I’m waiting for summer to come round the corner. :)

Rich people’s houses and their monstrous shrubbery.

Possibly the best sign ever!

I term this the Slab of Chocolate garage door.

Quirky storybook houses.

The guy passing by interrupted my attempt at getting a self-timed shot with random remarks. XD

✿ floral dress, leatherette jacket: forever21
✿ olive stirrup tights: top20 in singapore
✿ flats: small shop in buenos aires

Here I am, working on my forty-fifth molar grind of food morsel.

I made a point of counting how many times Aless chewed a bite of his pizza yesterday, because I’ve noticed the terrifying pattern where he finishes all six slices of a 6″ pizza when I’m only just done with two slices of the same-sized specimen. I admit I’m one of the slower eaters at the table, but still.

The experiment was a failure, largely because I stated my intent beforehand, and he ended up chewing a lot more, claiming that he had taken a particularly large bite of pizza. I’m still skeptical of that. XD

Stitched from four photos from two years ago, in Singapore.

And so we woke up the next day just as the sun was beginning to rise:

Our tour package included a little bit of breakfast. Spottled, yellow, curved-shaped fruit was brought over from Los Angeles though. :P

Scenery en route to the Grand Canyon, a.k.a. Arizona’s Famous Crack In The Earth:

Looks like our precipitation turned white and fluffy. XDD

We had vouchers for entrance to the Grand Canyon Skywalk and for lunch at the ranch.

We had to store all personal belongings in the lockers before entering the Skywalk, but here’s a picture of the Skywalk if you haven’t been to the wiki page yet.

And a picture of us by their professional photographers at the Skywalk, with funky slippers over our shoes to protect the clarity of the glass we were walking on.

This was generally how my face looked at the Grand Canyon. Ade said I needed sunglasses to shield my eyeballs from the wind. I had to concur.

Note Ade’s open-toed flats. WE WERE SO UNDERDRESSED.

And my favourite part of visiting the Grand Canyon:

We were very amused by Ade’s attempts at getting the horse she was petting to be photogenic.

I was afraid of them. They were gigantic horses. And the horse I molested, eyed me like it was smarter than it seemed to be letting on. But I’ve always loved my shaggy-maned, generously-endowed, hooved beasts, so.

Pictorial evidence to justify my totally unexaggerated description of how monstrous in size these horses were. XDD

The people at the ranch let us take photographs sitting upon a placid, short horse for free. We had to sign a liability form first though. I noticed that the horse’s right eye was cast in a film of white, and I wondered aloud if it had cataracts. Do horses get cataracts? Apparently they do.

And then we headed out of the canyon and onto the Hoover Dam. But first, a stopover:

Hoovering at the dam.

Photos without the watermark were taken by Ade.

I couldn’t live without my laptop. That, coupled with my very metal-laden SLR in that bag, meant a half hour walk of doom, sweat and roar.

Ade and I stayed at the MGM Grand, a.k.a. That Green Building. I admit I couldn’t see it until the last night because I only noticed the exterior of the hotel in the mornings, when it was blue.

It was St. Patrick’s Day during the weekend, so a lot of people wore green on Saturday. My housemate scared me into packing something green because she said I would get pinched by strangers if I didn’t. Even Krispy Kreme had green-themed donuts! ♥

Ade and I were one of the first to get tickets for Cirque Du Soleil’s Kà for that night!

We headed down to Hotel Aria for a buffet dinner (boasting seafood) before catching Kà:

Aria gastronomy heaven part one: Crab legs. This was our second serving of crustacean limbs.

Ade had grapefruit juice, freshly squeezed.

Aria gastronomy heaven part two: Desserts.

And then, under the urging of Ade, we went back to change into something more classy for the performance:

A sneak shot of the amazing rotating platform in the back of the stage. It was spectacular how the performers flew and climbed like spiders on gravity-defying vertical.

These structures were located on both sides of the theatre, and performers flew from the railings before the show started. Also, there were bird kites. ♥

Post-show, and buffet evidence still hadn’t disappeared from my stomach. XD

I wanted to take some pictures down the long and dimly-lit hallways of the hotel we were staying at. XDD

Finally, the most beautifully-decorated hotel in Las Vegas, Hotel Bellagio:

Even the store-windows look so pretty!

Also, the following is vaguely related, but I miss Singapore. Nothing spells home like food, eating food with friends, and my home toilet.

Here, have something about Las Vegas after all these weeks, video-editing inertia and all.

Will have pictures soon~

I don’t always bruise, but when I do, I mottle. XD

✿ floral camisole: uniqlo
✿ floral chiffon top, knee socks, leatherette jacket: forever21
✿ skirt: zara
✿ boots: top shoes
✿ necklace: etsy

It became a running joke after I remarked upon the amusing that was Zen’s comment.

Jamie offered to drive us back, and Fab told us to take care and for him to drive safely. “Don’t destroy my computer!” He said.

“Why would I destroy my car?” Jamie retorted.

It was past midnight.

This was taken last year; as usual, in accordance with my habit of procrastination.

✿ how the world ends tee: threadless.com
✿ cardigan: far east
✿ skirt, earrings, shoes: forever21
✿ socks: gift (topshop)

I am not making sense.

Obligatory this is me being all I’m so cool walking towards the camera and ignoring the pretend explosion behind because I’m badass like that. :P

The bag.

This is me suited up for when I venture out of the warm embrace of thermal heating. Panda hood-scarf (courtesy of the amazing Evy) keeps me really warmmmmm~

Christmas nails.

A day in the life of the dino.

