Bottled Sky

I stash a small notebook and a drawing pen in my purse, because I never know when I’ll be bitten by the doodle bug. The last of the drawings below was inspired by a poem that I wrote a few years ago.

Continue reading When the Doodle Bug Bites »

Entrance to Singapore’s Red Dot Design Museum is free on the first weekend of each month, so my coworkers and I decided to pop in one Saturday. (Wondering about the name? Locals fondly refer to Singapore as the “little red dot”, because that’s how the tiny city-state appears on most world maps.)

My hyper-abbreviated review: There were some interesting displays but nothing worth the $8 entrance fee, if one were to drop by on a regular day. We did manage to snap a few cool photos, though

Obligatory tourist shot. It’s impossible to miss the colonial building that houses the museum. It’s painted fire-engine red and takes up an entire block.

Continue reading The Red Dot Design Museum »

My F1-crazy friend, Chrissa, came to Singapore to watch the night race last September. While she was here, we jumped at the chance to get flung into the air on the G-max Reverse Bungy ride at Clarke Quay. We loved it! A couple of lessons learned:

• Go at night to avoid being roasted in the sun.
• Wear pants instead of a miniskirt.

Below is a video of our ride. The scream you’ll hear during the release came from the guy holding the camera.

Can’t see the video? Watch it here.

We also went on the tamer GX-5 Xtreme Swing, but we unfortunately didn’t manage to get a video of that.

Do you know what else we didn’t manage to get? Pictures of the two of us that showed more than our faces. That’s what happens when you don’t bug other tourists to take your photo and just rely on the “hold the camera at arm’s length and click” method.

In other news, I will be jetting off to Manila this Saturday to take a break from work and to spend an entire week with my lovably eccentric family, my fabulously fun friends and my huggably neurotic pets. I’m practically vibrating with excitement.

One of the things I almost always do when I find myself outdoors holding a camera is to point the lens skyward. Here are two shots of the sky in two different places in Singapore at two different times: Tampines at dusk and Raffles City at noon.

The Mojave Desert in the summer? My lips are drier than that, and I had long since given up on finding an inexpensive lip balm that worked for me. Chapstick was the worst of the lot. Neutrogena Lip Moisturizer did better but not by much.

But two months ago I came across Martinsville Lip Balms while browsing through Etsy. When I saw all the rave reviews on the seller’s feedback page, I decided to give the lip balms a try. I ordered a dozen to get a bulk discount and to save on postage. I figured, if I didn’t like them, I could resell them on eBay.

It’s safe to say that I will definitely not be reselling them. (I gave away a few to friends to share the lip balm love, though.) They are seriously the only lip balms I have ever liked. They just glide on, and one application keeps my lips chap-free for hours. I personally think the texture is perfect, but some people might find them too soft. It’s really a matter of preference.

They come in dozens of flavors, ranging from the classic (e.g. Apple, Strawberry) to the offbeat (e.g. Buttered Popcorn, Mojito). In this case, flavor refers to scent only — these lip balms are unsweetened, so you won’t be constantly licking your lips.

I’ve tried two of the flavors so far. I loved Berry Voodoo, but Morning Coffee smelled a smidge too sweet for me. That was to be expected, though, because I take my coffee with little to no sugar.

Well, at least I used to before I had to give up caffeine, but that’s another story