Getting old = looking older?

Lately I have noticed a few fine lines around my eyes, on my forehead and also some of the laugh lines around my mouth are getting deeper. I was so shocked when I spotted them and I shouted a big and angry "What the hell? How did that happen?" at myself in the mirror. And then it hit me - I am getting bloody older. Yes, this is the sad truth. I am telling you I don't like the fact that I can tell by looking at my face that I am getting older. So far, I don't have any issues of getting older in terms of the number of the candles on my birthday cake. (In fact, I love cake a lot, oh sorry that is beside the point.) It is just a number, right? Maybe ask me again when the number of the candles will be 30. 


So the number may not be an issue, I don't like wrinkles and fine lines - that's an issue. Anyone who says that she or he does not have any problem with ageing and getting wrinkles, I think you are lying. Or maybe can I have some of your secret mantra? I read the other day that Julia Roberts doesn't do Botox (good on you, girl) because she thinks "your face tells the story of your life". Her statement sounds very charming and philosophical. Hang on, on a second thought, does this mean if you have a lot of wrinkles and lines, you had a bloody hard life whereas no wrinkles and no saggy skin mean you cruised easily through your life? Maybe we should look at Ms Paris Hilton and see if she has any wrinkles. Her life must be easy, right? Oh I forget those arrests and jail time. 


So after the shocking realisation that my skin is my ageing, I jumped in a depressed state of mind on the net and researched some anti-ageing products. I figured I can still prevent a more severe damage and I found it. I raced to the nearest Sephora and bought Estee Lauder's serums Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex for the face and eyes. It promises to deliver a "continuously repair the appearance of past damage, prevent future damage and deliver high levels of hydration". Exactly what I wanted and also needed. 


I can happily say - I am loving this stuff. I only have been using it for 3 weeks so far and it smoothened out some of the lines I detected recently. These two little serums are a great addition to my Clinique 3 step skin care plus their Superdefense Moisturizer and Super Rescue Antioxidant night creme. 


I have a slightly better feeling about these lines now but still I don't like ageing. Do you?

Shopping Success

This blog gets suddenly a lot of attention after being left unwritten for almost 2 weeks. I guess I have make up to it and give it some extra attention. Not only is this the third post in 2 days, no, it also got a little make over. I like to mix up my daily make up so why shouldn't get "Glossy Daily Adventures" a little make up change. What do you think? 


So I am back from my little trip to Orchard Rd. Funny enough, I was so excited about going shopping and then as soon as I entered my favorite shopping centre ION, I almost felt like going home again. As if someone planted a thought in my head telling me shopping isn't such a good idea today and that I should rather go back home. Hubby, was that you? Were you worried about our credit card bill? 


Let me tell you, of course I didn't go home. I pull out my little shopping list and made my way to the shops. First stop, TopShop. Can someone please explain me what is so great about TopShop? It seems like a bad version of Sportsgirl to me. Next stop, Zara: Unexpected, I found some cute shoes, brogues, there. Brogues were on my little shopping list and I was surprised to find them in Zara. I saw some in Steve Madden and Topshop, they looked too chunky. So, one thing off the list. 


More browsing through Bobby Brown, MAC, Warehouse, Witchery, Mango and Sephora to the next stop: Levi's. I wrote this morning that I wanted to check out the new Curve ID jeans (also on my little shopping list). The Curve ID jeans are Levi's latest jeans. They are advertised with the slogan "It is about shape not size". Basically, Levi's offers different shaped jeans for different body shapes. Sounds like a good idea to me because not everyone has 0% body fat and is a AUS size 6. Before I was able to try on any jeans, the retail assistant measured my waist and hips and wrapped another string around me to determine which shape I am. Proudly, she announced I am a "Bold ID" and went off and got me a number of different cuts like skinny, straight etc of the Bold ID jeans. But here is the catch, there are still sizes. So you won't get around the size issue. And let me tell, it is not much fun trying on jeans when you are surrounded by super skinny Asian ladies who can easily squeeze into a size 24.  


