Good and Bad buys to prepare you for cold vacation

Having just returned from Italy, I felt like blogging about my warm clothing and cold weather items which I bought and brought for my trip. When I was there, it was autumn with temperatures ranging 16-26 degree celcius, according to our smart phones.

Warm clothes
Cotton long sleeved turtle neck Tshirts are enough. I bought one from Uniqlo (at a limited offer $9.90 U.P. $14.90). It helps to buy them in dark colours so that they look clean and look less wrinkled.

I also brought along a cashmere woolen sweater, which I didn't need to wear at all, so just bring one of these, in the event it is freezing cold you can wear this outside for days.

A good, but not too hot outer coat is important. This keeps the wind from your arms, maybe neck and sometimes your face and ears if yours comes with a hood. I bought my knee-length polyester jacket from a HANGTEN atrium sale at only $7.50!

Warm leggings
I am not a fan of pants and jeans so I tend to prefer wearing skirts and dressses. I brought along many pairs of stockings ( the thicker variety). I was glad I brought a variety of brands and thickness. One very good one is from UNIQLO, 2 pairs for $14.90. I had always wanted a pair of patterned stocking and here I got them in a pair of different designs. If you don't like it patterned, they have it in solid colours like black, maroon and I think navy.

Cheaper variety costing $2 claiming to be 60 or even 80 denier do not do the job of keeping warm. But from another perspectie will make very good wears in hot and humid Singapore. So price do make a difference.

Heat packs
What is good at $2 are the heatpacks, way cheaper, but does the job well enough for autumn/spring weather. Although the outer cover is not as comfy as those you get from travel coldwear stores, you can always put them in a pouch or pocket. These heat packs kept me much warmer than the overly wrapped up tour-group-mates.

Cashmere Pashmina
Here's a tip I saw online after buying my scarf, no wonder it kept me so warm.

"
Inspect the label on the pashmina. A real pashmina will have a tag sewn on the material. It will say 100 percent cashmere instead of 100 percent pashmina.



Read more: How to Tell a Fake From a Real Pashmina | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_6153930_tell-fake-real-pashmina.html#ixzz1c33lwgep"

I bought mine at MUSTAFA Centre (Farrer Park MRT on NEL)for $19.90. A more expensive choice compared to the $3.90, $7.90,$16.90 ones available that had glued on labels and felt rough and scratchy.

Another good thing was its size, big enough to wrap around even my body on days when I am under-dressed. Cheap ones may end up being half its length and three quarters its length, still good for tying around the neck.

Trip to italy

Buon giorno, ciao bella.

A trip to Italy, a heaven of the arts, had costed me nearly a fifth (~20%) of my annual income. However, I was happy in many ways.

Having a like-minded friend to travel was a pleasure due to company, safety and makes learning (about the destination, culture, architecture etc)more fun. On this trip I had my senior from high school cum orchestra mate, PY, along with me and I am thankful for her patience.

李敖，《只爱一点点》

From my friend's post

不爱那么多，只爱一点点。
别人的爱情像海深，我的爱情浅。

不爱那么多，只爱一点点。
别人的爱情像天长，我的爱情短。
...
不爱那么多，只爱一点点。
别人的眉来又眼去，我只偷看你一眼。

-- 李敖，《只爱一点点》

三字经,礼运

何为人情,喜怒哀惧爱恶欲,七者弗学而能。


日喜怒,日哀惧,
爱恶欲,七情具。

喜怒哀惧爱恶欲是正常行为,怎样处理却十分重要。
善于克制感情的人理智。不加以控制,任凭宣泄,
容易陷于不正当的诱惑而不能解脱。

work zoo

Ever since I started working on this current permanent job in a private institution, I realised that most people are getting their jobs done because they want to get the final outcome.... money money and more money.

There are no friends at work, anyone may just be nice for personal gains and may even trample over you to get a spot higher, it is all about personal glory.

Some elephants brag about how well they trumpet, other dinosaurs threaten to throw their weight around and get you squashed. Yet trailing alongside these physically humongous creatures are always the disgusting lizards, scorpions, worms among other crawlies, small yet equally lethal.

farmstay

This year was special. My maternal extended family were in Malaysia on a sheep/goat farm for the count down. It was exciting to light firecrackers and the more challenging species of fireworks which are banned in Singapore. I do not quite enjoy the smoke though.

I enjoyed the vast land owned by the farm, the goats and sheep and passion fruits straight from the tree. The stay made me want to plan for a longer farmstay in a larger farm with better hosting experience, for instance, Australia.