simply new...

After two years, I thought I change the template on this blog. It is not like I have not thought about this before. I have been for a while. It is just that I could not find anything that is nice and suits my personality until I found this one. It is simple and the girl on the banner represents yours truly - music always keeps me company. Thanks to Isnaini.com – the designer of this template.

Today being new year’s eve, some of us may be getting ready to party and welcome a brand new year. Perhaps the following mashed-up tracks would put you in a party mood. These tracks are simply brilliant! They are basically two songs which are mixed with music from one song and with a capella from another. Typically, the music and vocals comes from a completely different genres. The other defintion of these mash-up tracks is bastard pop, which I find quite amusing. The discovery of bastard pop was made after a friend sent me a mashed-up video of Justin Timberlake vs 2 Unlimited called Sexy Twlight Back. Now, we are both hooked and have been on the hunt for such mashed-up tracks on the Internet since. The playlist I have put together are a few of my favourite and they would be something that you would want to dance the night away to and usher in the New Year with a bang! Party on!

Mashed-Up Playlist

Madonna vs Black Eyed Peas – Humps Up

Justin Timberlake vs 2 Unlimited – Sexy Twilight Back
Franz Ferdinand vs Kelis – Take Me Out (for a Milkshake)

Destiny’s Child vs Britney Spears – Lose My Toxic Breath

cannot resist...

Yesterday, I caved and bought this red coat from Dorothy Perkins. Okay, okay, I know - why on earth do I need a coat in tropical Singapore, where the lowest temperature we ever have here is 22 degree celcius? Well, I have my reasons!

First of all, the coat was on sale. The price was slashed 50% for the end of season sale. The original price was SGD186. I have been eyeing this coat since October when it first hit the racks. I was still contemplating on splurging that much money for something which I may not have a chance to put on every so often. Each time I come back to the store, the coat is there with my size. The store manager was nice. She promised to let me know when the coat goes on sale, which she did - she rang me a few days ago to let me know and would put it aside if I want it. I think the coat was meant to be mine - it has my name written all over it. If it is not, it wouldn't still be there up till yesterday!

The other reason - I have been looking for a red coat for years now. Few years ago, I had to go for a last minute business trip to Paris in winter and I scrambled to get a winter coat. Alas, when you are looking for a right coat at the last minute, chances are, you will not find one. So, I ended up settling for a dark blue coat where I looked rather dull and unglam in all my photos taken while I was in the fashion capital of the world.

Last year, I was in England during late spring. I froze my butt off when we spent a cold Saturday at the seaside town of Brighton and all the way back to London that night with my dark denim jacket. In summary, not only did I not keep warm but I also looked so unstylish.

So now, I am not taking any chances. You will never know when I have to get my butt back to a place during the cold months and this time, I am going to look my best. I am looking forward to it already and I don't even know where and when that will happen. I guess, a girl can't help herself when it comes down to being a slave to fashion and wanting to look good. Doesn't anyone?

we are on our way to gorgeousness!

When you were in your teens, you were in such a hurry to grow older. You want to be in your twenties and you want to start working, have a career, get married, and start a family, blah, blah. Then, as you get to your twenties and then, most of us get terrified of the thought of turning thirty. And then, you actually get to your thirties. So, how does that feel?

Well, yours truly has turned thirty this millennium and had another birthday in my thirties this month. Looking back, I am not the least bit terrified of being in my thirties and going on to my forties. Why should I be? I think I am looking my best after I turned thirty. I am more confident, not afraid to face the challenges in this world. I have the freedom in the world to do anything I want and actually being able to afford to do what I want to do.

So yes, life is a little bit complicated at this age too. There are more responsibilities with the family (parents, siblings) and at work. Most of your single friends are now married and have children. You don’t get to see them that much and when you do, sometimes they want to fix you up. And when you go to clubs and other drinking joints, you feel like you are the chaperon.

However, I am not the least bit concerned about the downside of being in my thirties and single. I am happy being the way I am. I still go on doing what I truly enjoy - go on holidays, going out at a moment’s notice, watching an entire game of football (soccer for the Yankees) with no interruptions and have a long lie-in over the weekend. Some may beg to differ and say that I am getting too comfortable with being single but hey, I don’t give a hoot. This is my choice! Why fix something that is not broken?

What summed up my feeling of being good at this age are the well wishes I received from a couple of my friends:

Have a Gorgeous Birthday!
You are on your way to Gorgeousness!

Now, doesn’t that tell you something? It is not a bad thing being a thirty-something and I’m loving it!

it is about time!!!

I cannot believe that it took me 4 months to get my China holiday photos uploaded on my Yahoo Photo Album! I finally did it last Saturday. Not only did I upload photos from my trip to China, I have also uploaded other photos from my holidays in recent years. It was quite a productive few hours as far as yours truly is concerned and I was quite pleased that I got this task sorted. I am just bad at this – getting worse from before. I need to improve on this.

To view photos from my China trip, click on the following links:

Beijing

Hangzhou & Shanghai

I have put a permanent link of my Yahoo Album at the sidebar – so do check in once in a while for new photos. In the meantime, enjoy the other photos which I have uploaded.

Enjoy!

34939 - the stats..

So, the results/stats are out. It seems like yours truly is an average 10km runner – finishing 2721st place of 4448 female runners. I was a bit disappointed and started making “if only” statements. Then, I chatted with a friend, who is a seasoned marathon runner (he ran 42km in 3 hours and 12 mins. Wow!). He said that I did pretty well for a first time runner & considering the fact I only started training a couple of weeks before. He felt that I could only improve the next time I run and gave me some tips for training up for these races. Perhaps I was being too hard on myself – like I always do when I felt that I could have done something better but never put in enough effort. However, I have received some encouragements from other runner friends and even some proposals of running other races together. I remain motivated.

34939...

That was my race number for the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. So, yes, I took part – I ran the 10km yesterday and this was my first time running in a marathon… even though it was only for the 10km run.

I registered for the run in late August but only seriously trained about 2 weeks before the marathon – thanks to procrastination. I completed the run in 1 hour, 29 minutes and 39 seconds to be exact (I think - will verify this on the website after they publish the results in the next 24 hours or so) but I gladly round it up to an hour and 30 minutes. ;-) I feel that it is not bad for someone who was running the 10km for the first time – although I have to admit that at some point, I was brisk walking.

Post marathon was celebrated with a nice brunch, good conversations over a cup of much needed coffee with some good company and later, a good night’s sleep after being up and about since 4.30am (The run for 10k was at 7.30am).

After that run, yours truly is motivated. Once the aches around the thighs are gone (hopefully soon), regular running is in order. I am determined to complete the next 10km run (wherever and whenever that will be) in an hour. Crossing that finishing line was a good feeling and I gladly run another marathon to get that feeling again.