Desperately seeking Moses

Today I had an unbelievably maddening day - last-minute changes for work, last minute lunch cancellations, too many bad drivers on the road. I knew I was in for a lousy day when I woke up feeling out of sorts.

So, I decided to seek my antidote for a bad day - a visit to my hair stylist, Moses at Jantzen Hair Salon, Midvalley Megamall. I was really looking forward to see him as my last hair cut was in December last year. He's not only my hair stylist but my confidant who listens attentively to my woes on men. I couldn't wait to tell him all about my last lunch episode with Mr. J. While driving to Midvalley, I could see Moses, in my mind, laughing and being happy for me as I update him on Mr.J .

But, when I arrived at Jantzen, the receptionist told me blankly that Moses has migrated to Sydney, Australia three months ago. At that very moment, my face fell and my heart dropped to the floor.

With much reluctance, I settled for a stylist named Holly. Nevertheless, I'm happy with my hair cut- not too many layers chopped off and a teeny trim on my fringe. I left Jantzen looking and feeling brand-new. But I miss the easy client-stylist relationship, the easy banter, the confiding, the gossiping.

Once, I had a bad sore throat, Moses went to the Chinese Medicine Hall downstairs and got me some herbal tea, specially brewed for heatiness and sore throat. Sigh, it's the little things that count.

I'm missing him here, real bad. Yes, I miss my hair-stylist who never fails to smile with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, who is the only guy I know who wears a cap and look so right in it.

Ah, well. I wish him a successful career and a better life in Sydney. I hope he becomes a top hair-stylist in Australia.

I'm still miffed as I didn't get to say goodbye to him. I had wanted to give him my chocolate chip cookies for the CNY; which I never did.

Like a virgin

Last night, I had a long chat with my old girlfriend LY, the only girlfriend whom I can talk about my sex life (not that I've got any at the moment).

Hey, how's Mr. J?

Oh, he's gone back to his clubbing chicka g'f.

Ooh, really and you didn't have your little sexy tryst with him?

Me?!! Hello woman. I can't remember what a dick looks like. You know, I'm qualified to enter a nunnery. The last time I had sex was in the last millenium.

REALLY?!!!

Yes, really. The only reason why I stayed celibated was to heal myself 100% from the awful breakup with Greg. Earlier, I decided I'd wanted no rebound nonsense to clear all leftover bad feelings. Now that I'm completely over him, I figured that I'm much happier being a chaste woman. It's so much easier this way.

One night stands are too much work. Plus, I know I'd feel wasted, empty and vaguely depressed after one night stand sex. For some women, it's easier to have "no emotional strings attached" sex and immediate physical gratification.

For me, I think I'd rather keep my chastity, for now, that is.

My best beauty list

I was browsing through InStyle magazine today and came across their "Best Beauty Buys 2005" feature.

Here's my version of "Best Beauty Buys":

Face
1. Non-liquid foundation - Bobbi Brown's Oil-Free Even Finish Compact Foundation in Sand
2. Cream blush - L'occitane Tinted Shea Butter Balm in Wild Rose
3. Lipstick - Bobbi Brown's Brownie
4. Lipgloss - Bobbi Brown's Buff
5. Lip Balm- Nivea Lip Care
6. Eyebrow filler- Bobbi Brown Eye Shadow in Sable
7. Facial Cleanser - Cetaphil Cleanser
8. Face Mask- Aesop's Primrose Cleansing Clay Masque
9. Eyelash Curler- Shu Uemura
10. Sunscreen- Skinceuticals Daily Sun Defense
11. Anti-aging skin care- NeoStrata AHA Solution for Oily Skin

Body
1. Body Lotion - Nivea Nourishing Care Lotion
2. Body Soap- Dove
3. Body Scrub - L'oreal Exfotonic
4. Hand Cream- L'occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream & L'occitane Immortelle Hand Cream with SPF 15.
5. Neck Cream- I used to apply Clarins Extra Firming Cream for Neck but found it too pricey. So, I've found a cheaper alternative- Nivea Skin Oil which works just fine (absorbs easily and smells wonderful)

Hair
12. Shampoo- Schwarzkopf Bonacure Hair & Scalp Remove Shampoo
13. Conditioner- Senscience Inner Conditioner for Coarse Hair
14. Treatment - Keratase Masquintense
15. Hair Styling - Keratase Oleo-Relax

I've been thinking of trying MAC's eyeshadow & mascara. Any recommendations?

