To Hair with You~ (and First time @ Hom Yoga Orchard)

Today marks my come back to yoga studio, yay! (after almost one year being studio-less due to being conned by the Russian owners of my previous studio - I suppose when it is too good to be true, it mostly is and we should ALWAYS beware and trust our deepest instinct)

This time my yoga journey began at Hom Yoga Singapore, I signed for their $49.90 30-day trial and I intend to make use of it well. I booked their Hot Hatha class which basically is a compact version of Bikram yoga - same sequence, only 60 mins instead of the usual 90 mins.

I arrived 30 mins early since I want to have ample time to get to know the place. The staff is polite and nice enough, though I can't say they are very helpful. They don't really pay attention on who goes into the locker room - I walked right past them and went straight to the locker room.
The locker room size is just nice and there are 9 shower stalls. Each locker comes with combination lock which I had to figure out myself how to do it, luckily there's a guide at the back of the locker door.

The studio room space itself is just nice, the mats are of high quality and there are yoga blocks provided for those who might need them. However I find that there's a little space between mats (which is actually understandable since space is a luxury in Singapore).

Anyway, I chose a mat near floor to ceiling window and there was a lady on the mat next to me. I smiled at her (really!), but it seemed that she was not in friendly mood. Then few minutes before the session started, there was this big tall dark skinned guy with a little bulging tummy took the mat next to her. And the guy is hairy, like the whole legs are full of hair, not very thick but I would consider quite thick.
For the record i have nothing against any body hair on anyone. I even find it a little strange if a guy is without any hair or maybe only very fine hair on their legs.
But for this special occasion - yoga session, where the mats are quite close to each other, and the guy is quite big, I have to admit that I'm glad he wasn't on the mat next to me.

As*holes vs Idiots

In my dictionary, the word "as*holes" and "idiots" - when used to describe someone - are 2 different kind of people. Although there's a pretty thin line between them.

For example, when someone lied to me and got caught, the first thing coming to my mind was that he/she was an as*hole for doing that. But you see, there's a probability that they aren't actually as*holes, some of them are just simply idiots.

Why so?

Let me tell you my story:

I was living with 2 flatmates and at that time our lease was ending. Since we were not planning to renew our lease,the usual practice would be for owner's agent to look for new tenants, and as mentioned in our lease, we - the current tenant - to allow prospective tenants to come to view the house, but of course the agent must give us an advance notice. 

So the agent called us few days earlier to let us know there are people coming to view the house and all of us agreed on the timing. On the day itself, the agent arrived to our building and texted us. Since I was already at the house, I let him (and the prospective tenants) in. 

One of the flatmates texted back saying that he was in a meeting and would only be home in an hour or so. But then we noticed that that the light in his room was on, we could see it under the door. And I could hear that someone was moving about in the room. Hmm, hmm, could it be that he is home after all? 

The agent and I decided to ignore it for now and let the prospective tenants to look at other bedrooms, kitchen, etc. After few minutes the door of my flatmate room was opened and he was shocked to see so many people in the living room. He then started blubbering some words and let people in to view his room, and in less than a minute, he made some noise and told us he had to leave soon, a.k.a. "get out of my room already!"

That's my story, folks...

In my opinion, my ex flatmate was (and is) an IDIOT. He lied but he did not have the intelligence nor sight to cover his lie. He would have been an AS*HOLE if he were smart enough to observe and/or notice that there were already people in the house, killed the damn lights, stayed quietly in the room, and maybe came up with clever excuse to explain why he suddenly bailed - hey, if you wanted to tell people you weren't home, the least you could do was to make sure that NO ONE in the house notices you there. And the thing about kicking us out of his room in less than a minute, it made him a spiteful and childish idiot. 

All in all, I'm grateful I no longer share a flat with him. In almost 2 years living with him (and his oh-so-lovely wife *sarcasm*), it was damn tiring to have him acting like he was the boss of us when in fact, he is just an IDIOT.

Shower Thoughts

Ok, so I was in the shower, washing my hair, enjoying every trickle of water on my body, and you see, it is at times like this, random thoughts often come unexpectedly.
This time, the thought was embarrassing memories, and there are few that I remember clearly. But certainly, if I have to pick one, this is the winner:

It was Sunday at church with my boyfriend (now ex), it was a Catholic mass and as usual, it was quiet and solemn. After a while I got thirsty and took out my water bottle. I was going to drink it quickly and put it back into my bag. Unfortunately, I choked, and for you who ever choked, the only way is to get whatever choking you out of your system. And so I did... please believe me that I tried my best to hold it in, but you all know it's impossible...
Since I was trying too hard to hold my lips tight, the water just spurted out of my mouth and it got people stared at me. Luckily, we were seating right at the first row of a tier, so there was an open space in front of me and nobody got sprayed. Oh God, even after all these years, I can still feel how embarrassed I was when those people staring at me......

