Wimbledon 2010

Okay so this post is about a week overdue, simply because I haven't actually found the time to blog about my experience at the Championships, and I've been juggling so many other things this week amidst trying to set myself straight.

Tuesday 22nd June - Wimbledon Day 2.

Wei, LX and I arrived at the grounds for 'The Queue' at 7 am. The funniest thing had to be me voicing out doubts whether there could possibly be anyone as crazy as us that would be there at such an unearthly hour, seeing as the first match started at 12 pm.

Who would have thought....

We were beaten to the chase by just about 2000 people. The Queue Card said it all. So Ground tickets we had to settle for. Ahh well.

No matter anyway. I was excited enough just looking at the span of green lawn rolling out before me. Yes, first time. Easily satisfied. Zero expectations.

We amused ourselves by painting nails.

And taking many pictures with Wei's funky DSLR.

Inside the Grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club finally!

Gilles Simon on Court 6! I became a fan of this French dude after that day. And yes, it helps that he is quite the looker :)

On Henman Hill - where we watched Nadal trash Kei Nishikori's ass on the big screen.

Overall - I turned red first, and THEN black. And currently I am about ten shades darker than I originally was - which is quite a feat for me. (Congratulations, British Sun =P) But it was well worth a first time experience.

Except now I am soooo envious of all the spectators in Centre Court, and even more envious of Bao / Woogui!

Well, I am aiming in that direction :)

And as an end note: Confessions of a newly-converted Crazed tennis fan - I have been following The Championships more dilligently this year than the World Cup!

*cue GASSPPP*

PS: Credits to Wei for all these amazing pictures from that funky DSLR.

Coping Mechanisms

Life....issues.....drama......PMS. Who are we kidding? Even when it is not that time of the month and life is considerably drama or issue-free, we all get our moments of 'sienness' or emo bouts, or even those days that you open your eyes and wished that you could just sleep forever.

(Hello Garfield? Could we just exchange places for one day please?)

So we have coping mechanisms. To each her own.

I remembered a time when mine was JH-induced laughter. Or Zhin-induced laughter.

And then as the years went by and JH and Zhin's roles slowly diminished in my life, I found different therapeutic methods of making life that much more bearable.

The first being my BFF and possibly the funniest person ever in this world, Pei Hua.

And the second - not so good, scrape that: not good at ALL - was retail therapy.

The week before, I had bouts of intermittent 'sienness'. Days when you just felt like you really needed a break from this world and just dream about post-exam freedom and summer holidays in the comfort of home. And then I got that break from the world when I had the most fabulous weekend ever with PH over AND our marathon shopping trips - more cardio than I could ever have done in one gym session, I assure you.

Despite the unproductiveness of our shopping spree, the endless hours of conversation, the uncontrollable laughter, the sniggering at TV shows on my computer, the Youtube surfing, the eating sessions - everything was worth so much more. Our numerous mini trips between London and Manchester have been the many highlights of my year, and in the darker moments, given me something to hold on to and move forward.

And at the end of the weekend, I decided that there was no way that I was letting PMS combat me and succumb to using it as a weak excuse for everything.

Because even in those bleak moments, you realise that these things are probably all that you need in life:

A Bestie

And SHOPPINNNGGGG

(you didn't see the second line. Shopaholic who??)

The Road to Wimbledon

Continuing the sudden Tennis faze, my non-tennisplayer friends and I have been even more hooked on the game as of late. Well, don't blame me. I have always been an avid follower of Grand Slams - I can't say the same for the others. I'd like to think, like what LX said, that I sparked this trend, but then again, it wouldn't do to be THAT full of yourself, or anything like that.

With the Roland Garros rounding up and coming to a stylish end, I have started discarding my immense distaste of Rafa Nadal since this tournament. No one probably deserved to be at this Final more than he did, and he had emerged the strongest fighter amongst all the top-seeded players this time round, for sure.

I might even *GASP* consider watching him play Soderling in the Finals tomorrow - amidst my procrastination from digesting some real medical stuff (don't even get me started) - although I am pretty sure Rafa could probably just carry the trophy home right now.

