Meh...

I didn't know the underwire in bras can actually snap. :(

The sunnies

Lulu Guinness, black and dark purple. Looks quite retro compared to the run-of-the-mill Ray-bans or Guess. Price tag is £119. Yay or nay?

I also went upstairs to the normal (non-prescription) sunnies section to try some out because I wasn't sure the price is worth it, and I found there is a vast difference in build quality. I know, what am I on about? It's just a pair of sunglasses, right? No. The cheaper sunnies upstairs, even if they're Calvin Klein or Jigsaw or whatever expensive brand, feels completely different to the same branded sunnies we sell in the optics department. I mean, we carry Calvin Kleins and CKs too, but ours seem to be sturdier, the plastic feels denser and less "cheap". Like you know they haven't recycled plastic water bottles to make those sunglasses. It's not something you can see, but you can feel it the moment you pick it up.

A bit like having an expensive heavy "thud" sound when you close a prestige car door, cheaper cars tend to have the plasticky rattly noise instead. (Oh god, I'm using car analogies. I've been talking to Boy too much.)

To think that I always thought we're just overpriced because we specialise in the field... guess not.

I've done it!

London Heathrow Apt (LHR) → Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL)
Airline: MALAYSIA AIRLINES (MH)
Class: Economy
Departing: 12:00 Sun 5 Jul 2009
Arriving: 07:25 Mon 6 Jul 2009

Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) → London Heathrow Apt (LHR)
Airline: MALAYSIA AIRLINES (MH)
Class: Economy
Departing: 10:05 Fri 17 Jul 2009
Arriving: 16:15 Fri 17 Jul 2009

3 x Adult (£458.70)
£1,376.10

Payment Summary
Solo £1,376.10

So broke now... T_T

Uh-oh, my dad's on Facebook!

He has added me as a friend. From the looks of things, he hasn't found any of my brothers yet. Should I parent-proof my Facebook profile before adding him? :x

Lesson #98237: Traditional eyelash curling is not for everyone.

I'm terrible with makeup because I don't know how to apply it properly or take it off properly (a friend who works in a beauty salon told me that your face isn't supposed to hurt after taking off makeup!). And I could never figure out how to use these eyelash-curler-contraptions-that-looks-more-like-torture-devices.

Normal eyelash curler

I don't know if it's just me, but I could never curl with those. I've got two of these, so they can't both be broken since I bought both brand new. All I would always end up with are weird lashes with horrible angular kinks right in the middle, plus it doesn't appear to catch all of my lashes, so some stray lashes at either end of my eyes always stick out straight in contrast with the kinked lashes. Awful. And I could never get the curler close enough to the root of my lashes to get a proper lift.

And I have read all sorts of hints and tips online, including applying mascara before/after curling, curling in three steps along the lash to get extra curl, etc. I just end up with a sticky curler and extra kinks in my lashes. *sigh* I fail in life (as a female).

But fear not. I bought one of these yesterday, a bit dubiously but was tempted by the price (it is on sale for 1/2 price), and it proved to be one of the most useful cosmetic item I've ever bought for a fiver. :D

No7 Heated Eyelash Curler

Not only now I get to throw away the awkward metal thing from my cosmetics bag (it never fit properly anyway!), I can just use the nicely-shaped heated lash curler and it actually does give a nice natural-looking curl and it doesn't require too much effort. I like!

The other cosmetic thing I bought that I think will come in good use is this:

No7 Perfect Light Loose Powder

I only got it because I got sick of my pressed powder being crushed to dust when I take it travelling, and loose powder in its normal casing makes too much mess and is difficult to carry around in a small handbag. So when this pen-shaped loose powder with in-built brush comes along, I'm not gonna say no. Also, I had a £5 No7 discount voucher (I have several No7 discount vouchers, actually, and all of them expires on the 29th), so I really got that for just over a fiver too. Hehe. :)

I hope it's refillable! :P I usually use MaxFactor stuff because the MaxFactor lady was very helpful with selecting a product for me with my dry skin and spent time teaching me how to apply makeup last time, whereas the No7 lady just shrugged me off, assumed that just because I am a Far East Asian that my skin will naturally be very oily, sold me a foundation that was too dry for my skin (she didn't even try it on me!), so when it started flaking as soon as I put it on, I wasn't very impressed with the brand or the people they have as their reps. Unfortunately I couldn't find the above two products from any other range, so I've caved for the moment. :P

Another update: the non-pub crawl, lazy Sunday, and general laziness.

So yesterday's night out didn't turn out the way I expected it to, but nevermind. The best time I had the whole night was sitting outside the pub in the cold with Boy, talking to T and J. We could actually hear ourselves talk without having to shout or talk in someone's ear, so you can have a normal chat over drinks instead of having to repeat it 3 or 4 times. Plus, there were several drag queens running about the streets providing ample cringe-worthy entertainment...

