Spare cash?

Does any of this catch your fancy?

If you are interested in getting any of the above pieces, do email your preferances to deesecretcloset@yahoo.com.

There are many other items on sale. Check out deesecretcloset.multiply.com for a variety of choices!

AND, all prices are inclusive of normal local postage! Of course, we can make arrangements for registered mails as well.

Happy browsing and hopefully, something catches your eyes! :)

The above was taken during Athirah's 2nd Birthday Celebration.

I adore the innocence, the pure happiness on their faces. So cute, so adorable!!! This will always bring a smile on my fat  face.

As we grow older, birthdays just mean getting closer to our Maker.. well, on a more positive note, it means getting wiser.

Which is why I love to observe little kids in any form of celebration. All they know is to be happy and enjoy that moment. Priceless.

Some other photos taken on that day

Birthday Gal

I think this is the first time

I see her in a non-pink outfit.

 She loves pink.

The Boyfriend... haha...

Mustaqim is actually Athirah's nephew!

Look at Montel's eager face.... Totally aiming the candles!

Hmmm.... Whose birthday is it, ha?

Family shot. Sadly, grandpa's looking down.

Time to open the presents!!!
Again, we see the 'kay-poh' boy there....  :P

We got her these! Personally, I adore the rompers :)

It is never too early to start .... :)

Happy Birthday, my dear Athirah . May you grow up to be someone useful and full of knowledge. Be happy always and stay cute!

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was doing my daily routine of reading news online at straitstimes.com.... yeah , somehow I cannot really find the time to indulge in actual newspaper reading so I often resort to this to catch up on the latest news.

Did you guys read about the person who died because he was eaten by maggots???

Disgusting !

The poor man was paralysed and his partner slept on the same bed each night, without washing him regularly. OMG!!! Super disgusting lah...

Read the details:

Man eaten to death by maggots

VIENNA (Austria) - A PARALYSED Austrian man was eaten to death by maggots in his bed while his partner slept beside him, police said on Wednesday. 

The 61-year-old retiree died in an ambulance on his way to hospital in Vienna on Tuesday with the maggots having partly devoured his back. 

Paramedics notified police after discovering the shocking state of hygiene in the man's home, and his 34-year-old partner was questioned over his condition. 

'The man had not wanted to be washed for a long time,' a police spokesman said. 

According to police, the couple had been together for around a decade, and the victim's partner had slept in the same bed right up until his death. 

The dead man had been paralysed for several years following a stroke. -- AFP


I wonder what the partner was thinking when she did not bathe him for a 'long time'. He must have really stinked too.... and she could stand it? I thought love is just blind, apparently, this is more than that.

Poor man.....he must have been really uncomfortable with his unclean condition.

People with poor hygiene really disgust me . Hmmmmm..... I wonder if there is a punishment for such a partner...

Clean-up Project!

When we customized our wardrobe back then, there were two very important things to adhere to:

1) Each of us must have our own full-length mirror.
 I do not like to share mirrors, even if it is with my own family member. To me, the mirror is my personal space each morning when I need to put on my make-up and get ready for work. Having a full length mirror definitely has its advantage. I can see myself from head to toe, and see if my bag and shoes ensemble matches the outfit.

Thank God my husby was for the idea .... now whenever one of us 'accidentally' makes use of the other's mirror, you will definitely hear, " Hello! That's MY mirror! Go back to yours."  Hehehe......Call us vain! I know!

2) No matter how messy the insides of the wardrobe may be, the exterior must give off a neat and presentable look.

The husby is the neater one when it comes to wardrobe organisation. Everything has its own place and he often makes sure things go back to where they belong.

Unfortunately, not for me. 

My wardrobe interior is a huge mess! One hanger will take on 4 -5 tops and so you can see everything bulging out everywhere. I am a bit lazy when it comes to organizing my brooches, make-up, scarves....etc etc ...and I ALWAYS cannot find my hairbrush!

So I decided that today will be my wardrobe cleaning day...it is going to be a longgggggg day......

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 24 hours later 

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Much neater! :) 

All neatly folded... ready to be either given away or sold. Now , I have space to buy many many more clothes!

Well, I thought I was done. I conveniently forgot that we have another cupboard in the guest room. But I think I'll push that to another day. Very tiring, you know!

I shall sieve through the clothes again .... check out this space for sales! :)

It is taking longer than I thought...

I am on a week's MC , due to some complications with the heart and breathing system. But that's not  what I am blogging about.

I have been warned by the husby not to do any housework while he is away at work. He called a few times just to check what I had been doing.

But I get very restless when I have nothing to do . ... so I decided to clear my wardrobe. And it is taking longer than expected!

I have only managed to clear / put aside unwanted stuffs and re-arranging approximately a quarter of the interior. I knew I had many stuffs but I did not expect that much! I got tired and I guess, will have to continue tomorrow.... I will write a proper blog on this !