MI (Myocardial Infarction, Heart Attack) Inducing Event of the week had to belong to Wednesday when Djoker crashed out on me right before my very eyes after I switched to watching Nadal's match because the streaming sucked and because I was quite certain that 'Djoker would be alright'.

Don't even get me started.

There were a few strokes of genius from the man (who was a shadow of his Australian Open '08 Champion Self) but generally, he failed to impress.

I have to say this again: ARRGGGHHHHH!!!

Okay, done. I am done clinging on to the past. Djoker is out. I will move on and look towards Wimbledon.

Despite the universal fact that I would be in the same city as this massive Grand Slam, and having known that for almost a year now, plus all those trips on the bus past Centre Court on the way back from GP and so forth - it had not fully sunk in until NOW.

Now I am excited! (Yes, kill me. I will do anything to procrastinate, including rave about a sport that I don't even play. Even the World Cup seems to fade in comparison. But we'll go there another day).

So....fastest fingers into play. Ticketmaster. Night before. Hyperventilate. Exams....what exams?

Centre Court, anyone? ;)

AND in collaboration with all the Tennis Festivities, it only seemed natural to come up with a Poll.

Who Is Your Favourite Tennis Player?

My 'Roland Garros'

I have been diligently watching any Live matches streamed on BBC Sport that I can get my hands on to be in tune with the Roland Garros fever. It is amazing how you can just sit there and watch them drive those powered shots down the line, across the court, pound those aces....and you almost, ALMOST imagine that it was actually that easy and you could achieve all of that too.

Like I said, reality bites. I have never been a gifted athlete, and your mid twenties isn't exactly the best time for any of that to change.

So after 10 or possibly 12 years of not touching a tennis racket, I decided to try playing the game again. Much thanks to Chekkie for lending me her racket.

Prior to today's scheduled game with LX and friends, I remembered again how easy it was for me to be obsessed with the game all those years back - which was why my cousin and I decided to beg our parents to let us join the tennis club and take up lessons.

I have been much deprived of tennis matches with no TV in my place...but I remember how easy it was to OD on the Wimbledon, on the Australian Open - shouting to myself while watching them play, or most of the time....gaping in awe at Federer and his complacent composure. I remembered as well, how I went overboard buying tennis outfits, mixing and matching the skorts with different tops - I should have sensed my shopaholic tendency back when I was a mere 13 year old teenager - to be decked out in the fanciest tennis gear possible, only to drop the game after less than a year.

So, today, my first dapple at tennis after a decade proved to be....interesting. I had underestimated how different it was to squash in terms of speed and the height of the ball bouncing. Of the importance of body positioning and how difficult the tennis backhand was. And how I could not even hit a single ball straight down the line - which was shocking because this was my specialty in squash.

I had forgotten how much I missed being able to play racket games regularly, whenever I wanted, with people who could actually play the game. It took me this long to realise how much I missed playing at the National Squash Centre with Bikash and Chui Munn and other people who could play. And it took me this long to remember that JH was a tennis player, not a squash player, and that I should have probably started picking up the game when he was still around.

Oh well, it's never too late to start. I have missed being sporty. I have missed being athletic. And even though I am no regular multi-talented athlete at heart, I am willing to give tennis a shot. Who knows.....I might turn out to be a shadow (at most) of my Djoker ;)

RPK in London

PS: Excuse the frightful quality of pictures. This was the most my BB could do.

Last weekend, Hanna and I decided to be EVEN more insightful and learned and attended a political lecture by 'hardcore' (some might even go as far as infamous?) Malaysian blogger, RPK (Raja Petra Kamaruddin) at the BPP Law School in Holborn. Much thanks to LX who informed me that he was speaking that Saturday - the pseudo Malaysian that I am does not follow Malaysia Today. Time to turn over a new leaf. What say you? ;)

I did not regret attending the lecture at all. Was a little skeptical at first. Again, emphasising on the 'pseudo Malaysian' bit in me, there was little that I actually knew about the Internal Security Act (ISA) apart from the fact that, well, there WAS an ISA in Malaysia. But then I realised, this was almost as though I was going to meet a Malaysian celebrity in London *puts on Bimbo cap* and definitely not a chance to be missed.