Anyway, yesterday aside, today started out as a lazy day. Eyes hurt and puffy as expected, but thankfully no panda eyes as I actually removed all of my makeup the night before. When we got hungry at around 1pm, went to Tesco to get fuel and food for tonight and then got a 10-piece bargain bucket from KFC. We curled up in front of the TV watching School of Rock on DVD (didn't finish it because it was too embarrassing to watch after a while... definitely one to watch whilst drunk because that's the only way to get through it!), and the chicken smelt lovely and tasted fantastic! <3 Boy made quite an attempt in eating his share of the bargain bucket before giving up on the 4th (I think) piece. I was quite impressed; he usually has such a small appetite that he would be stuffed with just 2 pieces of chicken. :P

LA Fitness called to say that I'm due for my 6-weekly checkup and for me to book an appointment, but I cringed when I heard the voicemail because I know I have been very naughty and skipping gym a lot and eating too much. *sigh* I don't think I lost any weight in the past 6 weeks! So much for motivation, eh? I need to stop being such a lazy arse. I slept for 4 hours in the evening today and woke up at 8.45pm! And speaking of LA Fitness, we went on Thursday to do some swimming and I forgot how to stay afloat again. :'( Relearnt it by the end of the session, but I bet I've forgotten about it again by now. And they say you can't forget how to swim! LIARS.

We also watched Marley & Me last week on Wednesday. The whole cinema was in tears by the end of it... talk about heartwrenching. The movie did not spare anyone, not even the blokes. It was a good film though, even if it was difficult to watch.

You know how I said I can't swim?

Wooo. We went swimming today because Boy decided that he's going to teach me swimming. He was planning to even when we went to Tunisia, but we were so busy there that we didn't even get the chance to hit the pool or beach, so ever since coming back, he said, "We'll go to the swimming pool on your next day off and I can teach Pei how to swim then."

Which just so happens to be today because I've been working another six-day week. T_T

Before we went there, I said that if Boy manages the impossible task of getting me to swim, we could look at going for a vacation to one of the islands off the coast of Terengganu, like Redang or Perhentian, since I've never been to either island despite living so close to it for so many years because I just can't swim and the whole purpose of going to those islands is either suntanning on the lovely beaches (which I don't do because it's too hot!) or something to do with water (swimming, snorkling, diving, etc) because it has awesome coral reef and marine parks (apparently). Unfortunately, all this will mean is that I have to first save up for enough money for the tickets to Malaysia and then enough money for a mini-stint in one of the islands as well. The problem is that I know the islands are pretty popular places to go to during the summer months, so booking a place is going to be near on impossible if I don't do it soon... :(

Boy was like, "Ok, sounds like a challenge!"

Anyway, the fitness centre that we go to for gymming is the only one in the city centre with a swimming pool in it, so we went there today. I had my black swimsuit from 3-4 years ago when M was trying to teach me how to swim in 6 weeks (that wasn't too successful, by the way). It was a 36E (from Bravissimo, on sale, I think it was a Freya swimsuit but I could be wrong) and it definitely doesn't fit all that well nowadays because the wires in the centre (of my boobs) are jutting out by an inch or so. :( I was going to get another one, but I cannot justify getting another swimsuit when a) I don't go to the beach that often and, b) I can't swim.

I would get a bikini (there are so many nice ones!) if I were skinnier and have less jiggly bits... um, nevermind! :P I shall spare everyone's eyes.

The pool is 1.36m deep. Getting into the pool was not a problem - I have no fear in getting into water, and the water came up to my chin. There were actually a lot of people there, families with their kids on a Sunday, I suppose we shouldn't be surprised since it was Sunday afternoon.

Lesson #1: Dead Man's Float

First thing Boy tried to get me to do was the Dead Man's Float. Even that is difficult because I kept tensing up and sinking, so he tried to get me to tread water. That didn't work either because I kept sinking and my feet kept hitting the floor.

So I clung on to the side of the pool and let the rest of my body float up to the surface. Then Boy stood next to me and supported me from underwater whilst I let go of the side and told me to relax repeatedly. Once he was certain I was fully relaxed in a sleeping position, he let go... and then I was floating.

I WAS FLOATING!!

I opened my eyes in shock, panicked and immediately went underwater with lots of spluttering after.

That was smart. :P Anyway, we tried that again, and each time I held the position (if you can call it holding a position when it requires no effort other than not to panic) longer and longer. After that, he said I was to get into the Dead Man's Float position by myself, with no assistance from him. Again, that took some doing. Actually, I managed it the first time, but then panicked after around 5 seconds and went under again. So that took some time to build up confidence to the point of just floating and not tensing up at all.

Lesson #2: Moving in one direction (Cheater's backstroke)

So the next thing to do was to try to get me moving in one direction rather than just floating around getting in everyone's way.

First he tried to get me to kick my legs, but only my feet without tensing the other leg muscles and going underwater, which was near impossible. Then he said I could use my calves as well, but when I tried it, he said I was moving my whole legs and there was too much movement and muscle tension to keep afloat that way. So we tried it with assistance again, and it was okay... until he let go and I was sinking again...

So he said that I should try it with arm movement as well. After experimenting with various types of arm movement and him telling me how much movement I should do, in which direction, etc, I finally managed to stay afloat and move in a specific direction!

YAY!!!

