of geek purchases

i love the way bookstores here hire people who care about books. i was very impressed by their care when straightening the paper bag before placing the book inside carefully, making sure they didn’t fold the pages by accident. it was as if the cashier was a book-lover and knew exactly how anal readers like me simply cannot stand damaged books. in contrast, the bookstore cashiers in Singapore dump the books in plastic bags without a care in the world.

i must say that unwrapping books in straight and crisp paper bags are so much more delicious than unwrapping one in a crumpled plastic bag way too big for an average paperback.

the beloved printer is running terribly low on toner again. i’ve just bought a new compatible cartridge online and damn it, i hate buying necessities which cost more than $10. this also means i’ve gone through more than 4,000 sheets of paper, excluding those printouts done in school. eight packs of paper! gosh, i’ve been very hardworking indeed.

i’m hoping the parcel comes at a timely moment when someone is at home, otherwise i’d probably have to travel to some kampung post office to pick it up. it totally defeats the purpose of convenient online purchases delivered to the doorstep. kampung post offices are a nightmare cos they’re located in some very-suburban residential areas with just one bus service that arrives hourly. it’s an ultimate horror story.

self checkout counters

there’s this carrefour equivalent (minus the fresh food sections) in the town shopping centre which recently introduced the concept of self-checkout counters.

i dropped by two weeks ago to purchase some toiletries and it worked perfectly fine. so i was pretty happy cos it was quick and easy. self-checkout counters were so cool.

today, i went there to get some other stuff. half of the self-checkout counters were down because of dunno-what problems. fortunately it was 11.30am in the morning and most of the population was at work or in school. so i got an empty counter, scanned in the barcode of the pack of paper and waited.

*beep: assistance required. item weight unknown.

so i called out for assistance and the former-cashier had to key in her PIN number and password.

then i placed the pack of paper in the bagging area, which is what they call the metal hooks holding the plastic bags. there must be some kind of lousy sensor in the bagging area which screwed up.

*beep: unidentified item placed in bagging area. please remove item.

so i removed the bloody pack of paper.

*beep: item removed from bagging area. please return item.

so i put the pack of paper back in.

*beep: unidentified item placed in bagging area. please remove item.

and it went on and on till i got fed up. so i called out for assistance again and the lady keyed in the PIN number and password. she was also telling me, “oh, this (pointing) is the bagging area, you just need to place the scanned items in the plastic bags”.

hell, i know that is the bagging area, there are pictures on the screen. do i look stupid? it’s the freaking sensors that went mad!

so there, self-checkout counters may appear cool but damn it, they screw up too much.

the glasses

nah nah nah for those of you who wanted to see my ugly glasses.

it’s not bad if you don’t see the hideous geometric design thingy along the side of the frame. i’ve always wanted a pair of black frames. but don’t ask me why i chose this pair despite the ugly thing. i was overwhelmed by all the different frames available.

imagine this when the lenses turn dark - it looks like a super uncool pair of shades.

i am so ashamed of myself, i tell you.

ain’t a spendthrift

for about six months i was contemplating whether to get this bag - crumpler’s considerable embarrassment.

it fits ally nicely, can you imagine? there’s also enough space for other junk i always carry around with me. plus this shade is a masculine neutral shade which matches with clothes easily.

but then it would cost approximately S$170 so unless i find the same thing at a terrific discounted price in melbourne’s outlet store, i’d pass.

i’m quite proud of myself.

hazardous sneakers

i bought a new pair of sneakers for chinese new year. there weren’t any kickass puma sneakers on sale and the kickass sneakers i saw were beyond budget so i settled for these, which happened to be sneakers i’ve been wanting to buy for a few years and miraculously, there was a 50% discount.

never mind that they’re not kickass and that they’re actually quite common. i still like them pretty much. so much that i have the habit of looking at them while i walk. while i stand. while i sit.

so a couple of days ago, i was walking to the office pantry, with my eyes fixed on the dream shoes that are finally mine. i was so engrossed and yet, familiar enough with the office to walk without looking ahead.

and so i almost walked right into my boss. almost, to the extent of my spiky hair touching his back.

gotta kick this very bad habit of mine.

the deformed eyeballs

i’ve just placed an order for another pair of glasses, just in case anything happens to the current pair. once bitten, twice shy. for some strange reason i can’t even comprehend, i asked the optician to use lenses with the same power as my previous pair when i got my current pair. which means the currents lenses were according to the eye examination about three years ago.

so when i got my eyes checked again i was horrified to learn that the shape of my eyeballs have evolved again. my astigmatism in the right eye has also gone up by another 75 degrees, now reaching an all-time high of 300 degrees. the angle has also changed, resulting in blurred vision even with my glasses on. no wonder. i thought my myopia has worsened again.

i remember a few years back when i visited the regular optician he was very amused by my eyeballs cos they were becoming triangular in shape. hurhur. i guess i’m gonna have very sharp eyeballs soon, eh?

but because i’m getting the new pair of glasses with transitions lenses, i’ll only be changing the lenses in my current pair in july after i come back. why transitions? because i can’t wear shades when i’m with my glasses, can i? if i get contacts, i’ll still need to get a spare pair of glasses. since i don’t wanna spend so much money i thought i’d just get the contacts the next time i’m back. so i’ll just be a geek for the next 6 months. with glasses i’d be blinded by the powerful australian sun so there, transitions it will be.

