Alone time.

I hereby declare that I will not be able to come up with "tokens" post anytime soon as work is draining away my brain juice, thus draining away my capability to morph into a morbid state of mind and at the end of the day, all I can come up with are soda-ey posts. Like this.

Shower time!



Cetaphil is THE BOMB! It's very gentle and doesn't sting my eyes. Cleans superbly but isn't drying, unlike Garnier Light which doesn't really clean well - can feel my face is still greasy after wash (disclaimer: I have oily skin). Bought this 473ml (16 fl oz) Cetaphil for around MYR$15 when I was in AZ. Back here it's like MYR$49.90!

Apple face mask time!



Ahhh... bliss! Don't know psychological or what, but my skin seems to appear finer after each use.

Sleepy Sunday.

I thought I'd have a "token" post by today (as mentioned last week) but looks like it's not gonna happen. I've practically worked my brains out this week and I doubt I can morph it into an emo state right now. There was even a night where I skipped sleep :s So I thought maybe I can just do another soda post :D My nails are really long and I'm having a hard time typing. I think I'll cut them in a week's time. What I'm actually doing is trying to grow them a little to let the cracked dryness at that place where the nails meet the flesh heal. And it's looking pretty good now. But typing is a pain. Keep pressing multiple keys at the same time when I attempt to type with the pads of my finger as I had to do it with fingers flat.



I recently tried out the Japanese Cherry Blossom Mask from My Beauty Diary which was given to me as a souvenir from Taiwan. I was really curious to give it a try after all the rave going on around My Beauty Diary. It was not drippy and messy and the scent is pleasant and somewhat calming. My skin felt fresh afterwards, but I think the highlight of it to me was the relaxing aroma and how 20 minutes of cooling mask on the face and the lying down doing nothing, thinking nothing duration is therapeutic to the mind and body. So I got myself a box of Apple Polyphenol Mask which, according to the website, is "especially recommended for skin with enlarged pores". So if it really helps to improve my enlarged pores while providing that quality time for me to heal my mind and body, why not rite?



Ok, I'm gonna head on to bed and try out the apple mask. I'm pretty sure tomorrow I'm gonna wake up with sore legs cause I dunno how I let some people talk me into going for a hike!

Gloomy Sundays...

are romantic, served together with a mug of iced green tea. And like a ritual, Sundays have become days for rejuvenation and self-pampering. Very good way to end and start the week. Even a simple footbath is so soothing!



I cut my fringe short to, hopefully, give it more volume. Snip, snip, snip with paper scissors, and voila!



Hmm... looking at this pic makes me wonder how I will look in a kimono. Goes well with this hairdo rite? Me go Bon Odori this year! *jots down in a list of things to do before I die*

P.S. I know I still owe some of you "tokens" posts instead of these self-indulgent ones :D Patience ya... I see one coming by end of the week.

What I miss most about being in a relationship.

Here comes the Valentine's Day post.

Look what I read this morning when I opened up American Gods to where I left off. Such a coincidence rite?



No flowers, so here's a picture of a strawberry dustbin that I bought for myself. Yay!



I am still counting how many Valentine's Day had I spent alone from when I first started dating (which would mean a span of some 15 years) as I write this. Conclusion is... this year will be the 3rd time without a boyfriend, and the 1st without a partner or a plan. Actually, I had a plan. But the 'plannee' hinted at spending the day with family, so the planner had to abort the plan :( #friendzoned Kidding lar... we already friendzoned each other long, long time ago.

What I miss most?

1. Having someone in my thought, always.
2. The idea of being in someone's thought, always.
3. Sweet surprises.
4. The comfort of knowing you're not alone and that you mean the world to someone.
5. Sharing my story with someone.

But the thing is if you keep on going in and out of relationships for that many times, the sharing your story with someone part will start to get tiring because half of your life story will be gone with all those who had not worked out. And next thing you know, you feel so much better off living life for yourself, by yourself.

One morning when I woke up, Dad had his panda eating my strawberry! Hah!

Fork mee behind 50 love lane tonight.

I am not good at writing reviews. The avid reviewer rejected my multiple invitations to an outing :( So, this is another post where I let the pictures do the talking.

