Rainbow Hair

I've wanted to dye my hair purple for the longest time, and decided that, what the heck, I should do it for my 30th birthday (are you sensing how havoc I've become since entering a new decade of life? Hahahaha). Plus, I saw a picture of Katy Perry with dark purple hair and fell in love with her hair.

You have to admit her hair looks GOOD!

Source: hairworldmag.com

So I took the plunge and went to perm and dye my hair. I couldn't do them together (too many chemicals), so I did the digital perm first, just in time for my birthday. I've permed my hair before and am glad it turned as fabulous as the first time. It's the Korean perm that gives Asian hair big curls. My only regret is that I went to the beach a few days later, which in Singapore means the beach water is SALT WATER, and that loosened my curls significantly :(

My big curls that I enjoyed only for a few days. Lesson to self: don't go to the beach/ swimming so soon after a perm.

I went to dye my hair a few days later. My hairdresser recommended that I only dye the underside of my hair because 1) something about Katy Perry having American hair, which is different from Asian hair, and so the effect wouldn't be the same if I did the whole head (hmm...not quite sure what she meant), and 2) to minimize the damage to my hair. The entire process smelled awful, I needed to pee badly, and bleaching my hair was semi-traumatic as I voluntarily destroyed my hair. 

I sent this Ah Lian picture of me to my family and joked that this was my new hairstyle. My sister in the States, who didn't know about my plans, was horrified.

After all the "pain" and "suffering", however, the result was FAN-TA-BU-LOUS and I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED IT!!! Especially that streak of pink-purple near the top. 

And then a few weeks later, I went to Adventure Cove, one of Singapore's bigger water theme parks, with my sister. A few things to note about the park:
a) It's a great place to go to on a hot summer's day;

b) All the rides are (older) children-friendly, so none of them were particularly thrilling for my sister and I;

c) Neutrogena Sunscreen is AMAZING;

d) I was able to snorkel for the first time! Hated it the first round, loved it the second;

e) I also fed stingrays during one of the feeding sessions-- one of the coolest water experiences ever!

f) Only buy the tickets on promotion because it is not worth the full price. 

The one and only pic we took at Adventure Cove.

As much as I enjoyed Adventure Cove, the chlorinated water ruined my hair even more! I was sad when I realized that my purple hair had turned into this weird ash-green color at the bottom, and the pink-purple had faded to a copper-orange. That is, until I noticed that despite the fading, my hair had miraculously become this gradient-ed colorful, rainbow-like hair!

And that is how I now have rainbow hair that I adore!

The ends even match the huge bruise I developed from Adventure Cove (:p)

Fast forward a few weeks, and all the blue and purple have washed out into an ash-green color that sounds gross but actually looked pretty good. But since I was going back to the States, I touch up my hair and dyed it purple again (thank goodness no bleaching needed). The color this round is more blue than purple, and not as obvious so :( But I still love it. 

When I return to Singapore unsure-exactly-when-but-hopefully-very soon, I want to do this again. Only next time, I want to do it to my ENTIRE head of hair. 

I can't wait! 

My Worse Flight Experience (for now)

When bad things hit, they hit all at once.

I was supposed to fly from Ohio to Utah on Saturday evening, but it's now 12.45 a.m., Sunday morning, and guess where I'm typing this? At the Columbus, Ohio airport. I am still stuck in Buckeyeland, and it has been a rough night.

Let's start at when I went through the security check. My contact lens solution set off the alarm because it contained hydrogen peroxide, and hence, I had to undergo a full body pat down and luggage check. The pat down wasn't too bad because there weren't many people around. However, the male officer opened my carry-on luggage that had been stuffed to the max. In an attempt to avoid paying the (stupid) check-in luggage fees, I had crammed a whole week's worth of necessities and gifts into my carry-on luggage, that included my clothes, undergarments, sealed bags with my toiletries, and sealed bags of ba kwa (Singaporean bbq-ed roast pork). He took out EVERYTHING, unsealed every bag, and scanned every item, while I received the pat down. The contents of my suitcase was scattered all over the table, and it didn't help that he had to touch and scan my underwear. Yes, he wore gloves, and the check was conducted in a professional manner, but I still feel semi-violated when I think about his gloved hands on my underwear. When it was over (and what do you know? I'm not a terrorist) I had to repack my entire luggage right there at the security checkpoint.

As I repacked my luggage, I heard the announcement that my plane was boarding. I threw the rest of my things in, and rushed to my gate (thank goodness the airport is small!). When I boarded the plane, there was a flight officer making some announcement. I got to my seat, and realized that because I had arrived late, there were no overhead bins to hold my luggage near my seat, and the closest available space was way up front. Left with no choice, I stowed it there and went back to my seat. But at the moment I sat down, I heard the flight officer announce that there was a massive storm approaching Columbus, and as a result, the plane would be grounded for an hour.

AN HOUR?! Which meant that I was definitely going to miss my connecting flight in Chicago (my transit time was only 70 minutes). The flight officer suggested that everyone who would miss a connecting flight should approach the airline help desk to reschedule an entire flight itinerary. So I collected my heavy, over-stuffed luggage that I had just stowed, and waited in the long line to book another route. When my turn finally came, I learned that I had booked the very last flight of United of the day, and no other United flights were leaving that evening. I had 2 choices: a) go to Chicago that evening on the delayed flight, wait till the morning for another connecting flight to Salt Lake City, or b) wait till the next morning to fly out to Chicago or Houston, then onward to Salt Lake City. Either way, I was only going to be able to fly to Utah the next day.

Not good choices but what could I do? So I booked my flight for the next day (*cross fingers no massive storms again*), and treated myself to a nice dinner because I was already on the cusp of a breakdown. Keep in mind that I'm still suffering from massive, whack-o jet lag, having flown back from Singapore to the United States only 5 days ago. I also moved into my new apartment Saturday morning, and was already tired from moving and unpacking. Thus after filling my tummy, I proceeded to find a spot in the checked-in, secured area to wait out the night. I had decided against getting a hotel room or staying overnight with a friend for a variety of reasons, plus it shouldn't be too bad with the cushion-y chairs and free Wi-Fi, right?

Wrong. I was enjoying my respite from the already rough night, when around 12.30 a.m., a security guard approached me and told me that I had to leave the secured area, and wait outside in the pre-security check area. WHICH MEANS THAT I WOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE FULL SECURITY CHECK IN THE MORNING AGAIN!!!

I wanted to cry. It has been a terrible experience, and I'm trying to remain positive. I'm safe, have Wi-Fi, a new itinerary for tomorrow, and food to last me till I arrive in Utah. The sympathetic waitress that served me dinner also taught me to take out all liquid containers from my luggage for a separate scan. That way, if the alarm went off again, security officers would only test the containers, and not my entire luggage. Brilliant idea that I am definitely going to try later!

But I really, really, really, really, really am praying that everything goes smoothly from here on out. And that I get over my jetlag tonight so that I can catch some sleep. Being wide awake in the early hours (like now) stinks.