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I don’t know when it happened. Ever since I was a little kid, I loved hot weather. Ok, I am totally contradicting myself when I tell you these next things. I used to love sitting in the sun, soaking up the warm rays, but I hated getting tan or wearing sticky, smelly sunblock. I loved wearing summery clothes like shorts, skirts & t-shirts, but I could never live a day without wearing socks (I dislike bare feet). I am a strange one, aren’t I? I mean, I once hiked up the Great Wall of China in the dead heat of summer wearing a thick t-shirt, jeans, & thick socks. That also proves that I had no fashion sense whatsoever.
I used to loath winter because it meant I’d have to wear several layers of thick clothes, which made it cuss near impossible to scratch my extremely itchy skin. I just hated having to peel off layer upon layer just to try & scratch some impossible-to-reach spot on my back (which was chronically itchy as a child with wild allergies). Also, I hated that feeling of “it’s too hot to wear a jacket, but too cold to take it off”. You know, it’s so annoying to lug around a thick jacket, especially when the temperature frequently changes from warm to cold & back, like when you’re walking around a shopping mall & some stores blast the heat while other stores crank up the air conditioning.
It only just happened recently that I’ve come to enjoy winter more & more. I’ve learned a lot, in my most recent years, from Jian about fashion (especially on how to dress more like a proper lady & less like a disheveled longshoreman). Jian has tought me a few key points about adding different styles of jackets into my bland wardrobe, like it’s okay to wear thin zip-ups when it’s warm & heavy coats when it’s cold. I also learned how to appreciate scarves & their benefits. Oh & one other thing… I CAN WEAR ALL THE SOCKS I WANT!!! I love shopping for new socks, & I love wearing them even more, especially thick knitted knee-high socks. Winter is the perfect weather for me to live out my sock-wearing fetish (for lack of a better term).
Aside from learning how to properly wear clothes, I’ve also learned how to take better care of my skin & myself…like finding the right moisturizer/lotion for my skin type. I’ve got to tell you that I’ve found something that’s completely changed my life. You might think this is totally something your Granny/Nana/Grandmother would use, but it’s transformed the way I take care of my skin. Yes, folks. I’m talking about an exfoliating bath towel. You know, those tacky-colored scarf-looking things you’ve seen your Grandma hang in her 1970’s powder blue bathroom. (Hey, these things are still popular in Asian countries.) I am not ashamed to say that I love it. I’m not a very flexible person, especially since I pulled my left shoulder muscle, & it is sometimes hard to reach all the parts of my back in the shower without a little help. This exfoliating towel does wonders to help me scrub my back.
During the winter months my back gets extremely itchy. Using this exfoliating towel really helps me to clean my back, & scrub away the itchiness. This towel exfoliates all the dead skin on my back, & smooths out the scratches & scabs to make my skin look more clear & even-toned, not like I’ve been using barbed wire as a back scratcher. I also use this towel to wash my entire body. I bunch the towel into a ball & proceed to scrub from head-to-toe. Ever since I’ve been using an exfoliating shower towel, for approcimately 3 years & counting, I can realy feel the changes to my skin. My back has been considerably less itchy & rough, & the scabs/scars on my back have slowly been fading (which help me feel more comfortable to wear bathing suits in the summer). Also, I’ve noticed the overall improvement of my body’s skin in general. I’ve always had dry, rough, patchy skin since I was a little kid, but this exfoliating towel has helped smooth out my skin’s texture greatly…like on my elbows & knees, the backs of my arms, & the upper area of my legs. The towel has also smoothed out the scratchy heels of my feet & softened the callouses on the balls of my feet.
You see, I can’t stop raving about the exfoliating shower towel. I am so in love with it. I use it everyday in the shower &/or bath. I take it with me when I travel. I cannot live without it. I used to buy the cheap, cheesy pink ones from the Asian supermarket, but sometimes they run out & don’t stock them on their shelves regularly. So instead, I get all of my inexpensive shower scrubbers at MUJI, which happens to be one of my favorite brands/shops anyway. MUJI carries these bath goods in two colors: white & gray, but I always buy the gray ones. I am pretty sure I’m making these shower towels sound cheesier by the minute, but I just adore them & will keep on using them for the foreseeable future. One thing I forgot to mention, you gotta swap out these towels every few months or so with fresh ones. You know, for sanitary reasons & such.
This winter has been especially cold in the area I live in, which makes it perfect to bury myself underneath all the warm blankets & the comforter of my bed. It’s so hard to get out of bed in the morning when you’re all snuggled up, warm, & floating between sleep & waking up. In the afternoons, I like to make myself a fresh, hot cup of coffee. It doesn’t physically warm me up like a nice pour of Scotch or a cup of tea, but it sure as cuss warms my spirit & my mood. In the evenings, I like to sit by the warm fireplace & relax with my tablet named Richard. It’s enjoyable when I can sit by the fireplace, next to Jian while he’s playing a video game. Right now Jian is playing Final Fantasy XV, which he jokingly refers to as “Four Dudes In A Car”, & I jokingly refer to as “Japanese Entourage“. Most of the time I’m not interested in the video games Jian plays, unless it’s the Uncharted series, but I am interested in this Fibal Fantasygame…mostly because I enjoy the music. (“Rodeo De Chocobo” is my favorite song so far.) Sitting by the fire in the evenings really put me in the mood to take a bath.