Yes, sir. How can I help you?

Ever since my breakup with my last boyfriend, Greg years ago, I've been inundated with requests from meddling aunties and well-meaning friends for a date set-up. My participation to these "set-ups" depends solely on my mood. If I'm PMS-ing big-time, then they can forget about it. However, if they ask nicely and I know good intentions are on their side, I'd usually say yes, after much mulling over and waiting to see how I feel.

In the past few years, I've been sporadically getting phone calls from strange men. And lately, one particular Aunty X has been enthusiastically giving my phone number to any eligible bachelors she knows. Those poor men all sounded embarassingly uncomfortable when I told them flatly that I had absolutely no idea who they were, and that Aunty X hadn't inform me of their phone calls.

Last week, I was PMS-ing and was in no mood to entertain any of those moronic phone calls. It happened on Friday night - the night before I surfed the great red tide. I got increasingly irritated with the Desperado on the other line. And I was ever ready to hang up rudely when, suddenly I had a flash of inspiration.

I simply asked Mr. Desperado if he'd be interested in my services as I'm a consultant of X field with 7 years of experience. Just like that, my tone automatically switched to a friendly and professional mode, marketing myself to a potential client. In the end, I had a nice chat with Mr. Desperado, with him promising to spread the word around.

Ah, now I know what to do with those annoying Desperado phone calls. I'd turn them into prospective clients and market myself to those Desperados. Instead of curtly telling them, I don't even know them in the first place, and that I wasn't informed of their phone calls, I'll eagerly tell them that I'm expecting their phone calls!

Now, I must go thank all meddling aunties and well-meaning friends for passing my contact number around. And for giving me word-of-mouth leads.

This is definitely working out to my advantage. Why, oh why hadn't I thought of this before?

*smacks forehead*

Gotta stop adding black

My weekly sessions with Jane have morphed into a long lunch session followed by impulse-shopping purchases. Instead of mentoring and updating on our career progress, we get sidetracked by the latest gossip. And last week, we had a makeover session at the Stila counter. Not only that, Jane actually suggested rock-climbing after lunch and coffee for a quick and fun workout sesh, one of these days.

Yesterday, we had lunch at Midvalley Megamall- we got tired of the same old weekly meet at 1 Utama. After lunch, we checked out the shops and I ended up buying a black tank top from Zara. I just realised that I had earlier bought 2 black tops from MNG last week. I have way too many black tops - black is the dominant colour in my wardrobe. But black is so easy to wear and the colour sets off my unusually pale complexion. When I wear white or other pale colours, I just look ghastly pale.

Still, I Have. T0. Stop. Buying. Black. Tops.

Schooling with Mr. J

Last night, I was dead tired and had to cancel a karaoke sesh with Lia at the very last minute. It's PMS week. Yep, that's when I get tired, headachy and crave for certain foods- sashimi, Dryer's Rocky Road ice cream, KFC, Mc D's Chicken McDeluxe and all the junk you can possibly name . And I have the most bizarre dreams when I'm PMS-ing.

This morning I dreamt of Mr. J. And lily* asked me in my last comment post - Whatever happened to Mr. J?

Sorry to tell you, gal. Nothing has happened between us. Since my last lunch with him, work started piling in and I haven't had any reason to call him out. Plus, I haven't been getting any "signs" or premonitions.

However, I dreamt of him this morning. And it's a school dream where it means that I'm going through a phase of change, according to dream dictionaries. We were in a classroom with wooden tables and chairs; and wooden floors. I walked past Mr. J ( who was seated) and he asked if I'd like to sit next to him. I moved to the chair inside him but he pulled me onto his lap. He hugged me tight and wouldn't let me go. In my dream, I was completely indifferent to his actions.

Well, perhaps, this could translate to how I'm dealing with his getting back to his clubbing chicka girlfriend. After his breaking the news to me, Mr. J is increasingly less attractive to me as the day goes by. And I find no excitement in the idea of lunching with him. I'm definitely losing interest here.

However, there's no denying that we like each other. There's a certain kind of feel-good chemistry between us. I get an incredible rush whenever I see him and he has this silly, goofy grin pasted on his face. I even had visions of him carrying "our" child. Once, during lunch, this thought ran through my mind- I can see myself having children with him. And I never had that epiphany thought with other men I've gone out with.

