Mrs Fields has always been my favorite cookie brand. But she's gone as I can't seem to locate her outlets anymore. There used to be one in One Utama but that's gone too

For a quick cookie fix, I normally resort to Famous Amos but still, that doesn't come close to Mrs Fields. My favorite type of cookie: Soft-Baked types. Crunchy / crispy ones are fine but I still prefer my cookie slightly chewy.

Anyways, yesterday I gave this brand a try:

Pepperidge Farm

I have always seen this brand on the supermarket aisle but I just never gotten around to try it simply because I only like cookies baked and sold in cookie shops  But I got desperate. So I tried this flavor: Soft Baked Dark Chocolate Brownie

Retail price: RM10.90
Result: HEAVENLY
Note on cookie bag: For a warm, melty chocolate experience, pop a cookie in the microwave for 10-12 seconds. One bite and you'll melt!

I melted alright.

I ate 2 huge ones, which gave me 140 x 2 = 280 calories
Nutrition Facts: Each cookie contains 140 calories. Calories from Fat: 45
But I did my run and yoga yesterday so it wasn't so bad

For a complete cookie range of Pepperidge Farm please click here
Scroll all the way to the bottom and click on Find Your Favorite under Chocolate Chunk Cookies.
There are 2 varieties: Crispy and Soft Baked.

My next try would be: Oatmeal Raisin - soft baked of course

For the past few nights, I've been pacing back and forth from my wardrobe into the living hall.
Should I? Should I not?
Took one out, and few minutes later, put it back into the wardrobe.
This one should go! But... but.. maybe I'll be able to find a matching pants to go with it later! Ok ok, keep first.
And the boy was observing me with this tremendous curiosity.
"Throwing clothes away again ah?"
I could only mustered up a weak smile.

The thing is, some of the clothes have been hiding in my wardrobe for months and some even years, untouched. Or maybe worn once or twice and then I never want to wear them again. Don't ask why, it's all about the 'Just because.' I'm sensing some female readers here go "Yes yes, me too me too!" ??? Please say yes so that I don't feel like this crazy biatch who buys clothes and just parks them in the wardrobe to collect dust.

And then, guiltyly gives them away.
Do you? Do you?!
I mean seriously, this is normal right! (in female speaking terms, ahem) 

Anyways, I have always been a fan of decluttering. Whenever I throw things out of the house, I feel happier.
So not only my unwanted clothes got packed up, Mr Tay's were not spared either.
But thank goodness he was participating as well. He gladly took out some of his shirts and pants that he hadn't worn in god knows how many donkey years and I folded them and packed them into the plastic bags.

Decluttering explained:

De-Cluttering and Organized Living Systems

Clutter creates dark corners, gathers dust and brings stagnation, blockages, and obstacles. People will shrink into smaller spaces to live and work. This limits free thinking, clarity of purpose and inability to see and capture opportunities.

It is as if you have lost one lung. You can still breath, but you must work harder at it. So much time is spent focussed on getting your breath. Precious time is lost to experiencing the vastness of life's wonders. De-cluttering is like getting both lungs back.....a sigh, a deep breath

The ultimate goal of de-cluttering is to create a functional living system and bring order. An organized home or office instills clarity, tranquility, productivity and vast opportunities.

- taken from White Lotus Feng Shui

So, decluttered again, I did.

2 months ago, I packed 2 big bags of clothes and passed them to mom. She gave me an earful for wasting money buying clothes and more clothes only to be worn once or twice and now, given away. I had initially wanted to just give them away to people / charity but when I did that once long time ago, my mom gave me an earful again. According to her, these unwanted clothes should be passed thru her FIRST, just so she could sieve through them and double-check to see whether I've gone mad enough to be giving away brand new clothes. I've actually done that. Bought some new clothes only to be kept in the wardrobe and when I 'accidentally discovered' them again, they don't seem very pretty anymore. So out into the plastic bags they went.