Z
Speaking of which…I think I’m going to go & wash my hair. Until then, cheers.
Today’s song of the day:
I once read this quote somewhere. Perhaps in a magazine, or a book, or on the Internet. I’m not quite sure anymore. I’ve had a grainy, low quality photo of this quote saved on my smartphone photo library for quite a few years, & it’s always intrigued & fascinated me. I don’t know much about the explorer Jacques Cousteau, only whatever minor facts I’ve learned through pop culture references & the ever-popular movie The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (starring actors Bill Murray & Jeff Goldblum, with music by Seu Jorge).
Even though I am not a fan of the ocean, or the sea, or much of any body of water…except bath water, I fell in love with this quote. When I first read this quote, my first impression was that I thought the quote was about selfishness. The more I read this quote (to myself), the more I began to understand its meaning, & I now feel as though this quote fits the meaning behind this blog.
If I have an opportunity to lead any sort of life…not just an extraordinary one…but any sort of life I can feel proud of, then why not share it? Why should I keep it to myself? That’s one of the reasons why I started to write a blog in the first place. I want to share bits & pieces of myself with anyone who is willing to listen (or read, for that matter). I am not too concerned about the content of my blog posts. I’m not setting up my blog to be some insightful, radical view of the world. I’m writing my blog to share my tiny little bubble with the rest of the world. So, I’ve decided to share this quote with whoever’s reading this, & I say…DON’T KEEP THINGS TO YOURSELF. Cheers.
Today’s song of the day:
Remember when I said that I went to San Diego for my mom’s 70th birthday? No? Well, I did do that, & I mentioned in a previous post that I got sick (as usual). Why am I so prone to getting sick when I’m on vacation? (Don’t answer that. It was a rhetorical question.) Anyway, my sister’s kids are my most favorite people in the whole world, & they know just how to comfort their auntie when she is sick. My nephew gave me plenty of hugs, & sat in bed with me while we both played on our iPads. My niece played nurse,& helped me get plenty of water & juice. She also bought me a stuffed animal at the hotel’s gift shop. She specifically said that I needed something to snuggle while I’m laying in bed. Isn’t she just the cutest niece in the whole world? Yes, she is.
This is the stuffed animal my niece picked out for me, that Jian helped her pay for. My niece & I have this running joke going on where we each buy the same stuffed animals, except I will buy the smaller versions of her regular sized stuffed toys. My niece has this same stuffed rabbit (made by Jelly Cat), except hers is in the powder blue color. The stuffed rabbit toy comes in various sizes (from XS to XL) & in various pastel colors (eg. powder pink, dark pink/magenta-ish, mint green, coffee brown, powder blue, yellow, & white). My niece picked this white one out for me, which adds to my new & growing collection of stuffed toys.
I’m not sure what name I should give it. I like to name my possessions, so it’s only natural that I give this little guy a name. I like picking male names, so I’m thinking of something with a royal flair. My niece already decided that she’s going to call it Snow Bunny. I have another mini version of this stuffed rabbit in the same powder blue as my niece’s toy. She was so confused when I first showed her my blue toy. She couldn’t comprehend, at first, how her stuffed animal shrank to such a small size. I had to explain to her that I bought one for myself, & that’s when it dawned on her that we had matching stuffed rabbit toys. She got a huge kick out of it….so, from then on, we turned it into a running gag gift.
This past March, for my niece’s 6th birthday, I bought her the Large size of this white stuffed rabbit. She freaked out with happiness when she opened her present. She didn’t really pay attention to the other gifts that also came in the box. She pretty much focused all of her attention on her new stuffed toy. She loved it so much, & she really liked how I got her the even bigger version of all our stuffed rabbit toys. It was supposed to be a gag gift, but it actually turned out to be a great idea because she told me she gave her blue stuffed rabbit to her brother so he would have something to sleep with at night. That really touched my heart to the core. This Christmas, I’m going to get my niece another one of these stuffed rabbit toys, but in the even larger size (XL).
Hmm, what name should I give this toy of mine? I’m thinking about naming him Albert. I’ve already named my mini rabbit toy Irving. I’m not sure why I give all of my objects masculine names. I just like the way those names sound. Also, I just get along with males more than females. No, I’m not a tomboy, but I like a lot of the same things guys like, like: cars, watching sports, building plastic model kits, car racing, etc.. So, I think I’ve decided to name this guy Albert after all. The name has to just come to me naturally, not forced in thought. This name popped into my head just as I was writing this blog, & I am in love with the name.
On another note, this is going to be the latest post on my blog for a while, at least until I get settled at my hotel in Hong Kong. That’s right. I’m leaving for my planned vacation in a few days. I’m in a frantic mode of packing & trying to locate my over-sized “Asia suitcase”…that’s what I call my XL luggage that mysteriously disappeared. The hassle of visiting Asia, is that you gotta visit tons of relatives (aunties, uncles, distant cousins), & with visiting relatives comes the task of bringing tons of gifts. I have to bring a second separate suitcase just to pack all of the gifts. So, here I leave you until I am once again in the Orient. 乾杯! Cheers!
Today’s song of the day:
Rabbits & Foxes 
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