blessed x'mas 2010

3rd visit of the year and still lovin' it =)

After 1 week of negotiable 'hard' work, we ended on a high note =) Working in a R&D company, whose datelines are animal clinical trials, 'first in man', regulatory issues etc, are totally different than working in a manufacturing facility. These are the people with imagination, brains and wealth of course. I'm seriously looking forward to the day SG's medical device sector morphs to this stage.

After an hour drive down from Pleasanton (a city with nothing but offices), we reached the most visited destination in SF. Really good weather was on your side =) This is Golden Gate Bridge from Tiburon.

America is totally the land of junk food and candies...

Next up, awesome dinner at Fisherman Wharf =)

Yes it's not black pepper crab or chilli crab but man, they were soooo good =) 5 of us killed 4 buckets of snow crab and king crab. This is gonna be my 'must go' place every time I visit SF.

3rd in a year

Slightly over 1 month returning from USA, I'm making my way there again. This is the first time I've to travel in such short notice. 1.5 days to be exact. It all happened so quickly and it somewhat felt coincidental. Just happened that our client requested to bring a technician to USA to assist in 'first in man' builds, just happened that the same client had quality/materials inspection issues, just happened that I was involved in those issues, just happened that I walked into bboss's office to clarify something, just happened that he knew I love to travel. I'm so unprepared that I don't have anything I'm dying to buy. I've barely settled back after 2 crazy weeks of audit prep. Just as I thought I have 1 slow week ahead before more training resumes, I was thrown with this surprise. As I just managed to lose the weight from my previous trip... My wallet is still recovering. This is bad.....

CA report

9 pairs of shoes, 4 pairs of slippers, 3 bags, 3 wallets, 2 pairs of Ray-bans, cosmetics and some other small items. This pretty much sums up my 1 week in California =) My bboss still doesn't understand how we managed to shop so much in so little time and more importantly, where did we get the energy from. I really dread returning to work in SG. How I wish I could be like my counterparts in USA, to be a true R&D engineer or a project engineer to follow through an entire project and not just receive the end manufacturing process (boring....) It's back to reality again.

1 new pair per working day

This is one of those rare occasions that small feet actually is useful. 4 pairs of Tory Burch that cost less than 2 pairs of regular priced Reva pumps =) The sales assistant was 99% sure I won't be able to fit into the kids size 3 and I had to ask 3 separate times before she reluctantly brought out 1 pair for me to try. The leopard pumps is from Saks and was on 50% off its already marked down price. I'm pretty much done with my shopping and its only the first day.

luvvv U.S.A

17 hrs later, 13600km away, I'm back in this lovely city where shopping and eating seems to be the only thing on my mind. 6 months ago didn't seem so long ago.... If only this can become a 6 monthly visit =)

Little Sally

A simple shoulder flap handbag is something every lady should own. Yes, it really puzzles me who a small little purse which requires so little leather cost more than a regular sized handbag that uses more than twice the amount of leather. But there's something about the simplicity of these designs that make them stand out. I've listed some of my favorites =)

Clockwise: Hermes Constance, Celine Box, Mulberry Lily, Chloe Sally, Chanel Flap

Hunting this down was quite painful. Many stores only bring in the bigger size, which was spotted on Rachel Bilson and Leighton Meester. However, I felt that the bigger version made it lose its lady-likeness and continued hunting for the small version. Of coz, eventually finding it made the purchase extra sweet...... I really like the intertwined gold shoulder chain. But it made the bag really heavy for its size. Nevertheless, isn't it always beauty over pain? hahahaha

Little Sally against Bal First. Small bags for petite me =) Spreading my options these days.

black phantom

Preparing himself for MO-ship, my boy's new car - 2.0L Honda Integra aka Black Phantom. He takes joy in overtaking taxis and being the first to reach the next red light...... What a kid....

back to Silicon Valley =)

Juz as I thought my travel plans have ceased for 2010 after Spain, here I go again =) Will be going to California in Sept for a huge product transfer!! It's gonna be crazy hectic because we're gonna be in for 5 full days and it's a much bigger scale as compared to the Mexico transfer but at least there's something to look forward to plus my shopping wishlist to be drawn up.

playing with my new toy

After queuing for 5.5 hrs from 10pm-3.30am, it's finally mine.... I tested the 'death grip' and my M1 signal seems to drop from 5 to 3 bars, which is totally fine. Not bad enough for my calls to get disconnected. Shall try it at work tomorrow to compare how Woodlands reception differ. Now, I have to get out of bed by 5.30am for conference call at 7am.. I'm so gonna die at work =(

midnight bluessss

Trying to diversify out of Balenciaga, I decided to sell my Anthracite Twiggy and branch out to something else. I really like twiggy and mine has become so slouchy over the few months of use. But the green undertone of 09'F/W Anthracite was bugging me a bit. Under flash, this baby looks really deep charcoal gray, something I really wanted. But under natural light, it morphs to display greenish-bluish tones which I'm not entirely loving. So when the chance came, I decided to let it go for a shot at something that I have been lusting since the time I first saw it few years back.

First seen in 2008, it spoke to me immediately. It definitely helped that A-celebrities were spotted donning this beauty.