The two hours flew by without my realising it, and I was enthralled with every single word that he spoke. It is possibly rare, and shocking even, to find a writer who is equally charismatic, captivating, unafraid to speak his mind with an equally fabulous sense of humour to boost - and RPK was all of the above AND more. My Saturday was made just by laughing aloud at his quips of sarcasm and dry humour, and my heart went out to him when he recreated the horrendous scenes of the detention centre. That much courage, I certainly did not have. And kudos to him for that amazing showcase of indigence, or more simply put in his words 'being a stubborn bastard'.

On the previous 'bimbotic' note, you know that you are in a celebrity's 2 metre radius when he is flanked by two massive, sunglass-clad, scary-looking, KGB Member Lookalikes who stood on either side of him throughout the entire event, and even escorted him into the lift at the lobby before it began. Again, because I have been watching and reading radical, political and terrorist-themed material all weekend (read: Munich), this made me realise how easy it would be for someone like him to be in a great amount of potential danger, because there were as many people out there who probably thought of him alot more than merely a 'stubborn bastard'.

End note: There is much that we lament every day about our country and the state it is getting to these days. How corruption used to be a thing of deeply-sworn secrecy in the past, but now the cheating even went on with the cards on the table. People think that the government is screwed up, and a tsunami of a change could bring about 'revolution'. I say this is true theoretically, but it isn't all as easy as it sounds. And coming from me, who is almost pseudo Malaysian (only in terms of Food, I insist!) and lacks patriotism rather significantly - all I can say is that I wish I had done more in terms of following up on politics and getting to know the country better before this.

After all, home is still home.

And Malaysia, TRRRUUULLYYY Asia, is mine.

Insight

In the midst of some late-night skyping with bestie Pei Hua on Friday, I came across the 1972 Munich Massacre while randomly googling stuff on Wikipedia (Don't ask me how I got there. I certainly wasn't googling 'Crazy Terrorist Acts of the 20th Century'). And this reminded me of those years back when I watched the movie 'Munich', starring the very endearing Eric Bana, with a bunch of guys, and was so horrified by all the violence and shooting back then. Did not, I might add, gain much insight into the actual historical event that this movie was based loosely on as well.

So, in my resolution to be more learned and insightful, I thought I'd download the movie again and re-watch it through different, more perceptive eyes.

Good move.

Even reading text of how the 11 innocent souls were so brutally slain during the 1972 Olympics on German soil had sent shivers down my back. To imagine yourself as one of those who was awoken in the midst of beauty sleep by gunshots and blood spattering on the wall, only to find yourself bound and dragged along to impending doom. But watching snippets of the massacre as flashbacks in the movie was an entirely different thing. By the end of it, I was horrified and incredibly sad. Both by the inhumanity of the terrorists and the huge fumbling of a rescue that the Germans had so clumsily executed.

The aftermath was of course, an entirely different tale of its own. A part of me realised this is possibly how schizophrenics actually COULD go off reeling on a different direction of their own. And how doing something as innocent as walking down a dark, rainy alley on a London road or picking up a telephone call could just end in bloodbath.

My point?

I'm not entirely sure I have one. This weekend has been filled with alot of reading of non-medical related stuff (KILL ME NOW), revisiting History, reviewing political pages, reading blog entries, listening to political lectures....but we will go there another day....and of course, catching up with my best friend.

And we have both agreed that life is short. We only live once. So seize the moment and make the most out of it.

No emo nemo. Time to buck up!

Ahoy Sailor!

You know summer is here when the sun pokes through your blinds at the unearthly hour of 5 am, waking you up, and at the very next extreme, you look up at the clock, only to start and realise it is 9 freaking pm, and you have not done any work, because you thought it was merely 7 pm or so.

Ahhh these summer days.

I grabbed the opportunity of not having to go into the wards and meet patients on Wednesday to prance into lectures / tutorials with my much-awaited unveiling of summer attire for the season - shorts and gladiator sandals, which got quite a number of comments from fellow friends. Lol. Sorry, this is what sun deprivation does to you.

One of the summer trends that I have been coveting after, and which have hit the streets hard this season, however, has got to be the Nautical look, which Hanna and I both have a huge thing for.

