Bottled Sky

When I was seven, my homeroom teacher called my parents for a meeting to discuss my apparent lack of sociability. Here’s a random scan from my doodle journal that shows exactly what I think about that:

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 »

I’m crazy about breakfast food. I could live on it alone — heck, I practically do, considering that the extent of my cooking skills involves boiling eggs and pouring cereal into a bowl — so any restaurant that serves breakfast all day is all right in my book.

One such restaurant is the newly opened Wild Honey at Mandarin Gallery on Orchard Road. I met up there with a few friends on the morning of New Year’s Eve to celebrate the end of 2009 with the Yummiest Brunch in the History of Brunches™.

Fine, it wasn’t the yummiest, but it was still pretty darn good. I have the pictures to prove it:

Every bite I took of this bagel made my eyes roll back into my head in sheer bliss. I tried my best not to make too many obscene noises out of consideration for all the other people trying to eat their own breakfast in peace.

Continue reading Brunch with Bimbos »

Whenever I come across beautifully packaged food, a battle wages inside my brain. The side of me that loves to eat has to duke it out with the side that appreciates good design. Whichever side wins gets to decide what to do.

Yogurt biscuits. Verdict? Eat.

Blackcurrant candies. Verdict? Keep.