Oh, and after some practicing, I could do it by myself now, even though occasionally I still cock up by tensing far too much and getting a noseful of water in the process, but it's not too bad now. ^^ We spent some time in the jacuzzi as well, and that was weird. My back was really red and itchy after it.

After that, it was back to some more practicing, and I managed to swim almost a complete length of the pool just doing the cheater's backstroke. So now I'm not completely hopeless on this swimming thing, and back of my throat tastes like chlorine. Roffle.

Boy is a pretty good teacher. Very patient, and he didn't mind staying with me at all times to make sure I don't drown instead of going off on a swim himself whilst I drown in a corner of the pool.

My relationship with food

Just cooked up a quick sausage, bacon and egg bap for both Boy and I, so I'm feeling full and happy now. ^^

I think I eat too much. My work colleagues are now all on Facebook (and it's the work topic for the past week or so), even the most computer illiterate of them, and the one thing they all said was, "Pei's status message is always about food or what she's having for dinner."

Everyone thought this is hilarious (and the "mmm, young animals are so very yummy" quote has now been immortalised as "Pei's quote") and that sooner or later I'll end up with a recipe book on Facebook. Er, not likely. But it still brings me to the topic that I probably eat too much and need to cut down on all this munching. Sigh. But I like food. :( But perhaps I should only have 3 square meals a day and not snack in between. I lose control with snacking. It's only 12:55pm now and I've eaten 2/3 of a small loaf of cinnamon and raisin bread and a sausage, bacon and egg bap whilst watching Azumanga Daioh on my laptop. I've only been up for 3+ hours. Disgusting, right? And I don't even feel sick from eating that much. If anything, I just feel full, that's all.

I think this means that my stomach is way too used to consuming a lot of food, and it shouldn't be. :( I work at a sedentary 9-5 job with not a lot of exercise, I sleep a good 8 hours a day (or more if I can get it), and yet I stuff myself with so much food everyday you'd think I'm a construction/mine worker who does 12 hours of hard manual labour a day. RARRARAARRRRR.

Hmm... speaking of food, a thought just occured to me. Maybe instead of figuring what to cook each night when it's my turn to cook, maybe I should use a randomiser script to tell me? :D

*Googles*

Gran Torino

Just got back from watching Gran Torino. It was great! A bit cheesy and predictable in some places, but it was still a pretty good film and it did made me tear up a bit.

Despite the name of the film, it really doesn't have much to do with the car, though the existence of the car in the movie is probably what that kicks the plot off. I'm not going to go into the plot of it, but it has a lot of tones of family, honour and the (lack of) power of justice in one person's hand. Whilst I've said that it's predictable, it doesn't have the shameless happy endings that Hollywood likes to market for most of its films, which is good because it wouldn't have worked with this film. The film does make you think of why things happen the way it does, and sometimes life is shit the way it is through no fault of your own, and you'll just have to deal with it the best way you know how. As hard as a man tries to be an island in his own world, in the end he is still going to be affected by the actions and behaviour of those surrounding him, and he makes a choice to make a sacrifice not for his own benefit, but for the people he cares about who cares about him.

I thought the movie was engineered quite brilliantly, though some may beg to differ. I particularly liked the parts where Clint Eastwood's character Walt Kowalski have his banter with the barber guy. XD It was hilarious!

Random bruises

I woke up today and found a hugeass bruise on my chin! >_< How did it get there? I don't recall hitting myself on the chin on anything. I look like I've been domestic-abused. Tried to cover it up with foundation (I have no concealer), and was kinda successful in hiding it for most of the morning, but by afternoon my foundation wore off and the bruise in all its purple glory was there for all to see. :(

A joked that Boy has been hitting me. >_<

Surely I'm not the only one who wakes up with random bruises? I get a lot of them, but I think this is the first one that has been on my face.

Earspirals

I found something really cute that I want. I got to know about it when one of my work colleagues came in wearing one of them and got a lot of curiosity as to how on Earth she puts them on.

Earspirals! :D Have you heard about it? Apparently it originated from San Francisco... it's an earring you can't lose (whilst wearing it)!

Is that cute or what? That's one of the "Californian convertibles", ie you can change parts of it. There are some static ones as well. But I just think they're the greatest! They're not cheap though... -_-

Does anyone feel like buying me a present? :P

Still working on pictures of Tunisia... will be up as soon as I find time to sort it all out. :P I'm sure you're all dying to see them... not! Heh.

I'm still in love with my slow-cooker (thanks Joe!)

*grin* If you've read my Facebook status message yesterday, you will have seen the young animals comment and known that I was mixing up a honey+mustard marinade for half a lamb leg. I marinaded it overnight in the fridge and put it into the slow cooker today, and it was absolutely melt-in-your-mouth heavenly. *swoon*

Slow-cooked honey+mustard leg of lamb served with pork, onion
and sage stuffing and roast potatoes, carrots and parsnips.

I know, I know, I don't get points for presentation. Anyway, if you're interested, I followed the marinade recipe from here and then just made it a slow-cooker pot roast instead of a traditional roast. For the gravy, I added a dash of red wine and enough Bisto gravy granules to thicken up the gravy after cooking. Will be making again for sure!

PS: Yes, Boy got us new plates because I broke all but one of the old ones. :(