Fork Mee (83 Carnarvon St, Penang) »
This quaint little place with the tagline "Art/Food/Drinks/Friends" is warm, cosy and homey. The place is rather small (not complaining as it's all the more cosier this way), so there are only 4 tables. The owners are from Lithuania.









Lithuanian Special (my fav - it's chicken with spinach, and I just love spinach!):



Pasta Special:



Poached Chocolate Pear:



I know, I know. I wasn't gonna write a review. Ok, maybe just a summary. Food tasted good. I'd go back again for the Lithuanian Special and check out the other dessert on the menu. Maybe try a drink or two. The main course was a teeny, weeny bit salty according to my friend (I'm sure he'd want me to emphasize on the teeny, weeny bit here :p) but it tasted just perfect to me. Dessert was perfect. Sweetness was perfectly mild and the cinnamon infusion wasn't overpowering. Ze fren was turned off by the mintiness, but again this is a personal preference.

Behind 50, Love Lane, Penang (yeah, that's exactly where it is) »
We didn't eat here. It was just a relaxing game of cards over a beer or two.

I find the menu very interesting:







I tell you ar... Penang ar... now is like a heritage haven. Old, rustic style cafes and pubs are mushrooming everywhere. I was thinking, any other new ideas or concept? Come on, a lot of art buffs out there right?

Say hi to my brand new phone skin...

"Hi, phone skin!"

I look all spotty cause this old mirror is all stained and hmmm... spotted? That reminds me that I need to lay out my home improvement plans for the year since CNY is over now.



I took my parents out to Sunshine this afternoon. It's a huge, dingy hypermart. Almost like an asian street market but with air-conditioning. We had our lunch at My Little Sunshine Cafe, serving mainly Chinese food. Overall, I'd rate it 4/10. I had the Claypot Drunken Chicken and Rice which tasted like a whole lotta seasoning going on. And the chicken was tough, like maybe old hen or something.



Mom had the Claypot Tofu and Fish with Rice, which turned out pretty ok, maybe in the range of 6/10.



Dad had Ham and Chicken Fried Rice which is forgettable. I even forgot to take a photo of it. But if it's just to fill an empty stomach, I guess this cafe would be more than good enough.

I went on to another coffee shop to have Laksa and Chendol. Very satisfying: 7/10. Even the chopstick and spoon were green and turquoise-y... so soda colored! ^_^



Then the shopping starts. Groceries mostly.

Scent of the day: Thrust.......... why???



Ginseng body shampoo -_-" Got ginseng inside some more. And it smells like chemical ginseng... yuck!

My loyal companion.

I know I have been a bad friend. Sometimes. I go out while you stayed home waiting for me. A lot of times. So here's a little gift for you. Red, as you like it :) Arizona made me fell in love with you again. I couldn't thank her enough. I wanna go down on my knees and kiss her on her warm desert belly but I'm right now back on Penang soil. Maybe we can go out together some time?



Aww... look! Doesn't he look so good in red?

I quit.

I have very bad skin which is obvious from a mile away in broad daylight. I guess that's what years of smoking does to you. So, stop smoking. And always have regular meals, drink lots of water and eat lots of fruits and vege. Exercise.

Non-obligatory end of 15-day CNY post.

Instead of Esplanade, I ended up in Straits Quay for Chap Goh Meh with no kams to tim. I guess that translates into another year of Mr Wrong's? Should've tapao-ed my own kams to tim because no one's ever gonna be able to finish all the mandarin oranges leftover from CNY.

#foreveralone

I walked around and spotted these cute little misfits from Xmas past which for whatever reasons were still around on Chap Goh Meh.



It's back to work tomorrow for 3 days and then another long weekend for me right up to Valentine's. The last honeymoon weekend before... well, all the serious stuffs get going.

Joyride.

Eat camera. Drink camera. SLEEP camera - my favorite bed covers. I've never failed to have good sleep in it. I have Taylor Swift on loop singing Crazier for forever. It's Chap Goh Meh tonight and I will be braving the traffic to Esplanade this evening where the celebration will be taking place. Maybe go throw an orange and wish for a good husband in bad boy packaging. Wah... sounds very challenging.