, the books went on sale so I decided to get the whole set, all four of 'em. On one really boring day, I finally worked up the effort to watch Twilight three months later, more or less. And came away feeling all meh. I did not get the hype. I do not understand the chemistry of Edward and Bella. I simply did not like them. There were not a lot of things I liked about the movie; baseball scene, Jacob - that's it I believe.

I did blog about my reaction to the movie sometime last year so I won't rehash my feelings on Twilight the movie. Right after, I read the books. I had had some preconceived notions from all the "internet people" about which book was supposed to be the best and bla, bla but after getting through the first two, I found I was not on the same page as the majority of the Twilight Saga lovers. I did not hate Twilight but the story did not resonate with me. I also did not agree with the general consensus that thought New Moon was just a necessary evil that had to be told. I LOVED New Moon. Well, parts that had no Bella and Edward interaction. Most definitely enjoyed it more so than Twilight. I loathed the whole dynamic of Bella and Edwards relationship in both the books. It was just overly depressing and difficult and 99% of it was of their own making. The saving grace I feel is Jacob Black. He is simply a joy to read about and I love it when he's in the scenes. He's a charismatic, funny, handsome, fit dude that any SANE girl would love.

Which is my long-winded way of saying, Dan Bergstein of Sparknotes.com Dan Bergstein's "Blogging Twilight" fame, I TOTALLY feel you, man. You are expressing the EXACT feelings I experience when I read the books. You also offered me further insight into the whole plot and plot devices in the saga which I may have missed because I was simply too preoccupied with rolling my eyes back into my head in disbelief. I LOVE (yes, I realize I am using caps indiscriminately in this post) that there is someone out there verbalizing the same opinion I have about the completely unhealthy relationship that Bella and Edward have. I also can't help but squeal in delight when he mentioned the difference in behavior between Bella with the vamps and Bella with the normal people. And I'm so completely in agreement on the whole Jacob "The Thunder" Black (cue dramatic music) being the most radsome werewolf!

I think people should just check out his reviews, done chapter by chapter, on Dan Bergstein's "Blogging Twilight". They are just AMAZING. Insightful and funny. Provocative too. I started reading them at 5:30 pm, coming back from work and finally finished up till his last post at about half past midnight. In that time I laughed out loud, seriously snorted and giggled and chortled through sooooo many of his outrageously hilarious postings. I'm now eagerly awaiting, as many others are too, for his next installation since he's only about halfway through his Eclipse review. But for what it's worth, totally worth spending time going through each one of them and enjoy the sketches he makes to accompany each post. His love for Emmet and the radtastic jetpacking werewolves is simply too funny to miss.

How did I happen across this site? I was trawling Amazon.com and as I was scrolling down a page, I saw one of the forum discussions talking about this guy who was doing a chapter by chapter blog review of the Twilight books. I clicked on the link provided and have not looked back since. Amazon.com is truly a gem of information, I've found sooo many great things through them. I heart Amazon.com and Dan Bergstein!

i need to confess a guilty pleasure i'm kinda ashamed of

I feel quite embarrassed about it but I can't wait for the Kindle version of Lauren Conrad's sequel to L.A. Candy, Sweet Little Lies to be available on March 2.

It's on my Amazon wish list. I've also been impatiently waiting for it since January 29, lol. I realize that L.A. Candy wasn't all that intellectual but I can't help liking it for its overall cuteness. It's a light read. Fluffy, airy, hardly taxing on the brain and I can't resist wanting to know what happens next in the lives of Jane and Co.

The Kindle version is actually available for pre-order for USD7.87, which basically means you pay now and get to download the book when March 2 rolls around. I didn't go as far as to pre-order but that's not to say I haven't come close to clicking on the pre-order button. Actually, I'm waiting to see if the price will go down a lil bit more once the book is available for immediate purchase.

Lauren Conrad, you and your overall appealing cuteness has me sucked in :P

finally found the one!

No, not person, that's not even on the books. The perfect oversized Boyfriend blazer. Well, ok, I need to see it first hand before I can really proclaim it the perfect oversized Boyfriend blazer but according to the measurements, it's looking good that'll it's gonna tick all my criterias.

I got it off of ebay Australia. It's a vintage collarless blazer in black from this famous NZ/Oz brand CUE. Never heard of 'em before this but I did a bit of googling and their current stuff looks pretty good as well.

Anyways, this blazer of mine is from the '80s and is described as being 'in immaculate condition'. I got it for the price of AUD20.50 but with shipping costs me a total of AUD32.17. I guess, when everything is factored in, it's kinda pricey but it's cheaper than buying off the rack and not getting the one that ticks all the boxes.

