Travel essentials

Top: Banana republic (Similar here)

Pants: Factorie

Bag: Longchamp

Blazer: Mousie's closet (Similar here)

Sunglasses: Ray Bans

Necklace: Gift from Mousie (Similar here) | Ring: Old (Similar here)

Roomy patterned harem pants are the best for travelling in. These ones even have an elastic waistband which is great for when your stomach expands after you've had one too many in-flight meals.

I read somewhere that it's good to wear black when you travel because if you spill stuff on yourself, any stains will be less obvious. Since I read that, I think I've only ever worn black on planes because I am just the clumsiest thing ever.

These are a bunch of other super awesome things for travel that I recommend (clockwise from left)

Go on an adventure

Purple jewellery pouch: This was a gift and it is great because it's made specifically to carry jewellery. It protects delicate jewellery from potential damage while also being orderly enough inside to keep things in place.

See?? So neat!

Longchamp nylon bag: I've had this bag for years so it's a little beaten up but it's great for travel because it's light, has long shoulder straps so it's comfy to carry, can be zipped up and is foldable. I've heard some people say that you have to beware of it being slashed in the event of robbery so that's definitely something to consider but still a big yes for me. Get yours from the Longchamp section in department stores like Takashimaya, or better yet, from France, because they're way cheaper there.

These foldable Ray Ban Wayfarers are just awesome. My friend Adelle told me about them and I rushed the boo out to buy them for me and it's proven to be of real value for money. While they weren't super cheap, they protect my eyes and they fold away neatly into a cute little box. I got mine from an optical store in People's Park Centre at the great price of S$220 but if you want it delivered to your doorstep, they're also available on Zalora.

I got this bag organiser from TJ Maxx (I think) and it's great for use inside the Longchamp bag because it keeps everything in there neat and tidy. I know Muji also sells pretty decent ones although I'm sure places like Daiso would also carry them and for cheaper too.

My red Longchamp wallet was a gift from my TF4L Seaneee, and it's a nice and compact and has quite a large coin purse section which is important when you can't really recognise the currency so you have to scoop it all out to look at it. I've been using it for years so it's pretty beaten up. He should probably buy me a new one. Now.

Thanks for reading, happy travels!

Look book

Top: ASOS (Similar here)

Skirt: Romwe

Shoes: ASOS

Bag: Kate Spade (Similar here)

I loooove these shoes and this skirt

Earrings: Lovisa (Similar here)

You know those fashion magazines that ask people to describe their style? Respondents always say cool things like 'rock edgy with a twist' or 'eclectic with a dose of retro'. I can never think of a cool way to describe how I dress but I think I'm leaning towards 'glitter diva flamingo rainbow bomb'. Or something.

The reason why I started thinking of how I'd describe my style was because of a conversation I had with the mouse squad about buying clothes. CC mentioned that she finds shopping tedious because there's so much to go through and it's hard to narrow things down since a lot of things look decent, and she's not sure what she really needs/wants but knows that she doesn't want to spend a ton. I told her to first decide on her look, which is the key aesthetic she's going for, then check out Pinterest and fashion blogs to get inspiration and see what sort of key staples of that look she might be missing from her wardrobe.

So I decided to be helpful and highlight a few key aesthetics that you might want to consider if you haven't yet found your look.

The Angmoh Ah Lian

Pic courtesy of Idolator

You're a gutsy broad who could tear a man to shreds with your heavily diamante manicured talons and you consider your decolletage your most prized accessory. Your tan level is set to 'glitter golden'  and your makeup is heavy to match your strong personality. You're different from the regular ah lian because you speak English only.

Bustier | Hair extensions | Jeans | Nails | Heels

 Lady Soap

Pic taken from here

You sashay in and out of the room better than Naomi Campbell any day. When you're not busy scheming and manipulating, you're getting a massage by a hot masseur whom you're also having an illicit affair with. He feeds you caviar as you plot the murder of your husband. You like your martini stirred with revenge before you toss it in someone's face.