Sharing: Free Nursery / Play Room Digital Prints - Flying Boy / Girl

I've had this drawings in my laptop for quite some time and I'd like to share with anyone who might want it.

There are 2 prints - boy / girl flying with his / her teddy bear. Aren't they cute????
I think it will look good in nursery or play room!

Leave a comment or contact me via my email if you'd like a digital copy.

Disclaimer:
This digital copy can only be printed for personal use.
I do NOT - I repeat, DO NOT give permission to use it for commercial purpose.

What I will send to you is a copy of the A4 sized JPEG file (or PSD if you prefer) - without the frame/wall.

Flying girl

Flying boy

New Etsy Listing Items: Printed Eco-Friendly Canvas Bags

I've made a lot of prints for the past few years and I recently realized that those prints would look good on canvas bags.

So I kept myself busy editing and re-designing some of them to fit a 14" (height) x 13" (top width) / 9" (bottom width) cotton canvas bags. And now I'm proud to say that I've had 18 canvas bags in my listing page in Etsy.

And here is some of my favourites:


'coz we should always count our blessings

because F.R.I.E.N.D.S fans would love this!

I *heart* this

A good reminder for all of us!

'coz I love yoga

'coz it's pretty.....

'coz I dream of Paris

my fave quote and it should be everyone's fave quote!

'coz it's so cute cute cute!

'coz we should all have happy thoughts always!

 

Which one is your fave?

Please visit my Etsy store: click here!

 

 

 

 



Books I've Read - June, July, August 2015 (part 2)

Here comes part 2!

To Have and To Kill - Mary Jane Clark

This is the first installment in Wedding Cake Mystery, so we get the introduction for Piper Donovan, a struggling actress forced to move back with her parents after a broken engagement. She then starts helping out at her mother bakery, creating wonderfully described cakes (that makes me crave for it!), getting in touch with her long hidden talents in cake making and cake decorating.
As life goes by, along came a murder that got Piper involved.

I consider this a light suspense novel. It's cozy, enjoyable, nothing that put you at the edge of your seat but engaging enough to get you to keep turning the page.

The Look of Love - Mary Jane Clark

The second installment of Wedding Cake Mystery. Piper is hired to make a wedding cake for the director of a luxurious spa, where it seems there are many things happening to prevent her going down the aisle. Piper is again in the midst of murder scenes.
Piper is no investigator, so don't expect a thorough investigation described here.
I come to think that we (readers) are placed as Piper in this book, we are in the murder scenes, watching people around it, gossiping or sharing stories from other patrons of the spa.

And how I wish we also have a hunk FBI agent that always worries about us too!

To Have and To Hold - Jane Green

A classic chicklit from Jane Green!
Alice, a plain Jane, married her teenage crush, a dashing, handsome, man-of-every-girl Joe Chambers. From the outside, it looks perfect and enviable to every girls, but in the inside, it's miserable.
Alice loved the idea of marrying her teenage crush, and she did. What she didn't know that the marriage stripped her off her true identity, a country lover girl who loves gardening and cooking in-spite of the facade she always shows, a chic and trendy city girl.
In other hand, Joe is nothing but a cheating bastard.

It's a nice story of how a girl finding her true identity.

NYPD Red 2 - James Patterson & Marshall Karp

*it's the cover of NYPD Red first novel on the right :D

Zach Jordan and his partner, Kylie MacDonald are again faced with a high profile murder believed done by Hazmat Killer - catchy, huh?
It's the usual investigation novel that moves fast and keeps readers engaged, with of course a little romance on the side.
I safe to say that Zach and Kylie are on my list of favorite James Patterson characters, together with Alex Cross and Women's Murder Club (I don't really like Michael Bennett...).

Invisible - James Patterson & David Ellis

I gotta say I like the combination of James Patterson and David Ellis.
I've read the two previous books - Mistress and Guilty Wives, and I liked them a lot. I gladly say that I liked this book too.
Although it started slow, it became more engaging as pages turned.
Emmy's sister died in a fire 8 months ago which Emmy believed was an arson. The problem was nobody believed that. As an FBI analyst, she managed to connect her sister murder to other fire happened for the past years.
With her very small team, she must done her best to catch the arsonist before he killed another.

The fast pace, clues gathered one by one, relate-able characters, it has the formula of a good murder mystery book!

Dark Places - Gillian Flynn

I find that all Gillian Flynn novels are dark. And Dark Places lives up to its name.
It sometimes amazes me how Gillian Flynn is able to describe and understand such dark characters in her novels. They are damaged, flawed, pitiable, and totally not the kind of people you want to be in your circle of friends. Which then why I find them so fascinating.
Libby Day is no different. She is the lone survivor of the murders known as The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas. And 25 years later, she still has not recovered from it. Her life is as messed up as it can be. No friend, no love, no money. She tried to milk her sad story once again, and unknowingly, she was drawn to the killers and put herself in danger.

Book I've Read - June, July, August 2015 (part 1)

So okay... I've been terribly late in updating my book list.