What are my criterias? Well, firstly, I don't want it to be stiff, it's got to have a slouchy feel. Next, it's got to be 29 inches in length from shoulder to hem because I want the blazer to end mid thigh. Third, still on the measurements, it's got to be at least 17 inches from shoulder to shoulder. I have weirdly broad shoulders and I don't think it's a flattering look when my blazer is too stretched over my shoulder blades. I often have issues with clothes because of this. Fourth, I don't want it to have any funky embellishements, it needs to be a simple black blazer and the fact that it only has one black button as well as the usual three pockets really nudged me into bidding for it. Lastly, and most important because I'm such a lazy git, it has to be machine washable. None of that dry clean only or hand wash business :)

Anyways, I'm simply experimenting so even if I end up not liking it, I guess it won't feel like too much of an investment but I have high hopes I'm going to love it to death. Absolutely can't wait to get my hands on it. Hopefully it'll be waiting for me when I'm home for the holidays in the second week of March. Crossing fingers!

hot off the presses.....

Our company retreat for 2010 has been confirmed, the itinerary has been firmed up and in May from the eighth to the sixteenth, I, and the other 14 people in our team, will be headed for the sunny land of INDONESIA!

I'm excited. I've never been before so this is truly going to be a new experience for me. We'll be hitting 5 cities; Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Solo and Surabaya with a lil detour up (and down) Mount Bromo.

This trip will hopefully be as awesome, if not more so, than our Thailand Escapade 2009. It has a lot to live up to but I believe it'll be just as fantabulous. With a lil bit of everything; shopping, historical landmarks, hot springs and more, this trip holds promise of fun galore :D Thought I'd do a lil rhyme at the end there!

Can't wait!

watching.....New Moon

Awww, poor, poor Jacob. Bella just doesn't deserve your love, Jacob. You'll find someone else, someone better than that crazy girl who wants to live the rest of her life drinking blood to survive.

LOL. I just finished watching New Moon. Even reading the books, I'm more on Team Jacob. I just do not like Edward and Bella's relationship. Never have, never will. Watching the first part of the movie where the Cullens featured heavily was a bore to me and I found myself doing a lot of eye-rolling and sneering at the so-called all-encompassing love of Bella and Edward. Please, just gag me or knock me out, it's simply vomit-inducing.

But then Taylor Lautner and all his awesomeness appeared on my screen (yes, I realize he's under 20 but squickiness be damned, he really shouldn't be allowed to have a body like that if he doesn't want old-ish - there's an eleven year difference between him and I - women to think he's super hot!) and then the whole story came to life! I even managed to like Bella when she's with Jacob. She comes across as less as a simpering hanger-on and more of her own person, a fun, interesting girl you'd like to get to know. Not the dreary, my-life-revolves-around-Edward Bella of the first movie and a lil bit of the second movie. Of course, since I'm done reading the saga, I know that Edward gets back into the picture and there's a little baby Vamp-Girl who Jacob imprints on (which I wish didn't happen cos that just seems squicky but if Jacob's happy, so am I).

Overall, I'm happy with the parts of the movie where it did not involve Edward and Bella. Hated any scenes they were in. Bella always appears so desperate it truly puts me off and I can't help but want to shake her and tell her to have some dignity. The film pretty much stays true to the book. I definitely enjoyed New Moon far better than that insipid drivel Twilight. Perhaps because New Moon and anything that features Jacob heavily appeals to me. I understand the main theme revolves around this forbidden love between a vampire and a human but seriously, the werewolf kicks both their asses. I'm invested in Jacob's story, the other two can jump off a cliff for all I care :D

my (material) dream come true

I can't believe it! My dream, my holy grail of brands, I own a piece! I can honestly say I own a Bottega Veneta portafoglio. A Bottega Veneta, I own an intracciato weave portafoglio. I sense I might be on repeat if I don't stop myself now so I'll let the picture below do the talking.


Is it not gorgeous? Even if someone were to say it was a piece of shit, I wouldn't care. It's like with my N97, the reviews couldn't have been worse but yet, I still bought it. And I'm very happy with it.

My long wallet is made out of calf leather. Granted, it is of a light colour but well, I'll sacrifice certain criterias for the privilege of owning a Bottega Veneta. Looking at it, I am consumed with feelings of pure admiration. Here are some more pictures of my lovely new wallet.


All in all, inclusive of VAT refund, the wallet costs EUR135. But seeing as I requested it as my birthday gift, I'll just have to top up a lil bit only! Ooh, now I really can't wait to go home in March. Mummy loves you, BV!