Turban | Gown | Fascinator | Gloves | Martini glass

The Harvey Dent

Pic taken from here

You're always of two minds about pretty much everything. No you're not. Yes you are. You practically invented business casual because you just didn't know how you felt but wanted the best of both worlds. Your motto is business in the front and party at the back. No it isn't. Yes it is. You celebrate the duality of life in all possible ways and while some call you fickle, you're actually the most practical since you're ready for almost every situation. Suck it haters.

Mullet | T-shirt | Pants | Swiss Army Knife | Chameleon | Heels

I hope you found this useful. Thanks for reading!

Beat the heat

Dress: Modcloth

Clutch: New Look

Shoes: Vincci (Similar here)

Belt: Far East Plaza (Similar here)

Carriage ring: Sydney (Same here)

Earrings: Twentyeight Lane

This is a picnic-in-the-park kinda look except that Singapore is so freaking hot right now it would be impossible for me to be outdoors for more than 5 minutes without melting into a disgusting globby puddle of goo. 

And I'm the lake in the background. Pic stolen from here

The weatherman says that Singapore is going to be predictably hot and wet for the next month, and the NEA has warned that Aedes mosquito breeding grounds have increased. I don't know about you but that sounds like we should either run for our lives or wear air-conditioned hazmat suits. Why are you trying to kill us Singapore??? 

I have some suggestions to keep cool but they really aren't without their flaws:

Do not leave the air-conditioned comfort of your house. At all. But you'll need a supportive boss who doesn't mind you taking a sabbatical due to heat exhaustion. It will also be costly as your electrical bill will shoot up.

If you want to save on that electrical bill, you could also choose to live in the office. Again, you'll need a supportive boss who doesn't mind you showering in the sink. You'll probably get tons of work done too.

Take a lot of cold showers. Like seriously go get pruney. In fact, the ratio of bath to non-bath time should be like 8:2.

Drink iced water non-stop. You'll be bloated and need to pee a lot but it's super good for the skin so do it anyway.

But my best suggestion that I seriously think needs to happen is... THE DOME. (Domedomedome!)

Come on Singapore government, let's get a giant dome and place it over Singapore and have it air-conditioned so it's like maybe 15 degrees Celsius day and night. This way we can wear cute coats and have fun layering. Also, no smokers allowed in the dome. Do it do it do it do it do it do it do it.

If it's good enough for Springfield, it's good enough for Singapore. Pic stolen from here

Thanks for reading!

The game of thrones

Top: ASOS (Similar here)

Skirt: Seven (Similar here) I feel like this skirt looks like an alien overlord called Zuul

Shoes: Charles and Keith (Similar-ish here)

Bag: DKNY (Similar here)

Sunglasses: Karen Walker | Necklace: Lovisa (Similar here)

You know how sometimes people move and they need to get rid of their old junk and they try to give it to some poor sucker who really doesn't need it? My family is that sucker. My mother, being an economical hoarder, will accept furniture that others don't want - We've had office desks and cabinets as part of our living room set up. And she's never met a cooler bag that she doesn't like. For the most part, I get that it's functional and cost-saving but my inner OCD domestic goddess was suffering. I absolutely couldn't stand that my dining room table didn't have matching chairs, but rather had these chairs of DOOM.

Pure evil

I am not exaggerating. My friend once got her toe nail kinda clipped by the leg of the chair and it BROKE the nail. There was bleeding. And fainting (me. Blood = ew). Also, the skin of my thighs would sometimes get stuck in the slats of the rubber seat which was not pleasant, it's like being pinched as you try to stand up. Basically, the chairs are not for sitting. Which defeats their whole purpose really.

So I bought new chairs! Which means I'm a grown up, because only grown ups buy furniture that's not from Ikea (no disrespect to Ikea which I love but you know what I mean right?). I got these awesome kopitiam style chairs from Gnee Hong, a magical warehouse filled with all types of chairs to satisfy all your seating requirements.