✿ Dino Day tee: threadless.com
✿ orange knit cardigan: mango
✿ denim shorts, leatherette jacket: forever21
✿ knit tights: urban outfitters
✿ boots: top shoes
✿ panda hood-scarf: gift (river island)
✿ bag: lucky brand jeans (via ross)

I remember that day clearly. I think I’m all squinty-eyed in here because (a) morning, and (b) the sun it burns. XDD

Also, my coolios!jacket featured in another long-ago outfit post I’ve been keeping in storage:

✿ dancing zombies tee: threadless.com
✿ skirt, bomber jacket: forever21
✿ thigh-high socks: cotton on
✿ flats: small shop in Argentina

I’ve been spending my time of late, in the company of the web camera. It is an experience I’m liking more by the day, though I don’t want to jinx it.

To which Ti laughed and promptly made fun of me for using such a disturbing analogy.

Of course, I had to prove him wrong. It is so a known phrase. This was followed by me trying to find out if the butt really is the smoothest part of the body.

And then Pa chimed in, “You know what’s the smoothest part of the body?

“The eyeball.”

I leave you with a picture taken months ago near downtown LA, right outside the train station at Little Tokyo:

***

Terry Pratchett’s Men At Arms
(Two examples of why my favourite author is a brilliant, brilliant human being.)

‘Good grief,’ said Angua, when they had put several streets between them and the crowd of dogs. ’He’s mad, isn’t he?’

‘No, mad’s when you froth at the mouth,’ said Gaspode. ‘He’s insane. That’s when you froth at the brain.’

Terry Pratchett’s Monstrous Regiment

The reedy little voice trembled with such belief that Polly felt embarrassed, and then ashamed and, finally, after the ringing ‘amen’, amazed that the world appeared no different from before. For a minute or two, it had been a better place…

***

Andrew Davidson’s The Gargoyle
(This was read on a lark, and it was good, if the number of quotes I have here are anything to go by; and yet depressing is not what I’d usually read.)

It was not only a lack of communication from God that made me feel less worthy, it was also that the other nuns seemed so sure of their paths when there was so much I didn’t understand. I was bewildered in heart and mind; I was deficient in the certainty the others seemed to have.

But none of that is enough. Your skin is the emblem of your identity, the image that you presented to the world. But it was never who you really are. Being burnt doesn’t make you any less– or more– human. It only makes you burnt.

I called her stupid; she laughed and replied that against stupidity even the gods struggle in vain.

We rarely notice our innate feeling for time until it’s removed. This is why amnesiacs are so confused when they become first aware of their condition. It’s not because they’ve lost memories– we all lose memories; it’s because they’ve lost time.

***

Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files Book 4: Summer Knight
(This, I suspect I only kept on reading because of a completion-ist tendency… and also because this particular paragraph made me laugh.)

Here’s where I ask why don’t you spend your time doing something safer and more boring. Like maybe administering suppositories to rabid gorillas.

***

Lastly, something I’ve quoted once before in an old place, and have always kept close to my heart; just as I have his stories:

Dan Rhode’s Anthropology

Indifference

Not wanting the intensity of my love to drive Skylark away, I feigned indifference. I worried that this tactic wasn’t working; seeming bored in my company, she would keep looking at her watch as though impatient to go somewhere far better. Even so, we would always disinterestedly arrange to meet up again. When, besotted, I casually suggested we get married, she shrugged her shoulders and, yawning, said, ‘Whatever.’ I couldn’t believe my luck. The man asked us whether we were prepared to love and cherish one another forever. Skylark said she might as well, and I told him I supposed so.

✿ bicycle dress: modcloth.com
✿ cardigan: far east
✿ grey knit tights: forever21
✿ floral tights: urban outfitters
✿ boots: top shoes
✿ matryoshka earrings: gift

Evy sent this amazing package my way! SO MUCH WIN, let me count the ways:

(1) Cute square box packed with a mean punch!

(2) Chocolates from Belgium!!

(3) Kinder Surprise (!!!), and a mystery egg that I need to submerge in water for 48 hours. *w*

(4) Having JJJan get the honour of assembling the Kinder Surprise toy with MANLINESS. XDD

(5) Super cute pink monkey iron-on, lollipop that made me look awesome while biking to work today, and those strings and wrapping paperrrr.

(6) Unrelated to Evy’s package, but the guys came over for a bit and we finished the rest of the Christmas gift of a Malbec that Jeff bought from Argentina. Shot by JJJan who had yet to be accustomed to my camera’s manual focus.

The guys– Kaej, WeiJ, and JJJan. ‘J’ overload here!

Anyway, Mystery egg time!!!

IS THIS SQUIRTLE?!?!? XDDDDDDDDDDDD

Aaaand, of course, I had to wear the (very awesome) tee the next day on my first day at work after coming back to L.A.

✿ Reason #7 Epic Zombie tee: gift (threadless.com)
✿ camouflage shorts: fox
✿ tights: urban outfitters
✿ shoes: h&m

I’m counting the reasons why I should not regret getting on the flight back to L.A., and this was one of them. TwT

✿ duck and cover! dinosaur tee: teefury.com
✿ cardigan, tights, skirt, jacket: forever21
✿ boots: top shoes

✿ watchmen rorschach tee: teefury.com
✿ cardigan, tights, shorts, jacket: forever21
✿ flats: small shoe shop in argentina
✿ panda hooded scarf: gift (river island)

Someone in the office has really nice handwriting. Jealous!!! *w*

✿ the walking dead tee: teefury.com
✿ floral hair clip, shorts, knit beanie, jacket: forever21
✿ tights: urban outfitters
✿ scarf: online
✿ boots: top shoes

✿ accio brains tee: teefury.com
✿ tights, shorts: forever21
✿ flats: small shoe shop in argentina
✿ pullover: old navy
✿ narwhal necklace: etsy

Overkill!