What's that smell?

My office stinks. I mean, literally. They’re doing renovations in the ground floor and the smell of paint has somehow traveled to the top floor. Thing is, it doesn’t smell purely like paint. It’s like a mixture of paint, sweat and –as my boss puts it- someone’s armpits. Yes, not pleasant.

So far I’ve rubbed on The Body Shop body lotion (ooh, free promo here) on my arms four times today, in fear that the horrid smell might actually stick to me. That and the fact that I need something to mask the stench. What are your favourite smells? Here are some of mine:

1. Freshly popped popcorn – I had a whiff of these during lunch time. I nearly bought myself some just because they smelled so good. Popcorn AND caramel…

2. The baby’s department in any shopping mall – The talcum, the new clothes, the baby wipes. I can spend ages just sniffing baby clothes (not in a perverse way, mind you). And no, it’s NOT my maternal instincts kicking in. There’s just something very soothing and clean about the baby scent.

3. Clean sheets – I love it when I change my sheets, fresh from the clothesline. It’s a combination of washing detergent and warm sunshine. And they feel so clean!

4. Fried chicken – or anything similar in my kitchen. I can always tell if my parents are whipping up something amazing for dinner. Drool.

5. Brownies in/fresh out of the oven – Need I say more? Which leads me to…

6. Famous Amos cookies – commercial or not, I think they smell divine

7. Bak kut teh – I used to stand in front of the bak kut teh stall in Foh Sang when I was younger just to inhale the herbal aroma. Not only do I love the smell but have since developed a taste for this delicious dish (minus the innards please, ugh). My parents still don’t touch the stuff though.

8. Clean hair – Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Inhale.

9. Lester – A familiar scent that I never grow tired of (maybe because he’s a constant combination of bak kut teh, popcorn and clean sheets).

I can’t think of number 10…. Oh wait, I got it:

10. Books – Especially new ones. But old books have their own charm too. The fusion of paper and ink is quite intoxicating. Mmm, nice oh…

All those happy thoughts of my favourite smells have made me forget the icky paint/sweat/armpit smell.

Now I’m just hungry.

“Alright stop, collaborate and listen,
Ice is back with a brand new invention
Something grabs hold of me tightly…”
- can’t remember the rest of Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby. Maybe that’s a good thing.