New and improved although still old school

I didn't realise how expensive furniture is. I thought I'd pay maybe 80 bucks tops per chair but when the saleslady told me it was $135 I was floored and I blurted out, 'HUHH SO MUCH!!' but she let me bargain it down and I ended up paying $113 (including GST and free delivery) so that was a bit more palatable.

Anyway, I think the real lesson to be learned here is that being a grown up is expensive and you shouldn't do it. Thanks for reading!

Stars, stripes, and suddenly NACHO!

Top: Nichii (Similar here)

Skirt: ASOS (Similar here)

Bag: Betsey Johnson

Bangles: Old (Similar here and here)

Sunglasses: Aldo (Similar here)

Shoes: Far East Plaza (Similar here)

 

Don't you think this looks a bit Halloween costume adjacent? Halloween is after all my favourite festivity of the year because a) I love dressing up in costumes b) I love candy especially when it is free c) I get to scream 'trick or treat' like a deranged child.

I also love Halloween now for a totally new reason though -  Nacho (or the Artist Formally Known As Macho) joined the Wee-Hui-Maltese-Pan (WHMP) clan on 31 October 2013!

Taun taun Nacho reporting for duty

I adopted Nacho through a friend's neighbour's contact, a man who owned a small office in a conservation house. That's where we went to meet Nacho. We had very little information about this dog - he was a poodle and had to be rehomed because of some child's allergies (or so I initially thought). I had no idea what I needed to know so I took to Google to find out what I should ask before adopting a dog. Google was helpful.

Good questions to mull over first before even getting a dog include:

1. Can you handle the responsibility? (YES!)
2. Do you have the time and resources? (Maybe)
3. Have you considered your mother's feelings about having a dog (Who is 'mother'?) 

These are a basic starting point but I found this really useful.

Some good questions to ask the current owner of the dog you intend to adopt include:

1. Why do you (current owner) not want this cute guy (greatest dog in the world)?
2. What is this cutie's (NOT the owner obvs) medical history?
3. Has he been neutered? 
4. How is he around kids/other people/other dogs
5. Does he have any behavioural issues? 
6. Is he house-trained? Does he pee indoors or outdoors? 
7. Has he been given any training? (Ninja training?)
8. Does he know any commands? (Sit/stay/kill all my enemies?)
9. How often a day does he get walks and for how long each time? 
10. What is his eating schedule and what does he eat?

There are so many questions to ask so I suggest you do what I did, go to this site and print out all the questions and read them off to the current owner.

Anyway, as it turned out, Nacho's owner had done a silly thing, he gave in to his children's wishes for a dog but then they got bored of taking care of Nacho so he became an unwanted burden. The owner brought Nacho to his workplace to let his employees care for him but this meant that Nacho wasn't properly cared for so there were a couple of things that weren't great:

1. His vaccination had lapsed 
2. He wasn't neutered
3. He wasn't socialised with other dogs (so he used to charge up to other dogs)
4. He wasn't trained so he was kind of a maniac, barking randomly, pulling on his leash, trying to pee at every tree to mark
5. He was a tick-covered, worm-infested germ factory
6. His teeth had a lot of tartar build up
7. He wasn't properly groomed so his fur covered his eyes 
8. He wasn't being fed enough and was quite underweight
9. He wasn't being shown all the love and care that he should have because he really has a great personality 

Haaalp I think I'm blind - Nacho day 1 in the WHMP clan

Seriously guys. Where are my eyes?

We had to shave him because of all the ticks.

What the hell is this alien creature I brought into my home??

Ugs but happy!

It has been over a year since we got Nacho and I think we've addressed almost all of his issues but it really took a crap ton of hard work and consistency. He's still a little crazy sometimes (like when he wants to kill this Yorkie terrier) but he's an awesome little dude and I'm so happy that I got him. He's changed my life for the better, and I would wholeheartedly recommend that you adopt a dog (or a few dogs) because it gives them a better life and in turn makes yours awesome.

Nacho of today: I can seeeee!