one for the road

a simple saturday

I spent my Saturday very productively. Not work-wise (why can't I stop thinking about work!), but health-and-heartwise. I've acquired a pair of running shoes, a couple pairs of shorts (my thighs have not seen the light of day since forever), and spent the last hour of the day pounding the elliptical machine and treadmill. For as long as my thighs haven't seen the light of day, they've been getting flabby and haven't been tortured by a workout in yonks. (Haha and darling Joy, no hotties to be had!)

But the highlights were breakfast with Addie (whom I must say looks absolutely smashing - something special in view of the fact that she's going through HO year! jealousy!), and a book I'd picked up at a bargain basement (literally) price outside Queensway. I'd been meaning to purchase "Sundays at Tiffany's" for a long time. But it seemed a little much to pay top dollar for fluff - plus aside from the gorgeous bookcover (it caught me at first glance) and "Tiffany's" in the title, it's a love story (not trashy romance novel, big difference by the by) written by James Patterson. A crimewriter. Strange, I know.

Anyway, Sundays may be 'fluff', but it's also the loveliest book I've read in a long time. It's so hopeful and simple. It's a beautiful story (but I can't do it justice with a petty synopsis so I shan't even try), and I keep imagining Patrick Dempsey as the protaganist in my head so you can imagine why I had to finish the whole thing in one sitting. It's also set in Manhattan, which brought back lovely memories. Now I simply have to go back! If all works out fine, I'll be back in time for end-spring early summer :) Perfect.

capricorn

Another leetle note: Thanks steffy! It hadn't crossed my mind at all (the MAC liquid liner). Will definitely keep a lookout for that too! Ooh and I've found the most perfect lipstick steffy! It's a new Shu Uemura color (will try and email you a picture of the print-Ad that completely Sold It!), only it's completely sold out and I'll have to hope a new shipment arrives, and soon. It's just the right mix of matte/lustre and goes on like a dream (even on my horrible chapped lips), and is a perfect shade of cherry.

I realized I haven't actually blogged about work at all. Just a mini update:

We have a test next Saturday (at the end of this "lovely" break)-- a Paeds one, and that's going to be just awful. Needless to say, I'll be (have been?) spending my time mugging for Paeds which is tough (all the Paeds specialists are either deanslisters or people who graduate with MBBS (honors), meaning they've topped the class year after year). The scope is so wide, I don't quite know where to begin so I'm hugging my lecture notes and praying for clarity and peace of mind. Nothing worse than panic. I hate panicking but am prone to sudden palpitations and awful premonitions of impending doom.

Jay Chou's Capricorn (just released yesterday) is keeping me company somewhat. I tell myself among the many things I want to do after my exams is finally head over to TW to spend time with daddy and check out Jay Chou's vintage shop, and look for random TW hotties on the streets :) Such a nice thing to look forward to. His songs are the soundtrack to my life! And Capricorn will be keeping me company through MBBS. Scary thought. 5 months... too little. But not too late! It's as though the music's started, and right now we're down to the final few moments before the waltz starts and we start whirling round the dancefloor. I'm scared! I'm not ready to whirl, not quite! And mugging is far more unpleasant than whirling round with some random stranger. "Jay Chou's new album is out! Time to Start Seriously Studying!" (his albums invariably come out at in the last quarter of the year).

Wonder what landmarks there'll be post-MBBS, when Jay Chou's next album comes out. Life is an endless train of thought and I'm a little scatterbrained right now.

man vs machine

First off -- Joy darling! Thanks for the headsup! Will go check the Guerlain out once I've settled the following (what I'll be discussing this post). Love, as always :)

Okay ladies, it has come down to literally, Man vs Machine.

I am deciding between

1) A gym membership with personal fitness instructor

2) An elliptical machine in the privacy of my bedroom

Any advice which to pick? I'll be checking things out tomorrow. My dad's pretty set for the fitness instructor and gym thing, but I personally would prefer having a machine at my convenience because I have odd hours to keep and there's the unpredictable schedule that medicine is. We end at strange hours, sometimes early and mostly late. And it's just such a hassle to travel to the Gym (nearest one being either in town where parking sucks, or at Novena, which is not near either), and have to make small talk with a person, and put on gym clothes, and CARVE OUT TIME. Already I'm pressed for mugging time, now having to commit time to a routine is just painful. So you see why having a machine at my beck and call is such a promising alternative. But dad, being the prescient practical one, has already predicted that the Machine will wind up a white heffalump! Argh. I AM A WHITE HEFFALUMP! It's very depressing to feel myself turning into an awful combination of cottage cheese and foie gras.

Time to stop the bitchwhining. Friends, I hope I'll have more fitness news to report soon! Ooh and advice please!

biomechanics

I have bad feet. Which explains why I'd rather sit through a pedicure than a manicure. Being curst with hallux valgus (of my right foot) and as a result of my foot's altered weight-bearing ability I have since developed multiple calluses and bunions, so a good pedicure has thus become a neccessity rather than luxury.

Choosing the colour of nailpolish that's going on my toes no longer affords as much joy as feeling those awful thick-as-nails (serious pile up of keratin there) calluses being peeled off, followed by a delightful footrub. I am an old bag, I know.