P.S:
It's my gal pal's birthday today so here's a birthday shoutout to her:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GAL PAL IN OZ!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Love ya and hope you're having a blast carnivale-ing it up in Rio. Mucho jealous (I know they speak Portugese and not Spanish in Brazil but I was too lazy to babelfish)

On another side note, colleague who revealed unwanted revelation to me tried to broach the subject again with me though I think after I explained that my heart is basically a hunk of black coal incapable of returning his feelings in any way no matter how many times he wants to bring the issue up with me, he finally just decided to leave it. For today. I mean he said that if it were up to him, he wanted to keep talking about it but he knows I don't. He wanted to hash out my telling him to forget his feelings for me, trying to tell me it's not easy to simply turn off what he feels so I cut him off. I wasn't trying to be rude but he has a tendency to be long-winded and doesn't get straight to the point. I know all about unrequited feelings and I don't want or need for you to tell me all about it. I don't mean to be an insensitive, cold-hearted bitch but I didn't ask for this, I didn't lead you on in any way and I don't want this at all. Ok, small rant over.

Now, let's get this post back on track. Isn't my Bottega Veneta a beautiful piece of woven leather craftsmanship? Love my new portafoglio!

the year of the tiger sucks!

What is it with 2010? The year is starting off on a bad note for the people around me. My sis got robbed in January and this morning we found out my colleague's place was broken into and he had USD1000 worth of stuff stolen from him.

The scary thing is he lives above me. No, it's not the unrequited love colleague, my company puts up us staff in one building. It's the one I sold my E61i to. Which was a casualty of said robbery. I feel really bad and sad for him because it could not have happened to a nicer guy. He's always really sweet and helpful and just a really good guy all around and to have this kind of thing happening to someone like him just makes me feel disappointed in the karmic retribution of the world at large.

But I believe everything in life is already written and so was this incident. I also believe, if you are willing to let go of the possessions you lost sincerely, God will reward you for it in the future. These kind of happenings are tests. A test to see how you cope when faced with difficulties.

Besides the smartphone, he lost some cash, his netbook (which I had helped purchase for him from Homeland) and a digital camera. We're guessing the thief/thieves scaled the wall and pried open the window to his bedroom. His netbook and phone were on his nightstand while the digital camera was in his wardrobe.

What we can be grateful for is that he came to no harm. He was asleep in the room when it happened and didn't wake up which is a blessing because God only knows what could have happened if he had awaken during the time the robbery took place. We believe it was sometime during one am to four o'clock in the morning. He awoke himself at about 5 and was reaching to switch off his phone alarm but when he could not feel it nor his netbook, bells started ringing in his head and he immediately got up.

The other good thing we can be thankful for is that he managed to get back all the contents of his wallet (minus the cash) and the wallet itself. I live on the floor below and was about to lock up to go for work when I spotted a small mountain of what looked like name cards and passport sized photos on the balcony. I opened the door and went out and, you can imagine my shock, when I found his stuff out there. His ATM cards was one of the abandoned items.

Sigh. This is just horrible. It's awful that so many disastrous things are going on. I can only hope that things get better all around from this point on.

this totally confirms it

I hate V-Day with a passion. And the week leading up to it in fact. I hate how it brings out this side of people that would usually never see the light of day.

In the previous post I talked about my long-ago crush finding me on Facebook out of the blue. While flattered, the attraction I felt way back when, is no longer alive but I felt it was nice that we could start emailing and catching up on the last ten years of our lives. We emailed back and forth a couple of times but when I didn't reply the last email he sent me with the haste in which he wanted, where he suggested we meet up when I'm back in Homeland, I got this sarcastic email asking if I'm soooo busy that I couldn't spend a few minutes shooting him a response. This effing well irritates me. Don't make claims on my time/schedule. You and I NEVER had any kind of meaningful interaction so who are you to demand any extras that I wouldn't afford other acquaintances. I don't have internet access during the day as I work in a secure facility that bars access to protect the network. It isn't necessary for us to have internet connection anyways as our operations doesn't depend on it. Although I did not owe him any explanation, I did reply to his sarcastic email and gave him the reason his last email was not answered post-haste. I have not received a reply from him and because of that, am not bothering to reply him on his meet-up email. It's no loss to me.

Then, this morning, as I'm gathering my laundry after washing, my colleague who lives in the apartment above me, suddenly declared that he loves me. Yes, as I'm stuffing my clean clothes into my basket, I saw him making googly eyes at me and I started feeling the pinpricks of annoyance. Then just as I was headed up to my apartment, he told me he needed to tell me something, that he couldn't keep it inside anymore because it was destroying his peace of mind. And then he said, "I just want to tell you I love you". On Valentines day no less. All I could do in response was put down my laundry basket and just smile uncomfortably, wracking my brain as to how I was going to tell him I didn't feel the same way.

