I'm Back!

I have returned to my humble abode in an Essex town.

Stockholm was great. After a bit of contemplation, I'm not sure why it was great.. If I wasn't in the situation I was in, would it have been as great? Anyway, I loved it. Didn't get to do all that I want but I will tell you more at a later time. In a hurry to get to my new interest:

Hennes & Mauritz,
106 38 Stockholm
Sweden
One of Sweden's largest design exports after... IKEA?

And then to drop off some lolls of feelem to dewellep!

Four rolls. Six more needs to be exposed in the camera.

Gotta run! x

Retail Therapy

So brown or black skirt??? Really cannot decide! See, been thinking about useless things like these and falling asleep at work last night. My mind has improved in the last 24 hours from feeling hurt to being mindless.

Yesterday morning and afternoon was so bad la. Kept feeling sad and hurt, basically, feeling really negative. Had to leave the house to do something despite feeling a bit sleepy. So, got dressed and went out to the high street and shopped. Didn't care la, spend money only la. I beh tahan (cannot take it) and needed to get over the feeling.

KIWI Smiling Feet Disposable In-soles. I think it was £3+ for a pack of six pairs.

First went to Sainsbury's cos I needed to pick up some disposable in-soles. Ever wondered how some people could wear shoes without socks or those  uncomfortable below-the-ankle-socks-that-slips-off-anyway? I discovered that the answer was not wearing socks or lining the shoe. Just wearing the shoe barefoot which I think is really icky. I knew this cos I was at the airport and there were a group of fashionably dressed gay men all showing of their ankles, if not their hairless calves. They were defo the people who started the bare ankle trend la. So, anyway we were all on the same flight waiting to board when one guy took off his shoe, put his hand in and started wiping the shoe's lining out.. as if he sweat so much in the shoe the lining disintegrated. He wipe, wipe, wipe, then wear his shoe again and..... didn't wash hand. Ermm... to this day I still feel geli (icky). 

For £2.50 bought five pairs of brown-scale socks should I decide not to use my disposable insoles especially in colder temperatures. A bargain at Primark
40% cotton, 58% polyester, 2% elastane. Ok, got some cotton to absorb the sweat

Boots 3 for 2 on film. £12.24 for 3 rolls of 36 exposure

Boots 3 for 2 on cosmestics.
Left: No7 Sunkissed Bronzing Pearls (FREE item!) £11
Middle: L'Oreal True-Match Minerals with foundation-like coverage. Quite impressed with the design and the extra brush although I wouldn't need the brush the next time, so they will hv to sell re-fills. I like how the brush can be washed unlike some products that connect the powder and the brush in the same chamber. approx £14+
Right: L'Oreal Studio Secrets Professional, Smoothing Resurfacing Primer. Finally can buy primer OTC! Haven't tried this yet but hopefully it makes my acne scars smoother looking. approx £11.29

Then, went to Boots. Stocked up on some film for my Stockholm trip. Also, I lost my make-up set with my mineral foundation, bronzer (which he bought for me :-( ) and Korean eye shadow palate. Great excuse to buy cosmetics la. Boots had so many 3 for 2 offers and that made me very happy :-)


Next stop was H&M. But, I need to go to work now... I bought some really nice clothes from there. Splurge splurge splurge. Will show next time. In the meantime, I have packed for Stockholm and will rush off to airport right after work and a shower tomorrow! Exciting :-)

Most important items: Passport, credit card, flight ticket and underwear.

Trying To Get Back Up

Today's not been a good day. It always starts off when I wake up on the wrong side of the bed and usually, I have no control over that. I had a dream and unfortunately, I woke up remembering my dream. The whole day I have been trying to distract myself with mindless things.. which also happen to be costly, like:

Brown.. or

Black??

But....

I think I'm doing so well as I have been worse than this. There's one thing I haven't done today: cry. Oops, almost burst into tears, thank god for make-up.

The betrayal is so great because he meant that much to me. Wakarimashitaka?

Last Saturday Night

YV and N hosted a little dinner party at their flat in central London. It's a nice two bedroom flat with a spacious  open plan living room and dining area with two generously sized WCs.

I had been procrastinating all Saturday long. Mainly, researching and contemplating if I should go to Stockholm. Had I decided then, my flight would have been £5 cheaper but I really wanted to make sure it wouldn't rain! And, I was guilty of giving up on happy for a bit and crying as well... but that's another boring story.

By the time I decided to get ready, I realized I was 30 minutes to an hour behind schedule! Luckily the train was quite fast la and the main rate limiting step was how fast I was walking.

When I arrived, first course sudah habis but when you have CT around, it will finish fast la. Hahaha, joking.

YV served me my first course. I was so impressed!

DOME Cafe style mushroom soup with puff pastry on top.
Also got pieces of frankfurter inside which gave it more flavour.
Mmmmm.... 

Succulent king prawn with mango marinated with coriander, chillies and maybe juice of a sour fruit?
I love the sweetness of the mango combined with the herbs used. Plus, the prawns were cooked just right.
So impressed! Had two sticks summore.

OK, this one is the pièce de résistance for me.
YV said, "Try this and guess what it is". To me, looks just like typical sushi roll with cucumber and egg.
So I ate it la. At first, hmmm, taste familiar, like sushi...
Then, think think a bit. Got belacan (smelly dried shrimp paste). Got coconut rice taste.
OMG! Nasi Lemak Sushi!

Then we spent the rest of the night chatting, chatting. It was really nice lar because at least I feel I am closer to happy than sad.. Then, had to go home. Aih, a bit sad la but then go home to sleep and not think. So I guess OK la.

