Some Like it Haute

The alarm from my Nokia phone strikes promptly at 7am. It is a less than melodic tone, which sounds more like a command, rather than a gentle coax. I walk over to my oak study table where the handphone is placed and in my grogginess, struggle to hit the 'stop' button, instead of the center 'snooze' option, as that would prompt the same annoying tone 10 mins later.

I flip open my Fujitsu laptop, finger-aerobics "ctrl-alt-del" and wait for the password prompt. After typing in my password, the screen reveals a picture I took with Elena on a drizzly day back in Copehagen. I switch on Power98 on My Windows Media Player, get a hint of the hourly headlines, traffic and weather news.

Once music fills the room, I make my way into the bathroom to wash up. After applying the facial cleanser, I leave it on and brushed my teeth. The entire face-wash-teeth-brush process in done in two minutes.

Instinctively, I make my way to the dressing table, unscrewed my contact lens case and eyeballed the lens in. My Neutrogena SPH 30 Fine Fairness moisturizer sits there patiently, knowing that it would be a matter of seconds before I gently nudged the tip twice, gathering just enough for the day. The moisturizer glides only easily and I take care to dab some over my neck "the face line only ends at the bottom of your necklace". In similar fashion, I spotted Loreal concealer over my cheeks, carefully blending them in upward anti-clockwise direction, against the pull of gravity. The cream blusher comes on next. I smile- not out of happiness but due to the necessity to locate my cheekbones. Three to four swaps is usually good enough and again, I blend- this time, though, in outward fan direction. Finally, I pat on some pale eye shawdow to lighten the area beneath my eyes.

I didn't take long to dress as my outfits are usually decided a night before. I pick my shoes according to how much walking I have to do for the day- ballet flats or t-strap sandals for walkathons and wedges if I'm wearing the bermuda-shorts. A cursory check in the mirror and I'm off to join my parents who are usually already downstairs waiting for the 'kids'.

That is what I have been doing ever since school commenced, or rather, since 'god knows when'... With the exception of weekends and a couple of days, my routine remains unchanged. Even the traffic and weather reports suggest unmistakable predictability.

Today, I woke up feeling incredibly bored.