After much scouting around the High Streets, I finally got my hands on a nautical-inspired, striped shirt - and I love it already! I was able to dress it up with high-waisted black pants and a bib-style necklace to make it hospital-worthy for meeting patients on the wards; and on the other hand, I could possibly just throw it together with one of my many pairs of shorts or with three-quarter rolled-up chinos for a laid back look.

I love how it is so easy to pull off, yet defines that preppy look almost in an instant. Definitely my style! No-fuss yet structured.

I know the Nautical look isn't something particularly new - in fact most designers come up with Cruise Collections every summer, and I was first introduced to this by none other than the Fashion Queen herself, Blair Waldorf in Season 1:

Remember this look?

I don't think I'm quite ready for that, though. That would take some serious strutting of style, and an inch-perfect figure to date. So for the moment, I'll just stick with the understated and this:

So....what is your favourite summer trend?

The Foodie Club

I have never been a Foodie. Trust me, coming from the person who invented and popularised the 'Water Diet' (and has now failed to stick to it herself), there are many times when I eat something and I have entirely No Comment, for the simple reason that I can't really be bothered. Unless something is undeniably, glaringly bad, most of the stuff pretty much taste the same to me. In that way, I am no picky eater. But at the same time, I could do perfectly fine with foregoing alot of food as well.

But contrary to JH's popular belief and kind volunteering on my behalf that 'She doesn't eat!', I have improved tremendously in the past few years or so. Much thanks to my many food adventures with Pei Hua, Keng and Nick. (*ahem*loushufancoffinshop*ahem).

My biggest achievement to date, though, has to be our visit to Archipelago last Friday. I had been slightly apprehensive beforehand upon reading about scorpion, zebra, kangaroo, ostrich dishes, but decided what the hell. Hey, you only live once right? And since the restaurant gave Daph so much grief with its seemingly ever-full reservations and constant changing of our reservation times, I figured it had to be worth this hype.

And it didn't fail to disappoint, really!

(Pics credited to Daph and her amazing DSLR)

Menus in the form of Novels!

Kangaroo (Possibly the unanimous Favourite)

Zebra and Soba Noodles

Crocodile wrapped in leaves

Wildebeast

Next up: Foodie's Festival on 28/5/10 at Hampton Court.

I foresee the pounds piling on already. Might have to consider resurrecting the Water Diet after all these :)

Those Lovely Tresses

It is insane how fast my hair grows! Four months since my last haircut and I absolutely can NOT stand it already.

ARGHHH. Might just chop it all off next week. I foresee myself turning into Rapunzel by the end of July and boy, it is not a pretty picture, I assure you.

Long, long hair is definitely not my thing. DEFINITELY NOT.

Anymore of this and I might just go crazy and hack it all off....neck-length, bob-style. Pfftt.

Au Revoir. Till We Meet Again.

Had a fabulous fun-filled afternoon belting my lungs out with my 4 fabulous friends who so kindly offered some Singstar therapy to lift my spirits. Here's to Wei, Matun, LX and YL. You guys are the best! And also, kudos to the hidden talent of YLH who vehemently refused to participate, only to turn out to be a POPSTAR. Heheheh ;)

Weather unfortunately took a turn for the worse this week. Goodbye to shorts and coatless scurries to and from the hospital. Pfftt. I spiked a bit of a temp on Monday, which explained my incessant complaints of the cold in Hammersmith and to and from Heathrow. Seems to have turned into a bit of a flu as of now, but ahh well. I can't really be bothered about Vascular Surgery anyway. Have been in a bit of a 'cant be arsed' mood since Monday. I would rather spend some of the time working on more Learning Objectives rather than faffing around doing nothing productive I reckon.

So much for being an emotional roller-coaster. So much for the gung-ho enthusiasm that I maintained throughout Colorectal Surgery. So much for really enjoying the rotation. So much for earning a medal for not letting my guard down and shedding any tears for the whole week prior to Monday.

I guess I shouldn't really complain. I had purposely planned my Monday so that I was free and so that I could max out the time possibly spent with JH right until he left. And I was perfectly fine for most of it. Maybe it's because it is Wednesday night and just a week ago, we were eating my failed attempt at reinacting Kch's authentic Kolo Mee and reminiscing about the good old times for a full 4 hours or so, and I even ended with an optimistic "It's okay. I'll see you soon."

