Against dieting

Take a bite ....and feel the squish of cream squirt into your mouth. That's boston cream dunkin donut for you. Let's celebrate the true spirit of life....which is about respect for food and ditch our obsession with having the perfect figure.

Tools of the trade

Here's an interesting picture taken at a Shue Uemera shop. If I didn't tell you where...I'm pretty sure those brushes could pass off as the same ones in those art classes at school. Except they'll be priced cheaper and would be caked with dried paint.

I miss the pool

Some people are afraid of water. Some people are afraid of drowning. I'm a little of both yet the splish splash of water continues to lure me to it. In my last living quarters the pool was lovely. I would describe it as being liken to a kidney shape gone wrong with the deep end being more than 6 feet and the baby end around 4 feet something. What I love most about it is the lack of humans coinhabiting the pool at any one time.Solitude is such a luxury. The downside was, maintenance being rather on the sad side, some days the water would be a dark greenish murk. Most days..with the afternoon tropical sun on my back....the crystal clear aqua blue pool and NO ONE else in the vicinity....a dip in the pool would spell a perfect afternoon for me.

Are cheap shoes worth the bother at all?

I bought a pair of Bata shoes last Sunday. Quite out of character. Paraded it at home as I stomped up and down the hall. The green was a pastel soothing grass-green which was reminisent of the pair of clarks I saw two weeks earlier.

Exactly a week later...the shoes made its first outting. My first few steps were a little wobbly. I attributed that to being horizontal for the better part of the morning. But after a bit, my arch felt like it was being pushed into a yoga-like dreaded position. My second toe ( it's always the second toe ) started complaining a bit.

And so, the pair of shoes must retire to the graveyard of shoes. I'm sure the even the poor wouldn't want to be hobbling along.

Liz Claiborne

I wonder what happen to the shop in KLCC. Walked past the very spot it used to be a few weeks back. I'm hoping its moved to a bigger premise. Preferably still in the vicinity of KLCC. After a bit, I got distracted with other things.

I want, I need, I must have

Marian Keyes writes well. I opened my mailbox...weeded the spam out and found this update. Wonder how long it will take to come to Malaysia and more specifically to KL.
Every once in a while, you chance across an author who suits your mood. Not easy this. Believe you me, there are a few books stacked on the lower shelf ie the graveyard of books. A slight miscalculation on your part and this is the direct result. You're stuck with a book ....reading past the third chapter is like having your eyebrows tweezed without any lignocaine gel applied. Reading cheers me up no end. My latest aquisition is a set of CDS....( books on tape ) bought at Borders at Berjaya Times Square. In fact, *sheepish smile* I bought two sets. The drive to work is now VERY entertaining. I feel very smug as I smile out to the other folks listening to devil music as I....enjoy the book and drive calmly to and fro work.

What a nice way to spend Saturday afternoon

Two Saturdays back, I ventured to Ampang to attend a wedding. No major hiccups, we found ourselves arriving in good time. A intricate relationship.....the bride was my houseman, and her mother a nurse at the ward I once worked in. We met the usual bunch of people, from work. I must say the weather was extremely nice. Clouds loomed over us, which gave the day a little break from the hot breeze which enveloped us earlier.

The bride looked very nice, as all brides should. What this wedding had was an air of family closeness. One doesn't always sense such an atmosphere. The bersanding ceremony finally started after I had squeezed myself into a little corner and had my legs tucked under in an incredibly lady-like fashion. Quite a feat for my legs. They behaved impeccably that afternoon. After a bit, we heard the kompang drumming sound and lo and behold, the couple arrived and sat down. The bride's younger brother was in charge of keeping the groom sweat-free. This he did in such a manner, one would have thought part of the epidermis would come off as well. Instead of dapping ( as all sensible people would ), he cheerfully opted for the more drastic..and more effective way of removing all semblance of sweat from brow. And when that task was over, he promptly started on task number two of the day ie keeping the groom cool.

Sambal Petai

There is an air of confidence about this restaurant which comes from three to four decades of serving. They know what they do best and they do it ignoring the fads of the day.

This except is from "the snobs" by Muriel Sparks.

Snob.A person who sets too much value on social standing, wishing to be associated with the upper class and their mores, and treating those viewed as inferior with condescension and contempt - Chambers dictionary

I feel bound to quote the above definition, it so-well fits the Ringer-Smith couple whom I knew in the 1950s and of whom I have since met variations and versions enough to fill me with wonder. Snobs are really amazing.They certainly err in failing to fool the very set of people they are hoping to be accepted by, and above all, to seem to belong to, to be taken for.They may live in a democratic society - It does nothing to help. Nothing.

I'm usually smug about arriving early to work. Haven't had the smug feeling for the last three months. I've succumbed to the peer pressure of arriving fashionably late. Lemme just say, it's addictive the difficult part is letting go, once you've done that, it's liberating. I've given up on alarum clocks. Three weeks back, I smacked the nasty machine right across the side table. It landed with a week smashing sound under the bed. I eventually crawled to it and rescued it from a lonely death under my bed. It's spoiled. No point beating around the bush.

The slack part about arriving late is finding a park. If you arrive before 7:30am, you get a spot opposite the nursery or thereabouts. Arriving closer to 8am would ensure you a spot after the psuedo covered car parks. After which time, you're relegated to spots either precariously balanced uphill or within walking distance from the dustbin. If you're of the brave variety, you could chance parking beside the curb.

Cucumber Heel Therapy. That's what the lady recommended after she had spent a whole hour getting aquainted with my feet. My first pedicure experience was good. My eyes would drif downwards every 7.5 seconds to admire the pink toes. That's right, for two whole weeks, i had a delectable shade of pink on my toes. 15 minutes after coming out of the shop, I promptly stubbed my right big toe on a book. I'm not sure what upset me more....the shooting upright sciatica pain , orthe sight of my toenail marred somewhat by the experience.