Let’s see, two weeks into the second semester and I’m already buried knee deep with all kinds of different readings. Blame it on the fact that I chose to be an English Literature major but the issue still remains, THIS madness is not supposed to be happening so early in the semester! It’s times like these that I wish the holidays are beckoning soon!
In the meantime, I have fallen back on my old habit of pampering myself with things that I love just to ease this stress. Only because I think giving some of these goodies a try might be a comfort to any other people out there who are hitting maximum workload right now, I shall list a few things that give me relief from my crazy life!
10. Beer with it
Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, beats a pint of ice-cold
beer on a hot mid day afternoon. My best advice is to make your way
down to Brewerkz for their happy hour. I’ve never been a fan of beer
except when it comes to Hoegaarden but there’s just something about
Brewerks Fruitbrewz that does it for me each time.
Ask the server for
their current available flavours and be floored. The last time my
friends and I went there, we had the raspberry flavoured beer and it
was magnificent. Otherwise, you can always pick the safe choice of IPA
(India Pale Ale) or Golden Ale.
But then again, this is a small
indulgence. Choose something different!
9. Nails, Brows & Lashes
Okay, I have to admit that I am a sucker
for ultimate beauty indulgences, and going for mani/pedi and doing my
brows are essential must haves on my list of pure small indulgences. I
hate plucking my own eye brows, I can never get it right and besides, I
think professional help is much better because then, you can blame
somebody else should something go awfully wrong with your eye brows
(that or you can make up an excuse that you went for Botox and thus any
form of expressions apart from perpetual surprise cannot be
accommodated).
I love going to Browhaus for my brows simply because now
I can tint them to have the same colour as my hair! This indulgence
will set you back about $40 a session but my advice is to go for the
full package of ten sessions for about $280. You can go anytime you
want and it’s much cheaper!
 When I am stressed out from school, or life in general, I simply zip
down to my favourite nail joint in Holland Village to have my nails
done. Call it my ‘Legally Blonde’ bimbo moment but I’d drop everything
I’m doing and rush over to Lush Nails @ Holland Village the minute one
of my nails chipped, or simply because I’ve had a bad day and needed to
talk.
Yes, it sounds like a movie but my manicurist is one I can count
on to provide me with that much needed perk-me-ups. So go and have your
nails done. Indulge your nails with some aromatic spa treatments, trust
me, you’ll thank me later.
8. Dream a little Dream
Okay, this may just be something that only I do
but I’m going to list it down anyways. Sometimes, when I’m bored – ok,
I lie. I do this ALL the time – I imagine myself taking to the American
Idol stage and belting my lungs out for Randy, Paula and Simon.
Sounds
pathetic? Hardly! It’s one of my biggest indulgences and I’m not
embarrassed by it. Mariah/Shania/Jewel/Rascal Flatts – you name it,
I’ve sung it on stage – well, on my imaginary stage at least. Move over
Jordin, I’m coming up! ‘nuff said!
7. Tooning in
 On days when I don’t have to go to school and pretend
that I am listening to the lecturer droning away about Freud or
Beckett, I usually spend the entire day languishing around in my bed
and popping in DVD after DVD of my favourite cartoons.
Currently, the
hot piece for the week is the latest edition to my cartoon DVD
collection – Care Bears! This fabulous 80s cartoon never fail to lift
my spirits up and dream of the days when I myself am up there hanging
out with the bears of Care-a-Lot.
Alright, once again I am dreaming all
these but I love the idea of not doing work and just watching my Care
Bears episodes. If only the campus was called Hall of Care and we all
travelled around campus on our cloudmobile. Ah well, a boy can dream.
Care
Bears countdown: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
6. Haato resist
 I love my ice cream. I really do. I can see myself
not eating the whole day and just live on ice cream for the rest of my
life.
Yes, not exactly a healthy eating habit but we indulge once in a
while if you know what I mean? And I am thankful that my HOOKED bestie,
Marissa Chen, introduced me to this quaint little ice cream parlour
named Haato.
Nestled in between giants like NYDC and Fish & Co,
this ice cream parlour at Wheelock Place serves up some of the best
flavours since Island Creamery. I love their green tea ice cream and
chocolate hazelnut.
Highly affordable (only $4.50 for two scoops of ice
cream) and highly delectable! Marissa and I will always have one of
these to ease our stress and then just gossip! Very creamy and very
dreamy! LOVES it!
5. O.C can you see?
Marissa Cooper, Summer Roberts, Seth Cohen &
Ryan Atwood. Not since Beverly Hills 9.0.2.1.0 and Dawson’s Creek has
there been one drama series that has captured the hearts and minds of
many a teenager.
Too bad The O.C ended its run (read: cancelled thanks
to Marissa Cooper being too emo!). However, because we are all
tech-savvy and watch all our favourite TV shows online (how else do we
watch our TV programmes nowadays?), we can now watch re-runs of the
O.C, whenever we want!
Okay, I watch EVERYTHING online now – streaming
and legally of course. But, nowadays, StarWORLD is showing re-runs of
The O.C everyday! Woohoo. How fabulous. Today’s episode? Luke and Ryan
stumbled onto the former’s dad in a precarious position with another
man.
We know the ending after that – which I am still fuming about. How
is it possible that Ryan and Taylor end up together?! Oh well, we buy
it anyway. After all, we’re all TV junkies!
4. SPAre me the details
My mother and I LOVE our SPA weekends.
Nothing says indulgence more than going for a Spa. Try out mud baths
and a nice hot oil massage thereafter. It’s pure relaxing and loosens
up all that tensed and stressed muscles.
3. Breakfast at Tiffany’s
 When I turned 21, I got a special gift from
someone special and I wear it close to my heart everyday. The joy I
experienced when I saw that little blue box, cannot be measured. That
said, once in a while (well, make that once every four months), I
indulge myself with a small purchase from Tiffany & Co.
My latest
acquisition? Martini glasses from Tiffany. Of course you can always buy
perfectly serviceable martini glasses at departmental stores such as
Robinson’s or Takashimaya. But, I like my glasses as clear as my gin or
vodka and therefore nothing but those 8-ounce, full-lead crystal
beauties from Tiffany & Co will do!
2. Chocs Ahoy!
 Godiva, Prestat, Leonidas, Royce. With so many
choices, how does one pick a favourite. Chocolates have long been a
favourite of many Singaporeans, so it’s not a shock to have chocolate
placed rather high on this list of indulgences.
For chocolate
aficionados, Godiva creates some of the most delicious – and pricey –
bonbons in Singapore. Their dark chocolate truffles, which feature a
creamy, cognac-infused center, can certainly make us stop wanting to
diet and simply pig out on chocolates!
1. Shop star
I honestly love shopping. In fact, I am addicted to
shopping! The thing is if I was to buy every gorgeous thing that I fall
in love with, I’d be totally bankrupt. Current obsession: A Marc by
Marc Jacobs bag costing about US$600. Totally drool-worthy but totally
out of my budget for this year – unless of course I get a hold of mom’s
plastic.
And that’s exactly why I love imaginary shopping. I can do it
at the very comfort of my own home. And the best part of all? It’s
absolutely free! What I’d do is I’d browse through online stores and
add every item I love into the shopping cart. Then, I’ll look at the
grand total; smile and leave the site, feeling satisfied at the amount
of money I DID NOT spend.
Sad? Never! Hey, at least I’m not blowing
thousands of real dollars!
So there, my top ten list of small indulgences. Everybody needs some once in a while.
So tell us, what’s your top ten? HOOKED
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