I took 3 showers yesterday. Last time I did that I was in a country so hot and I sweated too much, that showers freshened and cooled me down. Yesterday, the weather was cold, rainy and windy. It was not a good day to put myself through the discomfort of removing my warm clothes, then feel chilled as I tried to dry-up quickly, and re-warm myself with fresh but cold clothes plus long wet hair.
I have a strong sense of smell. Sometimes very handy, other times a problem.
Yesterday, after the morning Easter Sunday service (which I showered for, heheh), mom and I decided to lunch out. I made her choose which continent the dishes could come from (she said she wanted rice); and suggested Japanese, Indonesian and Italian (she chose Indonesian) which were a short walking distance from us. I took her to a restaurant which I was surprised was actually Malaysian, but we stayed coz she had never been there and we did not want to tire out my ankle injury. For the first time in my life, I waited in the queue (I never queue up for more than 5 minutes, or at least we sit at the bar with drinks/starters comfortably until called). Mom did not mind, but it was freezing to stand outside so I felt bad for her.... Anyway, we waited for over 10 minutes, then sat down and ate for over an hour. There was ample ventilation and air circulation, but the cooking and food smells still latched on to our clothes. I could smell it strongly on my skin and my hair. I rushed to shower again and shampooed vigorously as soon as I got home.
A couple of hours later, a friend and his daughter picked me up to go to another Easter event. Freshly dressed (except for my gold jacket and soft scarf, still smelling of the Malaysian restaurant, ugh, so I wore it as little as possible), out we went. I found out the South African speaker was actually German, oops hahahah. I was thankful we arrived more than half an hour early, ensuring seats. So many people showed up a second show had to be quickly organised after ours (which appeared to also be too much past capacity). There were people squeezed at every step and crevice of the auditorium. I could smell some of them. Not a foul body odour, nor strong perfume/cologne. Just from where they had been, smokes, dogs, bed, re-worn clothes, and their normal body scents. My nose was hyper-sensitive.
Afterwards, we grabbed a bite and drinks at a foodcourt nearby. Then headed home. On route home, after some casual chats with friendly strangers, we were invited to a comedy show for free. My friend couldn't (I figured, to spend time with his beautiful daughter), I was tired, and I did not feel like dealing with more olfactory challenges (smokes and alcohol, etc). I could also still smell the foodcourt on me. So I declined for us and headed to the shower for more hearty scrubbing and shampooing. I could not stand the smell of my "dirty" clothes and even my used towel got thrown in the laundry... very far away from me.
(to be continued, maybe... regarding how travel changes our smells and how unaware many people are that we ALL smell "off" or weird to someone somehow...)
*************************************
I have always been aware of people's natural scents smelling differently - no matter how great our hygiene routines are, how expensive and scented the products we use, and how plain the foods we eat are. We all smell. And our scents linger across "funny", "weird", "interesting" or "off" to someone, somehow.
In my younger days, I thought I always smelt alright (heheheh). I didn't have strong body odours that required deodorants, as far as I knew and in comparison to my peers. I was silently glad of this fact, and lived life mostly au naturel. Perfumes were used on a whim, not out of necessity.
As I got older my group of friends became more diverse and the foods I digested became more experimental (e.g. started eating onions and garlic). My body, my diet, and the way/rate I burned my food intakes may have also changed. The most obvious change to me was whenever the smell of onions and garlic wafted from my pores and onto my clothes an hour after I ate them. Later, my natural scent also changed (specifically my left armpit, more than my right, I still don't know why, ack!) when I introduced new types of meat like veal/lamb and goat. During travels and multiculturalism, I was exposed to more spices and ingredients. I also started to spend more time in kitchens participating or watching people cook, bake, grill, barbecue and roast. I ate local foods and used local products.
My aroma changed, evolved, and took on my environments. It wasn't always pleasant, even quite unnerving to accept; because I preferred to always smell like fresh mint, a garden of flowers, exotic musks, the sea or clean water, or like a clean baby. But to dive into the adventures, cultures and experiences fully meant letting go of my comforts and allowing myself to become part of the community. That usually meant identifying with the people, by not being/smelling too different to them, as much as possible. Saying that, I had walked around spraying kids and women with perfume (with their permission). They loved it! It was usually a great ice-breaker! I always ended up leaving my perfumes as well and journeyed on without. Yet, most times I didn't carry any, to lessen the weight of my luggage as much as possible.
Regardless of culture, and skin colour, and country we came from we all smell. A lone Caucasian sharing an apartment with Africans may feel overwhelmed by the smells of the spices used on their dishes. But he/she may not know that the Africans also struggled with the scent coming from his/her skin. Someone once described it to me as "a hint of rotten meat" or "meat fats". Everyone walked around with half-closed noses until they habituated to each other's essence. I remembered a European friend in London commented I "smelt like an American", after a trip to USA - greasy foods, a hint of Mexican spices, and toffee, topped with my Victoria Secret body splash...!!!