So I went quickly back into my change room, took a few deep breathes, looked in the mirror and told myself that I look awesome. Hey, that really worked - I snapped out of it and walked out with two new pair of skinny jeans plus another $40 voucher. Nice, I think I will buy the hubby a new pair of jeans next week. 


Quick stop for lunch, next stop Aldo: my favorite shoe shop, and I ended up buying two more pair of shoes there. After that I figured that was enough shopping for one day. I don't want to give my hubby a heart attack when he sees our bank balance. 


And here are my new shoes... The brogues and boots will be very handy for Germany. 

Shopping day

Now that my uni assignment is filed, I have a whole free day ahead of me today. Yes, I have been looking so much forward to today. And what does a girl do on a free day? Yes shopping! I am going to put my most comfy pair of shoes on (after I wrote this post) and then I will hit the shops. My destination: Orchard Rd. I mentioned yesterday that I will be flying to Germany in a few weeks, so I need some autumn clothes but I also will check out the new Curve ID jeans from Levi and jackets, pants and shoes for work. You heard correctly, I said work? Yep, going back to work in November. Between that and flying to Germany, I think I have enough reasons to shop, don't you think so? I will report back.  

The secret to happiness?

Last Sunday, I was in my favorite book store here in Singapore while the hubby was next door studying golf clubs. I was browsing through the latest books, not that I actually need any new books, I have about 20 books here which are waiting for me. Suddenly my eyes were drawn to this book. There he was, a Jesse doggy. I had to buy this book straight away. I didn't even look what the book is about. I just couldn't take my eyes over the cover. Silly by me, but you have to credit the marketing strategy. Put a cute dog on the cover. 


I haven't started the book yet, but God, I miss my little doggy Jesse. Yes, and I will see him in about 7 weeks again. 7 weeks and then we will be back in Australia, just in time for the Aussie summer. I am so excited that we are going back home. That is my secret of happiness - knowing that we are going home and giving Jesse a cuddle soon. 


But before it is time to pack our few things in Singapore, we have some interesting trips coming up. We will fly to Penang in Malaysia for 3 days next Friday. The hubby was born and lived for 2 years there. It will be interesting to see where he spent the first 2 years of his life, not that he actually can remember it. I will also fly to Germany for about 2 weeks at the end of September. I am looking forward to spending some time with my family and see a few old friends that I haven't seen in years. Keep your fingers crossed that the German autumn will show some mercy and won't be too cold and wet. After months of sun and 30 degrees every day, that would be very tough for me. Hang on, that means I have to stock up my wardrobe with autumn clothes, doesn't it? Perfect, because the autumn fashion is now out in Singapore. I think I might check out Orchard Rd tomorrow. 


Yes, there is one more overseas trip before flying back home. We are going to Shanghai for 4 days. The hubby is brave and took on the challenge to play Aussie footy for Japan in the AFL Asia cup. Our lovely friends from Tokyo will fly over too. So while the boys play their footy, we ladies will have to check out the shops. Any suggestions?


Lots of travelling this year. By the end of this year, I will have seen 9 countries. 9 is such an uneven number. 10 sounds way better. How do I get to the 10th country? Anyhow, I have to go, my vegetable lasagna is finished and smells delicious. 

I finally managed to read "Shantaram" and this is what I thought...

I think I had "Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts in my bookshelf for more than year now. I saw everywhere that this book is amazing and a brilliant read. Even Johnny Deep have bought the film rights to the book and will star in the movie adaption. But why did it take me so long to read? I was simply intimidated by the size of this book with its 930 pages, despite the very interesting the story line which is largely based on the author's own life. Only most of the characters are fiction.


In a nutshell, Lin escapes from an Australian prison and fled to Mumbai where he lived in the slums, established a free-medical clinic and later on got involved with the Mumbai mafia and worked as a counterfeiter, smuggler and gunrunner.


Here are the good bits:
The book starts when Lin arrives in Mumbai so I didn't have any trouble getting into the book which was my biggest worry at the start. It also kept me interested but I never had this "I can't put it down feeling" about it. I enjoyed reading about the author's experience of the poorest parts of Mumbai and his colourful description of Mumbai. It was like he took me on a journey through the real Mumbai. I was amazed by how much the author loves Mumbai and India and he does a great job in showing his respect to India. Roberts described the characters very well and detailed. I had a clear pictures of the characters in my head. In particular, how all Indians wiggle with their head. 


