For the love of rings.

It’s no secret that I’ve a soft spots for rings.

It’s a guilty pleasure that I indulge in quite frequently.

Over the past year, I’ve amassed so many rings, I’m starting to give them away.

For the moment, I put them in this pretty trinklet glass holder.

Pretty little things aren’t they?

An array of glitz and touch of vintage romance, all rolled into one.

Paper work. Paper work.

I’ll be in denial if I said that I’m getting sufficient beauty sleep and I’m having a blast of my life.

Actually, I am having a blast of my life.

But no, I’m not having enough beauty sleep.

I’ve been wanting to blog about my travelling, but it has been delayed time and time again because work takes priority. It is what that brings the dough in!

Cross fingers that I can finish my paper work, and I can finally start blogging. =D

Philadelphia

Resuming my road trip around US. We pull up at Philadelphia. One day is sufficient to tour the city centre of Philadelphia.

Philadelphia holds an important piece of history in Americans. This is the place where the Declaration of Independence was signed.

I know I must be a total idiot at bullet trains, or overnight trains… But I was pretty awed by the comfort level that each train provides.

Check out my mini carry on bag. After 4 months worth of travelling, I was able to pack 1 week’s worth of clothes in 10 minutes!

First stop, we arrive at the Independence Hall.

You can take a peak inside the hall, if you sign yourself up for a free tour.

This was where the Declaration of Independence was signed. They have left the room intact.

And this is a duplication of the Independence. The real deal has been relocated to the National Archives.

Crossing over the road, you will find a museum that houses the Liberty bell. I had always thought that the bell was humongous. But, small it was.

Gosh I miss my boots. It started my love affair with shoes.

Touring the museum is pretty fun.

Anyway, right outside of the museum you can take a ride in a horse carriage for a fee.

Within the city centre, you will come across this pretty looking building.

It is the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Being poor students, my friend and I decided not to pay the entrance fee, and we routed else where.

Nearby, lies the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. It’s free to visit!

These are the two artworks I loved best.

It is not difficult to see why the arts is thriving in this city.

But my favourite has got to be the famous Love sign. This is the mother to all Love signs in the world.

Dinner was at Olive Garden. Oh gosh, they serve the best salad ever! And you know how much I will buff at the sight of vegetables.

My cousin happen to be my in Philadelphia for a one year study programme at the time of my visit.

So I met up with her at the bookshop.

Little did I know, the photographer of this photo would become her future boyfriend! *Waves hi to Andy*

Philadelphia is quite a nice city to walk in. But I’ll see you at DC where I fall in love walking into museum after museum, monuments after monuments.

And that is the real deal in understanding US’s history and culture.

Chanel chained CC ring

I love rings.

I have like a gazillion of them at home, and I still can’t stop myself from indulging in more.

Say hi to the infamous Chanel paper bag.

And what it beholds.

I’ve tried my best to steer away from ostentatious CC accessories.

But it never occurred to me that a “CC-logo-in-your-face” ring can still be pretty demure.

Simple looking in gold. I was sold.

Ah my babies…

Classic camellia flower, tsarina and chained.

Beauty starts from the basics

I’m hardly a beauty connoisseur. But after many years of experimenting, I have picked up a few useful beauty tips.

These are the top four tips on cleansing that I wished someone had told me when I was in my acne-break-out-days.

Cleansing Tip #1: The Power of Cleansing Oil

Prior to cleansing the face, it is important to remove your make-up. A build up of grime on the face would make your face more prone to break-outs.

I switch between Shu Uemura’s cleansing beauty oil premium a/o advanced formula and Shu Uemura’s white recovery brightening cleansing oil advanced formula. You have to be patient when removing make-up.

Cleansing Tip #2: Double Cleanse!

Double cleanse your face each time you wash your face. The first cleanse washes off the residue of the make-up and removes the grime; the second cleanse cleans out the pores. However, be careful not to over cleanse your face, as this would make your skin awfully dry. I would wash my face a maximum of two times a day.

The brand of cleanser doesn’t matter, because this differs from person to person. My skin’s condition is awfully complicated - dry on the outside, oily on the inside and it’s extremely sensitive. I use Sothys morning cleanser. It works really well for my skin.

I do need to give Cetaphil skin cleanser thumbs up for being the first cleanser to have saved my skin.

It is important to choose a cleanser suitable for your skin-type. If you feel that your skin feels tight after washing it, or if your skin starts to flake or itch after wash, it means that the cleanser is too strong for your skin type. If in doubt, try to wash your face with a cleansing milk as its gentler than foaming face wash.

Cleansing Tip #3: Exfoliate

Honestly, I think it’s more important to be religious with the cleansing than to be strict about exfoliating the face. If you have extremely thin skin - like me - I would advise against exfoliating the face weakly as it might cause more harm than good.

However, having said that, regularly exfoliating your skin ensures that your moisturiser is well absorbed into your skin.

My current rave is Cure natural aqua gel. It feels like water when first applied on the skin; after gently rubbing the liquid on the face, it coagulates and form little white balls. Simply wash the face with water, and voila, you have a clean slate - unlike regular exfoliator that leaves tiny beads on the face.

You can use this gel on the rest of your body as well. I”m one of those unfortunate soul who has a bad bout of keratosis pilaris. So, I use the gel to exfoliate my arms and slather water-based moisturiser thereafter. It really works wonders.

Cleansing Tip #4: Keep It Cool.

It is extremely important to avoid washing your face under hot water. It is a treat to stand under a steaming hot shower, but it is terribly bad for the skin!

I have always made sure that I bathe in luke warm water or if I could stand it - cold water! Bathing under cold water helps to keep the skin firm or Q.

With that… Say hello to refreshed looking skin!

Boeing Boeing

If you have yet to watch Boeing Boeing, you better do before September 4th.

If it’s not for the love of wanting a good laugh - from start to finish, mind you - do it for the eye candy on set.

Adrian Pang’s delivery of Bernard takes the show to a whole new level. It’s the added swagger and smirk that makes the role shine.

And who doesn’t like a girl in uniform? These girls are really hot! Even though I’m pretty sure that their legs were sprayed with Sally Hansen’s leg makeup, they had gorgeous slim legs that go on forever! My favourite character has got to be the kawaii japanese air stewardess played by Emma Yong. Her dramatic antics scores a 120 out of 100 on my score chart.

What makes this show so hilarious is that these 3 ladies present the three different air stewardess to a tee. Chermaine Ang does Miss Cathay Pacific with death stares and spurts of Cantonese phrases. Wendy Kweh hits it home with a heavily Singlish accented speech. And my favourite japanese air stewardess, Emma Yong, breathes so much live and cuteness into her character that you would be left wondering if she did watch too much anime when researching on her role.

The other 2 characters - Robert (played by Daniel York) and Minah (played by Siti Khalijah) also added much flavour to the performance. York added a little more drama into the orginal role, matching Pang’s energetic portrayal of Bernard. I have to say I also loved Khalijah’s take on Minah. I kept repeating the line “it’s not easy you know” for a few hours after the show. It was hilarious.

I was happy that I had chosen an extremely good seat - 11th row centre seats! From where I was seated, I could see all the expressions so clearly!

Long live the theatre in Singapore!