And now my couch is filled with a good 6 kg worth of clothes/shoes/laptop bag/laundry bag/hairdryer/glass (!)/and laptop manual guides that I had lugged back from Heathrow because I had predicted this massive excess in baggage weight, and I felt that it was the least I could do to prevent any panic or lack of better judgement on the spot.

Maybe because the past few years have flown by just like that, and it had never occurred properly to me that one day the reality of Farewell would appear right ahead.

Maybe because you will always be one of the only people in this world whom I can click so well with and who can make me laugh genuinely from the heart.

And you will always be irreplaceable in my heart. BFF, Greatest Friend Ever. Buaya. HPY. Whatever.

Thank you for everything. For all the good times. For all the patience despite my thoughtless tantrums. For picking me up when I needed support the most. For helping me find myself again. For all the laughter and 'intellectual banter'. For just being there and being you.

And hopefully you will come back soon and we will meet again :)

Retrogade Amnesia

Close your eyes.

I'm closer than you think. You're closer than you think.

Yet every time I think of you, I die, a little.

-

I cannot remember anything.

I remember nothing.

I have forgotten Everything.

Shingshing in Tenerife

April 1st - April 4th 2010

Rocking the Canary Islands with my favourite girls in the whole wide world.

Here's to 5 years of unwavering, rock-steady friendship and more :)

I miss the sun, the sea and you girls already XX

Lost, and Found

This wall was one of the few things that I loved best at the Tate Britain. LX and I spent a good 15 minutes staring at all four walls, trying to figure out which quotes we liked best.

So many of them struck chords deep in the heart. A couple actually sent a shiver down my back.

If I had four empty walls in an empty room, I would do the same.

For the first time in ages, the GG episode triggered something within. Remarkable, by GG standards because it has been churning out empty-headed stuff for a very very long time. When Vanya declared his reason for loving Dorota being that he was 'the best possible person' whenever he was with her, I teared with Blair. When B went out to proclaim that she did not like who she had become with Chuck, my heart went out to her.

Deja Vu. I am reminded of the scene in the bar last Monday when we were drinking into the dead of the night - a feat which I still hold as a true accomplishment, with me leaving at 3.30 am and waking up at 7.30 am the next morning for PBL.

JH's evident disappointment and vehement declaration of my momentary lapse of judgement at a certain point in time triggered irrational emo responses on my part. I was defeated. Emotionally and verbally.

But all is not lost. Like he said, We all learn from our mistakes. Such is life.

From trying to become someone I was not, to losing sight of my priorities, to trying to mould something into shape that we never meant to be.....to paying a price in the end.

From someone lost, to someone found.

I am almost completely there. Welcome back, Alyssa Sim. And hopefully you will be here to stay forever and always.

Shingshing in Venice

Of Gondolas, San Marco's Basilica, San Marco's Piazza, the Rialto, Murano, Gelato-overdose and the lot.

Some of the more memorable moments:

This pic definitely deserves a caption. Reinactment of Gossip Girl's 'Lunch on the Met Steps'. Lol.

(Note: No one sits higher up than Queen B. Lol ;). Jokes! I am kidding myself. I can be Queen Blair in my dreams).

And my possible favourite picture of all: 'Holding Hiro Hostage'. Dangling Keng's toy above the sinister murky waters of the canal while he watches on helplessly. Hahaha.

Too much fun in a week-long Easter break. Much-needed though.

Thank you my travel buddies. Take care you all, and may we all conquer this thing called Medical Finals :P

People Change, Places Stay The Same

My laments to JH about how quickly time just zoomed by were completely genuine. Indeed, it had seemed like just a while ago that we had watched the first leg of Liverpool vs Man Utd for this season. Who would have thought that that was all the way back in October.

How much had changed since then?

Liverpool had gotten progressively worse, to the point of possibly no return. From Champions League title contenders to the Europa League.

The dreary English weather had turned from its unbearable frostiness to sunny, bright skies and more amicable temperatures (bar yesterday's rain).

The company with which we watched the first match had been modified drastically as well. How ironic was it that at the end of the day, it was only JH and I who remained the constants in this silent film of scenes changing through time.