I could have said I was busy, but I just can't lie to myself... The thing is there were quite things happening that required my attention and focus on.

Oh well, that's life, isn't it?

Anyway so let's get right to the book list - June, July and Aug edition (not in chronological order):

---- it may contain spoilers!!! ----

I'll Be Seeing You - Mary Higgins Clark

The story starts when a reporter, Meghan Collins sees a body in New York City hospital and she literally feels like looking at a mirror. The dead girl looks exactly like her. It doesn't help that she is already in a wringer with the suspicious death of her father. She's then set to find out who the girl is and at the same time solve the puzzles around her father death.
This book is kind of an all around. There's mystery, suspicious death, a body of a 'twin' sister, corporate conspiracy (though minimum), and last but not least, a mistress!
Whew, this is definitely not my favorite Mary Higgins Clark book since it somehow reminded me of a telenovela or korean makjang dramas.

Just Take My Heart - Mary Higgins Clark

Broadway star, Natalie Raines found murdered in her house. A career criminal confessed that he was hired to do that and an 'attractive' prosecutor, Emily Wallace is assigned to this case.
Please note that Emily was described as 'attractive' in the synopsis, which I did not really appreciate.
Aside from the main story, there's also a side story of a creepy neighbor of Emily, Emily's heart transplant (guess whose heart it belonged to??).
The whole story in itself is engaging and one of the Mary Higgins Clark usual golden writing, however somehow I was not able to connect with the main characters emotionally the way I usually do with the novels I loved. But all in all, it's a good suspense novel with a rather unexpected twists.

The Lost Years - Mary Higgins Clark

Reading this book reminded me of a little bit of Da Vinci Code with the discovery of parchment believed to be a letter from Jesus to Joseph Arimathea which actually the reason why I borrowed this book in the first place.
I always love investigative novels related to history.
It is a "who-stole/took-what" kind of story with a murder twist. Mariah, the estranged daughter, is back to living with her mother who suffers from Alzheimer after the death of his father, a historian, who was believed to have the earlier mentioned letter.
And as usual with other Mary Higgins Clark novels, I enjoyed reading this book although, I wish that there would be more character development in this book, since it feels like the perspectives change from chapter to chapter.

Hmm, I just realized that reading Mary Higgins Clark novels, I didn't care much about the main characters. The only one that I think I have come to care, is Menley Nichols in Remember Me.

Can You Keep a Secret? - Sophie Kinsella

I always have a soft spot for Sophie Kinsella since I fell in love with Confession of a Shopaholic (Although the last few books of the series were somewhat disappointing). But I know that as long as she writes, I will always read her books.
This is the 2nd time I read Can You Keep a Secret. I was in need of light novels, and I stumbled upon this book in library.
Everybody has secrets, and Emma managed to tell all her secrets to her seatmate during a shaky flight. She thought that she would be safe since she won't be seeing the stranger anymore. But life throws a surprise twist when the stranger turns out to be the founder of the company she works for. Uh-oh!

As is other Kinsella's book, it's light, funny, endearing with expected endings. Perfect for a lazy weekend!

The Associate - John Grisham

My colleague had been recommending John Grisham novels ever since she knew I loved courtroom dramas and so I picked up my first John Grisham novel and it was such a dissappointment!
It's about Kyle McAvoy, a graduate of Yale Law School, who thought he had all the freedom to achieve the path he had been planning, until 2 FBI agents approached him and proposed a dangerous scheme that required him to sacrifice his total freedom in choosing his career path in exchange of protecting him and his friends out of jail.
Always under surveillance, Kyle has no life working in one of the most important law firm, but it doesn't stop him to still find his way out of it.
I was totally engaged and couldn't wait to read the last chapter of this book, but lo and behold, the ending was a total disappointment that I really couldn't see myself borrowing another John Grisham book. Sigh....

The Bosch Deception - Alex Connor

I have to be honest, I was attracted to the title when I saw this book in the library. I always find Bosch's paintings fascinating and the thought that someone wrote about him really excited me.
This book put a twist of Bosch history (or at least tried to) which got me thinking that this author was pulling a Da Vinci Code for Bosch and failed in doing so.
The plot is terribly boring and I couldn't even finish half the book. All I can remember is that someone always tries to threaten someone, then some fail, some get killed.

Someday, Someday, Maybe - Lauren Graham

Lauren Graham was and always is Lorelai Gilmore. A flawed mother and daughter of Gilmore Girls.
I love/hate Gilmore Girls and I got myself intrigued after finding out Lauren Graham's venture as a writer.
This book tells a story of a struggling actress in her late 20s. Her life is full with waitress-ing job, acting classes, with a little of love life on the side - I kinda think that this book is a semi-autobiography of Lauren Graham.
The main character, Franny, is endearing. A small town girl living in big city with her big dream. I couldn't help but wishing good things happening to her, although it doesn't always do.

Well, I closed this book with a smile on my face, I suppose that tells you how I feel about the book!