Not so good bits: Quite often I was confused by the number of similar names: Khader, Khaled, Abdul, Kavita, Modena, Maurizio. All those names appeared to be up come usually in the same context so it was a little hard to keep them apart.  
In some parts the book was way too philosophical. I found myself skipping over the pages when a philosophical discussion came up. The book is packed with many events like death, fights, betrayals etc. but it appeared that those events all happened at the same time or on the same day - I didn't like that. I felt like the author did not know how to put these individual events separately into the story. Towards the end of the book, Roberts tries to show that everything which happened to him in Mumbai happened for a reason and was no coincidence. That felt like reading a crime book where you find out at the end who the killer is.


Over all, I can recommend to everyone reading "Shantaram". It is a colourful and enjoyable read. 
Roberts is currently working on a sequel and rumour has it that the shooting for the movie will start in September/October this year. 


My rating 4/5 

Sick of sick looking, size 0 models

I enjoyed a latte and a glossy magazine in the sun this afternoon. As I was flicking through the September issue of that magazine to be inspired by the new trends, I noticed I became more and more annoyed, almost pissed off. It wasn't because I disapprove the latest trends like clogs or leather t-shirts or the loud conversation of a crowd of Chinese tourists next to me. 

No, all these photos of all those stick-thin, size 0, unhappy looking, teenage catwalk models really pissed me off. Seriously, who does still think that those sick and unhappy looking models will make us women want to buy that dress? I don't even think that the clothes look good on them nor do I envy these models for their body. I envy Beyonce, the Kardashian's sisters and J.Lo for their confidence and welcome their healthy approach to their bodies. These ladies can almost pull off everything and they are not a size 0 or 2. 

Can the fashion world please wake up and show healthy and happy looking, not size 0 models? I almost feel sorry for these models as it cannot be healthy to maintain a size 0 figure. All these reports about deaths of models due to anorexia clearly prove that. 

Over the last couple of years, a number of designers have started to work with "plus-size" models, but is a size 12-14 woman really a plus size? The average Australian woman is a size 14, so it is the UK and the German average size is 40 (size 12). Does this mean that the majority of all women around the world are a "plus-size". I don't think so. 

Look at Crystal Renn (former size 0, anorexic model, now successful "plus size" model). She looks great and normal just like an average woman you would see on the street. I want to see more of women like Crystal on the catwalk and in magazines. 

Karl Lagerfeld who is a vehement defender of size 0 models said famously that "no one wants to see a big women" . Looking at the photo below - here Crystal walked for Chanel spring 2011 collection.  Can I assume that Crystal is not a big woman then, Mr. Lagerfeld?

Spotted: A cafe for great Western breakfast - Finally

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I love to have a late and long breakfast in a nice and comfy cafe - that's the perfect start of a new day (after a quick morning run). We have tried a number of cafes here in Singapore, but so far none were able to meet "our standards" which aren't really high, I think. Either we got served brioche with a savoury dish such as poached eggs (sweet and savoury - I don't like it) or it had re-heated frozen spinach from the supermarket or you can't actually get an eggs dish unless you like eggs benedict.


The search is over - we finally found a cafe which serves a good Western breakfast, exactly how we like it. Poached eggs with spinach (no frozen, re-heated spinach), mushrooms and roasted tomatoes plus the best coffee I had in a while, since I moved to Singapore, to be exact. 


The cafe is called "Boomarang" (no there is no typo in that word) and, surprise, its an Aussie cafe, where even most of the waiters are Aussies. It is located at Robertson Quay which is about a 30 minute walk from our apartment, or $7 cab fare. Most of the tables are outside but undercover. They also have an impressive wine fridge but not that we had wine for brekkie. 
We walked to and from the restaurant yesterday which was a nice walk along the river and a good way to get the steps up. 


I definitely want to go back there again. Maybe even this weekend, try the pancakes or the omelette and have another of those great coffees.