Hooked on Nat Geo

These days, Nat Geo is rapidly surpassing the airtime of our HK dramas at home.

It started long ago; whenever we went for a holiday and checked-in to a hotel, we would inadvertently tune the channel on permanent to Nat Geo. Almost every programs on Nat Geo is engaging, be it natural catastrophe, animals documentaries, history, and science programmes, all of them so stimulating and of course, educational. Just like the channel slogan, live curious. It quenches my thirst for knowledge, and more knowledge.

Recently, during my sojourn at Shangri La, once again I tuned in to Nat Geo, and make it a point that I rushed back to the hotel by 7pm almost every night. I am especially hooked on to Dog Whisperer – love Cesar Millan, Seconds from Disaster – chilling near-death stories, and Wild Justice – illegal poaching.

Good things don’t last long, ten days later; I returned home, with no subscription of Nat Geo on my cable, I was mentally prepared to face cold turkey. It was harder than I expect. I threw in the towel and call to hook up Nat Geo and now it is back to business again!

Now, even Kev is addicted to Dog Whisperer. We are so inspired to train Coby, once again.

Europe Trip: Shopping Madness

Europe trip to me is not just about sightseeing, a good amount of the moolah is spent on you-know-what. I have to admit that Europe has good shopping.

Those who know me, I would add, really well, will know that I am an extravagant shopper. Despite telling myself to buy only one (item of each), I will often end up buying A FEW.

However, if you want me to point out a regret in this trip, it will definitely be the fact that I have no luck with Birkin or Kelly. I was hoping for a number 2!

Back to my shopping spree, a trip to the LaDuree restaurant is de rigueur. Kevin and I had brunch there and we did not forget to bring some back to my colleagues. Alas, I was told that we could only keep the macaroons for three days, so, I had finished up all eight of them!



We bought lots of chocolates, mainly from Switzerland. These chocolates come with free sore throat.


Bought Bally belts for my dad, in-law and Kevin from Italy. I didn't even use my wallet for the first few days in Italy and it was downright depressing! This was the only thing that I bought for the first few days. I couldn't wait to splurge!


Had crazy shopping at the Paris warehouse and Milan. Don't even want to brood on my encounter with the hunks at Abercrombie & Fitch in Milan.



Here comes our hefty purchases...
- 4 pairs of Ferragamo (each of us got 2)
- 1 Goyard bag
- 1 Hermes bag
- 1 Hermes bangle (My Vday Gift from Kev)
- 3 Panerai watches

These days, I am not so much into bags, because I had too many and at one point of time, I thought it was quite pointless because I usually stick to a few bags and the rest were often kept in the shelf. So for a while, I shifted the focus to shoes. And since last year, I bought a pair of Ferragamo, two pairs of Prada (and still intact). With the new addition of two more pairs of Ferragamo to the S family, I think I had enough.

I tell myself I need to alter my collection a bit, to be an "all-rounder" (for the wrong reason). Hereby, I am going to abolish the two bags per year target and amend it to two watches per year. That's my new hobby, which I share with Kevin.

Anyway, after this trip, I fulfilled both, two bags and two watches. All thanks to implusiveness. I was so out of control.


I love my Goyard bag. Because this is something not available in SG.


Kevin and I bought three panerais during this trip. And that means we have four in our collection. We prefer stealth luxury for watches, nothing too eye-catchy, showy, nothing too bling. The PAM 329, which uses the Panerai inhouse movement, was a perfect bday gift from Kevin because he knows that I have to deal with my colleagues in US and the GMT feature certainly comes in handy for me. Thanks to his generosity - the most pricey watch among the three. By the way, Panerai produced only 500 pcs of PAM 329 this year, so well, that explains the hefty price tag. Well, of course, price is not the key concern, even if it is a Swatch, it will still be priceless to me, since it is a gift from Kevin.

I liked my PAM 112 because I have a soft spot for simple watch. I liked the fact that no one can tell that it is an expensive watch, so that I can wear it on almost all occasions and won't feel "over wear" or "under wear". In addition, I love men watch. Despite having a very small wrist, I find watches with huge dial irresistible. Also, Panerai (unlike some of the other popular brands) is not a brand where you can walk to a shop and ask for a model and you will have it. Because some of the models are limited in production, hence, Singapore may not be allocated with the particular model that you are looking for. So, if you ever see a Panerai that you really like, you have to buy it. Serious, this is not an excuse for buying three watches, really.



My PAM 329 comes in metal strap and it was so chunky and cumbersome that I had to go and customize a strap when I returned to SG.

So that was about all of what I purchased during the trip.

At the end of the trip, on the plane, I tell myself that I am going to have bread and water for the rest of the year. And thanks to E, who gave me a Starbucks prepaid card so at least, I am going to enjoy better bread and coffee. Perhaps I should grow some sweet potato on my roof terrace, so at least I can have a change in the bread diet.

The Lost Game

Heartrending was the only word that could precisely describe my feeling after the match between Japan and Paraguay. I was left speechless, disconsolate after the game. Japan lost not because of their incompetency, not because of their height, not because of anything, but luck is simply not by their side. Sadness is written all over the players’ faces and likewise the coach and the other team members. Some cried.

I followed the Japan matches closely, regardless if it happened at 2:30am. And I watched those guys played from their first match to their last. And I have to say, I am proud of them, they came a long way, and I felt it was so wrong that they lost the game because of penalty kick. My friend told me to wait for the next World Cup, but how many 4 years can a football player have? Who can confirm that Honda will play for the next World Cup? Who can say that there will be a best combination for the team for the next World Cup? The answer is obviously NO.