So today, I have another one big bag of clothes (mine and mr tay's) and one big bag of bags to be given away. This time, I decided they should NOT go thru mom first. She keeps them all anyway!!! Beats the purpose of decluttering, ain't it? So, I brought them into the office and gave them to the Indian auntie who cleans our office. She seemed very happy.

I wish I could show you how organized, spacious and airy my wardrobe looks like now.
*happy*

• Mondays & Fridays: 30min run followed by yoga *very very good for sleeping at nite!*
• Mr Tay and his monthly haircuts, just freshly cut few days ago *happy*
• Aldo watch that comes in 7 different colored changeable straps for RM166. *I have* 
• Mr Tay sends and picks me up from work everyday *happy*
• Hair no longer curls out when wake up in the morning before work *happy*
• Many many bags *many many happies*
• Singapore with Mr Tay and friends next month *keeping fingers crossed*
• Langkawi in March 2008 for a friend's wedding *so happy can die* beachhhh again
• 3 packs of fresh strawberries for RM11 at The Curve flea market *yum*
• Cinema with Mr Tay after so long. Oceans 13 *urgh, not nice but still happy*
• Planned Sat / Sun with Sue: Shrek 3 at Cineleisure - flea market - strawberries - shopping? - PADDINGTONS! *yay*
• Positive chi works. (Mr Tay and I kena suckered into watching The Secret) And from all that positive chi, we get the below...
• Bonus + Increment = A Very Happy Noisy Girl!
• And oh, listening to Everything by Michael Buble helps too. Instant mood lifter! 

mr tay and noisygirl doing the muffin dance

I am in Singapore since yesterday till tomorrow. Besides attending trainings and meetings, I have been gone a little out of control.

I Went Shopping.

The Sale here is unbelievable. So incredibly unbelievable that I've skipped dinner just to save some more time to shop. Too bad, today isn't Friday because during The Great Singapore Sale, shopping hours are extended till 11pm on Fridays.

My loot yesterday:

The meeting finished rather late yesterday, so I only managed to conquer Tangs. Thanks goes to Mr DC who so kindly informed me of the additional 5% discount for foreigners. So, imagine if I were to buy an item at 70%, I get 75%  There were soooo many gorgeous bags on display but thank god I managed to restrain myself! Don't think I'll ever forgive myself if I were to buy another bag since I've already bought 6 bags in the past 2 months.

1 black from Primavera
1 white with gold details in The Curve flea market
1 big black bag
1 white sling bag
1 white with metalic brown detail from Phuket
1 big white bag from Phuket

There. Listing them down is already making me shaking the head with disbelief! So no bags this time. (Although I've been searching actively for a red bag, tsk tsk!)

So at Tangs, I only bought 2 tops from Martina Pink which I love! I am starting to like this brand because of its sense of quirkiness in each design. I especially love how they design their clothes label. So cute! Will snap a photo of it when I get home.

And today, the session finished early at 5pm, and to think I was going to shop right up till 10pm, I was so wrong. By 8.15pm I was getting exhausted - no food, walking with heels while carrying my big white bag and at the same time walking around with a laptop on my shoulders.

But I managed to buy, 5 tops, 1 skirt and a denim bolero  Not a single bag I promise. Made a detour to Coach since Alex has so nicely asked me to get for him an ipod casing but didn't have la. Only bags, shoes, bags and more bags. Sorry dude

Oh and I went to Charles & Keith but not to buy any shoes. I was there to actually check out for business opportunities. Not telling much yet but I've gotten the contact person, so we'll see how it goes from there.

Oklar, very tired now. Haven't showered. And gotta wake up early for another meeting at 9am  Won't be able to shop anymore since my flight is at 3pm. Nite nite everyone.

I love shopping.

Funny how I didn't even take a single shot of the Phuket town area during the daytime. Guess I was just too engrossed in checking out the shops/stalls. But to be honest, I didn't find Phuket to be haven for shopping purposes. Everything there seems to be the same in almost every stall. Every 'brand' seems to be the same everywhere. And, the need to bargain each time you want to purchase something there was extremely exhaustive. And I hate bargaining, that's for sure. Come to think of it, it was very much like our very own Petaling Street.

