the lowdown (long)

So, its been about 20 days since I stepped into Sydney. And yes, I have been procrastinating a full-fledged blog post for um, a good 2 weeks now! Things happened, met people, went to markets and learnt to slow down a bit. I have an interesting life. I studied in Sydney for about 4 years earlier so this place is not new to me, even though the inflation rate never fail to shock me yearly. I visit because my other half is here. Nope, he's not white nor aboriginal, he's from SG as I but is currently finishing his phd and pursuing an academic career here. We're both thinkers, thinking too much and talking to death about life during our uni days with our mutual friend over coffee, wine, food was our past time. It was the time of our lives and we still talk about it, miss it. Even though as time runs past, we tend to focus less on those dreamy days and start thinking about mechanical day jobs, insurance and swine flu. I feel as though our existence becomes less visible as our hopes and dreams are shattered by reality. Nonetheless, in some ways, we, or at least I, re-ignite the good old days when I make my yearly trip here. Things start to slow down after I appease my separation anxiety with working like nuts on bags and purses amongst studying and rushing for projects and whatnots. I still miss making stuff. Several things since I got here....

1) DH surprised me the second day I was here, as we walked along Pitt Street. He urged me to go into the Vuitton boutique on Castlereagh Street. I admit I do love Louie bags for their quality and he knew that. I was always a Louie gal, never Gucci, Coach nor Chanel. Funny. He ended up buying a Damier Ebony Neverfull in the GM size for me a couple of days later. It was an anniversary present; we've been together for 12 years now. He said that he should be able to buy me something coz he was drawing a salary. I did used to make him promise he'll finally buy me a Louie when he starts working. Not officially working, but the thought was so sweet and I was obviously over the moon, coz I know it'll last me for 10 years, just like the treasured Pochette mom & Dad bought me when I was 18 holidaying in Europe. Well, the joy didn't last since I found faults in the quality of the bag a couple of days later when I finally deigned to open the big brown box. The piping on the top was uneven, it was puffy on the top not flat when laid down, the interior placement though beautiful in blazing red was crooked in the lining of the fabric across, not to mention the sides weren't aligned. The portion of the handle attaching to the bag wasn't aligned with the squares in the front as well. I was in despair since I did read about some accounts of disappointing quality of the damier neverfulls on the Purse Forum. I didn't expect to be face to face with one. We went back to the store, same SA person, inspected 4 other damier neverfulls and it was the same. The SA said she couldn't find anything wrong with the bags. I had to tell her it was disappointing since Louie bags are supposed to be of unsurpassed quality. Since my other half was paying that much, I didn't want to settle for an ok-quality. In fact, I was more worried of the fact that people might just think its a fake. Eugh. In the end, DH thought I should settle for a classic damier speedy 35. We asked for it, I scrutinized it and asked nicely to see another if possible. She immediately said it was the last one. I thought it looked fine and he requested to have it initialled in gold. The funny thing was that the SA was supposed to call him 3 days later when it was ready for collection but we didn't receive any call. Finally we had to call them back and collected it last Sunday. I'm starting to agree with some folks on TPF that we should deserve better service for the price we pay, not to mention we were quite well-dressed and polite to the people. Anyways, I do love the bag but we probably won't be going back for a while. I think I should make this one last coz its my first official bag from louie. And, oh, I can prolly make myself one if I need a bag. ;+) Who can have enough bags and shoes!? I'm a bag-lady. Yes.

2) I forgot to pack in WL's orders for when I was supposed to pass it to her here! I was in such a mad rush to get out of the house before I left. Horrible that I had to make her wait! I got mom to rush it to me and I finally met her last Sunday morning and she was so nice! She even bought me yummy Macadamia dark choco Haigh's which DH loves too! And a cute milk choco bunny which I pretty much devoured. Yikes. And also a cute green tea candle! She'd also wrote back to say she loved her bags. Phew! Alls well, ends well!

3) Parkour mishaps. DH does Parkour and I was introduced to it a while ago and love the freedom of able limbs. I had a couple of injuries, nothing serious except... I fell on my face last sunday evening into the bushes when I was jumping on the brick ledge downstairs. Blame myself for being half asleep and the weather for being so cold. I got scratched on the left and it was pretty obvious. Not to mention that injuries to the face can be pretty painful! It wasn't deep but hey, its on the face. No going out til my concealer will at least cover it. I'm not going to be called Two-Face in public. Tomorrow's thursday and shops stay open later and DH has been pestering me to go out. I might just because of the reasons below...

4) 2 things always come to mind when I'm here in Sydney. Camper and Crumpler. I got to know them from DH's long-time friend who also became our mutual friend when we first came over to Sydney. I bought my first Crumpler, a red messenger with a laptop case inside from the Campus utility stores. I carried it for a long time, coz it was utilitarian and comfy. Since then, I've added a red camera sling and the 10th anniversary messenger to my collection. Being here again calls up those needs. Pseudo or not, bags are like Krispy Kreme donuts to you guys, non-negotiable! Obviously, my attention was centered on the headaitch in red, in medium, which is promptly sold out when I checked the site. I was gonna settle for the large one but I'm terrified its gonna dwarf me and look like I'm carrying mommy's tote when I'm 5, plus the prospects of the weight of the kitchen sink isn't gonna be good. DH said no, coz I'll make him carry it. Damn straight. LOL I will have to check it out tomorrow. Yaaaaaay! More bag scouting is fun!

5) Then there's Camper shoes. I LOVE them to bits. Bought my first pairs when there were sale here. Loafer low boots in chocolate, Cream pelotas, black mary janes, beige/gray sandals. I miss them all. Most of them were worn to bits, or sold when I was leaving Sydney. I mostly live in Havaianas in Singapore so shoes were out. So now I obviously miss them. I still love the knee length leather boots DH bought for me last year but the comfort of Campers seem to stay stuck in my memory for good. No sale yet in the stores and no interesting designs, so I looked online. I'm a true Camper 39 and when I found this pair, I am seriously thinking of binding my foot. Its SO adorable in the cute lime and straw and I love the mismatch designs of the Twins range! Still percolating coz its expensive with the shipping and all.

6) Spending most of my days cooking and loitering in supermarkets. Hm, I do miss cooking since mom doesn't like me messing up her kitchen! We just had Apricot chicken tonight. Not amazing, but I blame the sauce. LOL Wish DH's place had an oven for cakes and muffins! But thank goodness amazing scones are just downstairs at bakers delight. Yum!

7) Other random things. Discovering amazing coffee at Pattison's at Chase Chatswood. Visiting the MCA. My favourite exhibit, Mirrored Years: Yayoi Kusama is so amazing. If you're in town, go see it. So intense, provocative, yet innocently dreamy and even juvenile. Besides Narcissus's Garden, I loved the mirror rooms and the super large clouds! I swear if there weren't anyone around, I'll jump on one. It felt like night time heaven! We share the same obsession with polkadots and spherical things. 

Boy is this long! Til next time and hope you guys are having a great summer/winter!