Anyway, there are some tops which are still good enough to be discarded......

Should I try to sell  (never done this before and do people go for pre-loved goods?)  or should I just bring back to pass to my relatives in Malaysia?

Oh !I suddenly remember that I need to look for my black cardigan.... time for a good mess again :)

Any recommendation for a good camera?

 I am an idiot when it comes to cameras.

So far, I've only owned the Canon Ixus and currently, Fujifilm Fine Pix.

I know, very amateurish. Well, I am not one who goes for DSLR simply because it is too big and bulky and it will be a waste of money as I know nuts about the technicalities of using a DSLR.

However, I know there are some good cameras out there , with lots of features and produce sharp and clear pictures yet, easy for photography-idiot like me. I have seen pictures on the internet taken by non-DSLR cameras that are very breathtaking.

I have decided that I shall get a new camera this year and I think I SERIOUSLY need help. There are so many brands and I am not really sure what to look out for.

My requirements are VERY simple :

1) Compact - with many features rolled into one. Take excellent photos with just point and shoot.

2) Light - I hate to carry heavy bags and to me, every single thing counts. So I am rather particular about the weight of the camera.

3) PINK (or purplish pink , if there is a need to compromise). Yes, it has to be pink. I don't want to break the tradition.Afterall, pink is my favourite colour. Any shade will do . If all fail, GMASK! :)

4) Budget: less than $700

Some cameras under consideration......

1) CANON DIGITAL IXUS 210 ($599)

2) OLYMPUS U1070 SERIES (Price unknown. Available in dark pink)

3) SONY DSC-W350/P ($369)

Any further recommendations / suggestions are defintely welcomed!

And I did it again...

It has been such a tiring week.

I crashed into slumberland extremely early for 3 days. One of them was as early as 8pm! All the way till the next morning!

Gosh , I can't believe myself.

Unfortunately , the week is not over.  I have a LONNNNGGGGGGGGG  day with the students tomorrow. From 10 am all the way till 12 midnight. There goes my weekend :(

But I did not want to be too depressed so I decided to cheer myself up with these......

I know , I know! I have no more space in my shoe cabinet...... But these pretty heels from Charles n Keith were on sale. The former was even on 50% discount!

The minute I got home, I stared at the cabinet to see which of my older pairs of shoes are to be thrown away, in order to make space for the new members. It was a rather easy decision actually! So now, my new heels have a place to call home :)

I was actually rushing to meet my dad when I walked past BYSI. I saw this translucent dark blue frock , with whimsical lace. PRETTY! I just quickly went in , roughly gauged my size and paid for it. No time to try!

Tried it at home, after arranging the shoes.  Nice! I like BYSI . I do not buy often from there but whenever I do, I really like my purchases.

Ok, I have a huge mountain of clothes to fold and I'd better get down to it asap.

TGIF!

Mr Ahmad Lispa

I know this is probably some old news but I just got my updates a couple of days back. Blame it on my time-management .... I could not even spare some time to read the newspapers..

I am sure almost everyone has heard of the accident involving a bus and a crane along Chai Chee Road. I read the news online . It must have been a really terrifying experience for all those who were involved. I cannot imagine my loved ones and myself (since I take the bus home everyday) getting hurt in such an accident.

My heart went out to the deceased. He was apparently sitting at the rear end of the upper deck...... sleeping perhaps, only never to smell the air again :(

A couple of days back , I was FB-ing when I came across the Facebook Page for Mr Ahmad Lispa , the deceased (see for details). Some very kind and generous soul is going all out to reach to other Singaporeans, in the hope of getting donations for the family that was left behind. You can find out more about donating to them through this page.

I was shocked to find out the deceased is the same person who appeared on RENOVAID episode, whereby renovation companies would volunteer their services to do up the homes of the poorer families. Mr Ahmad looked like a very calm and composed person even though he was burdened with many problems. At the end of the show, his eyes were glistening with tears when he said his thanks , to the people who helped in making their home a much more comfortable place. I remember I cried during that episode.

If you look at the Facebook Profile Pic, you will see him... and I have no idea why... but whenever I see that picture, my heart breaks down again.

I cannot imagine what will happen to his family now.

For your info, they have 5 kids - one in the Institute of Mental Health, one has a low IQ, one is suffering from kidney failure and has to do dialysis treatments at home, and another with also low IQ and suspected / pending kidney failure. That is more than enough for the poor mother who is unemployed.

I have talked to my husby and friends about the accident. I just cannot stop thinking about it.

There was even a comment that perhaps , this is for the better. Maybe God feels he has suffered enough at the age of 50.

I don't know.

I hope God will bless the family and give them the strength to go through this ordeal.

I pray to God that if I or my loved ones have to go , let it be in a peaceful manner.

I pray that if my turn is up, it will not be a burden on my family.