I told JH I refused to visit the same 'GG.COM' bar that we had watched the first leg in, for reasons that were blatantly obvious, to me and him. I didn't want to be reminded of a time of transient happiness, only to be in the same environment and realise the brutal reality of the present.

So we rewrote memories. And these will be around to stay for a very long time.

Even though Liverpool played horrendously and offered no real threat at all after Torres's goal at the 5th minute. Even though the final score justified defeat compared to the first leg's triumphant victory of 2-0. Even though the only possible real entertainment of the entire match was watching JH squeal with excitement about Park Ji Sung and letting him 'educate' me about how superior Man Utd was to Liverpool. Even though my good luck vibes did not work at all this time around. Even though I had not followed football in so long that my knowledge had deteriorated beyond mention....

I would say that this time I was able to leave the place with a genuine smile.

And remember that Man Utd vs Liverpool will always be associated with only the best memories ever, even if they are not in Liverpool's best interest.

I think we have definitely come full circle. Period.

Push, Climb, Go

"They take pictures of mountain climbers at the top of the mountain. They are smiling. Happy. Ecstatic.

They don't take pictures along the way. 'Cos who wants to remember the rest of it?

We push ourselves because we have to. Not because we like it.

The relentless climb....The pain and anguish of taking it to the next level. Nobody takes pictures of that.

Nobody wants to remember.

We just want to remember the view from the top.

Because it's worth the pain.

It's worth anything."

Who would have thought that I would have gravitated towards Lexie Grey amidst this season's drama and turmoil.

I'll get to the top some day. I will.

Gratitude

To my bestest friends in the whole wide world :)

To Jenn, for the simple act of being so concerned and entertaining me on MSN just to make sure I was alright. Thanks so much. I haven't spoken to you in ages but when we do talk it is as though time had never moved an iota. I have missed you tons, and I'm glad I have sort of managed to keep on par with your updates regularly, but I will write you that long email soon just to keep you adrift with my shenanigans. Alot of the time, when I encounted fair-weather friends in my life, I am reminded of you and our friendship and how it was built to last - and that no matter how sporadic our conversations may be, I am indefinitely here for you as you are for me :)

To Manda, my one-in-a-million, Pri1-through-F5, and favourite person in the whole wide world, for calling me alllll the way from Adelaide despite the time difference and your being so exhausted. Even though we only dwelled on the serious bits for a fraction of the conversation, the entire hour or so was therapeutic beyond words! I miss you heaps.

To Janey, who has so kindly shared her similar experiences with me and dished out all her sentiments just to assure me that it was okay to be not okay. Thank You. I will email you / speak to you online soon, even though I wasn't there when you left me those msgs....but I am beyond words trying to describe how much they meant to me.

And finally to CK, whose simple BBM of concern meant soooo much to me, plus the sharing of her stories - short as my stopover was at her place, really hit home and reality, and made so much sense that I was amazed at how sometimes you just need another person to point out the obvious to you, even if it was something there all along that you never saw yourself.

Not forgetting as well, the rest of my incredible friends for their support / texts / well wishes / concern. I have not gotten around to telling everyone yet, but I will eventually. I am infinitely grateful to have friends like you all. And not to worry, I have shed one of the final few tears for my grandfather, for now at least.

'He who does not weep, does not see.'

I remembered one episode of OTH where there was a death in the school and someone quoted this phrase from Les Miserables, which I found to be suitably appropriate.

Thanks again, people xx

Loss

I do know that my tear threshold is incredibly low, although it has improved tremendously since I started this year.

Swollen eyes, a headache and a distracted mind. Not good timing for an exam. But I've compromised by telling myself I can do all of that after tomorrow.

It wasn't surprising, whom I chose to turn to right away after I heard. And they have all turned out to be no fair-weather friends indeed.

My grandfather will definitely always be one of the best people I have ever known.

London Fashion Weekend

London Fashion Weekend: 25 Feb '10

When I first heard about London Fashion Weekend back in September, I was immediately tempted to pay it a visit, despite the well-known fact that it would cause more damage to my bank account than the insight I hoped to gain about the official London Fashion WEEK in general.