i hate the way regular glasses look ugly with coloured lenses. i prefer big, cool-looking shades but damn it, i’m just a poor student.

yeah, i seem to find cheaper contact lenses each time i ask. the first time i went to nanyang optical at jurong point, they charged me close to $300 for half a year’s supply. *note: serious astig cases do require special orders, thus higher prices. then i went to jurong east and they charged me $150 for half a year’s supply. while at the optician outside my house just now, i asked again. and they’re charging $140!

i’m beginning to love this new-found place. small little neighbourhood shops are just so lovable.

painful retail therapy

i’ve finally completed the annual chinese new year apparel shopping. it’s usually a pain-in-the-ass mission for me cos i’m not exactly regular sized and it’s hard finding clothes that i like and yet, fit me.

worse, there’s this huge craze with certain baggy designs and big sparkly things on collars this year. or clothes that go with leggings. i can’t wear super baggy tops and dresses cos i look pregnant in them. can’t wear leggings cos i have hams for legs. hate those clothes with big shiny things sewn on them.

i admit i wasn’t in the best of moods this afternoon and when i start to shop during such moods, i go on a crazy rampage and become a lot more flexible with my budget. so yah, my heart is aching cos there goes a huge portion of my salary, which just came in yesterday.

oh well, i’m still glad i’m done with the shopping and that most of my clothes match with the pair of new adidas shoes i bought.

my heart and soul is also aching for the time i’m gonna spend without ally. i’m sending her to the repair centre cos the cooling fan within her doesn’t run most of the time when it should. i should have done so a lot earlier, but hell, i’m a procrastinator. the warranty’s expiring this sunday so ally has to check in by this saturday. amazingly, epicentre will take 5 working days to repair ally. with the fantastic chinese new year timing, the next time i’ll see ally would be approximately 10 days later.

i miss ally already.

to-do list

there are just about ten million things i need to do and i’m too lazy to do them. blogging is one of them but then again, there isn’t much i can blog about. work’s been boring and sufficient to keep me occupied during overtime hours.

i’m glad it’s the weekend cos i went out with the colleagues on thursday and because we are a bunch of busybodies i reached home after midnight. thus explaining our zombified appearances and movements on friday. friday turned out to be a roller coaster day cos i thought i could leave office early after cleaning up my data entry. due to some miraculous events i left the office at 10pm. no complains though, i welcome extra income any time.

despite the strong urge to just stay at home the entire day, i forced myself to hit town in search of the elusive chinese new year clothes. i ended up not buying a lot of clothes i liked, don’t ask me why. all i bought after five hours of shopping was a black blouse for work and a pink namecard holder for my friend.

i am a doomed shopper.

i still have to reply emails, figure out which courses to take next semester, call up the hairdresser, chase after payment for my previous work stints, wrap a present, write a card and send both items to taiwan, buy clothes and shoes, meet up with people i haven’t met for ages, etc. etc.

merry shopping

a pleasant shopping trip is when i find two daniel yam dresses at $88. not $88 for each dress, but $88 for both dresses. i wouldn’t have gone for daniel yam cos everyone wears daniel yam dresses but hell, they were very cheap sale items and i’m damn broke. now i’m just praying that no one wears the same dresses as me on sunday.

maybe i’ll put up the pictures of the dresses some time soon just to make everyone jealous of my accidental finds.

the happiness of finding two cheap dresses was enough to offset the frustration and embarrassment of walking around in flip flops with a broken strap. still i walked two rounds around vivo and went down the escalator before i finally settled for a new pair of heels.

right, that’s enough financial damage done for the time being. gotta start working hard again to earn back those hard-earned money.

a social life!

it’s always good if i don’t blog when i have lots of free time. it means i’ve actually gone out to meet people and that my social life isn’t decomposing.

the past few days were spent….eating, watching the dinosaur-doraemon (yes, the dinosaur is deliberately placed before doraemon) movie, shopping at daiso vivo, shopping at daiso imm, eating and finally, mahjong. i lead a sedentary life but hey, at least i made the effort to get out of jurong west. it’s always good to have kampung buddies like the seahyiyi and mf cos they’ll either travel the whole bloody distance with me or vote for jurong west gatherings.

i officially declare myself as a mahjong player at the beginner level. meaning i have to ask the other players every now and then which “wind” direction and which “number” i am. meaning i exasperate other people by doing a lot of reversal actions cos i’ve thrown the wrong tile, took the wrong tile at the wrong time, etc. etc.. meaning i keep shouting “AH!” instead of “pung!” or “hu!” when i draw a good tile. oh well, at least i’m pretty entertaining, or so i think.

tomorrow’s gonna be an intensive present-searching day. my dad is giving us daily reminders about his birthday and it’s funny how he thinks everyone isn’t getting him anything at all and blah blah blah. now i know why i’m so nonsensical and greedy (in terms of food). i hate getting presents for the male species cos there’s so limited things i can get. utterly boring.

a lot more social activities coming up and no, no photos allowed until my next haircut.