Shopaholic rules!

My cheapskate skill has gone up another level. I had proved to myself that I could get the cheapest price in getting to the airport. However, you can only attempt this act if you have extra 2.5 hours in hand before your flight check-in time. Because I did. Actually, I already took the whole afternoon off from work which was why I could try doing this.

It all happened last Friday. I boarded the KTM Komuter train from Serdang to Nilai for RM3.90. next, I caught the Airport Liner bus from Nilai straight to LCCT for RM3.50. The total amount was just RM7.40! Instead of always having to pay more than RM50 for a cab, I now had more than enough cash to spend on a drink, sandwich and even a magazine to accompany my journey. In which I did and enjoyed (wink).

And the bus driver could not be more than helpful. Maybe because he could sense that I was a first timer. But then again who could resist helping an adorable girl donned in a cute UNIQLO t-shirt and comfortable pair of trade-in Crocs™ (yes, you can do that only in Singapore) who also appeared a bit lost. Although, I do have the talent of wearing the damsel in distress look on my face but it only means that I really, really could use some help at that moment.

Anyhow I believe I had succeeded. I cheated the whole taxi-meter or taxi-driver-quotes-ridiculous-price-you-have-no-choice-but-to-pay system. However, should anybody have better bargain than this one, kindly share with me. Oh by the way, having your friend or family send you to the airport for free does not count. That is downright cheating in broad daylight!

The next morning, Abi and I did grocery shopping as we planned to eat in, hang in and sleep in for the whole day. Ah the beauty of an off day. For those who work on weekends, my heart goes out to you (frown).

On Sunday though, Abi and I went out to have breakfast at my favorite shop in Tampines. We shared fried koay teow and mee hoon with ugly looking sambal squid. The taste was good considering we have not discovered any breakfast shop better than this one, yet.

Then, it was shopping time! Hey the Great Singapore Sale is still on so I guess what the heck. Besides, my husband had been complaining about having nothing to wear whenever we needed to go out in KL. Gee, I thought only girls have such issues.

Anyway, not wanting him to feel as if there is not enough to wear (read: sarcasm), I had offered to buy him a number of clothes. At Tampines Mall, he tried on brown and blue COTTON ON t-shirts. Actually I did not care about the colors he chose but they must cling to the right places to show off certain muscled parts. And I am telling you they did just that. Sold!

Next, we moved on to Tampines1 where another favorite shop of mine is located. I could go nuts browsing through in UNIQLO! It is the first outlet to open on the island so its fans have been flocking as early as a bird, in and out of the shop, like endlessly. I felt like trying everything on but that day was about Abi and I must be supportive (tongue).

So before lunch time, my husband had picked out five t-shirts altogether for himself. Who is the shopaholic now, huh? Whereas I just bought one ¾ sleeve t-shirt. The total damage for purchasing six items? Only SGD52.60! I think I know what you are all thinking about the amount spent. Exactly.

Shortsightedness

I have been having this mild (read: in denial) issue with my eyesight. I cannot see clearly from a certain distance. There is a term for it, I guess. Forgive me for I am new at this. I hope it is not myopic. However, one could only hope, I suppose.

Ah the beauty of growing old. Yes, I am getting there. The symptoms are showing little by little. May I announce to the people out there that I am now shortsighted, officially?

I cannot tell who is walking towards me when I walk around in the office. I have to ask other colleagues with good eyes to confirm it for me. So kindly save your time acknowledging or smiling at me if you are about a 10 meters away from me. Although, please make funny faces or look annoyed at that distance because I am as good as blind, seriously.

Wait, it gets even worse when I drive. During the day, I cannot read signboards. I manage to go and come back safely if the route is routine for me. On the other hand, I need injury time (or glasses as Abi would always put it) in getting places I am unfamiliar with.

Night time driving is the worst. I cannot even say the plate number of the car right in front of me. With my husband, I have to make intelligent guesses every time we play the game try-read-that-sign-if-you-say-you-are-not-blind. Sigh.

I wanted to blame my office computer for contributing to this eyes defect. But then, I refuse to eat many kinds of vegetables to maintain good vision. And there is the frequent reading in the lowlight at home. But then again, my husband has warned me about it. Therefore, I read in the lowlight whenever he is not around. Tee hee.

