Four day weeks are always nasty, aren’t they?  Somehow we’re all meant to clear last week’s backlog whilst doing this week’s work in four days.  And we don’t get another long weekend after the fact to recover from it all.  At least the sun was shining on Sydney today and I was out in it more than I normally would be.  The ancient SSG Mobile took ill again this week.  It’s had 2 days of intensive surgery and now drives like a car half its age.  The very pleasant surprise was how reasonable the bill was for all that needed to be done.

With the car out of action for half the week, I had the chance to be a part time public transport commuter.  What’s more, I got to use the bus, train and my feet on a journey that was only a few minutes longer than my usual drive.  Because I’ve been travelling against the general flow of commuters, I’ve had quiet trains both to and from work.  I’ve read half a novel and worked out all the suburbs on the South line between work and the city as well.  A less vertiginous way of getting to know my city than trying to read a road map or follow a blue dot whilst driving.

I was so ahead of budget using public transport for 2 days and so calm from not having to exhibit road rage (yes, I can even get riled up in the pre peak hour calm of the M4), I’d clearly earned the right to shop.  So I took the train to the city last night night and broke up the journey home with a look around and then dinner with Mr SSG.

That works out to be legally sourced Revlon in Australia at American prices.  Who would ever have thought I’d live to see the day?

My first stop was where else but Priceline.  The word on the street was that Revlon’s famed Colourburst Lip Butters were going for cheap.  2 for the price of 1 cheap.  The word had obviously been spread far and wide because not only was lip butter a hashtag on twitter, this was the state of supplies at George Street the evening of the first day of the promotion.  The display practically picked bare.

The Lip Butter fairy, in all her goodness, made a tube each of Pink Truffle and Brown Sugar appear out of nowhere for me.  Nowhere being defined as an area of the display far removed from where the matching testers were positioned.

Under the cool light of the office, the genius of the packaging became apparent to me.  Not only are the lids colour co-ordinated but there is a clear top allowing you to see the shade without having to uncap the lipstick.

Swatches from left to right – 020 Brown Sugar and 001 Pink Truffle.

I’ve decided to be a bit more professional with my make up commentary by providing photos of colour swatches on the side of my hand.  Not sure if they help in this instance as the colour is very sheer but I do feel more like a part time beauty blogger for doing them.  It’s early days yet but I am liking the feel of the Lip Butters on my lips.  They aren’t as tacky in texture as Juicy Tubes (remember them, children of the late nineties / early noughties) and being in stick form, are easy to reapply during the day.  Colour as I have said is very subtle, at least in the shades I bought.  However, filling in your lips with liner before applying them will boost the colour intensity.  Don’t know if anyone else does this but there you go, my one beauty tip to share with you.

Thanks for all the tweets the other day about coloured skinny jeans on a budget.  I started my search at Cotton On as many of you suggested.  The whole rainbow was there but sizes were limited so I had to go up and down depending on the colour.  I’m just going to have to face facts.  Coloured skinnies make fun denim photographs but I am going to have to sit this trend out.  Trying them on in the Cotton On change room made me look as I was trying to do a one woman denim tribute to the Rainbow Connection.  The kind that makes it to viral status on YouTube for being unintentionally hilarious.

Kermit, I’m going to leave the rainbows to you.  You rock the green skinny look, by the way.

Items of clothing I wish I didn’t have to leave the little muppets of the world are the wrap dresses from Diana von Furstenberg’s collaboration with Gap Kids.

Will you look at the prints.  They even feature in built shorts to give you a better line over your nappy, I suppose.  And if you’re too young for a dress, there are several onesies available as well.  The dresses were priced from $49.95.  The collection launched a few weeks ago in Australia and there’s still quite a lot of stock available.  Perhaps it’s one thing to buy designer collaboration pieces if you’re likely to stay the same size for the foreseeable future but quite another if you’re prone to growing in front of your parents’ eyes.

My reflections were interrupted at this point by Mr SSG who had arrived in time for dinner.  There was some dark muttering about cost per square centimetre of fabric and then cost divided by number of times worn when he saw the display before I found myself propelled to the food court.

Sassy’s Red is a stall on the fifth floor food court that aims serve traditional Malaysian hawker food, just like your nanna or favourite aunty makes back home.  It is the brain child of Simon Goh who is also the name behind Mood for Love and Chinta Ria, both also in the CBD.

Service is fast and friendly and self service with the ubiquitous buzzer symptom.  I wonder what the nannas make of being summoned this way for food?  One of the stall’s favourite elderly customers was placing an order just before me and he didn’t seem particularly fazed.

Out of focus Hor Fun, $12 from memory.

The menu is jam packed with the classic comfort foods for many Malysian Chinese.  Things many of us can’t actually cook properly and would usually have to fly home for.  I ordered the Hor Fun and whilst tasty and generously garnished with prawns and vegetables, didn’t really quite hit the spot for me.  The gravy wasn’t as eggy and richly flavoured as it could have been.  I also missed the usual barbecue pork slices.  The noodles were nicely browned though.

Curry Puffs, $5 for two.

The curry puffs were on the sweet side which I wasn’t expecting.  They weren’t terribly spicy.  The pastry was very light and crisp.

Kway Teow, $12.  In the spirit of eating out in Malaysia, I brought Wet Ones.  Though nannas prefer plastic packets of tissues.

Mr SSG’s Kway Teow was the standout dish for both of us.  There were the flavours of a wok at high heat with each  mouthful as well as a nice balance of sea food and vegetables.

Sassy’s Red is a conveniently located source of Malysian street food and whilst we had mixed success with our dishes last night, I’m planning to return to try the roti and rice dishes.  Not to mention saving room for dessert as well.