I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

T-shirt: Romwe | Skirt: Tracyeinny (Similar here) | Shoes: Asos (Similar here)

Clutch: Gift from Cyn (Same here) | Ring: Gift from Cyn (Similar here) | Sunglasses: Ray Ban

Hello! Sorry for the hiatus! I was super busy with work and then I flew off to Italy for a short one and a half week vacation. I'm just back and wanted to say hello and thanks for reading if you have been... If you haven't, then you should. Because I think I'm hilarious. No? :(

Anyway, a post or two about Italy/Munich will soon follow as it was such a beautiful trip filled with non-hazy air, shimmering snow-capped mountains, love, a variety of alcohol, sumptuous food and tons of cute animals!

Ciao for now and thanks for reading!

Nailed it

T-shirt: Banana Republic (Similar here) | Skirt: Chicwish (Similar here) | Shoes: ASOS (Similar-ish here) | Sunglasses: Pieces (Similar here)

Bag: Gracious Aires (Similar here) | Necklace: Twentyeight Lane | Ring: Glebe Market (Similar here)

So I have a freak hand. It's no big deal really. I was born with a left hand that is lacking a muscle. I guess it might have been a big deal if I was like, really musically gifted and had the potential to be a world class guitar player (my hand is too small so I can't grip the guitar well and my thumb can't hold down the necessary chord... Or something). Although, there are people without limbs who do tons of crazy awesome stuff so maybe I'd have just learned to play it with my toes... But that is not the point and I digress waaaay too much. Seriously, where was I?

Oh yes. Freak hand. No big deal. So aside from not being able to do a few things here and there, I also have the related freak nails. Teeny tiny nail beds on short stumpy fingers. It's clearly very attractive. Because my hands aren't exactly an attraction, among various reasons, I don't usually do my nails.

Freak hand

Buuuuut. I did my nails recently! I met a lady called Zoe and she owns a nail parlour called Thumbelina so I thought I'd check it out and I'm so glad I did because seriously my hands and feet needed some TLC.

Thumbelina is a cute little place that's on the second level of a row of shophouses along Bukit Timah Road. It's a blink and you might miss it place which might really add to its charm since its namesake is a blink and you'll miss her kind of fairy.

A signboard so you won't miss it

 The parlour is quaintly decorated with cute and girly accents - a perfect home for the little fairy.

The rows and rows of nail polishes are from O.P.I. and Chanel so you know this means it's fancy pants. Seriously made it hard to pick a colour.

I sat in the chair by the window so I could look out when I was bored but I ended up chatting my Nora, my manicurist who was really a delight. She told me that she wanted to be a flight attendant when she was younger but couldn't meet the height criteria. She said, "I stopped growing tall but kept growing sideways".

I was given 3 huge books filled with nails, which made me think of a great idea for an episode of Criminal Minds. Like a killer with a penchant for keeping fingernails in a book. How creepy right??? I should be a screenwriter.

Nora helped me pick out complimentary colours for my fingers and toes. I ended up choosing a glittery pink because I thought I should girl it up all the way.

Tch tch tch tch - the sound of filing 'em talons down

It was a very pleasant experience to be pampered by people, although it feels a little weird to have people touching my feet (and scraping the dead skin off it... EW!! Sorry!) 

Freak hand after pampering

Well, the hand is still freaky, can't do anything about that. But now they are SHINY freaky. So YAY!

So if you feel like your freaky hands and feet need some help, check out Thumbelina and ask for Nora. She is the bomb-diggity.

Thanks for reading!

Tone

Dress: Shein | Shoes: Velvet (Similar here) | Bag: Charles & Keith (Similar here)

Earrings & Ring: Gift from aunty Karen (Similar here and here) | Sunglasses: Pieces

I've mentioned before that growing old is tough. For two weeks now, I've been plagued by lower back aches and I think it probably has something to do with my sitting posture and general lack of strong musculature. In a bid to combat this, I've started attending a body toning class at A&J Creative Danceworld where I've got to do a bunch of exercises like squats, lunges, push-ups, crunches, etc. My first class was horrendous, I kept falling over because my wobbly thighs just couldn't take the pain and my muscles have been so sore even walking around is terrible and I resemble a waddling duck. So obviously I'm horrified with how unfit I've become and I'm probably going to be obsessive about it and try to become the she-hulk now. 

Fitness aspirations via Comic Vine

What doubled my horror was that I used to be really fit. When I was in school, I could do several pushups (not the cheater version but the real one) and now I can maybe do one and a half.  

The struggle is real via here

Anyway, I really hope I can see some improvement in my overall body tone and also maybe the pain will go away. I urge you to try body toning because misery loves company.

Thanks for reading!