Sigh. I had an inkling he had feelings for me but I never thought he'd actually make them known. Now, I'm feeling extremely uncomfortable. Obviously I do not reciprocate his feelings but he's also a good friend of mine and I hate how this will undoubtedly change the dynamics of our friendship. He already displayed behavior that was more than friendly but everytime this happens I will subtly try to shut it down or I'll keep my distance until he manages to get himself under control. We used to have coffee sessions just to chit chat but now I'm reluctant to go anywhere with him. I wish to God he never made his declaration but once it's out there, it can't be taken back. All I could say was that I'm sure he was aware that I could never return his affections. We are of differing religions and if I were to ever marry, I will only marry someone of my own belief. He is a devout follower of his religion. I told him it would not happen as I don't see him converting. He said that he could but I told him that one shouldn't change their belief system for love. If a person wants to make such a big change, they have to do it out of the sincerity of their heart and own free will. I've observed people who have changed religion for love almost always end up resenting their partner. Love should never be a barometer in this kind of situations. I also told him that we should just continue as before and I hoped he would cease his feelings for me. I asked him to open up his mind and heart to other possibilites. I even went as far as to say that he should not put me on a pedestal nor idealize me as a romantic interest, because I know he does, I can see it in his face when we talk or whenever he's looking at me when he thinks I'm not aware. I told him I'm not the nicest person and that I'm not all as fantastic as he thinks I am. I had to say that I don't think I am capable of those kind of feelings anymore, not just with him, but with anyone at all. All that I told him was true, especially the part of not being able to fall in love. Perhaps the words will come back to bite me one day but for the last 5 years, that is how it is.

This is why I loathe this lead-up to the day of love and the day itself. Everywhere you are bombarded by romanticism and all the other crap that it puts people in a funny state of mind. I was forced to tell my good friend, my colleague that I have to work side by side with every single working day, and whom I live in the same building with, to try to stop feeling whatever it is he's feeling because I know, despite his protestations otherwise, that my not being able to reciprocate will become something he can hate me over.

I hate Valentines Day :(

please, please, please.....

One of my best gal pals is in Rome for work these past coupla days and I had asked her to just peek at some Bottega Veneta prices while she was there.

She then casually mentioned there is an Outlet Mall just outside of Florence where she has plans to go and make a pilgrimage. Upon learning of Bottega Veneta being one of the stores located at this Outlet Mall, and since I'm in the market for a new wallet, I asked her to look at some long wallets for me, giving her some suggestions from the Bottega Veneta website.

We just got off from a few long distance phone calls and I am hoping that she has managed to get me the portafoglio we were discussing right before we got cut off and communications couldn't be resumed. The normal price range for a long wallet run in the region of USD650 and above. The long wallet she was looking at for me is EUR150. I immediately asked her to get it for me despite the colour not being black. It's bronze but it's Bottega Veneta, I just couldn't stop myself.

If I hadn't gotten 2 bags on my Paris-London trip, I might have also gotten an Intracciato hobo in blue since it's selling for around EUR465, I think she mentioned. That's way cheaper than ANYWHERE else I've checked!

I hope she gets back to me soon on the status of the bronze wallet. It's a total dream come true if she got it!

the wonderful personality that is Kimi Raikkonen

How can I stop loving this guy? I can't, it's as simple as that. Not as long as he keeps entertaining me with quotes as per below. Oh, Kimster, if only you were single and knew I was alive. And also, I guess, most importantly, interested in me. Sigh. A girl can dream about alternate universes, right? Yup, I'm looking at you, LOST! Btw, I got these off various news outlets which I forget already. Nonetheless, enjoy the snark :)

Kimi Räikkönen probably gets more than his fair share of dumb questions directed his way, and he is visibly tiring of the repeated enquiries about the similarities and differences between Formula One and rallying.

"Look, all cars have four wheels, gears, and a steering wheel", he offered to yet another "how does it compare?" question.

"The atmosphere of rally is much nicer than F1," he remarked recently, adding that his present mood reminded him of early 2001, when as a 21-year-old he made his F1 debut with Sauber. "There is a little bit of the young Kimi in me again, yes. I'm curious and excited."

a mid-week roundup

Quite a bit of things has been happening in the past coupla days that i thought I might as well blog about.

First up, it's pre-Valentines week, the week of love so to speak (gag me),and my colleague (the one who called me fat - we've made up) and I have been trading anecdotes and insight on matters heartwise. I'm not a celebrator of this holiday whether I was attached or otherwise so it holds no significance for me except it always brings about reflections of my lovelife. I can understand why the thoughts plague me more during this time since it appears as if the whole world is being bombarded by a ginormous galaxy-sized billboard of LOVE. I don't mind, in fact I think I quite like reminiscing about my past entanglements, it brings a smile to my face thinking about my youthful, idealistic moments. Yes, I was once a bright-eyed, carefree young girl who had romantic ideals. Now, I like to think of myself as realistic but I think my friends would more likely call me jaded, cynical, you know where I'm heading with this.

