Valen’s Vanity Square

Car, car, car.

We still have not decided which vehicle to buy. Brand T vs brand H, first-hand vs second-hand, MPV vs SUV vs sedan… the choice is so difficult to make! Well, difficult for hubby to make, that is. Also, the budget to spend remains to be determined.

Friend keeps recommending to get a recond car and even took the time to calculate the price comparison between new vs second-hand vs recond car, and explain to me the rationale and good reasons of buying a Japan-imported recond car.

Friend is a supporter of SUV, particularly if it comes to a family car, which will be a nice car to bring the whole family out to a beach, for picnic, or even have a Golden Retriever at the back seat!

Luckily he didn’t suggest to me about attaching a trailer hitch to the car, which I know is something that he would like to have, so that he could one day (in his dreams, perhaps) drive his boat to the beach and take the boat out to the sea.

I don’t think we will ever consider that, haha! For us, practical and economical will be the foremost factors to consider.

Oh well, looks like we will have to continue our search for our ‘ideal’ car….

Gals, are you looking forward to February? Hehe.

In the coming weeks, would you ‘unintentionally’ or sort of casually passed by the jewelry shop selling diamond earrings for women when you go shopping with your bf or husband? Haha!

I might…

While I won’t be looking at earrings since I don’t have pierced ears, I might just walk pass displays of diamond rings or diamond pendants more often while window shopping with hubby.

I didn’t get any diamond-ish thing on our anniversary. Can I wish for something with a bit of bling on Valentine’s day?

I figure that I need something shiny to adorn my rather bare neck and lit up my presence, haha.

Hot, hot, hot. Then rain, rain, rain. Then hot again. the weather has been pretty unpredictable during this CNY period!

No wonder so many people got sick just right before CNY, and I myself had nearly become one of the victims. Luckily the sore throat didn’t get worse, my headache finally subsided after it lingered around for 3 days!

Still, the scorching hot weather - as I’m typing this - makes me just want to stay home and chill out with a glass of cold beer and some CNY TV programmes. But this is not possible, as hubby and I have to join my MIL’s yearly CNY ‘excursion’ to the relatives’ house.

Thank goodness there is such a thing as iPhone, hehe, so that I can entertain myself with it when I’m bored, either FB-ing or playing Where’s My Water or Reversi, while sitting with a group of elderly people that I can’t communicate with. Haha!

It would have been better if I have one of those Reading Glasses Sunglasses, so that I could even start to entertain myself in the car on the way there. You see, I can’t really talk a lot (and about anything) with my husband when my parents in law are in the same car with us, can I?

Finally, I should be able to conclude my CNY shopping episode. Did the last bit of shopping after work today, though the stuffs are meant for relatives and not myself.

And I forego shoes and handbags this year. I really don’t have the energy (and money) to shop anymore, although I did wish to get myself some accessories, even if it’s just one of those simple steel pendants.

May be I can check out The mini bazaar in the shopping mall next to my office building. The stalls - selling clothes, shoes, accessories, imitation branded handbags etc - usually only open on Fridays and weekends, but this week they are running business for one week due to CNY.

Just hope that I will have time to visit the stalls during lunch time tomorrow. There’s so much at work to get done before I can enjoy my one-week break. Stressed!

A friend has given some recommendations on cars to buy, and has been so kind to point me to different resources that provide useful info that could give us a clearer picture of which car suits ouris worth buying.

The suggestions are good, and his tastes are high. He also shares some of the cars that he likes and is on his to-buy list. Well, he can afford to put those car models into his list; for us, we would also probably end up buying those models, but the cars would be the Nitro Remote Control Cars . Haha!

I know, buying a car is a big decision. One needs to make sure the vehicle will perform up to his or her expectation, has endurance, and present with the least problems possible. Especially when it is a second-hand car!

Really appreciate his enthusiastic sharing. Although I won’t be reading those information myself (because I’m so not a car person, :P), I will get hubby to do his homework.

After one whole week of sunny, warm weather, it rained heavily yesterday evening. What a relief, coz hot weather gets me all sweaty and that causes rashes on my back.

And now, just hours before bedtime, it has started to rain again. With the cool weather and the air-conditioner running, looks like tonight I’m going to sleep well!

Yes, the air-cond is always switched on even if it’s on a rainy night, because it’s no longer cold after working hard for us for three years, and we have not given it a proper servicing and cleaning.

The air-conditioning system at my office is totally the opposite. It’s like I walked into winter every day! Brrrrrr~ Makes me feel like I want to get a columbia jacket!

But I should be careful. As frequent, sudden change of environment temperature usually makes one fall sick easily too. And I don’t want to fall sick just before CNY. That would be a super bummer, wouldn’t it?

Different people face different types of problems. And to help them overcome those problems or manage some issues, there are various types of products and self-help programmes out there.

I’ve heard of asset management, anger management, property management, time management, stress management, and even cord management to help you get those messy cables and cords organized!

But I hope there would be some sort of multitasking management programme that could teach me how to get 1,001 things done in less than 2 weeks! :p

People always say “live life to the fullest!”, well, my life is already so full with deadlines and chores and appointments and personal goals that I don’t know how to make it fuller than it already is.

Is that good or bad?

Perhaps the first thing I need would be a sleep management programme–so that I could learn to go to bed on time and not staying up after midnight and surfing the Internet. Haha!

The decorations and ambiance in the shopping malls changed very quickly, as soon as Christmas was over. It’s still red all over, but now full of oriental flavors - Chinese blossoms, dragons, red lanterns, and festive CNY songs being played over and over again.

And it’s also now that Chinese are going to spend a lot on foods and gifts for family, relative and friends, and of course on new outfits to be worn during the first few days of CNY.

It is a joyous and busy period for all of us. But for those who are struggling to even make a comfortable living, this can be a rather ‘painful’ time.

I’m in ‘pain’ too! Because I don’t have my year-end bonus. Partly because I have not worked one full year with the company, and partly because, I think, the company has not done well last year.

With no ’sufficient’ budget to spend this year, I am not really in the mood for serious shopping for myself. Have to even cross-out pedicure/manicure from the list.

It would be nice though if someone could give me boutique shopping vouchers or bath & body works coupons, then at least I could still shop and spend for the same number of things but with less money, hehe.

Well, dream on. Forget about vouchers and coupons. I have more important things to worry at this moment. There is an enormous task waiting for me to accomplish in the following 2 weeks — to get the house all clean and tidy to welcome this coming festive season!

Started cleaning up the house in preparation for CNY, but I’m not really in the mood for heavy duty cleaning yet, so am just doing it bit by bit, little by little.

Started off by clearing the clutter on the coffee table. Gosh, there were magazines, newspapers, coasters, brochures and catalogs from banks, utility bills, etc. These things tend to pile up easily, as we always so conveniently put them on the table after browsing, and then forget about sorting and putting them at where they should belong.

Magazine and catalogs, especially those that have photos of watches, whether they are a Tissot watch, a citizen watch, or a Seiko watch, usually remain on the coffee table longer than the other stuffs, as hubby likes to browse these materials several times. If these materials are left there for a week, they end up stayed put on the table for months!

Well, it’s not only him, the same goes for my fashion magazines, handbag and shoes catalogs, hehe.

And, the mess-zone is not limited to just the coffee table, hehe. I still have a computer desk and two other small desks upstairs to de-clutter. Books, magazines, papers… they are just about everywhere in this house!