What Was I Thinking?!

Well maybe the problem is that I wasn't really thinking when I bought the smiley eau de toilette from Rustan's Essenses last week.  I went to there supposedly to catch the last day of the sale but instead of going to the department store where the real bargains were, I wandered into Essenses at Gateway and found myself surrounded by the products I had only read about.

I remembered all those products I had wanted to purchase - from Burt's Bees lip balm to Bite be Gone - and was on my way to the counter when I spotted that yellow smiling face that beckoned to me.  I received a text message on my cellphone and I read that my friends were already waiting for me at Cafe Bola.  I made a quick decision - to grab the smiley perfume and dash out before Becky Bloomwood took over me again.  (Who's Becky Bloomwood?  Please see previous post somewhere in my Lessons on Waiting blog).

After I had paid, the cashier said, "That perfume smells nice.  It's unisex.  A lot of people buy it."

I froze for a millisecond.  Whoever bought perfume (technically, EDT) without smelling it first?  I convinced myself it would smell nice, after all, the makers claimed that it was the world's first antidepressant perfume.  It allegedly was a "psycho-tonic perfume [normal dose] with micro-nutrients to activate happiness".  Sounds grand?  Here's the rest of the write-up from the official website:

Prescription free happiness, now available?! Smiley offers a unisex and universal range of products with micro-nutrients to activate happiness! Its secret: the formula is based on natural bio-chemistry combining theobromine with phenylethylamine derived from pure cocoa extract. This psycho stimulant cocktail is available in a whole range of preparations using galenical pharmacology. A 100% medical look for a unique therapy, the range is revealed out of the confined box of the luxury perfume industry! This antidepressant remedy is to be consumed without any moderation: in the shower, in the bath, for specific use anytime you wish! The formulae are preserved in exclusive perfume bottles developed by the prestigious glassmaking techniques of Saint-Gobain and desinged by Ora-Ito, the most sought after designer of his generation. Nothing like it to contain the happy therapy!

I've been wearing it for almost a week now and I feel fine, however, I'm not sure if my happiness is brought about by the perfume, or by my much-awaited return to the gym, or by a repaired relationship with someone I cared deeply about.  I'm inclined to credit it to the latter, actually.  (I have an entry brewing about my personal trainer and her Instruments of Torture, but will save it for another day.)

I should know better than to buy into marketing strategies, but I had wanted to try smiley for the longest time.  I'm not sure if I'm smiling more now, just as I'm not sure if in the past, I was truly Beautiful courtesy of Estee Lauder, In Love Again due to YSL,  Sporty courtesy of Polo Sport, Romantic courtesy of Romance by Ralph Lauren, or Happy courtesy of Clinique.  Honestly!  

Smiley doesn't blend well with me as much as Ralph by Ralph Lauren or Light Blue by Dolce and Gabbana do, but I have to justify my purchase, since I rarely buy perfume for myself.  This is the last perfume I will buy this year, as I have many siblings who provide for my scent supply.  

I will, however, continue to seek happiness from within.  

Wonder of the Ancient World

Well, I was laying the predicate in my previous post, for I knew that I was going to Beijing to see the Great Wall of China, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World!










Although they're not all in the same category, I've seen seven wonders of the world already!

I wasn't able to scale the top of the Great Wall (we were brought to the steepest portion) due to the severe heat and my vertigo, but I got close enough to take pictures for that once-in-a-lifetime trip.







I also visited Tian'anmen Square, The Forbidden City, The Temple of Heaven, and the Summer Palace while I was in Beijing.

I enjoyed myself thoroughly, with a tour guide all to myself because the couple I shared her with were Chinese and thus familiar with all the trivia she was offering, and the other couple didn't bother to show up because it rained that morning. I paid for a private tour for the price of a public tour. Not a bad deal, huh. I oohed and aahed at the sight of so much jade, silk, and pearl in Beijing.

I wished I had paid more attention to World History class in high school so that I could have an intelligent conversation with my Chinese tour guide. Instead I relied on my vague recollections of names and events from movies and books.

I also tasted the famous Peking Duck together with heavenly scallops and broccoli, aromatic fresh tea, authentic noodles and dimsum, and other culinary delights while I was in China. I had memorable meals at a restaurant serving Singaporean cuisine behind the Shanghai Exhibition Center, for they served the best lunch that we had in our four days there. The other restaurants we tried were disappointing. In Beijing, we went to famous restaurants and hotels so it more than made up for the pathetic meals we had in Shanghai.

Shopping was fabulous at Shanghai, however, and that was our priority more than the dining experience, and we went crazy, what with name brands at knock-down prices (the world is made in China, remember?), souvenirs at friendly, bargainable rates, and shopping areas the length of Commonwealth Avenue (from back home in Quezon City).

My travel partner and I worked hard during the day promoting DiscoverPH, a Philippine travel website, during the World Travel Fair, and scoured the streets of Shanghai for great finds every night. We capped each event with caramel macchiato from Starbucks, which somehow tasted so much creamier and better in spring-cold Shanghai than in summer-humid Manila.

Which reminds me, I found that as a good excuse to go to Starbucks, to compare if the caramel macchiato here also improved its taste. I should go on Easter Week.