(NB: London Fashion Weekend is a special event held over a 4-day period - over the weekend - where the official venue of London Fashion Week is opened up to the general public to shop the various creations of a host of participating designers)

Fortunately enough (for my bank account), the planned trip in September didn't materialise, but when Hanna suggested visiting LFW this year, I jumped at the opportunity. Hey, I'd never been before, and I probably will never go again (Yes, scoff all you want, but I AM serious!).

We opted for the Gold Ticket Entry which included a chance to watch the Fashion Show / Catwalk / Runway Extravaganza taking place that night. It was all pretty exciting at first, being seated at the foot of the runway, when all the lights dimmed and the blasting music came through the speakers, and the rail-thin, 6-feet tall models started tottering out in heels one by one. Towards the end, I got a little tired of constantly having to arch my neck in various angles because the guy in front of me was busy blocking my plane of view with his tripod and his gigantic DSLR. Which explains the only decent picture I managed to snap with my BB. Pfft.

I had to admit, though, that all the names of the designers mentioned by the host that night drew blanks in my mind, but the different trends introduced this season proved to be interesting enough. Most were too 'Over The Top' for any sane human to wear on the High Streets, but I noted a couple of dresses that caught my eye, only to lament to Hanna afterwards that I never ever saw them anywhere. Blame the lack of time and the hoards of people crowding Somerset House, as well as the fact that the entire place wasn't exactly the easiest to navigate when the clock is ticking profusely.

I later related the experience to my friends as 'Kiasu Shopping'. And there was nothing I could have done wrong more than my attire of a pencil skirt and heeled ankle boots. Anything but comfortable and allowing a good range of movement. Nevertheless, we managed to visit the few outlets that we had eyed on the list of designers: Luella, Juicy Couture, Sass & Bide and Michael Kors being a few of them. I never saw Herve Leger anywhere, though, and I ended up buying two long-sleeved, formal tops from a label I had never heard of when the rest failed to deliver. This just proves my theory again and again that it is not ALWAYS about the label but the garment itself. They were, however, bought as impulse purchases rather than proper contemplating, because we were determined not to leave the place (having paid so much to enter) with empty hands. Most of the smaller sizes of 6/8 or Size Zero were gone by the time we browsed through the racks, which again, reinstated my description of 'Kiasu Shopping', and this was on the very first night itself that the event opened!

A good experience of impulsive buys, nonetheless, but definitely not my kind of thing. I had been afraid that a couple of my purchases would turn out being too dowdy for a 20 something to wear, but they have fared well so far, with much racking of my brains to jazz them up with accessories and pair them with funkier add-ons. Squeezed up all that was left of the creative fashion juices, thank you very much. Not that I had much left, to begin with.

No more 'Kiasu Shopping' OR Shopping for a while now.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

1) On Sunday, while happily chugging along back to London from Edinburgh, the train suddenly stalled in the middle of nowhere and we were informed that some other train had broken down ahead in God-Knows-What station, and was blocking both tracks, causing this massive traffic congestion. YL and I were stranded for 3 whole hours. Thank God for the free food and beverage that they offered to prevent our extreme irritability from mounting to insane heights. Finally got back around 1.30 am, and my BFF JH did not help by reiterating the fact again in subtle ways that I made the wrong choice of going to Edin.

2) On Monday, while innocently walking down the High Street from the hospital in broad daylight at 4.30 pm, I got stopped by this insane stranger who was positively drunk and kept grabbing my arm and blocking my path, so that I could not run away or shake him off. He tailed me all the way from the High Street to the Post Office (I made the mistake of not walking into the nearest shop and calling the cops right away), making me increasingly annoyed by the second, and then progressively more nervous when he almost gave me no way of leaving. I called for help in the end, and managed to leg it in heels alll the way to the tube station in 5 minutes flat.

And both these have masked a positively awesome weekend in the Burgh. Arthur's Seat, Chocolate Soup, PS3, StreetFighter, Honey Mustard Salmon, Canto Movies and Thai Commercials - amidst bountiful laughter from Tham, ChowChow, Hoo, Wynken and Yeap.

I don't think I've had this much fun in ages. Really :)

And this is when you know some friends are meant to last a lifetime.