Picked navy blue, but I'm a tad disappointed because with the thick double coat of color, it now appears more black than blue. Darker colors are more difficult to maintain too -- the teeniest chip and you'll see it. Chipped nails seem to be de rigeur nowadays but I really can't imagine chipped toenails ever being anything other than gross. My last polish, a delicate nude, lasted almost a month. But nude shades make my feet look like they tread on padi fields (coarse and brown)... oh well. I am just happy to have clean callus-free feet :) For a week or two anyway! The most boring bit of all's waiting for the paint to dry. More painful than watching Sarah Palin trainwrecking her way through an interview, I guarantee.

who I want to be right now

I am absolutely in love with Katy Perry! Her album's one of the rare ones where I can literally sit through every song without having to fast forward or skip tracks. In fact, I was hoping the songs would just keep going on! This lazy Sunday afternoon, after a Very Filling tea, I tumbled into bed and put on Katy Perry. My brother had grabbed first dibs on her CD after asking mum to buy it(knowing full well how much I liked her but was too cheapo to pay for the disc), and when I saw it I just had to have it! I'd heard "Hot n Cold" and figured nothing she had would top that cos it was just perfect, but her very first song off the disc, "One of The Boys" was soooo good I kept it on repeat and never got out of it! So while I've listened once through to the whole album (during my lovely nap), I never got past the first song when I went out driving today.

I know it sounds strange that I listened to her album while sleeping, but that's what really fantastic songs do to me. And while I dozed in and out of multiple musical orgasms, I kept telling myself it'd been way too long since this has happened! The last album that did it for me (yeah MULTIPLE Os) was Lisa Ekdahl's "When Did You Leave Heaven" album.

Katy Perry's brand of infectious pop rock has got me absolutely hooked, but her Style has really got me drooling. An updated kickass modern 50s pinup -- she even trumps Dita Von Teese! Could she be any more perfect??! She's the woman I Want To Be! And I've never said this about anybody (hm not in recent memory anyway). Well, except maybe Michelle Obama (haha but that's a story for another day). Go Check Her Out! Now!!!

the other magic wand

I simply have to tell you about my favorite mascara. I haven't gushed at all since I'd discovered YSL's touche eclat a couple years ago, so indulge me :)

Now, I have lousy eyelashes that are your typical toiletbrush sort - short and stubby, with not the remotest flirt of a curl. Plus, I have oily eyelids (even though I've stopped using my eyecream as religiously as I'd used to; long story short, I think my eye cream decomposed in the heat of the boot of my car and it's still a full tub and I really can't bring myself to buy a new pot all over again so I struggle between putting on questionable eye cream or going without and risking wrinkles) which are horrible when it comes to holding eye makeup in place. It invariably smudges. Especially mascara which leaves me with unsightly panda eyes. I'm still looking for the perfect liquid eyeliner (though the Mac gel-eyeliner comes pretty close, it still smudges on occasion - am dying to try the YSL one but it's always out of stock). I never use eyeshadow because putting that on makes me feel like a tranny.

Anyway, the one mascara that I've used that is smudge-proof (lasts the WHOLE day, even on my oily lids and in no-aircon conditions!), works wonders on my toiletbrush lashes (lengthens AND curls them!), and never clumps is... The Anna Sui Mascara (Long). When used with the Shu Uemura eyelash curler, the results are fabulous. The applicator is still your traditional brush sort as opposed to the toothcomb technology that's come into fashion, but because the mascara doesn't clump, this is completely fine.

However, I think I'm still pretty resistant to spending those extra couple of minutes slapping it on in the morning. Every extra minute in bed is precious! But the Anna Sui mascara is so fabulous, I think I might consider giving up some of that :) We'll see! No facepaint during the two week break! Time for the stress spots to heal.

kayaking (with crap biceps)

Just finished up the ID (infectious diseases) module on Friday with a test that was purported to be challenging. Needless to say, spent the past few days trying to cram for it, so it went quite okay I suppose. People are getting edgier now as we kayak toward Finals.

I'm having a two week study break which I hope to spend fruitfully, after which we'll be starting the Orthopaedics Internship which means a month of pretending to be a houseman (i.e. junior doctor) again. Not a very opportune time in light of the impending exams, but what can one do save suck it up and get on with it.

Now, I just really want to watch Vicky Christina Barcelona. I love Scarlett! Maybe I shall, once the Diabetic Foot Conference ends (it's all of this weekend). Stop laughing.

my precioussss

A couple days back I was bought a marvellous new laser printer at a bargain basement price of $128. It is simply... AWESOME!!! Haha it sounds really geeky but it's for the express purpose of - you guessed it - printing out notes ASAP.

At 16pgs/min, I don't really have any complaints since my previous options included :

1) The inkjet printer in my brother's room that crrrawwwled (plus highlighting over bubblejet ink is a Nightmare)

2) Heading back to NUS photocopy shop, situated inconveniently far from the carpark. Always a daunting prospect having to hunt for parking (seriously they should invest in a multistorey carpark dammit) and praying that the cashcard has enough money because the topup machine in the photocopy shop never works. At least prices were good at 5cents/pg. As opposed to rip-off Coronation Plaza which charged a beastly 50cents/pg (!!!). The tyranny of monopoly.

I highly reccomend buying a laser printer because they're so cheap and it's so pleasant to finally have stuff online out in print the instant I want it. Can't read things off the computer screen. Old school lah!