Bananas

Dress: Chicnova | Shoes: Aldo (Similar here) | Sunglasses: Ray Ban

Bag: Sportsgirl (Similar here) | Ring: Twentyeight Lane (Similar here) | Phone cover: Aliexpress

So I had already written this post and then when I went to edit it, the whole draft went totally bonkers and I had to delete it all. Some could say that the post went totally bananas. HURHURHUR. 

I used to be quite concerned about how people saw me but nowadays I'm really pleased to let my freak flag fly and just be all out bananas so I thought it'd be cool to have a banana dress and a banana phone cover. Do you think the Sophia Webster banana shoes would be too much? 

Pic from here

What's not to love about bananas? They are high in potassium which is good for something... I think... And they are super delicious as an afternoon snack and can be made into a kickass chocolate banana cake that is making me drool just thinking about it. 

Also, the word 'bananas' has a lot of the letter A in it and we all know that A is the best letter because A is for Alex. YAY! 

So eat some bananas, wear some bananas and then go bananas! Thanks for reading! 

Feed me

Top: H&M | Skirt: Smooch the Label | Shoes: Sophia Webster | Bag: OG (Similar here)

Sunglasses: Far East Plaza (Similar here) | Earrings: Diva (Similar here) | Ring: Vintage (Similar here)   

I'm not big on body-hugging attire mostly because while I think I'm past that whole body image disorder business, I still feel a slight pressure to suuuuuuck it all in when I'm in form fitting clothes. However, I'll make exceptions on occasion especially when the print of the skirt is super duper cute (like above).

I'm all for body positivity and being comfortable in my own skin, but I think a lot of that starts from within. I choose to eat a little more healthily these days because I know that age and metabolism are my enemies and I fight them so I know that I'll be happier in the long run.

Aside from some basic exercise, I try to eat more vegetables and fibre and cut down on food with high sugar and fat content on weekdays, while letting myself enjoy life a little (okay, a lot) on weekends.

Here are some of my suggestions for eating relatively healthier if you work in the CBD area:

Do Si Rak: So I just found out about this little joint in China Square Central but according to the owner, it's been around for more than 6 months. It offers Korean style white rice boxes in a cute little package and you just need to shake it up with the lid on to mix the delicious ingredients in. They've worked with a nutritionist to ensure each box is less than 500 calories and filled with awesome stuff. Each bowl costs about $8 to $9 but for a little extra, you can change the white rice to whole grain rice or Korean buckwheat noodles. There's limited counter style seating and I normally order the soy sesame chicken box to go.

So much yummy

It comes in cute packaging!

Pre-shaking

Shake it like a polaroid picture

Sumo Salad: This is from Raffles City so it requires some walking to get to.  It's just a stall in the basement so there isn't any seating available but they have lots of options and like most salad places, they have customisable salads but unlike most places, they also offer sumo bowls (heated quinoa, brown rice, veg, and a protein bowls) which I big time love because I prefer my food hot not cold. The salads are like $6 - $10 depending on the size of the container and the sumo bowls are only in 2 sizes (small and big) and it's $9.50 or $10.50 respectively but they really pack it in so it's quite filling. 

Sumo sumptuousness

Tofu and mix greens bowl

Munch: This salad shop is a franchise and the one I go to operates out of the food court in China Square. They have a bunch of options including sandwiches and breakfast foods but I normally stick to the 1 protein + 2 sides which costs $10.90. I normally have the John Dory fish, some quinoa (if available or brown rice) and a vegetable. They have a lot of options but of course they add up of you like a lot of variety. Since it's in a food court, seating is available but it gets crowded during lunch hours.

I didn't eat both meals

109 Yong Tau Foo: Mousie introduced me to this joint along Circular Road and it is motherfreaking delicious I think they put drugs and voodoo magic into this soup (Or possibly just MSG). I usually pick about 8 pieces and minimally three of which will be vegetables. They have this killer fried beancurd skin which they fry before putting into the soup but obviously if you're trying to be clean, you should forgo that. But you'll regret it. Because it is dynamite.I don't order any rice or noodles but rather just eat the pieces and drink the soup. The place gets really crowded but there is an air-conditioned upper level to sit at as well as lower level tables outdoors (which I only recommend if you don't perspire or you don't care if you perspire).

So many options!

Fried beancurd get into ma belly

The Healthy Society: This little cafe at Clifford Centre is tucked away at the corner on the second floor but it's probably quite well known because it gets pretty crowded. It doesn't have that much seating and they really cram you in there but for a set meal of a soup, a (small) salad and a main for between $9 - $14, it's quite worth it. You can choose between brown rice or lemony spaggies (which is honestly a stupid sounding abbreviation for 'spaghetti') to accompany your main protein. I almost always choose the Coriander Dory but I also really enjoy the over roasted chicken. The soup is usually a soup of the day so you don't get a choice but usually it's decently yummy.

Dooooooorrrrrrrryyyyyyy

Aight, so those were my top 5 healthier options for the CBD area. I hope you're feeling hungry.

Thanks for reading!