How my teeth will forever be clean

thanks to Darlie and their excellent marketing campaigns.

First the Singapore Darlie had that massive mugs that came with two tubes of toothpaste.  Was great, I bought two sets (i.e 4 tubes of toothpaste), and broke one mug. *heart break*

[photo credit: MyFatPocket]

Then there was the mug where Hello Kitty is riding the great tube of white (less pretty, Darlie everywhere). 2 more tubes of toothpaste...

Then when I was in Hongkong with the girls last week, what happened? I came across Darlie in Wellcome.... and they came with Rilakkuma summer edition procelain bowls.

Yup you heard me, I lugged one set back (earning me massive eyerolls from the gals, especially since I was already lugging lots of weird shit back). Which brings to a wonderful total of 8 tubes of toothpaste to be used by my tiny household. Damn you Darlie.

There~! Proof that I am a victim of cartoon gimmicks. Thank god the plate didn't shatter during the flight. I might have committed seppuku if I only had the darlie. That's how I ended up with a Brown cup (exclusive to HongKong Airport, or so they say), the summer Rilakkuma plate with 2 freaking tubes, and some toy vehicles).

Going overseas with gals is sure different from going overseas with Bobo. Tripping with him, all running around capitalizing on time and making sure we catch every single sight (leaving us super exhausted. Though in the last 3 trips, I have started to set aside some relaxation, e.g. cycling around Lake Forggensee, admiring the clouds at ChingJing and spa in Busan). Tripping with the gals, small catfights, sleep-ins and lots of girl talk. Last year we didn't manage to kill one another in Ho Chi Minh, but this time around, we destroyed one another's wallets, 损友 style. At one point, it became like this:

Miss Bear: Do you think I should buy this luggage tag (which I totally don't need?)

Me: Why ask? Buy la.

She ended up with 3 luggage tags and 7 foldable shopping totes (as did I).

The other Miss Bear also insisted that we wipe out to the last Hongkong dollar we had, down to the Octopus card, which is how I ended up with the McDonald's cup and the Hello Kitty roller coaster toy.

The obligatory Omiyage. The yellow purse I bought simply because it is a long running joke between Bobo and I.

The gardening crap were stupid buys, in general, especially the hangers. Was a pain trying to pack them since they couldn't fit into my luggage or my bags. I had to go around Hongkong begging for cardboard. Fuck, you have no idea how big Hongkongers are on recycling. I literally had to almost fight with the cardboard collecting uncles and aunties. In the end, a super lovely cashier from Wing Wah took pity and emptied a box for me (which also led to me overspending at the shop in gratitude).

I endured some whines from the Misses Bears, who couldn't understand why I would wanna compete with the old people for cardboard, and told me to buy a 红白蓝, 损友 style. I would except that the only one I saw, sold for 65 Hongkong dollars (Perhaps they upped their prices after being copied by turn-cheap-into-expensive Balenciaga). Seriously go rob a bank or something. Almost S$13!!!!

It's all Balenciaga's fault

I have to say, this is the first trip I spent so much money without blinking. When I told お母さん, she said, "Good!" (alluding to the fact that I am a skinflint and seldom spent money on myself, other than food).