PACKING SATURDAY

It's a catch up on your work Saturday for me today, and also took this time to pack my room a little bit (but my work desk is still piled with papers, books and magazines). Last week I went for my 6th ship visit in the span of less than a year – Logos Hope, a Christian missionary ship that sails across the world to spread the love and word of God! There was a floating book store onboard, and I got The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, but I honestly doubt I'd be able to find time to start on it in the next few months given I've lots of articles and academic readings waiting for me to study.

Above the book is a cross stitch handwork my mom made when I was a baby which is really precious to me. It was only during this packing, I noticed the scents I'm using are running out soon. I prefer scents that are not too strong (my nose is quite sensitive), light but not too faint. It is time to hunt for for new suitable scents or I should customise my own? But that might cost a bomb. I've been wanting to check out the smell of Helvetica, The scent of nothing but if it's not available in Singapore, I won't be taking the risk to purchase it online. Any scents recommendation?

NOT SO, LITTLE BLACK DRESS

I know it isn't that nice to be in full black during visitations of the Chinese Lunar New Year. For non Chinese, black is deemed inauspicious to Chinese (I'm not superstitious and wore full black last year too) but I'll learn to avoid wearing full black on this colourful occasion, as a respect to elders next year onwards.

The past week saw me brain wrecking to finalise my thesis topic and final year project concept, while I was on family visitings. As my workload is increasing week by week for the next 2.5 months, I'm not sure how consistent I will be in updating this blog but I will try my best! So bear with me while I 'jagar' (cope) various commitments. Now I gotta return to microsoft word to write my thesis abstract (inserts a whining emoticon).

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outfit from bangkok

MONOCHROME

Black and White is still one of the easiest colour (or rather colourless) combination, I'm aiming for days where I don't find myself staring at my not very extensive wardrobe thinking of an outfit – don't you agree we sometimes spent too much time doing that? I'd like to channel that energy and time to doing something else, like abs workout which I have unsuccessfully keep up with (did it only thrice over the week, I'm really hoping to do it daily because it takes me less than 10 mins to do so). I think dressing effortless is key and it all simplifies to the essentials, but it'll take me a long while before I can achieve a minimalistic wardrobe because first, I need to sell the clothes that generally don't suit me anymore. So help me out here, pretty please?

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taobao shirt / thescarletroom jacket

BANGKOK PART II

Bangkok, Thailand Part II

Bangkok, despite recent protest activities that is still ongoing, I managed to visit the city twice a month safely (first with my family, second with my cell group). I did not encounter any protest at all (though I kinda wished I did at least catch a glimpse of it, thought it'd be quite an interesting sight to see). Apart from that, shopping and food were so so so good. I don't know how you guys define good shopping, but to me its making purchases that are essential and suitable for me at cheap prices – talk about cheap thrills! Food, I don't think I need to convince anyone that Thai food is really at its best. Thankfully I've been trained to take spicy food since a young age (as I type this, I'm mentally drooling at the thought of tom yam, green curry, phad thai, spicy fish and more green curry.....) Moving on, I also got my body stretched and cracked ever since I stopped dancing 4 years ago at Thai body massage, it was pretty good except that all my guy friends got asked for "indecent special service" which they immediately reject without hesitation.

Traveling around the city on tuk tuk was my favourite, though it is not the safest transport, it really makes me feel so amazed by their driving skills and traffic situation. Almost anytime and everywhere is jam packed in Bangkok; vehicles, humans and even boats when we were at the floating market. Most Thais are able to speak basic English, which makes bargaining and enquiries much more convenient, but we also had a very humorous moment at a non tourist eatery and we had to google images of a bowl to show the waiter & waitress when we requested for an extra empty bowl. There're so much more places I've yet to explore and discover in Bangkok, praying for the protest will go into peace soon. I'll definitely be coming back to this city someday soon!

CONTENTMENT

#1 Guideline for 365 days.
/ 12 pieces of apparels (excludes staples which are essentials & somehow gets worn out easily). Thankfully I live in a single season country, so I don't really need to invest in that many winter clothing.
/ 2 pairs of shoes, only if I need it
/ 1 bag only if I need it
/ 2-3 accessories. I'm not an accessories person, but if I do wear them, its kept as simple as possible.

#2 What I need now.
/ Bra and underwear
/ Sports bra and a new sports dry fit tshirt
/ Dark blue denim jeans (the one I'm always wearing has gone out of fit after 3 years)
/ A pair of black heel for special events (realised more of my friends are getting married each year)
/ Still considering if I need to get a new pair of running shoes to replace my current one
/ Simple navy dress instead of having everything black

#3 How I should go about doing it.
/ Visit stores only for what I need + forgo anything that looks nice on the rack which I don't need or already have something similar
/ Don't window shop or browse through online stores whenever I'm bored (instead if I'm bored I should spend the time reading the Bible)
/ Keep a shopping list only and truly for what you need
/ Never buy on impulse just cause its cheap or it's on a mega discount
/ Don't go for brands, unless it's bags or shoes that are really worth investing for long term use

#4 What I should do to clear my wardrobe.
/ Sell them (which I've been trying to – so support me here! Sometimes at fleas but sales are always bad unfortunately)
/ I'm packing several items to giveaway to the Salvation Army which I think are not suitable to sell

#5 Things to work on.
/ Improve on DIY skills for apparels, so perhaps I can make them instead of buying (money saver and fun!)
/ A better finance planning with disciplined control (really need to set aside daily expenses, school fundings and savings for the future)

One of my 2014 resolutions is to reduce my wardrobe – something I've set my heart on since this post I wrote last year. To be accountable to myself, I decided to blog about it so we shall see by end of the year when I reflect about this. I want to be satisfied with what I have and not seek to have more all the time. Many times, we really don't need that much. Less is always more.