Thebarefootfoodie

Of Freebies and Phobias. Posted on 22 Sep 2011 The phone rang and a strong accent spoke.It's one of the one-miilion foreigners we have on our shores ( talent or otherwise). The accent dangled the bait -  "You have been selected for a free treatment of massage, body firming or facial at our Spa. The offer is open to first-time customers only." Since it was as good a time as any to get a facial, I  bit at the hook pathetically. The confirmed appointmet was promptly followed by an sms message, giving detailed directions to an unfamiliar address. So here I was, this morning, like a fly in the spider's parlour. As I was filling up the peremptory particulars form, a sales rep dressed in black plonked herself next to me and spewed her opening line " You have very dry skin."  Not a very good introduction , I thought. " Don't women of a certain age have dry skin?" I asked innocently, resisting the temptation to say something like ...

Lessons My Children Taught Me (2) Posted on 17 Sep 2011 "No, you cannot have one more";  "That's enough." ; "I said,let's go NOW"; "No, that is too expensive/fatty/skimpy/childish/messy/time-consuming/dangerous/sweet/salty/gassy...and so on and on..."No ifs and buts, just do your work"..."No...No...No!" No, if what you want does not fit into MY schedule.  No, if what you think is not what I would like you to have. No, if what you feel does not agree with what I want you to do. No, if what you do offends MY sense of taste or sentiment. Just do your work..."No...No...No!" When I was a little girl  growing up, I would pop the perennial question " Why not? " to my parents'  No-s. They were not too impressed and I did not get answers to my question. The more they imposed their will over mine, the more indifferent I got.  There was also an inverse relationship between control and bonding. T...

Banking on Boredom, Insecurity and Greed = BIG bucks. Posted on 8 Sep 2011 A few days ago, I brought my son, D, for his facial - gasp! Yes, real men do take care of their own self-grooming. This is for those who do it so sporadically, that once in a few months, it is good to just let a teenage boy go under the expert hands of someone who knows how to coax those angry outbreaks and clogged pores into submission.  While waiting with a book for company in the relaxation room,which is rather conducive for a nap as well, in strolls the relationship manager who politely asks if I wanted a hot drink. Why not, I said, and nodded approvingly - thinking, good service here.  She returns with a cup of ginger tea, ( great for flatulence ) and lingers on to chat. She - " Why don't you do a facial as well?" Me - " I just did it here last week. You had a promotion for a complimentary treatment." She - "Would you like to try a special facial for dry skin?...

Lessons My Children Taught Me (1) Posted on 7 Sep 2011 It happened on Monday 5 Sep. Prior to the meltdown, it was part of the ground rules for work before play, yaba, yaba, yaba, striking a healthy balance, or so it seemed in theory.  Except that when it comes to D, things are not that clear- cut. He is one of those characters who would sit for 5 minutes to do work, and gets up for the next 15 minutes, looking for a snack or two, stopping by along the way to his bedroom, to fiddle with his nerf-gun, sneak in a chapter of his reading material, before remembering to detour back to his work station, and so it continues... After spending a couple of hours on this routine, he walks up to me in the evening and asks for the pass-word to his virtual world of fantasy on the computer, in anticipation of reward for work done. I asked what seemed like an innocent question to me - how much work have you done so far? Answer - a whole chapter of Chemistry.  My response - it...

Art and Craft - Posted on 5 Sep 2011 Friday was a day well-spent, doing girl stuff, with a girl-friend,PL. It began with a wholesome breakfast of home-made quiche, (thanks, Freda) with Malacca kopi. Then to work, as PL whipped out her arsenal of lanolin, glycerine, vitamin E, essential oils, colourings, and other paraphernalia for soap-making in delightful mounds of roses, bumble bee, cameo victorian lady and hearts. We measured with due diligence, chopped up the soap base and stirred the prepared brew till it morphed into a liquid of desirable consistency. Then the colours were added, with a squirt of glycerine to separate the layers, and the liquid soap carefully poured into the soap moulds. Half an hour later, the soap was ready to be separated from the moulds - in theory, that is.  We realised, to our dismay, that the soaps remainly stubbornly lodged in their intricate moulds and refused to budge. Minutes of huffing, puffing, pressing, squeezing and painful finger...