Fall uniform

If I hadn't moved to Amsterdam, I would never have realized that I had a raincoat-shaped hole in my wardrobe. After getting soaked in the rain one stormy August night and getting sick the week following that, I decided that "summer" was as good a time as any to buy a rain jacket. 

The most important criteria: it had to have a hood, be waterproof, and cover my legs at least partially. It took a couple of afternoons combing the shops, I found this navy blue McG rain jacket at De Bijenkorf. I chose it for the semi-tailored preppy feel, as well as for the soft jersey lining and the cute little grosgrain belt that ties in a bow at my waist. I spent more on it than I had hoped to, but I felt better forking over the moolah knowing I'd get lots of wear out of this jacket. 

And I was right. This jacket already feels like a uniform, with all the rain we've had here. Although I must say I felt slightly odd wearing it out for the first time. It just didn't seem very... well, very me. Even Marlon gave a thoughtful hmmm the first time he saw me in it. 

This is my template outfit these days. I've gotten used to the rain jacket; I figure feeling "slightly odd" is a million times better than feeling downright cold, wet and miserable. Now that the temperature is on a steady downward trend, I've replaced my usual black stretchy cotton leggings with fleece leggings from HEMA, which feel awesome—like my legs are getting a nice warm hug.

The other part of my fall uniform is these brogue-slash-granny boots I scored on my day trip to Maastricht. They reminded me of the brown granny boots I used to own, which my mom brought back from Europe in the heyday of grunge. Ah, the Nineties.

Except my old granny boots didn't have the brogue-ish look of this pair, nor did they have this combination of black, brown and gray leather. Now resisting a pair of boots is always hard for me. But boots that go with everything? Oh hell yes.

Besides, it's fall. Lots of rain, getting cold and all that. I'm just being practical. Right? 

A little luho goes a long way

i was majorly down in the dumps this whole week, and it all came to a head on friday night. as meltdowns go, friday night is an excellent time to have one -- you simply wake up next morning and it's the weekend! thank goodness!

paragon

marlon and i had planned to spend all day on orchard road to go to the salon and get a few things done before leaving for new york (squee!) this coming week. marlon had a horrible mishap two weeks ago at our regular salon in novena, where he'd been getting his hair cut for the past three years -- the inept junior stylist snipped his ear! understandably, he completely blew his top and threatened never to come back again (of course, damay ako). so i decided to book us at action salon in paragon after reading about it in cleo. 

being in paragon, we just had to have lunch at one of our favorite places: ps cafe, where the clientele is extremely white and the food is fantastic. like many fantastic things in singapore, though, it costs an arm and a leg (for a light lunch), so we consider it a treat that should be reserved for just once in a while. 

which is the same category i would put action salon. the service was absolutely great -- i love my swingy new cut (no bangs! for the first time in years!) and my new hair colour, which is a deep mahogany that i swear makes my complexion look even fairer. and the pedi was actually closer to a foot spa than a basic pedi. but man, full service -- and good service -- in singapore will really cost you. marlon said he actually felt faint after seeing the bill for our afternoon of pampering, which included two haircuts, two colour jobs, an express hair treatment and a pedicure. 

oh, i forgot -- in the ten minutes we had before the salon appointment, i had just enough time to buy a pair of ballet flats by stella mccartney for adidas. (a brand that i love but don't actually own -- until now.) perfect walking shoes for new york! and they were 30% off!

takashimaya

still reeling from the salon bill, hubby and i crossed the road from paragon to takashimaya on slightly wobbly legs, assuaging our salon guilt with numerous compliments on each other's new hairdo. once we were inside taka, i breathed a sigh of relief -- time to put away the cash and use my beloved takashimaya vouchers! i love using vouchers, it's like getting stuff for free.

i still had nearly $200 dollars worth of vouchers that marlon racked up at work, so i used them to buy essentials like skin-tone bras from wacoal (after being horrified by the dreaded four-breasted phenomenon caused by the ill-fitting bras at triumph) and lovely new powder foundation at bobbi brown (my reward for hitting the 10-pound weight loss mark!). 

naturally, after being pampered by the impressively trained counter girl at bobbi brown, i ended up not just with foundation but an undereye concealer, a blemish stick and a bobbi brown club membership for a minimum purchase of $150! gaaah. it was the six free makeup lessons that hooked me. i had to top up my vouchers with cash, but never mind! i shall be poor yet flawless!

ion orchard

we ended up checking out the new mall on orchard (oh no! let's spend saturday checking out the trendy new mall on orchard! let's go to three malls in one afternoon! help, i'm turning local! ), this overwhelming glass behemoth called ion. 

ion photo from time out singapore

as you can see, it's quite pretty. i actually regret not bringing my camera, but i'm pretty sure i'll be back. one of the things i liked about the place was that though there was quite a horde of mallgoers, i never felt that the mall was crowded.

that and BERSHKA! omg. one of my favorite european high street stores has come to singapore. marlon has recently been fully converted to the cult of uniqlo, so we went to the spanking new uniqlo store to pay obeisance (and get him a new shirt and sandals). to end the day, we had the yummiest crispy black pepper duck at the fancy food court at ion (called food opera, for some bizarre reason). winner, ang sarap niya. 

marlon packed me off in a taxi with the day's purchases, and he went off to his boys' night out at clarke quay. and now i'm home. 

at home with my new hair, new foundation and new ballet flats

after this entire exercise, i was truly amazed at how basics like bras and foundation (notice how i omit the concealer and blemish stick) can feel like luhos when in fact they are just basics! it is so hard to find just the right ones, scoring a perfectly fitting bra and barely-there foundation can feel like such a huge triumph. 

and it boggles the mind sometimes when you realize how much you can spend in a single day in singapore. i am equally amazed at how much you can spend simply attempting to feel like a human being again after a long bout of illness and a stressful week at work. 

with these epiphanies, i end my litany of consumerism. good night.

Barbie girl

i know, gladiator sandals are just about to go the way of hooded t-shirts, buddha beads and jelly kellys. but the siren call of hot pink plastic was just too strong to resist. plus, they're super comfy.

Commercial break

we interrupt our regular programming with a commercial from my regular old life in singapore. 

just when i swore off shopping (and spending) for the foreseeable future, i get an email from my flamenco teacher. she's ordering for flamenco shoes from spain in june and is opening the order to all her students so she/we can get a bulk discount. the shoes are about $200 each, so my first thought was "no thanks". i have a second-hand pair that's serving me quite well and no two hundred bucks to spare. 

but then i had to go to the shoemaker's website... and damn! these shoes are cute! click on the link to check them out (i don't know how to take screenshots with a mac).

okay, that's it, just presented the dilemma. now back to regular programming.