Perhaps, we aren't meant to be. Plus, with his non-reciprocal behaviour and attitude towards me, I've decided not to bank any hope on Mr. J anymore.

However, to all my readers who think there's still a lil' bit of hope in this situation, you're most welcome to pray for a 'miracle' to transpire between me and Mr. J. ;)

Picking me up

Yesterday afternoon, I went to the bank to deposit some cheques. The bank is pretty close to my house, which is a brisk 5 minute walk. It had rained earlier and there was a slight drizzle when I left the house.

15 minutes later, the slight drizzle turned into a down pour. So I had to wait outside the entrance of the bank for the rain to stop. A few shops away is a mamak restaurant. Out of sheer boredom, I actually watched, with fascination, how the mamak made Roti Paper. It was a quick process where he thinly spread the batter, scrape the sides for a bit and deftly folded the roti into a thin paper cone. Then, I noticed several middle-aged men sitting outside the mamak restaurant looking at me curiously. Immediately, I felt uncomfortable and moved closer to the bank door where a pillar hid me from their view.

It rained on and on. And I was left with nothing to do but to stare at the row of Samanea trees in front of me. The glistening tree branches were waving and dancing with wind. Soon, I saw a magical pixieland at the top of the Samanea tree. So there I was, standing, waiting, and having a good time, creating a pixie colony with a multi-colour glowing lake between the top branches. And an enemy territory (with shimmering black pixies) at the next tree where they would fire egg bombs confiscated from birds' nests. I could almost see the pixies flitting lightly from one leaf to the another when, suddenly, I was rudely interrupted by this 20-something, not-bad-looking Ah Beng.

"Miss-ah, could I walk you to your car? I've got an umbrella here," he said in Cantonese.

"No, I didn't come by car. I live round the corner."

"Oh, then could I walk you home?"

Wah, this Beng is getting desperate, liao.

"No, I'm fine. I'm waiting for the rain to stop."

"Oh, you're waiting for someone, is it?" he asked lamely.

"Ah, yes, I'm waiting for someone," I replied nonchalantly.

I'd noticed the Ah Beng earlier when he and his colleague (both had green polo shirts like an IT company uniform) walked past me to the shoplot above the bank. Later, from the corner of my eye, I saw him and his colleague with an umbrella. They were muttering between themselves before the Beng finally mustered enough courage to speak to me.

While waiting for the rain to stop and letting my mind go riot, I also noticed two crows across the road, huddled closely on the electrical line. It was raining heavily, there were no other birds in view except for two crows.

It was a bizarre afternoon. Ah Beng tried to pick me up. Two lone lovebirds perching in the rain. Later, the pakcik security guard from the bank offered me newspaper to cover my head, so I could walk home.

Hmm, two lovebirds perching in the heavy rain... I wonder...

The revival of Brit music

I grew up listening to lots of Brit music- namely The Cure, Joy Division, Pulp, Jesus & The Mary Chain, Depeche Mode and New Order. Their dark, haunting, brooding and moody tunes were what I'd needed to work off my teenage angst. And 0h, I absolutely love to hear deep, sexy Brit male voices that give me an incredible rush.

It's been ages since I've come across any Brit band/music that stopped me in my tracks and had me listening in complete rapture.

Last night, I switched on Channel V's "The Record Store". Suddenly, I heard that undeniably sexy, brooding Brit male voice and that delicious spooky melody. Automatically, I dropped the Marie Claire magazine I was reading. I was completely stunned by the peculiar haunting voice of Johnny Borrell from Razorlight.

Must. Go. Get. Razorlight's album.

Mad buying mode

Yeah, I've been in a buying mode for the past 3 weeks. I'm now a proud owner of an ACER Travelmate laptop, cheapo DVD player (RM129 from Giant Superstore), mini portable cake mixer and Babyliss hair curling tong.

Life is so much easier with a laptop. I even got myself a wireless LAN router. So, I've been surfing downstairs at the dining table where I usually sit by the window as my room is a furnace in the afternoon.

I've been curling my hair every morning before work, styling my hair into loose, super gorgeous waves. The result is good as I've gotten complimentary looks from people on the street. And that instantly makes me feel better about myself. No need Mr. J to make me feel good, heh.

Next on my list is a pair of sunnies which I tried on today. Very Jackie O-like. Already, I feel glamourous with my new "sexy waves" hair- style.

*purr*


Want to get the sunnies on the gorgeous burnette in the green bikini (lower right)
*Pic from www.elle.com