Mr Tay wouldn't let me stop to bargain for stuff in the first few shops we visited.

girl: But why?!?!
boy: We must secure the parameter first.
girl: SECURE THE WHAT?!
boy: You never watch war movies ah? We must secure the parameter first. Secure the whole area of Phuket town first to know where has what, where has the cheapest stuff, nicest stuff... etc. Secure the parameter first.

I tell you, he just cracks me up all the time! I was laughing till my sides were aching so much and then, as I regained composure... off we went, just the two of us, 'securing the parameter.'

We walked so so so much. The streets were long and the sun was burning hot. I didn't really need to lie by the beach to get a tan. I got darker by just walking around the town, which I really like actually. No pics la, just don't why we didn't snap any.

***

On the first day, upon arrival, we've already called to book for the Phuket Fantasea *click* show. So after all the walking around Phuket town, we got back to our hotel to shower and rested to get ready for the show.

Transportation to and from hotel to the show was provided plus the lavish dinner buffet spread as well. The cost per person? 1500baht each. Though I heard from Mr Tay this morning that, his colleague who just got back few days ago, went for the show at 1300baht!  Now, you see why I hate to bargain. I always get the wrong deals!

The van came at 5.30pm at the hotel doorstep and we got there roughly around 5.50pm.

i was trying to tie my hair up before the shot but mr tay just wouldn't wait!

Iyara - is the Elephant King's name as we found out from the show

The show starts at 9pm and is held inside this palace

Buffet starts at 6pm and a reminder to those who are going for the Phuket Fantasea package - please skip lunch  We did exactly that and were very glad that we did as the buffet spread was really good. A fusion between Thai, Western and Italian.

Dinner is served inside this building

That is all for the Phuket Fantasea place. We weren't allowed to bring in cameras and video cams so no pics inside the Elephant Palace. But trust us, THE SHOW WAS MINDBLOWINGLY FANTASTIC! I went in with low expectations and I was thoroughly surprised again and again throughout the whole show. A must see for everyone who is visiting Phuket.

***
: day 4 :

Day 4 was spent mostly at the beach in the morning, massage and more shoppings in the afternoon right up till night. There wasn't a need to 'Secure the Parameter' anymore as we've secured it on the first day at Phuket
Am very impressed with Mr Tay's stamina and patience in keeping up with me. I CAN walk a lot. A LOT.

: day 2 :

We woke up early to head to the pier to meet up with the boatman who was supposed to take us out to snorkel and check out the islands around Phi Phi. We stopped at a few spots for snorkeling but sad to say, the corals and fishes were nothing to shout about, so I didn't took any pics of it.

How can you not kiss when there's a Mistletoe?

The last island, was the most gorgeous amongst all. Save the best for last, they say, hehe.

M A Y A * B A Y

For those who don't know this yet, this is same the island that the movie The Beach, made famous by Leonardo Dicaprio, was shot here.

Hehe, couldn't resist this.
That was the spot where the shark attacked a man and bit his leg off in The Beach

girl: Where are all the hot Nihon-Jins you said you saw last time?
boy: *scans around more* Exactly! Where are they!!! They were flocking this beach the last time I was here!

No Nihon-jin babes around. Baby was very extremely devastated
*nihon jin = japanese

I definitely recommend going to Maya Beach. The sand is as white as Redang's, and water as clear as crystal. But you gotta pay though to land on Maya Beach, which sucked. We only found this out from the boatman when we requested to land on Maya Beach. There was a guy at the beach collecting 'entry' fee from people, if I am not mistaken it was 200baht per person.

day 2 : dinner time

The first night, we had dinner at Amico Resto, which served decent Italian food and steaks. They were pretty alright I guess. And Pineapple Malibu!!! Heaven. After dinner, we took a stroll around the island, browsing from shop to shop, and we found this - Matt's Grill Joint.

We were there for dinner on the second night

Rabbits?