I was particularly cheesed off before the penalty kick when the commentator remarked that Hasebe needed a translator to understand the referee. Doesn’t the commentator know that Hasebe is a player for the Vfl Wolfsburg, which is a German professional football club since 2008 and so what makes the commentator thinks that he needs a translator for simple English.

There's nothing left for me in this World Cup. Or perhaps, there's still Brazil.

Vegging Out @ Home

Weekend are meant to be vegging out at home, being a couch potato and for Kevin, get juiced up. I haven't step out of our door step to hit the malls despite of the GSS ever since the World Cup kicked off. Nap time often stretched from 5pm to 8pm and by the time I woke up, all I knew was, I missed a good half an hour of the first match (damn!) and I could eat a horse.

As for Kevin, he would rolled his eyes and lamented that the two pigs slept for 3 hours while he patiently waited for us to decide what to have for dinner. I can only tell him that the World Cup will only be a brief interlude, once every 4 years as a matter of fact, and it will end by mid of July. And his patience is very much appreciated, thank you.

And do you know, World Cup and takeaways are the best combination in the world? Food is only a phone call away and all you need to do is to use your feet to reach out for that iPhone on the coffee table and slowly bring it to your hands and viola!

By the way, I have been dialing for food orders for weekdays etc, one day it was KFC, the other days were Mac for breakfast-es and some days, I have pizza hut (only when I am super desperate...)

I have to thank C for getting me a complimentary Senso card so that I can enjoy Spizza and all other restaurants under Senso group with a beckoning 20% off the bill. It arrived last week, just in time to have a change on the delivery menu. Spizza!

I love Spizza.


Noticed the red wine beside Kevin's knee cap? He loves to drown himself in red wine with takeaways. He can drink half a bottle single-handedly. I only had a glass.

Along the same line, I have been shamelessly indulging in pizzas from Al Dente. Because they are having 1-for-1 lunch on weekdays. Last Friday, I had 7 slices of pizzas at one go.
Guess by the end of World Cup, I may have gained 4 kg!

Here's a picture taken on our way back to the office. My colleagues were joking that we seemed to be sightseeing rather than working. Who cares, when it is Friday!

Running

I still recalled vividly how I ran and pant during my ASS Secondary 1 cross-country race, rubbing my skin against clammy perspiration on the other participants, the pungent BO around me, the scorching hot sun on top of my head making me 20% darker… I cursed throughout the running route and vowed that I WILL NEVER TAKE PART IN ANY RUNNING COMPETITION AGAIN!

True enough, I was bafflingly on MC for the rest my years in ASS as long as there was a running event. And I bore grudge on any other sports that are as rigorous as running.

Just when I thought that my detestation for running was carved in stone, I was called up upon by my gym kaki cum colleague to take part in the JP Morgan Chase, representing our company.
To end my work day early, I sold myself to the idea of running again.

Running 5.6km was no joke; it should be considered half marathon, as far as I know. I won’t mention my time because that will scare you people off, all I would say is, “I zipped along amazingly fast!” Haha.

Anyway, after the race, I got the urge to pick up running again (not as if I was previously into running, but for the fact that I took it out from a list of hobbies). I am still searching for a companion to run with me (half marathon) in the Shape run since I can’t do full marathon with my colleague. After that, I hope to train for Standard Chartered and Army Marathon later this year with Kevin.

I am so so so SPORTY.

BTW, here’s a picture of the running team before the race.

Just before the New Year

I am a self-proclaim TVB Drama addict. My supply of dramas is never ending, (lucky me huh)and to the point that I have to pick and choose what I wanna watch, in order not to waste my time on those lovey-dovey dramas which I really abhor.

Maybe I have way past the age of 'falling in love', 'wishing that a prince on a white horse can save a damsel in distress aka me from some baddits'...

Or maybe I am a woman full of vengeance, and I am especially devoted to revengeful dramas such as Moonlight Resonance, The Heart of Greed, A Pillow Case of Mystery, Last One Standing and lots more. So just yesterday, I find myself addicted to the 2009 TVB Drama - Rosy Business.

It is one of the best dramas which I watched this year. Forget the crappy Gem of Life, too long-winded (and I stopped half way). Rosy Business is fast pace and send you pressing the forward button on your remote to skip the opening and closing songs, trailers and unimportant parts so that you will unveil more schemeing plots from the bad guys. Kevin left the house at 9am, saw me, lying on the bed, starting the serial and he returned at 6pm, saw me lying on the exact same spot, same tshirt, same posture. He sighed.

Who cares! All I know is that I watched 20 episodes in a day and that costs me 16 hours of my time. And I want more! More! More! More! (Starting to sound like Ziv when he wants more Hi-5, opppsss... did he get it from me?)

P.S I have never watch Korean dramas in my life except Kim Sam Soon and Snow Queen, because that was acted by my 'boyfriend' and Korean dramas may be worth watching because of the eye candies. As for Taiwanese dramas, I don't even consider them as a drama. I wonder who the hell will watch them (maybe only old grannies), Taiwanese dramas are of inferior quality, plot, screenplay, actors/actresses... lots of mushy LOVE acts that makes me wanna puke. They should really learn from HK dramas.

My Hidden Talent

... or rather my hidden passion.

My love for Mahjong is hardly noticeable to many.

I don't have dark circles under my eyes after a 12-hour MJ session.
I don't quiver after a long period of cold turkey (without MJ).
I don't get hyper just because of the shuffling sound of MJ tiles.
I don't unintentionally and incessantly scratch my hands at the sight of MJ tiles.

So, I am confirm that I am not an addict. Sounds like a disclaimer?

However, wait till you see what I have got for the new house, or new job, or new... whatever... excuses, I know.

Anyone interested to try out the new tiles? You know what number to call, doncha?