Aside from that, I've been communicating with one of my beloved gal pals who now resides in Sydney, Australia. She's headed to Rio de Janeiro for some R&R, fulfilling a dream we both held during high school - to attend Brazil's infamous Carnivale. I was telling her how absolutely jealous I was that she was doing this without me; she's off on a vacay with her boyfriend. She told me we still have the Amazon to conquer and that'll be OUR trip. Our Brazil pact came about during the '94 World Cup held in the States. We both had a gigantic crush on the Brazilian forward, Bebeto, and that started the love for Brazil. We dreamt about going to Carnivale and storming the Amazon rainforest. Now, that I'm all grown up, I'm not too sure about trekking around in the jungle with crocodiles and piranhas but I'm still open to the experience - albeit reluctantly.

My other gal pal from our lil girl group (it's five of us girls - we've known each other since we were 7 and went to the same primary and secondary school), is currently somehwere in Italy, I forget which major city she's in. What I do know is that it's the land of Bottega Veneta. I was peeved that she forgot to inform me earlier until I saw her Facebook status telling me she'd arrived. We'd been discussing my getting a BV something ever since she mentioned she MIGHT have to go to Italy for work. Nonetheless, she allayed my fears by assuring me it was not too late to put in a lil request. I'm thinking of a long wallet, can't particularly afford anything else, as a lil birthday prezzie to myself. Perhaps I'll get the girls to chip in a lil bit as well :) I'm jealous at her as well for hitting Italy before the rest of us. I've got travel-envy pretty bad this month!

The third interesting thing that happened this week is that a guy I used to have a crush on during my year at my pre-U college, out of the blue contacted me on Facebook. I usually abhor social networking sites; to me it's simply a necessary evil I endure so that I can keep in touch with my pals what with us being scattered all over the globe (ok, I exaggerate, we're mainly in the Southeast hemisphere but we don't get to see each other often). At first when I read his message, all I could think was that I knew this dude from somewhere but just couldn't place him. So I had to, of course, tell him I didn't remember from where I knew him. He was cool about it and we've been emailing a bit. It's been 10 years since I've seen him, I was shocked when he requested to be my friend. Further still when he mentioned he'd been looking for me for a long time. He said he tried to find me on Friendster too but only found success on FB. Why this shocks me is because we barely spoke while we were at this boarding school style college. He was doing Physical Science while I was in Life Science and the only time we'd actually cross paths was in the hallways. Right before graduating from the college, we had one conversation and that was it. I thought he was cute but coming off of my break-up with my first love, G, I wasn't looking for anything beyond a crush. I admit I'm flattered but beyond that, I'm just curious to know why I had such an impact on him.

Ok, that's all I want to get off of my chest.

i've been feeling nostalgic.....

for the good 'ol days when Kimi Raikkonen was still in F1. So, I should get over it, I know. And at least he is still doing motorsports but as I finished a download of 2009 Rally Finland where Kimi made his very impressive rally turn, it made me feel longing for the easy access of info and clips and news of F1.

Perhaps I'm just making it harder on myself because some part of me really wanted him to continue driving in Formula 1 so I wouldn't have to "lose" the sport. I love F1 and I know I'm giving up the sport on my own volition because I can't bare to watch it without Kimi. So I really shouldn't whine. And there's Rally as a replacement. I'm not averse to gaining a new sport albeit one that is utterly foreign to me in every way. What in the world are pacenotes and how can Kimi, or any driver concentrate for that matter, with someone yakking constantly, reading from a piece of paper beside them? And as much as I like watching the car drift around on the dirt/snow, I quite miss the on track competition, the passing ON the track, the dogfight, the side-by-side, wheel-to-wheel stuff.

But as I watched Kimi's interviews and saw how relaxed and easygoing he appeared ON CAMERA; looking completely happy, which for anyone who knows how he is with the media, it's simply not his usual behavior, I felt happy to see him doing something which put a genuine smile on his face. Which is why I am willing to dive in and learn WRC along with him. Pacenotes and all :)

Like I've mentioned before, I'll follow Kimi whereever he wishes to go. I do wonder at the hold he has on me.....not any one sportsperson I've supported before him has had the same effect as he has. Do well in Rally Sweden this weekend, Kimi! I'll try to find a download :D

can everybody say "WOW!"?

I was watching a repeat of the 52nd Grammys today and I was completely blown away by all the performances!

My fave would be Green Day and the cast of American Idiot performing 21 Guns followed by Bon Jovi's trifecta, the MJ tribute featuring MJ's voice, Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Smokey Robinson and Usher, The Dave Matthews Band performance of You & Me, David Foster, Mary J Blige and Andrea Bocelli doing Bridge Over Troubled Water for Haiti Relief and oh, everyone was great except for Black Eyed Peas, whose performance I just wasn't feeling and the minor issues during Taylor Swift's turn.