Rabbits???  
There is a reason for the exclaimation marks on the circled "Spare Ribs"

Remember to load your plates up with Spare Ribs, there were heaven!!! 220baht - 250 baht is pretty cheap for what you can get here. I will definitely come back if I were to go to Phi Phi once more (hint hint bf).

Don't kacau! Because he churns out the best grilled ribs!

So what is with the 'rabbits' part? I asked the waitress, because I just couldn't tahan the curiousity anymore. She replied me as though she was asked this question a million times before, "Vegetarians." I burst out laughing. I asked the boy, "Why not cow?" But then 'cows' wouldn't sound as polite as rabbits I guess. Imagine on the menu - Kids and cows: 125 baht. Pfft.

Mr Tay is happy with his dinner

I love white fluffy clouds

This is an important tip to everyone who wants to get to Phi Phi island straight from the airport - Be sure to reach the airport by 1.00pm or earlier (Thai time, 1 hr earlier, so it's 2.00pm local time here)

See AirAsia got our flight delayed and we only managed to reach the airport by 1.45pm and the only way to get to Phi Phi was by the ferry which always makes its last trip at 2.30pm and no more trips after that. The airport to the pier was not exactly near either, so we had to scrambled to get a taxi ride and there were many stations there offering taxi rides at cut-throat prices. Bottom line is, if you are asked to pay more than 350baht, be sure to bargain. We knew this beforehand because, yours truly did some research on the Internet earlier. Clever girl.  

But we still got ripped off nonetheless because we had no choice as the ferry leaves at 2.30pm. Blame it all on AirAsia

We stayed here for 2 nights

After about 1+ hour of ferry ride, we reached Phi Phi and got ourselves checked into Phi Phi Hotel. There are many other hotels and lodgings available there but through thorough research done by yours truly again (ahem ), this was the best choice. See, when I go for vacation, I hate to spend a bomb on luxurious hotels where most of our time are spent outdoor anyway. However, it need not be too cheap and shabby-looking either. So middle range hotels do best for me and Phi Phi Hotel is one of those hotels. For good hotel rates and reviews in Phi Phi, please go to www.sawadee.com. Booking online is much cheaper too.

***

Thai pancake. They are abundant in the island. So many stalls but this stall was our favorite. We only bought from her  See the young girl in the pic, that was the stall should you want to go look for it. It is situated towards the end of the road. The pancakes here are light and crispy and definitely addictive as there were so many flavors to try from! Here in the pic, we shared between ourselves 2 pancakes: Banana + Honey and Chocolate. Banana + Honey was the best as we discovered when we had tried other flavors the next day.

There were like 1 million () of stalls selling accessories, clothes, paintings, but mostly accessories. Then at this quaint little shop, I saw this skirt.

But as you can see, it wouldn't fit so we went searching the whole island for this gorgeous DVB denim skirt in other shops but to no avail! Ok, I am a sucker for anything which has a crown on it. Plus it was a David Victoria Beckham skirt, fake one of course but I couldn't care less because... it has a crown on both pockets 

Random shots:

•  Me
•  Little buckets of liquor, soft drinks and ice sold for a mere 170baht (about RM16+) The art of consuming these is by just dumping / emptying EVERYTHING into the bucket, stir and drink up!
• Hotel slippers which bore the word "Perfect". Perfect, indeed
• Slippers
• This man handmakes the shoes that are sold in his shop, see last pic
• Gecko on baby's shoulders. Fake or real? *heehee*
• Bikinis which I've bought. Cheap cheap cheap! I know because I've hunted around the whole island before deciding on these. Originally priced at 450baht, sold to me at 250baht (that's like RM24 each) My rationale: Bikinis sold at The Curve flea market, starts from RM49.90

Walking around the beach at Phi Phi. Loved the colorful shade tops.

Here at Amico Resto, right infront of our hotel was the Best Pineapple Malibu cocktail ever. We had to have another one that night. We're heading to Tesco soon to load up on the pineapple juice since we have a huge bottle of Malibu sitting at home

To be continued...

In the meantime, the below shots were taken on the second day as we were heading out to the sea for some snorkeling action :)

Ok. So I've applied for my vacation leave like eons ago. Got it approved and all is fine until today.

