My Own Shopaholic Experience

Coming from the experience of 'Confessions of A Shopaholic', I went to the opening of the fab new store Uniqlo at the east of our sunny island. The usual shopaholic sensibility tells me to go after the lunch hour and before the office hour ends to avoid the crowds. But BOY! was i wrong! Take a look at my pics below and you can see the crowd that i had to fight thru, just to get outside the store. After all tat elbowing, there was already a long queue snakeing to the outside alley! I tot to myself that must be for some official opening freebies or something. Thereby, i coyly tried to just walk past that going thru the partially closed entrance. Of Cos, by Murphy's Law, I was STOPPED by a tall huge store employee. Telling me i had to get-in-line! Was i 'shocked' to hear this. ;-)
But all was worth it after just a short 10 mins wait in line. The stuff inside is well worth the effort to queue! The Store is bigger than i expected and its about 3 times a normal Giordano or Bossini store. There is accessories/bags, ladies wear, and even kids wear. Everything fits, cos its asian fit. And the Japanese design sensibility is just my cuppa. Cheeky and hip and cutesy. And not overly designed. In other words, minimalist. Also, all the stuff is kinda cheap! hehehe... So i bought their Skinny Fit Tapered Basic Jeans in Green, Polo Shirt and lots of t-shirts. Some of their very nice Celebration Ts is only $20!

Pic of my travels

Top Albums of the Year

Best Albums of 2008 in my book:

1) Seventh Tree -Goldfrapp (Their best yet!)
2) Rockferry -Duffy (Made me cry)
3) I Know You Are Married But I've Got Feelings Too -Martha Wainwright (Best torch songs that i can really relate to!)
4) Viva La Vida -Coldplay (Best rock band ever!)
5) Perfect Symmetry -Keane (Perfect mix of rock and electronica)
6) Hard Candy -Madonna (Not her best, but the Queen of Pop made me notice The Neptunes!)
7) Partie Traumatic -Black Kids (Cutest Retro Rock Ever!)
8) Youth Novels -Lykke Li (Sweetest, Hippest, Most Unconventional songs on this planet!)
9) Renaissance- the Masters Series Part 10 by Dave Seaman (Best Party and Sex music!)
10) Santogold -Santogold (A mix bag of Rock and Trip Hop Gems with R&b roots)

Other Notable mentions are: MGMT's Oracular Spectacular, Adele's 19 and Ting Tings's We Started Nothing. But they were not consistent enough to make it into my Top 10.

At Tiong Bahru coffee bean

Haha! Elmo at coffee bean enjoying the tranquility and carrot cake!

Doping in Beijing Olympics??

It is 2 more days to the opening of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Me, being in the quasi-sports industry, will comment on the state of this competitive sport as a whole. Since when i was studying for my degree at ECU, been acutely aware, and quite critical about competitive sport as a whole. Cos it is not rocket science that a lot of the sport is at a level that is impossible to compete if there is no drugs involved. A big case in point is in weightlifting, swimming, cycling, gymnastics, wrestling, athletics, and so on... all of whom had at some point in their history, had drug-use scandals. The mother of all of them is of cos bodybuilding. But it is not an Olympics sport event. I think the IOC has been smart not to include it. Imagine the can of worms it would open up.

So i am asking, isn't it hypocrisy that the competitive sport people always deny that they have used drugs at some point in their careers. Notwithstanding, that their reputation, career and earnings are at stake if they ever, even remotely, were linked to drug-use. How do they even get to today's competitive level without drug enhancements and substances intervention? I seriously doubt they can still rely on genetic selection, hard training and psychological motivation to win. Let's face it, in a lot of the sport, one look at their top athletes and you will see that they are so muscle bound and beefed up. IT IS NOT HUMANLY POSSIBLE TO GROW THAT KIND OF MUSCLES WITHOUT DRUGS. Yet, when reporters ask them if they have done any drugs, they have the cheek to say 'No...........' Such hypocrites!

Nevermind that a lot of young and impressionable kids lookup to them as role-models. Imagine their heartbreak if their idols were to get caught cheating in the very sport they are in! Is it still in the Olympic spirit that is stated in the Olympic Charter to promote these above mentioned sports that either indirectly or directly promote doping??
Comprehensive info of Doping in Sports-CLICK HERE
Well, i guess its how well you hide and get away with drug-use nowadays rather than through sheer hard work. Still, to be fair, not all sports are in these state of affairs. Sports that require a lot of skill and agility like badminton, table tennis, fencing or shooting will have less impact from drugs-use. Not all athletes prescribe to doping too. But they're usually the losers i guess. And sports do have its place in promoting participation in it to children and teenagers. Which is a good thing for health and fitness standpoints.

Adding on abt Shoduko..

Was having cravings about ice-creams recently and it brings me to Shoduko My all-time fav for ice-cream was the very traditional (real) Strawberry (real) ice cream from Haagen Dazs! Yummy! But sadly, cos watching waistline, can't eat it often. Haven't had it for months already. That's all good and sundry... Now the confession..............
Been eating other restaurant and ice cream parlors' fare!!! Haha!! One of them is Shoduko.. The sesame ice cream there is SHIOK! The sesame flavour is strong but not too overpowering, with lots of real black sesame inside. Dun think i can have enough of it lor... Thinking of it makes me salivate... The other fare i had there was the Cod fish and chips. Very nice fresh succulent cod fish inside, crispy to the brink batter on the outside, so nice!!

So, where were we... Aaah! the ice-cream from other places like Island Creamery is not too bad. Tried their novelty flavours like Teh Tarik and Chendol. Umasaki's sesame offering is quite good too. Gelatissimo's pina colada and chilli choc is not bad. The Daily Scoops at Sunset way is great with all their novelty flavours too. Like Brandied Figs & Honey, SoBerry Cheez, Lime & Black Pepper, Utterly Avocado and Lychee Martini! Can't take it anymore... gotta go get some... haha..