I find this year's show to be of the most artistic quality in recent years. I was just sooo impressed. Never woulda guessed Pink could be such a performer and I'm just realizing that Lady Gaga can really sing and is not just a gimmicky quirk. Watching the show made me realize that I have a higher regard of musicians versus actors in terms of artistic value because I feel people in music are truly creators of art as opposed to actors whom I feel are more vehicles of art, as in they carry out the work of the real artists; the writers. But what do I know, really :)

the next best thing to black

I first found out about the holy grail of credit cards, the AMEX Black card, while watching an epi of Gilmore Girls and it was mentioned that Logan Huntzberger was a holder.

My initial reaction was ambivalent and it still is, I'm not particularly into credit cards as status symbols as such. But what I am into are credit cards that provides me services that benefit me greatly. Such as credit cards allowing me to purchase from US-based sites that don't allow credit cards outside the US let alone ship outside the States.

That's why when my sis offered me a supplementary on her Platinum AMEX, I didn't bite UNTIL I found out about the whole online shopping perk! When I went back for work last week, she handed me the small booklet detailing the benefits and perks of being an AMEX Platinum cardholder specifically pointing out the abovementioned. I didn't bother to look at the other special features after that. Alright, if I'm honest I did squeal when she told me AMEX Platinum cardholders get access to F1 paddocks worldwide but once I remembered F1 no longer has Kimi Raikkonen, I was all, "Meh, whatevs!"

I'll be getting my new card soonish and I can't wait to test it out. I know just the site to try it; gilt.com. I have wanted to buy stuff from them numerous times but was hindered by the whole not being a citizen-of-the-US thing. It always makes me feel like I'm trying to give you money and you refuse, it makes me sad :(, LOL! Makes having a membership there extremely pointless but if what the AMEX Platinum brochure says is true than I can definitely maximize Gilt to its fullest advantage!

UPDATE:
LOL, well, I don't have the card but I already know I'm not gonna be buying anything on Gilt. Apparently the AMEX service, it's called globaleshop, uses comGateway as the merchant that facilitates and Gilt is not one of the online stores on their list. Boohoo but they do have Charlotte Russe, Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, Urban Outfitters, Tiffany, American Eagle, Wet Seal, 6pm and other interesting stores that I've wanted to shop at but wasn't able to. So no Gilt is fine with me :)

rounds of drinking and dancing

One of my new colleagues got married yesterday and last night the office as a whole attended his wedding reception. As per usual with weddings in this country, there was a whole lotta drinking and being merry. Being merry involves getting on the dance floor and grooving along to the live band.

Despite my many earlier statements of this being a non-dancing event for me and my numerous protestations come boogie time (yes, I've decided to adopt disco lingo), I was harassed, coerced, cajoled into six turns on the dancefloor. And despite my reluctance, I still enjoyed myself. As I always do when I attend these functions. Plus, you really can't deny the bridegroom when he comes up and request you as his partner himself, right?

CONGRATULATIONS P!

i'm in love.....

with a TV character! Ah, I've missed falling in love with a fictional person :) The last TV dude I was completely in love with and have yet to really get over was Logan Huntzberger from Gilmore Girls. I still reminisce the good old days when I got to see Matt Czuchry strutting around as Logan every week and swoon at how charming (some people would say smarmy :P) he was. But Logan was a character I loved yet didn't want cos I always felt he belonged to Rory. Ok, just read that back and noticed how crazy all of it sounds.

Anyways, I find that it really isn't about the actor playing the role but really about the way a character has been written and executed. Matt Czuchry is on The Good Wife playing Cary Agos but I'm not totally feeling the love for him while he's on that show. I do catch myself going, "Aww, Logan" when Matt makes Cary slip into some of Logan's mannerisms but Cary on his own is not making the same impact as Logan.

This brings me to this new TV guy I've managed to find myself completely head over heels in love with. This isn't my first encounter with the actor playing my TV crush as I'd seen him on Lipstick Jungle prior to him landing this role but like I mentioned above, it really is about the character and not so much about the actor.

I am one of those few rabid Friday Night Lights fans who are so in love with the show and can't seem to understand why it isn't a bigger hit. When the last season ended, it was looking like it was in danger of being the series ending but then the good people at DirectShow renewed it for 2 more seasons and in November, Friday Night Lights came back to cable TV.

This new season introduces a slew of new characters as a show about high school football revolves around growing high school kids that have to graduate at one point or another. Many fans were worried about the quality of the show dropping what with nearly 95% of the main cast leaving for this fourth season but we worried overly much. This latest season is one of the most heartfelt, wrenching, grittiest and completely amazing show available on TV right now. The loss of all those beloved characters, although missed, was made more than bearable by the appearance of the new guys. One of which is the character Luke Cafferty played by Lipstick Jungle alum Matt Lauria.

