Can a woman have too many bags?

Tubby Hubby (TH) thinks we are living in imminent danger of a bag avalanche. When we moved, I gave away more than 20 bags, ranging from dinky purses to huge luggage. It made TH happy... for a while.

Ever since we set up home in Hong Kong, I've been going crazy buying bags from Salvation Army. I just can't resist them and besides, they're all below S$10 so it's not as if I'm blowing the entire household money on fripperies.

Only thing is, I have a LeSportSac hobo that I really, really like and that's the only one I use all the time. So TH has been on my case to give away the others. "Can't," I told him. "I'm starting a bag collection that some day, some museum somewhere would give their eye-teeth to display."

A pretty good explanation, wouldn't you say? Pity it hasn't stopped TH for imposing a bag ban. I need to find something new to collect now.

Don't tell me what to do!

Tubby Hubby (TH) always says I irritate him by telling him to do something he was going to do anyway. Like: "Go wash up" when he's already at the sink.

And he hates it when I say: "Be careful when you cross the road". "No, I'm going to walk in front of a bus just for fun," he usually retorts.

So when we got a special deal of 500 free minutes of overseas calls (but only if you dial a certain code), I told him the code and left him to his own devices. I wasn't about to remind him: "Must dial 0060 aah" everytime he picked up the phone. After all, as he keeps telling me, he is a fully-functioning adult.

And guess what happened? We ended up with a S$400 bill for overseas calls. Without me nagging him, TH just blithely dialled his usual 001.

I don't care what he says. He's going to be nagged to death from now. Think I better call him now to remind him to look left and right before crossing the road...

Joint account, one big headache

In Singapore, I have both a joint account with Tubby Hubby (TH) and a personal account. I love that personal account because it means I don't feel guilty using it to buy clothes, pay for manicures and get TH's birthday present.

Oh, and squirrel away lots of money for myself, of course.

But in Hong Kong, it's too troublesome to maintain so many accounts so we just have a joint one. Both out salaries go into it so in theory, I shouldn't feel guilty about using it. But I do.

TH's birthday is coming up and he said to take the money for his present from the joint account. But somehow it doesn't feel the same. How can I tell his I got it with my money when it comes from a pool anyway.

Ah well, shall console myself with the fact that at the moment, the contribution's 80-20 (with TH putting in the most). So when I spend, it'll most likely be his money. Way hey! Now, if I can just get rid of this guilt...

TH's new girlfriend

Tubby Hubby (TH) has a new girlfriend. Everytime we go out, he's too busy looking at her to take in the sights. Worst, at night, he takes her to bed with him and prefers to play with her than take part in our usual bedtime talk.

Maybe it's got something to do with the fact that she's easily turned on. In fact, he's got to keep her in that state all the time so that's probably why he's giving her more attention than me.

What am I talking about? Why, his Blackberry, of course.

He brought her back last week. "Office requirement," he said, barely keeping his glee in check. TH's a real gadget freak so giving him one is like giving a toddler a new toy. Since then, he can hardly keep his hands off her.

He thinks I'm crazy to be jealous of a palm-sized thing but it really does take up all his time. And, with his new job, I already hardly see him on weekdays.

So yesterday, I hid his Blackberry. He went into a major panic atack, but not because he was worried his office might need to contact him. "My Blackberry might be feeling lonely," he wailed.

Anybody know of any good Blackberry-obssessive-compulsive-disorder therapist around?

Wife or mistress?

Phew! It's been a crazy, crazy month trying to set up home. That's the view from our new rooftop, by the way. I'll post more when my computer is up and running.

For a week, I had to sleep on the floor in our empty Hong Kong flat while Tubby Hubby (TH) lorded it out in his hotel room. Of course, I could have shared TH's room but then, what about the cat? She had been cooped up in a cage for more than 12 hours just so we could have her in Hong Kong so I wasn't about to leave her on her own in an empty flat. See? That's the cage she came in... it's tiny.

This hotel/flat arrangement suited us fine - except I felt like a mistress sometimes. TH would pop over to the flat for half an hour or so after work and then have to leave to go to this hotel or I would go over to his room, have a quick shower (our bathroom in the flat was woefully ill-equipped) and then leave. It felt more like a tryst than a visit and, by the end of the week, we were getting significant glances from the security guards on both ends.

Once, I asked for the key to TH's hotel room because he was out and I needed to pick something up. The guy at the desk asked me: "Who are you?" "I'm his wife," I squeaked indignantly. "Oh right, his wife," he said, a tad skeptically.

Guess who didn't get a tip when TH checked out then?!

Slowpoke meets Speedy Gonzales

Tubby Hubby (TH) is the most deliberate person I know. He never makes a decision without thinking it over at least three times and even then, would tell me: "Wait, don't be too hasty."

I, on the other hand, just can't wait to get things out of the way. Need to find a condo? See one in the morning, decide on it by the evening. There, all done – now I can sit back and relax.

TH ribs me on being too impulsive but even he had to admire my "faiti faiti" (Cantonese for "hurry up") personality recently. I was up in Hong Kong for a week and in that time, I found us a condo, opened a bank account, applied for two jobs and even located a vet for Bimbo the cat.

"At this rate, you would have adopted two babies by the first month," TH observes. "Not if you had any say in it," I retort.

I'm now back in Singapore so TH can finally relax. He can now take two hours to decide what sandwich to have without me bugging him.

Crazy week in Hong Kong

Sorry I haven't been blogging but I've been running around like a headless chicken trying to sort stuff out so Tubby Hubby (TH) can stop living out of a suitcase - or, in his case, two humonguous bags.

Top on my list was finding a place to live. Rents are crazy in Hong Kong and yet, there still is so much demand. I went to see six condos on Monday afternoon and by the next morning, all but one had been rented out.

Anyway, we've found a place. Photos will come soon, when I can get TH to take a break from his busy worklife to load them for me.

Today, I went to sign up for a postgraduate diploma in cultural heritage management. Tomorrow, I have two (part-time) job interviews and then it's back to Singapore again.

Phew, the life of a jetsetter can be so draining.