I keep walking...

So, I'd worn these boots around for a day and surprisingly, it was pretty enjoyable! Albeit the 33degC, it was apparently wearable and kinda cool too! Just wanted to document the thought in case it goes missing at the back of my head. Dying to make more house shoes coz I wanna stop buying for everyone in my family. Why buy when you can make? And I can make 'em cute! :D

It started pouring toward the evening and while the sun sets, I am reminded of how DH and I would do a little sunset hug to commemerate the little event. He likes rain days, I like to play in the rain! During the very rare events that we got up for the sunrise, we would do the same. I felt a little sad then. I suppose its not been long enough and the seperation anxiety still lingers quite strongly. On Wednesday, as I got up alone and ate alone, it felt strange to be doing all those things I was doing before I went to Sydney, like nothing had happened. Suffice to say, it felt almost like I dreamt the whole thing up and now am back to reality. I often am asked, "how do I keep a distance relationship going?". People look on increduously when I tell them we'd already spent about 4 years apart. Perhaps its the little silly insignificant things we do that keeps us together, perhaps because we squeeze everything out of each other; we're dedicated to what each other does, kinda like being kept in the loop. We almost don't let each other stray and we speak over the phone every night. Obsessive yes, compulsive, maybe a smidge. Well, I guess we do get sick, want to move on, stray, whatever you call it, but hell, we find out new things about each other and sorta get stuck again, in a good way. In the end, I tell people, you both gotta want it badly enough to stay together. Perhaps in time, when it does end one day, I'll look back fondly on the memories because so much of what we had was good.

A little melancholic today. ~___~


p/s: fellow bloggers, if you can't do uploading, try the manual way. upload as usual, right click on the uploaded pic in the pop-up window to copy the URL of the picture, go to the "Edit Html" tab and copy this img src="URL"/. The URL is the one of the uploaded image. :+) Or try this link for instructions.

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!

Brrrrrrringggg! Early pressies for moi

Sunset on Sunday. I meant to blog earlier coz I had to tell you guys about my sunday but hell, reality always takes over. Work, work, work. Anyways, I had a nice Sunday shopping and receiving early b'day pressies! Wow!



Sungei Road market. I was dying to look for a rotary phone, since time immemorial so I thought I might try my luck there. There were 2 rotary ones but the condition was pretty bad. They were rusted and really icky. Dad found a watch there and he also got me a replica of a Panerai Marina, which I really wanted but can't afford. :P Then the cover came out 2 days later when I wore it to school. I took it off immediately to refrain from any more embarassments. I'm usually not a replica person but a watch is a watch is a watch. And yes, I'm not picky about my watches either. I'm proud of my antique face, traditional silver strap casio.



More market shots. This is basically a place for picking up really cheap stuff. Its really hot out in the open so we had to make a brisk trip. In fact, I think my present flu-symptons has something to do with this trip. It was fun nonetheless. :+)



Ahh.....my early b'day pressie from mum & dad. Where did I finally find this, you ask? It was at some old department store. They only had blue and green. I made my choice. Its a new phone, made in Japan, no less! Its mine, finally I have a phone in my room and its a new retro vintage rotary. Yaaaaay! Makes a great loud ringing sound too!



Then I grabbed this pair of rubber slippers for my Saturday morning swims. But they were so cute and comfy, I've been wearing them everywhere. I'm bringing them to the sydney beaches next year when I visit DH. Bye bye Havaianas! Ok, I was kidding. I'd always love Havaianas.



I found these Yo-Yo makers from Clover in AMK while having dinner. Who said the burbs didn't have good stuff? Look closer, people! I think I've been affected by Wendy's need to make Yoyos. I haven't used them yet, but hope to soon!



A really really yummy Korean pizza snack I got from the Korean Grocer's among a whole bunch of supplies. I think I bought it because of the box, and maybe because I was hungry. I like how they point out the different ingredients on the cute pizza itself. Isn't it fetching? Low calories & yummy!



My new patent flats. I don't buy shoes often but my mum insisted on these coz she was buying the same pair in white. They look kinda nice with the perforations. In reality I live in my white birkenstocks. Maybe thats why reality sucks? The weather here takes away all my motivation to look nice. I'm a different person in Sydney. Really. I get stopped in the streets by people who want to know where I got my top, bottoms, shoes etc. Nothing happens here. LOL



People were asking for large deco tape rolls. These were what I can get my arms on. $5.

Tune in next time for more pointless stories!

p/s: My canisters came today and they really made me smile ear-to-ear!