Oh just admit it, Abi. You like having me looking like a nerd, right? That is why you were more than happy to pay for those spectacles, is it not? Hey, I am still a cool person whether or not I agree to wear them. Can I treat them as another accessory, not necessity (wink)?

Gosh. Midlife crisis would have been easier, I think. Where is it, though? I want it now, please!

Shorter weekend

I booked the first available flight from KL and flew into Changi Airport last Saturday. Abi fetched me in a cab and we were off to Orchard Road to see a friend. He was staying at the Singapore Marriott Hotel and was waiting for us for breakfast.

Buffet breakfast at the Marriott tasted good partly because I was very hungry. My day started at five in the morning and I did not grab a bite since. Even our friend was surprised to see the amount of food I consumed. Sorry if I scare you, dude. Kindly do not let my eating habit stop you from getting married.

After that, we went up to his room. The beds were cozy and inviting. Well, early flight and a heavy meal after were good enough reasons for me to take a nap. Hmm. Restraining myself from sleeping, I watched TV on the bed instead. Meanwhile, our friend packed his luggage getting ready for check-out.

We began window shopping along Orchard Road and went from Tangs to Paragon to Takashimaya to Wisma Atria to Orchard MRT station. Apparently we (by that I mean myself) did not find anything interesting to buy. Our friend though, bought a shot glass from Harley-Davidson Motorclothes Store as a souvenir.

We continued our journey by train to Harbourfront Centre. We stopped for coffee and chat at Wang’s before making a move to Vivo City. Now we are talking. Actually, I needed to buy a cross body bag for my netbook (tongue) and dragged two men in my quest. Hey guys, since when you become a woman’s retail buddy? Tee hee.

After much search, we finally found a Kipling shop, yay! Abi and friend gave their comments on the bags I picked out. Not only that, they also catwalked the bags for me! You guys were funny, seriously.

We had really early dinner at Sakae Sushi courtesy of GE imagination at work. I ate a lot of sushi and my husband sashimi. He even dared me to eat sashimi but I had to refuse, although that new handbag lure was tempting. After thanking our dinner sponsor (wink), we sent him back to his hotel to claim his luggage at the concierge. He left for KL that evening and we said goodbye to him.

I hit the bed as soon as we were home. I did not hear Abi’s cousin arriving that night. I woke up hungry about 12am. Apparently, they went out for a drink before that. Abi bought me club sandwich and pomegranate juice. And I could not sleep after that filling supper. Gee, thanks, Abi.

It was lazy Sunday. Abi went back to sleep after morning tea. His cousin followed me to get lunch at Downtown East and it was like a carnival going on there. We checked out a warehouse sale but since I only bring enough money to buy lunch so you know the drill. Get in, get a hold of myself, and get out!

Then we ordered KFC to go enough to fill up three people. I woke Abi up as we reached home and lunch was heavenly. We went back to lazing on the couch. I packed my new Kipling bag (grin) before ironing my husband’s work shirts. Came night fall, Abi’s cousin drove us to the airport.

We had another coffee and chat while waiting for my boarding time. It was the last flight and luckily, my brother-in-law was at his parents’ house in Seremban and would be picking me up after dropping off his baby sister in Cyberjaya, who is by the way just pursuing her second year at MMU.

I said goodbye to Abi and cousin, finally. The weekend seemed so short this time around. Maybe my husband was right. Flying in on Friday and Saturday did have a big difference. The truth, a few hours is crucial for us frequent flyers to have enough rest. If we were to do this for another two years top, I should forget about Saturday flight booking although its cheaper fare really does well for our household economy. Sigh.

Blur case

Abi will forever tease me whenever we discuss this particular subject. He says I was too slow in picking up signals from him. I swear, I had no clue whatsoever when exactly my then associate, now my husband, had a crush on me. I did not even notice if he was hitting on me!

My husband first fell for me during my Hari Raya open house. I remember that my close friends happened to be just boys at that moment. I fried koay teow for them. Funny thing. Nobody thought it was tasty at all; including him. Sorry guys, I sucked.