Finally, I managed to get my hands on one =)

It might appear small initially but it can fit a lot. My 10" netbook fits in with space to spare. A4 fits in perfectly too!! Perfect 'working' bag =)

Yes I know how similar it is to Mulberry Alexa but both wears so differently. Alexa is so relax and casual and British (tan always gives me an English vibe) whereas PS1 has more structured lines and seems to have more edge. Plus midnight blue against brass hardware, total head turner... The leather up close actually has gold sparkles amongst the sea of blue. very pretty =)

Everyone have to own at least 1 messenger. 2 in my case!! It's hard to choose my fav.....

suit up penguins

Congrats Dr Cheng =)

3 things we have in common? Doctor bfs, our love for Balenciagas and of coz us being AWESOME gfs =)

GGH Black City, Galet First, Pourpre Twiggy

changes for the better

First week working with my new boss after getting back from Spain. He's a people's guy and loves joking around. He even gave up his personal office and request big boss to build another cubicle right beside mine so we can work closely together and bounce ideas around. Typical style of a non-local. First few days when we were clearing my ex-boss's office, we discovered ton and tons of back dated documents, some simply extra copies which he couldn't be bothered to dispose, some original signed documents that he couldn't be bothered to file and tons of other junk... It was a total nightmare. Everything is in a freaking mess but thankfully my new boss is more of a optimistic person and we kept telling each other that it can't get any worst than now so we just have to bear through this... I really hope so. Good thing our organization thoughts are pretty much similar so we should be able to work together very well....

update: my boss has been giving me a ride home for the past 3 days. Sadly, he will be leaving for USA for the next 1.5 weeks so there goes my free ride home........

Spanish love

Before this trip, my knowledge of Spain was limited to their fashion brands, soccer and 1 tennis dude. I didn't know about the influence of Moorish, Islam, Christianity and Roman on Spain, phantom the idea how different religious beliefs managed to cohabit peacefully together, learned the significance of bull fighting, visited 7 out of 41 UNESCO world heritage sites of Spain........

Pros of joining a packaged tour

1. Everything is planned for so all you need to do is pay and get on the plane
2. Transportation is covered throughout so visiting smaller towns won't be a problem
3. You will hopefully get a local (Spanish) guide who knows his/her stuffs. Audio aid, if available, works well too.
4. No worries about language barriers
5. Good accommodations (all our hotels this time round were 4*)

Cons of joining a packaged tour

1. Fixed itinerary. Little free time to explore the place on your own or for shopping
2. Stuck with people in the group you might not get along with (hasn't happened to me but tolerance is definitely required)
3. Package food SUX. Out of the few meals they covered, 3 of which were CHINESE (come on. Did I travel halfway around the world to get lousy Chinese food???), their so called local specials are essentially 'tourist specials', thus unable to accurately reflect their cuisine.

VALENCIA – BARCELONA

Cathedral of Valencia

Somewhere inside this Cathedral houses the cup Jesus used at the Last Supper, the Holy Grail.

Mercado Central, their central market. something similar to the Grand Bazaar Market in Istanbu, Turkey. Here, they mainly sell ingredients for their famous Paella, fresh fruits, hams, cheeses and olives

UNESCO World Heritage Site, La Lonja de la Seda. It was one of the very first few commercial trading centers before Banks were established. People traded based on trust and verbal agreements and this building later became the first 'bank' in Europe.

top: Zara, shorts: F21, blazer: Zara, head wrap: Uniqlo, shoes: Aldo, bag: Balenciaga

Another of Gaudi's master piece, Casa Batllo.

Tourist street of Barcelona, La Rambla. It happened that our last day in Barcelona, allocated for shopping, coincided with their Catalunya Holiday and ALL the shops were CLOSED. Tourists roamed around the streets of the dead town, desperately finding shops that were opened...

While walking disappointedly along the streets, we spotted people carrying shopping bags. Surely there must be shops somewhere that were opened so we decided to walk in that general direction. The occurrence of those shopping bags increased and we knew we were getting close. Finally, where everyone flocked to..... a little shopping centre at their waterfront. Sadly, nothing for me still.... Luckily I prepped myself to not expect any shopping since my track of 'shopping trips' have been really bad, thus I wasn't that disappointed. But still, I could have returned a very happy girl with a full full luggage. Next time then.........

We had a really satisfying tapas dinner at the Waterfront though. Totally trumped the one served in the package.

GRANADA – GUADIX – ALICANTE – VALENCIA

A short drive to a cathedral town of Guadix, where people live in caves, called Troglodyte Quarter. The really cool thing about living in these caves is that the temperature inside the cave remains around 18-20 degree Celsius regardless of the season. Also, all they need to expand their floor area is to dig further into the cave (soft clay hill).

We then took a long drive to Alicante, a historic Mediterranean port. The Mediterranean coastline, stretch of beaches, sea breeze, clear blue sky, makes it the perfect sun tanning spot in Summer. Countless people flock here in Summer because of the nice Mediterranean climate.

top: F21, skirt: Zara, necklace: Metallica, Sandals: Steve Madden, bag: Mulberry

Next up, Valencia, the third biggest city in Spain. Some modern architectural amongst the country with the most UNESCO world heritage sites. Science and Arts Centre.

CORDOBA – GRANADA

Cathedral de Granada. There's this 102m tall bell tower which we had to ascend for a paranomic view of the surroundings of the Cathedral. It was about 34 levels and climbing it wasn't as easy as I thought after so many days on foot...

The body of Christopher Columbus. Apparently, his voyage to the discovery of America was funded by the Queen of Spain...

top: Zara, shorts: Topshop, shoes: Sperry, bag: Mulberry

Granada, capital of Spain’s last Moorish kingdom, lies at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the autonomous region of Andalusia and served as the Moorish capital of Spain until liberation in 1492. Alhambra, a palace, is one of the greatest accomplishments of Islamic art and architecture. It's basically a palace for display, arcs and pillars which doesn't support anything, symmetry in structure, alabaster wall engravings....

We ended the night with their local famous Flamenco Dance in the Gypsy caves of Sacromonte (holy mountain). It's similar to tap dance but with a little element of seduction.

The night view of Alhambra from Sacromonte