Wow, Vox is finally working...
I finally succumbed to those shoes from Tangs during their post Christmas sale
As you can see, I'm still not over my red patent leather craze. However, sanity prevailed and I got these ballet flats in black instead (even though it was also available in a gorgeous candy red). They have a cute diamante buckle on the strap. Finally I have a pair of flat shoes for work.
I finally bought my phone but learnt a lesson to never, ever buy a phone (especially an expensive one) under the influence of flu medication. The phone looked fine at the shop but when I got home, I realized that in camera mode, there is a stuck red pixel just to the left of the screen. Arrgh!!! Don't know how I could have possibly missed it but I'm blaming the meds.
I thought it was the camera lens but the pictures were fine, showing no sign of the stuck pixel so possibly it's a software bug. Decided it didn't bother me so much that I would take it back to the service centre so I'll just live with it. Fortunately, no sign of any such problem on any other phone function.
Ok, after all this I don't think I can afford any shopping until the end of next year. Happy New Year everyone!
At Saresha's request....
I really, really wanted a gorgeous pair that wasn't on sale but sanity prevailed... so far.
Ok, since I haven't posted for so long and haven't gotten around to rescuing my Turkey photos... this is one of my fave Youtube videos and I love the song as well.
This is the website I buy from. You can actually buy the codes off ebay as well but I find this less of a hassle than bidding and following an auction.
They never seem to have the lower value cards in stock but I've added them to my MSN contacts and just message them. Sometimes they do have the codes in stock but just don't have the time to put them up before they are all gone.
Service is fast and reliable, I've bought from them at least 6 times already (if not more) and no problems at all.
The only part that is slightly tricky is opening an iTunes account that will let you purchase from the US iTunes site. They do give very detailed information (see "Instructions" at the top of their page) or you can actually ask them to set up the account on your behalf (this is new) then you just log in and change the password. They even tell you what US states don't charge sales tax on itune purchases and provide links to US addresses for you to use when you set up an account.
Songs from itunes are $0.99 and I've recently gotten hooked on TV shows which are usually $1.99 (primetime shows like House, Grey's Anatomy are $2.99).
For music, I usually copy the songs onto a CD then rip them back into mp3 files which will play on my mp4 player. Still haven't figured out what to do about the TV shows yet though, may have to invest in software to remove the DRM & reformat it so I can use them on my portable player.
My one weekend away, I took a bus to Mui Ne. All I can say is that this is waay better than Phuket since Mui Ne is still not overwhelmed with tourists and the hawkers on the beach don't hassle you at all. There was a good range of resorts on the beach and the coach from Sinh Cafe was cheap and convenient. My only regret is that I only stayed 2 days.
I really miss Vietnamese food and the coffee! If you buy fruit in season from the streets or the markets, it was always sweet and fresh. I loved the dragonfruit there, it was really sweet and seriously oversized. On occasion, one dragonfruit was enough for dinner.
On the other hand, the supermarkets were abysmal. I don't know if it was because I was staying in the middle of town so the supermarkets & mini marts didn't get regular deliveries but managing to buy something you'd planned to buy is really like striking lottery. I was stalking the mini mart near my apartment on a daily basis for over 2 weeks trying to buy a refill for my (locally made) mosquito repellent, don't think they've actually got any kind of a replenishment or just in time system.
Other than pho, I really loved bun thit nuong. This is a cold dish of rice noodles (kind of like chor bee hoon), grilled pork and bean sprouts served with a doctored sauce consisting mainly of fish sauce. Yum! Does anyone know if this is available anywhere in Singapore?
Other than that, my other favorite was Banh Mi. S$0.55 got me a fresh (depending on when I bought it) french style bread stuffed with slices of ham, pate, pickles and herbs. My Vietnamese colleagues were puzzled that I could eat this for lunch, to them this was a snack or breakfast.
This one below is the upmarket version, it comes in a plastic bag with a toothpick. There is a lady banh mi seller around the corner from my apartment just used to wrap hers up in a page torn from a magazine... more environmentally friendly and something for locals to read while they are eating ;)
From a local coffee shop behind the Ben Thanh market:
The wires and cables drive me crazy. The day someone figures out a universal power cable, I'll be first in line to buy it
I think all my wires, cables, adaptors, etc came up to nearly 5 kg :P
My CNY shopping this evening