A few days later, Abi drove from Kajang to Gombak and fetch me for a movie at KLCC. I did not realize it was a date. There was nothing romantic about it. I thought it was just a friendly outing. Wait, it rained that day but no, it was still not romantic, Abi.

Being an old boy from an all boys school, my husband was almost always with the boys. He drove his housemates to class, for drinks or to play street soccer. All I knew, he would always pick me up to join them.

It was later I found out, he kind of sneaked out on his housemates to see me. If I recall correctly, he told me that everybody else was busy on that day. Which is why, I never saw us going out as a date.

It was another university friend who said she thought that Abi liked me a lot. She could tell from the way he looked at me. I was like, really huh? So that was the point I decided he was the one for me. It took a third party to actually open my eyes and heart. Finding out that he was really into me, my quest of true love was over.

Blur, right? And that was nine years ago. I am sure there were many more classic blur cases that people felt sorry to highlight them to me. However, there is a recent incident making me realize that I am as blur as a girl can be.

I was driving home from the office last Friday. Halfway through the journey, a guy driver slowed down his car on my left side. He signed that one of the back tyres was flat.

I signed back noting the message he was trying to send and thanked him. Fortunately, I was about to pass a petrol station on my left, so I turned into the junction and pulled over. True enough, my back right tyre was flat to the ground.

I mean, I have been driving for so long and I could not tell if I had a tyre situation. It took another driver who cared about the safety of others, telling me that. This shows that I need a third person waking me up from my blurry mode occasionally, if not constantly.

I cannot feel the difference of driving on good or bad tyres. Hello, they are still spinning although with no air inside. Hmm. God knows how much more damages I could have done and it is not even my car to start with!

Oh come on, do not shake your head like that. Sob.

Hidden pastime

Did you already know that I like to sing? I mean like really, really, really like singing? Alright I love singing for God’s sake! Instead of just listening to a good song, I would sing along because it picks me up. It is also my way of expressing emotions which I fail to show with gestures or words for that matter.

Some people go to great lengths to carry out their passion. Well, I am a scaredy cat. Although I think I have the so-called gift, I dare not share it with others. When I asked Abi if I am a good singer, he said it himself that I am not a singer, but a musician. I was like whoa, that is even better answer than I hoped to get.

However, my brother-in-law has a lot more faith in me than his brother. Maybe because you are a believer like me and your brother is skeptical. You always have these what-if plans that I could do through music. And you followed me to that guitar shop when my husband preferred the book store. Hey bro, now we know who the cool people are, huh? And yeah, okay, you can start driving Blackie next week.

Last two weekends in Singapore, Abi and I went out for dinner. After stuffing ourselves up with a lot of food at Sakura, we noticed there was an open mic event across the street near Raffles City Shopping Centre. It was held in conjunction of the Singapore Arts Festival.

As we were about to pass through, we heard the emcee invited anybody from the crowd to sing with their guitarist because they were giving out tickets to other events. Abi asked if I wanted to try out. I was suddenly nervous and not sure how to react. Oh I hate those feelings. I did not do it, though for I did not have the guts!

On the other hand, I must admire Abi for having such confidence in me that night. I thought he would never ask me to. Next time, maybe?

Hand In My Pocket by Alanis Morissette

I'm broke but I'm happy
I'm poor but I'm kind
I'm short but I'm healthy, yeah

I'm high but I'm grounded
I'm sane but I'm overwhelmed
I'm lost but I'm hopeful, baby

What it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be fine fine fine
'cause I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is giving a high five

I feel drunk but I'm sober
I'm young and I'm underpaid
I'm tired but I'm working, yeah

I care but I'm restless
I'm here but I'm really gone
I'm wrong and I'm sorry, baby

What it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be quite alright
'cause I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is flicking a cigarette

And what it all comes down to
Is that I haven't got it all figured out just yet
'cause I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is giving the peace sign

I'm free but I'm focused
I'm green but I'm wise
I'm hard but I'm friendly, baby

I'm sad but I'm laughing
I'm brave but I'm chickensh*t
I'm sick but I'm pretty, baby

And what it all boils down to
Is that no one's really got it figured out just yet
'cause I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is playing the piano

And what it all comes down to my friends
Is that everything's just fine fine fine
'cause I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is hailing a taxi cab