Checking in from Toronto...

It's been 5 days into our trip! After an exhausting 23 hour flight from Singapore to JFK in New York with 2 transits in Narita (Tokyo), and Washington, here's a quick re-cap...

First stop:
New York Day Tour - The land tour group picked us up and we began a day tour in The Big Apple after a night's stay in New Jersey. The stops were quite well planned, we visited the Empire State building, Ground Zero, Wall Street, the Statue of Liberty, and Times Square.

Second day:
Headed up to Philadelphia. Met up with Jason in his new apartment in Philly. He's settling in well, and all's good! I love his new neighbourhood! Well, with Bath and Body Works, Steve Madden and the works literally at his doorstep - how can anyone complain! :) Saw the Hall of Independence and the Liberty Bell...and had the most amazing Cheese Steaks! Really yummy!

Third day:
Moving onto Washington D.C. Stopped by the museums, the memorials (Jefferson memorial and Lincoln memorial - a personal fav - etc), and not to mention, the White House. We squeezed in time to pop by H&M, putting the 20% discount voucher to excellent use! (And, I absolutely love H&M after this visit to the store in the US, it beats the outlet in Hong Kong anytime!)
Leaving Washington, we headed north to visit Hershey Chocolate World via Harrisburg. In the afternoon, we stopped by Corning Glass Center & Museum. After that, we moved onto pass the Canadian customs to arrive at the Niagara Falls by the evening. Enjoying the night view of the illuminated American Niagara Falls - it was breathtaking.

Day four:
We re-visited the Niagara Falls this morning to view the Falls in the daylight. Very magnificant! We then saw the Skylon Tower and after lunch, it was down to my personal highlight of the tour - the Maid of the Mist cruise at the bottom of the Falls! A real treat and any photographers' dream! Moving on from the Niagara Falls, we have now arrived at Toronto - having just seen the Financial District of Toronto (which is expectedly all 'dead' on a Sunday) and also the tallest tower in the world - the CN Tower (Canadian National Tower) - it's now back at the hotel for a night before moving onto Montreal tomorrow morning!

Well, maybe it's been a not too brief summary re-cap - but all's good - and I'm really happy we decided to come on this trip - away from work for us both - away from the banks - I still can't help but read Bloomberg every now and then when I manage to get any Internet access at the hotels, yet I'm loving every minute of the trip!

We're still just at the first leg of the trip before turning back to New York, where we've extended our stay in New York for 3 days, before leaving to Disney World in Orlando, and then it's off to Vegas!

Happy Memorial Weekend in the US! :) Have a good week!

Off off and away

Passport - check
E-ticket - check
Clothes - check
Ca$h - check

Just finished packing, and I must say, last minute stuff just keep cropping up!

O well...in 5 hours' time, I'm off to The Big Apple! A breath of fresh air - can hardly wait...

Yellow cabs, Empire State, The Met, Broadway, New York, New York!!

Ciao! :)


"Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable." - Coco Chanel

la vie est trop courte pour s'habiller triste

As the Parisiennes say, "life is too short to dress boring". Indeed. What more can I say? This marked the "beginning" of a long love affair which commenced more than a decade ago.

I can't speak for anyone else, on my own I have never really been a clothes girl, which translates to say that I would not spend my last shopping d$llar on a dress. A shoes girl? Perhaps, but it is probably not going to be difficult for anyone to guess that my ultimate indulgence lies with my handbags.

Over a decade (or perhaps even more) my handbags have built up into a tiny fortune. R calls me "the collector of beautiful things" - and it is not unusual to see just why. I suppose I am not proud of my spending legacy, and to set the record straight, personally I believe it OKAY to be in debt for a mortgage (but not a car!)...However, I would never be in debt for a pair of Manolo's or a Kelly, goodness, talk about getting your priorities wrong. I buy something luxurious (and often quite unnecessary) with the money that is left over from investments and everything else, the money that I could afford to miss/lose/waste. For instance, if I get double pay at first quarter earnings announcement, then....WOW, yes, I would splash out into something gorgeous. And with this, a gentle reminder again that I have to remain employed or it would mean the end of my Chanel love affair.

I learned over time I have grown to love what I buy. My paintings, coats, shoes and bags live their lives with, grow on and grow old with me. It might be hard to fanthom but I've also grown more comfortable in my own skin and with time, have begun to carve out for myself my own tastes, and style. R also started showing me how to really take care of clothes. He can fold, stack, organize like crazy - inevitably makes me wonder if he was a Parisienne woman in his previous lifetime ha! Just like art. Stepping into the largest Fendi boutique in Rome made me go "wow" and it wasn't simply because the Fendi handbags were amazing - but the boutique looked like an amazing museum showcasing some of the designer's best creations. I left empty handed but so very much inspired such that even over coffee after, I was still smiling thinking back on some of the amazing pieces I saw at Fendi. Priceless!

And this was the exact feeling I had when I saw the 2 handbags winking at me...

The YSL mombasa (Limited Edition, Tom Ford era) which I acquired second-hand, fresh back from the cleaners - with the current season V-mail pouch...


And...look what the mailman brought me from London!

Yes, Chanel teaser....leading up to the gorgeous Chanel Timeless Classic in lambskin with Gold Hardware...

My heart stops. Once again, I am reminded of what I'm working for...it's the start of a long love affair...

Will update again from NY if I manage to find the Apple store...Salut!

"Since everything is in our heads, we had better not lose them." - Coco Chanel

what a girl needs

After a long hiatus, I am finally back writing. It is interesting how things work in life. When you least expect to find something, you almost always do. When you really want to find something, it eludes you. Odd.

Here I am, wishing, writing, planning around for our trip to the US, (which unbelievably is in 2 weeks!) and was just window shopping around the American brands in town when I started to feel almost as though I'd never find anything that would make me go "wow". And then that sprung into a entire chain of madness. Well, I call it madness.

If buying 1 bag and 1 pouch weren't crazy enough as it were. I've bought my dream Chanel from London. All in a week.

So there :) Enough bags for the year.

There's so much coming up - it's Mothers' Day this weekend, and we've got a BBQ at Yappy's lovely place the weekend after...More pics just before I leave for our "New York - Orlando - Las Vegas" trip. Promise!