... It usually takes me at least a couple of weeks before my scents goes back to "normal" after my trips, depending on how long I was immersed in the cultures and how different they were to my own. :-)
I have a strong sense of smell. Sometimes very handy, other times a problem.
Yesterday, after the morning Easter Sunday service (which I showered for, heheh), mom and I decided to lunch out. I made her choose which continent the dishes could come from (she said she wanted rice); and suggested Japanese, Indonesian and Italian (she chose Indonesian) which were a short walking distance from us. I took her to a restaurant which I was surprised was actually Malaysian, but we stayed coz she had never been there and we did not want to tire out my ankle injury. For the first time in my life, I waited in the queue (I never queue up for more than 5 minutes, or at least we sit at the bar with drinks/starters comfortably until called). Mom did not mind, but it was freezing to stand outside so I felt bad for her.... Anyway, we waited for over 10 minutes, then sat down and ate for over an hour. There was ample ventilation and air circulation, but the cooking and food smells still latched on to our clothes. I could smell it strongly on my skin and my hair. I rushed to shower again and shampooed vigorously as soon as I got home.
A couple of hours later, a friend and his daughter picked me up to go to another Easter event. Freshly dressed (except for my gold jacket and soft scarf, still smelling of the Malaysian restaurant, ugh, so I wore it as little as possible), out we went. I found out the South African speaker was actually German, oops hahahah. I was thankful we arrived more than half an hour early, ensuring seats. So many people showed up a second show had to be quickly organised after ours (which appeared to also be too much past capacity). There were people squeezed at every step and crevice of the auditorium. I could smell some of them. Not a foul body odour, nor strong perfume/cologne. Just from where they had been, smokes, dogs, bed, re-worn clothes, and their normal body scents. My nose was hyper-sensitive.
Afterwards, we grabbed a bite and drinks at a foodcourt nearby. Then headed home. On route home, after some casual chats with friendly strangers, we were invited to a comedy show for free. My friend couldn't (I figured, to spend time with his beautiful daughter), I was tired, and I did not feel like dealing with more olfactory challenges (smokes and alcohol, etc). I could also still smell the foodcourt on me. So I declined for us and headed to the shower for more hearty scrubbing and shampooing. I could not stand the smell of my "dirty" clothes and even my used towel got thrown in the laundry... very far away from me.
(to be continued, maybe... regarding how travel changes our smells and how unaware many people are that we ALL smell "off" or weird to someone somehow...)
*************************************
I have always been aware of people's natural scents smelling differently - no matter how great our hygiene routines are, how expensive and scented the products we use, and how plain the foods we eat are. We all smell. And our scents linger across "funny", "weird", "interesting" or "off" to someone, somehow.
In my younger days, I thought I always smelt alright (heheheh). I didn't have strong body odours that required deodorants, as far as I knew and in comparison to my peers. I was silently glad of this fact, and lived life mostly au naturel. Perfumes were used on a whim, not out of necessity.
As I got older my group of friends became more diverse and the foods I digested became more experimental (e.g. started eating onions and garlic). My body, my diet, and the way/rate I burned my food intakes may have also changed. The most obvious change to me was whenever the smell of onions and garlic wafted from my pores and onto my clothes an hour after I ate them. Later, my natural scent also changed (specifically my left armpit, more than my right, I still don't know why, ack!) when I introduced new types of meat like veal/lamb and goat. During travels and multiculturalism, I was exposed to more spices and ingredients. I also started to spend more time in kitchens participating or watching people cook, bake, grill, barbecue and roast. I ate local foods and used local products.
My aroma changed, evolved, and took on my environments. It wasn't always pleasant, even quite unnerving to accept; because I preferred to always smell like fresh mint, a garden of flowers, exotic musks, the sea or clean water, or like a clean baby. But to dive into the adventures, cultures and experiences fully meant letting go of my comforts and allowing myself to become part of the community. That usually meant identifying with the people, by not being/smelling too different to them, as much as possible. Saying that, I had walked around spraying kids and women with perfume (with their permission). They loved it! It was usually a great ice-breaker! I always ended up leaving my perfumes as well and journeyed on without. Yet, most times I didn't carry any, to lessen the weight of my luggage as much as possible.
Regardless of culture, and skin colour, and country we came from we all smell. A lone Caucasian sharing an apartment with Africans may feel overwhelmed by the smells of the spices used on their dishes. But he/she may not know that the Africans also struggled with the scent coming from his/her skin. Someone once described it to me as "a hint of rotten meat" or "meat fats". Everyone walked around with half-closed noses until they habituated to each other's essence. I remembered a European friend in London commented I "smelt like an American", after a trip to USA - greasy foods, a hint of Mexican spices, and toffee, topped with my Victoria Secret body splash...!!!
... It usually takes me at least a couple of weeks before my scents goes back to "normal" after my trips, depending on how long I was immersed in the cultures and how different they were to my own. :-)
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