Today, an email came with some very urgent tasks "to be completed by end of this week."

What end of this week??!??!! By Thurs, I'll be gone la! Geez.

Trying to find a way to complete by tomorrow.

p/s: I've already informed these people that I'll be on leave from Thurs - Tues many many times before this task came in. Apparently, it just went in the right ear and straight out from the left ear.

Stresso maximus.

Thank goodness for the 1 1/2 hour date with the Facial Therapist later.

Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to end?
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to an end?
                                                Nelly feat. Chris Martin

*been singing non-stop to this song. love it. love it. love it.

I am rather free today. Did some blog-hopping - laughed, smiled, nodded + shook head, winced, salivated (food blogs) and went "awww" (mommies with babies blogs).

Browsed thestar online and read a couple of articles. And I say to the lady who said, "I was only joking," - you blardy deserved the more than 4 hours of held up and questioning by the police. What were you thinking?! Threatening to hijack a plane, but oh... "I was only joking." Geez. I hope she and everyone else who ever thought that was funny, learnt a lesson from this. Oh by the way, I thought the newly-married Zara is HOT.

I got bored and was listening to some really sentimental songs and suddenly something prompted me to login to yahoomail. Not to check on my account.

But my ex's.

No, not the recent ex, but an ex from long time ago and till today we're still good friends. See, it was not in my intention to invade his privacy or check on him but just out of curiousity, I had just wanted to see whether he was still using The Password for his account.

The Password: loveangie

And it logged me in beautifully. Shook my head, lips formed a silly girly grin and promptly messaged him.

Me: Why isn't it changed?
J: Why wasn't what changed?
Me: The password in your yahoo mail.
J: Ohhhh that... hahaha you tried? ;)
Me: I got curious. Ppl that I know, who use my name as passwords, I find that blardy fascinating. Even if it's 'hateangie' or 'dieangie'.
J: :) You should know that I hate changes. I love routine. Which is a great opposite from yours ;)
Me: Oh well, that's nothing new. So you're gonna STILL use that?
J: Been using that 6 yrs ago and will still be using that 6 yrs from now. Just as long my account doesn't die on me.

But that's J anyway. Still with the same ol' haircut he's been sporting for years now. But I have absolutely no reservations whatsoever for that matter. It suits him fine.

So, I put myself in the reversed situation. If I were to be the one who set that password, like "lovej" would I change it the moment we call the relationship off? I have a gf who broke up few months back and all, and I mean ALL her passwords - be it personal emails or work-related stuff - she has them all with her ex's name conjoined with hers. She had difficultly changing the habit, told me she kept entering the old password for several weeks and it frustrated her immensely each time that she couldn't be logged on and be reminded that she was no longer with him anymore and hence the new password. She hated the change. She hated the idea of having a new password so much, she set it as "tohellwithpasswords".

So, does this mean, ladies hate changes because they can't face or accept the ugly truth while men resist changes for normality's sake? Hmm.

But to answer the question on the reversed situation above, in the first place, I would NEVER set a password with my beloved's name in it. I don't know why, but I just wouldn't.

This brings me back to a story once upon a time ago, when my other ex, Andy decided that he was so in love with me, he set up an account with the username: soinluvwithangie

Please don't puke yet. Wait till you hear his 'brilliant' suggestion for a password.

Apparently, he set the password as: andyluvangie

AND

He cheekily (in a serious manner) asked me to set up another account: soinluvwithandy with the password: angieluvandy

I mean seriously, WTF right! I was young back then but I wasn't young and stupid! Stupid sometimes, but not entirely stupid  So, obviously I did not succumb to his ridiculous idea. I mean, seriously???

So yes, this thing about Changes. Just how well do you welcome changes in your life?

Oh, and J's right. I love changes. Changes means having the freedom to see, feel and experience new things in life, even if it means having to go through a long period of time to get accustomed to these changes, because only through these changes will you find your true self. John Lilly said, "Our only security is our ability to change and adapt."

Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights
- Pauline R. Kezer -