Bottled Sky

Last December my parents flew in for a two-week visit, and I got to spend Christmas with them for the first time since I moved to Singapore. We did the tourist thing for a couple of days, which is just another way of saying that we barely managed to squeeze in a couple of museum visits in between marathon shopping sessions.

You guys, my folks are adorable! I snapped this photo on our way to the MINT Museum of Toys, a thin slice of a building that houses thousands of — you guessed it — vintage toys. The admission price was on the steep side at S$15, but I thought it was worth it to see all the quirky childhood memorabilia. Toys were so much more charming in decades past. Now it’s all factory-perfect plastic and high-tech gadgetry.

Continue reading MINT Museum of Toys »

The average office desk can hold all kinds of strange and awesome things. Unfortunately for those reading this post, mine is of the tamer variety. Considering that these are the more interesting items on my desk, just imagine how mundane the rest of its contents are.

Oh, Crap. I stuck a random cow-shaped clip on top of my computer, and one of my brilliant coworkers took time out of his busy schedule to complete the scene with a heaping pile of poo that he fashioned out of Blu-Tack. He even used a marker to give it a surprisingly realistic greenish brown tint. Nice.

Continue reading Stuff on My Desk »

People should try not to make any important decisions when they’ve just woken up. That includes deciding what to wear to work, as shown by this tweet from last year:

This wardrobe workout is turning out to have more benefits that I initially thought. Not only am I making better use of the wardrobe I already have, but I have also stopped showing up to work with day-glo underwear shining through light-colored clothes. Woot!

Here’s what I wore for week two of my little experiment:

Military Monday. I think that cardigan is so cute it deserves a salute.

• Blue military-inspired cardigan – Bysi
• Gray henley camisole – Uniqlo
• Black skinny jeans – Freego
• Black round-toe slingbacks – Charles & Keith
• Black bow hairband – Montip

Continue reading Wardrobe Workout: Week 2 »

I was walking to the train station with my colleague Jacq after work last week when she shared that she had only five pairs of shoes. FIVE. PAIRS. OF. SHOES. The shoe fiend in me was stunned. After picking up my jaw from the pavement and confirming several times that I had not misheard her — “Five, Jacq? Really? Really?!” — I jumped right into convincing her to expand her footwear collection. She has since bought a new pair of heels and is now thinking of buying more. I am that good.

As I walked the same route with Christina, another work buddy, a few days later, I told her about Jacq’s impressive resistance to shoe lust. She reacted with comically familiar shock and disbelief — “Five? Really? Really?!”

It led us to ponder, if we had to give up all but five pairs of our beloved shoes, which would we pick? (Specialized footwear for athletic or artistic activities don’t count. I also have to note that Singapore is a tropical country so we don’t need to worry about dressing for winter.) It was a tough call, but I managed to narrow down my choices to these final five:

Black perforated suede ankle-wrap sandals, Rubi. Laid-back without being sloppy, these are the most comfortable sandals I have ever owned.

Continue reading Final Five: Shoes »

Dresses are for lazy people. I should know — I have a closet full of them. With dresses I don’t have to think too hard about putting together an outfit. I just roll out of bed (after hitting snooze approximately 23 times), throw on a dress, and I’m ready for the office.

During a recent closet cleanup I realized that because of my love affair with the snooze button, a lot of my clothes are going to waste. Right then and there I decided to give my wardrobe a much needed workout. That means planning at least five outfits during the weekend, so I can keep my usual morning routine without ending up in the same dresses week in and week out.

It’s been going quite well so far. Just for kicks, here are the outfits I wore last week — not a single snooze-button dress in sight. (Also, holy awkward poses, Batman!)

Vintage Monday. These clothes basically came from other people’s closets.

• Ruffled floral-print top – made from a vintage dress that I had altered into a top and a skirt
• Purple skirt – hand-me-down from my mom who wore it in the early 90s
• Rust leather belt – vintage Esprit from my mom’s attic
• Cosmic latte (yes, it’s an official color!) peep-toe slingbacks – Vincci
• Purple chiffon flower hair clip – Montip

Continue reading Wardrobe Workout: Week 1 »