Oh, Luke. You made me fall in love with you in that scene between you and Principal Taylor. How could a boy facing that kind of crushing disappointment still manage to have the decency and great manners to apologize for your mistake and thank the person bearing you the bad news that you'll no longer be playing for the revered Dillon Panthers where the town and its inhabitants practically kiss the ground you walk on whereever you go but instead have to head on over to the non-existent football fields of East Dillon High to join the Lions who haven't been in existence since 1984 or something to that effect? Your earnest, honest, innocent yet not completely guileless manner makes me want to hug you protectively yet kiss you senseless all at the same time! I especially love when I see him on the football field, in all his gear and being all commanding. It all just looks so hot. It's a big bonus when Taylor Kitch's Tim Riggins is on the field training him. I love 33 with a passion but he's too much of a man-whore for me to be in love with. That's why Fours caught my eye. Matt Lauria plays Luke with a fine balance of vulnerability and innocence coupled with some charm, humour, confidence and really attractive self-belief.


Look at that face.....so innocent-like. Don't you feel like you need to give him a hug? Ok, so he's not really that innocent, I WAS disappointed with the whole Luke-Becky storyline but hey, it happens and the way Luke dealt with it was great and mature and made me love him more despite the issue at hand. The whole Luke injury situation was also a bit of a bummer character-wise but again, in Matt Lauria's hands, Luke came across as endearing as ever.

Right, I'm going to stop gushing about fictional guy, Luke Cafferty and go off and take a shower now :D

P.S:


Could not resist posting this pic of my 2 fave ex-Panthers on the field! Images are courtesy of my image googling Luke Cafferty and finding these screencaps on tumblr.

i really shouldn't but i did

Buy a new bag, that is. I know I already own a ton of handbags but I just can't get enough of 'em. At least I'm not promising a no-bag-buying policy for 2010. I've learned my lesson on not making promises I'm bound to fail miserably to keep :D

And it isn't a particularly expensive piece. I've been lusting over quilted bags, namely Marc Jacob's Stam which at the minimum price of over 1.5K is really pushing the threshold of how much I'm willing to spend on arm candy. To quell this thirst and divert my attention from taking that 1.5K plunge, I thought I'd tide it over with a more than affordable choice.

I've been trawling blog shops for the past few days. I'm a girl on a mission, seemingly not wanting to rest until I finally spend my meagre money on something (somehow, buying Kindle books does not give me that feeling of satisfaction of a physical purchase). And I found the something I wanted to spend my money on - a Chanel inspired quilted shoulder bag in beige. And it only cost me USD12.63 inclusive of postage!


I love how cheap it is and because of that, I'm planning on making modifications to it, make it a lil bit more personal by pinning some studs on it to give it a bit of an edge from that whole ladylike vibe Chanel classics have. Perhaps something along the lines of the bag below.


I'm hoping I won't ruin it but if it does get trashed during my DIY process then it won't make me cry so much :D

Disclaimer:
The pic of the bag is from the blogshop I purchased from. I credit them but prefer to not name names since I am blogging anonymously :P And the inspiration bag comes courtesy of MSN Style Files sourced from a place called Cats Whiskers.

symptoms of a chronic shopaholic

I just realized something weird about myself. When I flip through a magazine, I actively make a conscious effort to search through for something to buy. Is that normal? I mean, I purchase this local magazine every month and when I get my hands on it, I look through with the sole intent of finding something that I would spend my money on.

How I came to this moment of clarity was when I found myself feeling strong disappointment in this month's issue when I did my initial runthrough and found absolutely nothing that caught my eye. Subsequent browsing still produced nothing that I cared for. It leaves me feeling dissatisfied. I don't necessarily go out and buy the product I've set my eyes on, I just like the feeling of coveting something. Since, I coouldn't seem to set my sights on anything in this issue, I went and got the rival magazine, which I only read when I can't get my usual mag, to see if there was anything in it that would catch my attention :)

What does all this say about me?

getting back to study mode.....

In this post, I mentioned my boss wants me to get my industry certification by the end of the year so I figure I have to start buckling down and begin. There's 7 courses and each course is about 16 and more chapters long.