With all the recent flash floods and all, it really shows how unpredictable the future is . We never know what / when things are going to happen. If it comes and destroys, then destruction we have to face.

I hope there won't be anymore such news. It is just too depressing.

May Mr Ahmad be blessed and so are all of us.....

Life is precious. Make good use of it, while we can.

Dreams

Hmmmm..... have you ever felt like blogging but when your fingers are on the keyboard, suddenly you have zero inspiration?

I just experienced that a few minutes ago. I was itching to update my blog but ended up staring into space.

Then, I felt like talking about my dreams.... mostly the unfulfilled ones.

1) I have always wanted to be a professional dancer.

I remember I've had a great sense of rhythm and tempo ever since I was a small kid. I could easily follow the dance steps (as in the proper dances , not those Barney-like ones..) shown on the children's TV programmes. My late grandfather used to scold me for always blocking the TV  :)

I wanted to join Malay Dance in primary school but my parents were deadly against it. Thus, I spent my spare time reading books on dance or getting my fix from the TV ...yeah , too bad there was no Internet and Youtube then. When I entered Secondary 2,  I secretly joined the dance club.

My parents found out eventually but they were pretty cool with it... so this continued till JC. Once I entered NUS, there was no way I could continue my passion  except for the Salsa and Hip Hop dance classes which I enrolled in the past years or so.

So yeah ...there goes my hope to be a professional dancer someday. Luckily, husby is just as crazy about dancing so we dance a lot in the house , 'professionally' or otherwise. :P

2) Making others pretty!

Sometime when I was in primary three, I started to have interest in make-up and cosmetics. I know, that is a very young age for such stuff. But I loved watching my auntie put on make up whenever she was going out at night. If she took 2 hrs, I would be watching for 2 hrs!

Whenever we went to close relatives' weddings, while other kids were playing, I would try my very best to peek at the bride being dolled up. I borrowed my first thick book on make-up from Bedok Library when I was twelve. It was by Bobbi Brown ... and I think I renewed the loan thrice!

When I started teaching and was put in charge of dance, I picked up new skills such as understanding stage lights, techniques of stage make-up and special effects. I am still honing my skills at the moment and would sometimes try upon myself when I am alone at home.

I wish I can take up proper certification in this field and pursue my immense passion. But at the moment, a dream it is.

3) All-Expenses-Paid Holiday to Europe!

It has been a super-far-stretched wish that I could bring my whole family (5 of us) to Europe for a holiday. I thought that once I started working, I would be able to save enough after a few years. Unfortunately,  circumstances did not allow that to happen . Now that the family has expanded to 8 (husby, bro-in-law and nephew), I know this will not materialise.

Maybe , just parents would still be possible.

4) I would like to live in a very high-tech condo unit, where everything is controlled by just a remote control. 

AND I am not the one in charge of the maintenance!

5) HEIGHT!

I wanted to be taller... I wonder how it is like to be looking at things from a greater height.... However, this one , CONFIRMED , will happen only in my dreams. I have learnt to accept that good things come in small packages  :)

I know people say that it is up to us to make our dreams come true. Idealistic, indeed.

 But it's alright!!! I am happy with life... alhamdulillah...

Do YOU have any unfulfilled dreams?

......

And so, the second bag won by a rather narrow margin.

Thanks much to those who cast their votes :)

Unfortunately, I still have not ordered.... having second thoughts since I found out about the materials and textures of the bags.

Maybe it is just not time yet . For a  P.I.N.K bag.....

I need help!!!!!!

Ok , I seriously need help here.

I need to decide by today which of the following bags to get. I want  a pink bag and I've looked through those from Juicy Couture.

I have basically shortlisted two bags.

ROCKFELLER NYLON CROWN PURSE-PINK

PINK NARDELS BABY FLUFFY HANDBAG

Ok, so ignoring the prices and sizes, which one do you think I should choose? (The second one is made of fluffy material, btw)

You can comment, drop me an email or text me through SMS , if you have my number.

I need to make the decision by tonight. So pls pls pls :)

If we could get married again......

There is a Malay wedding going on at the multi-purpose hall near my place. And it's decked in my favourite colours - fushcia pink, black and a touch of white.

It just brings back extremely fond memories of our own wedding.

I never really blog about our wedding and I actually took a long break from blogging ever since we got hitched.  So now, I am going to self-indulge and put up some of my favourite "I Do" photos :)

The Solemnization

The Wedding

Studio + Outdoor Shots

I would say I miss getting married! The planning, preparation and execution are something that I don't mind going through all over again , it was so much fun! (Of course, I do not mean that I wish to get married again.... ).

As we really enjoyed ourselves on all 3 days, I seriously did not feel tired at all . Really! Weddings should be fun! :P

But we both agree that what we miss most is our then still-slim figures. Sigh. I can't believe how much we have expanded in just a short while. ..

Ok, no dinner today. Must diet!