But, the sushi was so good la. YV should open shop!

Westfield, Stratford

Hello, good evening and welcome to my new blog!

I decided to quit my old blog because things have changed and I briefly talked about why here.

But anyway, I am in search for happy. Be it short-, intermediate- or long-term happiness. Of course, the ultimate would be the latter but hey, great things take time and our journey there is the juiciest part of the story, right? It's like the sitcom 'How I Met Your Mother'. Although we do want to know how he met their mother, we enjoy the ride there. And, some secretly don't want it to end although I have to say, I hope it doesn't tale too long (for the sitcom and myself)!

I have had some really amazing friends. They listen and they have given me great support. I think things would be worse without them. For example, Sundays are usually the worst days for me especially here in the UK. Everything shuts by 4-5pm, it's usually the ultimate rest day hence the term 'A Lazy Sunday' and nobody really wants to do anything. But, my friends have gone out just to meet me and keep me company. Dozo arigatou gozaimashita!

Today, Z and Z said they'd meet me in the brand spanking new Westfield shopping centre in Stratford! When I first walked in, I thought I was in East Asia again and felt happy. It felt like home. Strange how something man-made makes it feel like home. I guess mega-malls is essentially an Asian concept which surprisingly, has taken so long to catch on in Europe. I mean, these days (those days, even) things are all about money, kan?

Part of M&S Food as you exit the train station connected to the building! No need to walk in the cold winter weather anymore to shop. Seriously, not sure how the concept of mega-malls took so long to catch on. I guess everybody would be sad if the iconic Oxford Street became nothing but offices. Haha.

Our first stop: Forever 21! Feel a bit sad they have Forever 21 here now. It means my purchases from F21 in Malaysia and the US won't be as special anymore because everyone can get it here too. Hmmph! But the good thing about the Malaysian F21 - despite it being small - is the mega-sales prices la. I remember one summer holiday, I managed to nab a few dresses at 1Utama with 70% discount! The F21 in Westfield, Stratford spans 3 whole floors. Amazing, amazing. We spent one whole hour there although I felt some of the things tak berkualiti (not so quality) la. Still not as big as the F21 in Pasadena, California which was like a standalone building with five floors!

Das kostet £12.75.
Lovely apple print jumper which I will wear to work on Tuesday night and brave the air-conditioning in autumn!

My friend said the girl in the middle looks like me and at £2.40, I must get it!
And the two girls beside me are Z and Z, £3.15. LOL.

My robot and I. Programmed to love, honour and never betray me. Hehe.

After one hour and a bit going into several other make-up shops (you know, I lost some of my expensive and good make-up :-( ), we decided to go for lunch at their food court. My friends settled for this:

Comptoir Libanais. I saw this shop near St Christopher's Place (some where near Oxford Street). Oh, at Wigmore Street! I really like their concept design and the food looks really hearty too. My friends had to wave the white flag cos it was too much food. A bit sad see this shop cos I remember at Wigmore Street wanting to tell me ex about it and bring him there sometime.

I went for a shop called Rosa's selling Thai food. Their concept design was a bit off as in, you wouldn't have associated it with Thai food had they not written Rosa's: Thai Cuisine. At first glance, it looked very Mexican and sounded Mexican. Unfortunately, didn't take a photo of the shop. Apparently, the have two other branches in Spitalfield's and Soho. Looks like this food court is quite geng (amazing) ar. Instead of some chapalang (mongrel) shop, they ask all this established establishments to open shop there. Not bad. Which explains why the food took a tad bit longer to prepare than at your typical Asian mega-mall food court.

Fresh produce on Rosa's countertop. Looks so sour, juicy and spicy! Yumz.

Thai Beef Salad £6.95. Initially wanted the Som Tum (Papaya Salad) one but that is also £6.95.
I thought taking the beef was more worth it la but otherwise, the ingredients in the beef salad is rather western.
It was tasty, though; sour, spicy and juicy! Plus, they cooked the beef the gwai lo (white man) style and that was pretty impressive/tender.
This shop quite clever; when you place order they give you this little 'handphone' thing to take and go sit down along the stretch of chairs and tables. When your order is ready and you are a mile away, the thing will beef and vibrate to alert you that you can collect your food!

Visit Rosa's On-line blog with On-line Cooking Classes to learn how they make Pad Thai (fav, fav, fav)!

After eating, we continued and did an obligatory stop at Primark. Everybody must go to Primark, right? Must, must spend £1 and come out with 10 bags full of shopping. These days right, Primark has become a bit more expensive. Just cheaper than your standard high street stores like H&M, TopShop, Ms Selfridges, Zara.. but really, not many things are £5 anymore! Fell in love with this, though:

Nabbed for £10! Not a big bargain at Primark but not bad la.
I love the rugged edges on the roses and how the clasps are not nicely hidden but stitched outside for the world to see! Roses are pretty, beautiful things but the way this garment is made, it has that rock edge la.
My ideal would be to wear with a pair of skinny olive green or dark green pants and a pair of brown brogues - just like a stable, rooted rose bush. What a wallflower!

And finally:

Two toucans for £2 at H&M.
Without Googling, do you know what H&M stands for and where the company originated from? ;-)

This evening, I finally took the plunge and bought a return flight to Stockholm, Sweden this Thursday to Saturday! After much Googling, the weather seemed reasonable, cost of living seemed reasonable and the place really sounds like the kinda place I loved; cobbled streets, reliable transport, good food, interesting shops, lots of parks, markets, etc, etc. Well, we will soon find out! Today, I found happy and hopefully, I shall find happy in Stockholm too!

Hej, Stockholm!

Peace out and off to bed. x