It's an online course. Free to read but the exams are pricey. Just one module averages 350 euros. So before I make the commitment to take said exams, I better be sure I know my stuff. To get into the swing of things, right after I landed on Tuesday morning, I headed to the bookstore and got myself a nice new notebook so I could take notes. Although the course material is all provided for online, I prefer the traditional methods of reading things on paper so for the past 2 days I've been transcribing. It's been so long since my fingers have done active writing so it's cramped up a coupla times and I've had to shake out the stiffness :P

What surprises me most is the fact that I'm actually not falling asleep going through my chosen first module. I mean, it's not the most interesting of subjects but the fact that I don't seem to yawn through it kinda makes me wonder.....it's definitely yawn-worthy stuff. I guess I should be grateful, perhaps it's the expensive cost of the exam that is a motivating factor. Plus, if I don't do well, the company will make me reimburse them :D

Anyways, it's been quite seamless, the whole getting back into the swing of things. If I'm really honest, I've been enjoying taking down the notes and looking through the pages of stuff I've written down and admiring my handwriting :P LOL, what a self-praising dork I am!

woah, loyalty DOES pay!

This year, come August 1st 2010, I will have been with The Company five years. I was talking to The MD on Sunday about my years of service and asking, jokingly, if there would be a prezzie to commemorate it and she said she'd bring it up with The Chairman.

I just got a call from The MD and she said The Chairman gave me two choices: a Mont Blanc pen OR follow them around Europe visiting industry exhibitions! SO COOL!

I chose the working trip to Europe, no contest :D I'll buy myself the Mont Blanc pen!

hunny bunny turns three

My youngest niece turned three on the first of this month. We had a more low-key but just as fun celebration compared to last year's do. Instead of a full blown party ala last year's event, this year, we went out to a great Mexican restaurant for her birthday dinner.

She was so cute, all decked out in her Burberry dress and she kept going around asking everyone in the family what day it was. Then when you told her it was her birthday then she'd say, "Oh ok, thank you!" As if she were unaware that it was her birthday :)

The food was absolutely divine. I had some baby beef ribs complemented with some strawberry margarita. Virgin, of course. Then for dessert there was Hunny Bunny's birthday cake which my mum picked out and provided for. Essentially, it was a cake that was to my mother's taste but appealed to all; blueberry cheesecake. Ummm, yum!

The restaurant's staff came out singing "Happy Birthday" with a guitar accompaniment and Hunny Bunny got all shy but you could see she was extremely pleased. Of course, what would birthday's in my household be like if we didn't have some jealous siblings, right?

Her brother and sister tried to commandeer control over her prezzies. Prezzies courtesy of moi, eldest sis and new bro-in-law. We bought her an electric guitar and microphone cos she's been really into performing of late. Her go-to song is Katy Perry's Hot & Cold and the Black Eyed Peas first single off of their latest album, the title of which I've forgotten and can't be bothered to google.

It was a great day all around. Lastly, I'm gonna do the traditional birthday shoutout to my gorgeous three year old niece whom I love to pieces. Here goes:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY TO HUNNY BUNNY!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

LOVE YOU, HUNNY BUNNY! MUAHS!

i totally get the hype

And I'm back in the Workland. It's been a hectic coupla days, all rushed and filled with activity. Like I mentioned in the previous post, going to the cinema to watch Avatar was on the agenda. Even weeks after its release date, the movie is selling out at every screening. My sis barely managed to snag four tix on Sunday for the 3D version. Our seats were second row from the screen but it wasn't too bad.

Ok, so I had no clue whatsoever what I would be watching when I sat in the theatre waiting for the movie to start. All I knew was Sam Worthington was the main male lead and there were some kind of blue people tribe called Na'vi. Oh, and it's a James Cameron movie. I never understood the hype of Titanic which is why I went into the cinema with no expectations whatsoever.

And I was completely wowed! I love it when that happens, when something completely blows me away. There's only one other movie that managed to leave me feeling the same way and that's Peter Jackson's Lord of The Rings: Fellowship of The Ring. Now, that was a movie I went 4 times to watch. But back to Avatar, the storytelling was superb. L-O-V-E-D IT! Although the one point that I felt could have been done in a better way was Michelle Rodriguez's heli-pilot scene where her bird has already been hit and she knew she was gonna go down. I felt that if she was already resigned to her fate, she should have piloted her heli into the aircraft carrying the explosives. My sis felt that she should have been given a chance to eject. But we can only comment :)

Another thing I need to get off my chest is the fact that John Sully's avatar looked nothing like John Sully but instead looked like a blue-skinned Rob Pattinson. And I'm not the only one who thought this. My cousin, who had gone to watch the movie when it first came out, and I were talking about the awesomeness of the movie and when I made that observation, he completely flipped and said he had thought the same as well.

Anyways, it's simply amazing how James Cameron and co managed to create this completely different yet extremely believable whole other world. The vision to build this new civilization is just incredible though I feel that the Omaticaya clan is modeled upon some indigenous African tribe. I'm most impressed with the creation of a whole new language.

Zoe Saldana's portrayal of Neytiri is also a big part of why I love this movie. I felt she really embodied the essence of this person who's so attuned to her surroundings/nature. I would say that she's my favourite character of the movie.

Bottom line: Worth every single dollar it's grossed!