A quick trip to KL

Last year, when I was in KL, my sisters and I were thinking of giving my parents a ticket to India for my Dad's 60th birthday. However, my Dad is not much of a traveler - he would rather sit on the couch and read the newspapers :) Though his new found best friend is actually his grand daughter - my cute little niece - and I think he'd rather play with her than go anywhere else. She has my Dad wrapped around her little finger so much so that sometimes when we are chatting on MSN he will say something like "The small one wants to go outside, chat with you later". That really steamrolled my ego ;)

Since the India trip was off, I figured I'd go back to KL for a week and spend some time with Dad.

Gosh, traveling for about 20 hours on the way there and 23 hours on the way back in just 8 days really takes its toll on your body. I was pretty jet lagged back there and I could tell that I was not completely _there_. It was this strange feeling where your tummy doesn't know if it should be hungry or not, and you really feel very off because of the change in weather (it was a snowy -9 C when I left Oslo last Wednesday) and surrounding. I did something really strange on my Oslo-Frankfurt flight - I left the novel I was reading on the seat and totally forgot about it. That is so unlike me... I've been traveling via flight since the age of 19 and I have never left anything on the flight :(

Also, I didn't really feel like shopping. Now that makes me worry because I am always up for shopping especially in KL because everything is half the price, compared to Oslo.

I did shop a little bit - a few pairs of shoes, 2 cardigans, a jacket for Spring, some makeup, etc. I also got a winter coat and Elizabeth Arden's Mediterranean perfume from Mom as a gift and some nice jewelry from my sisters.

We threw Dad a small birthday high-tea at a nice, simple hotel. It seemed like he had a good time :)

Overall the trip was definitely worth it. Now I just have to get back to saving money mode...and try to save to go back to KL again, maybe end of this year. Though I am not 100% sure if it will be possible as I am working in a new job now and my number of paid days off is rather small. But, there's always room for surprises. Who knows? I might just be able to visit KL again this year.

I Bully My Friends

It's kind of true. Whenever I have friends traveling, etc, I sometimes bully them and ask them to buy me stuff.

This is actually due to the fact that the variety here isn't too good. Then again, it's not fair to expect too much from a country with approximately 5 million people. I like living here, but I wish I had more variety sometimes. Also the prices here are quite expensive because of people's buying power. For example, 20 USD is 120 NOK. 120 NOK is kind of like how much you'd pay for a meal at McDonald's :)

But, in the USA, 20 USD will actually give you a huge bottle of Philosophy Chocolate Fudge Cake shower gel (and 4 USD change). Ahh, Philosophy - another brand that is not available here.

So, whenever some of my friends travel, I kind of make small requests like KitKat chocolate (was not available in Oslo until six months ago), Clinique Deep Comfort Body Butter (it's so much cheaper in London/Germany/USA duty free) etc. At this point, I should probably say that Clinique's body butter keeps my skin alive in the harsh Norwegian winters. It really really helps to prevent dry skin. The sad part about winter is that it really does a number on your body if you are not used to it. It takes awhile to get used to it as well. Then just when you think you are a bit more comfortable, walking in the cold swathed in a thick scarf and winter boots, not to mention beyond recognition in your huge jacket - the temperature drops even more and you are back to feeling cold and stiff again. But, I digress.

Yesterday, S came back from the USA with a big bag from Sephora for me :) I asked him to get:

1. Philosophy Chocolate Fudge Cake shower gel
2. Philosophy Birthday Vanilla Cake shower gel
3. Rosebud's Three Lavish Layers of Lip Balm (a tin containing all three flavours - the original rosebud, minted rose lip balm and strawberry lipbalm)
4. Sephora by O.P.I. Nail polish (O.P.I is another brand you can't get here, and it was just 50 NOKs a colour, so I had to ask for them). Which colours you ask? Nonfat Soy Half Caff, Call Your Mother, What's a Tire Jack?, and Ocean Love Potion

So that was the haul. I've never been a person who actually painted my fingernails often let alone used any hand cream, etc... but lately I feel like doing that. I feel like being a bit more particular and putting in a bit more effort into taking care of my hands because as a Technical Writer people tend to see your hands often and it would be nice to have properly trimmed fingernails and soft, smooth hands - I'm getting vain :)

Skin Care Update

So it's been about 8 days since I started using Clinique's skin care range. I have skin Type 2 it seems. Honestly I am not 100% sure if it is working because I am still getting pimples, but they seem to be healing a bit better and overall my skin looks slightly smoother, less oily (but with dry spots on my nose - this could be winter related) but definitely not irritated. I've been asked to try it out for 4 weeks. If it does not work, your skin will get red and itchy. So far, no redness or itchiness - fingers crossed - so I'll keep using it to see what happens. I haven't bought any full sized bottles actually, just the small starter pack. Let's see what happens in my quest for better skin.

* Pictures borrowed from Sephora

Focus

I'm feeling all over the place today - yet I'm getting things done. It's a very weird mood/feeling. I've got the latest Bollywood music blasting on my earphones and I'm feeling quite optimistic and happy. At the same time, I can't seem to focus on finishing up my project for work. I'm standing in front of my screen at work, admiring my image manipulation skills instead of moving on to finish the other parts of the document.

I guess, sometimes, we do have to stop and smell the roses...even if it's just a small drawing.

(I know, since when was _I_ that optimistic? Must have something to do with a friend bringing a bag of goodies from Sephora on his way back from Boston this Friday.)

Turning old in Style

Last year, I came up with this idea of traveling for my birthday. I figured it would be a fun thing to do to help ease the "pain" of growing older.

For this year...it was a tough decision. I suddenly have this itch to travel more and had to choose between Reykjyavik, Paris, Barcelona, Venice, Dublin, Scotland and Stockholm.

Venice won and I just booked my flight tickets yesterday. Looking forward to it... only 57 days to go :)

P/s - I'd love to revamp my blog a little but I'm not sure how much effort + time it will require...