THE NONNATIVE

It happens at least twice a year in Hong Kong - you get the local flu. It's like being back in school, when one kid sneezes in class and then next thing you know, the whole class is sick. Same thing here, you see one guy sneeze into his hand on the MTR, then immediately reach out to touch the pole. A feeling of dread overwhelms you, you know within a few days you're going to be sick. This flu is unlike many other flus that you're accustomed to, for me it takes a few weeks of feeling "off" and then suddenly it hits. Try what you may, orange juice, vitamin C, sleep, hot showers. Nothing stops the inevitable.

The flu did make me think of some of my favorite things I need before I get "seriously" sick. Water, juice, crackers, chicken soup, apples, icy pops... Those are all good. I mean when I'm sick I just want some mexican food and TV. Since living in Hong Kong char siu fan is pretty high ranking on my list of not feeling too great foods.

It got me to thinking about what I like to wear around the house when I'm sick, since all these blogs have to do with shopping. I mean sure I have the collection of the world's ugliest, rattiest, t-shirts that have suffered unimagineable horrors, but for me a big part of being comfortable when sick is looking decent. If I'm sick and I feel like I look like crap, it just makes me feel all the worse.

Cotton On recently was having an amazing sale, soft tank tops (2 for $50), shorts (2 for $99), and tons of other reasonably priced pieces. I'm not crazy about their clothes, but I think their lounge-wear is so comfortable and soft. I only recently discovered this store, they have outlets in Central, TST, and also in Mong Kok. Unfortunately they don't have any shopping online, but the Central location is at the bottom of Lan Kwai Fong next to the near famous "club" 7-11. I just have to make this statement again and again - their body line of tank top is so amazing I can hardly stand it. I bought one & was so impressed with it I immediately went back and purchased 5 more of them in different colors. They're just standard wife beater style tank tops, soft, semi-sheer, and pretty much perfect. I am still kicking myself that I didn't just go buy every color when they were on sale, I wear them under dresses, around the house, with skirts. They're incredibly versatile and so cheap!

[post picture of cotton on stuff]

They have different lounge-wear styles, some pieces are sexy (such as the white silk shorts and leopard print sleep dress) while others are just cute basics (tank tops and scalloped shorts). In addition to the basics, I found my pièce de résistance for staying in bed when sick - the soft, belted, long cardigan. Comfortable to wear in bed, not too hot, great for when you're cold. Like the tank tops, this poor cardigan is going to get some intense repeat useage!

Those are some of my favorite things for when I'm sick, watching TV and eating cup o' noodles. I might be disgusting with piles of tissues everywhere, pale, sniffly and coughing, but at least I'm comfortable and I look good ;)