Lazy Pants

Raglan Top - My current American Apparel favourite, Linen pants - Shakuhachi, Silver Beaded Belt - Bali, Cuff - Shag, Bag - Lucky Brand, Clogs - Funkis

We are, both me and the pants.

Pants - They are lazy. Soft, slouchy and loungey.

Me - Bought the pants at a sale with a bit of DIY-ing in mind -> Wanted to make them more jodhpurs-like by taking the legs in from the ankles to just below the knees with buttons or eyelets and laces. That was more than a month ago.

Have been wearing them cuffed out of sheer laziness but they don't hold up too well on soft linen. Not with all the walking in windy Sydney. Like today. And it's not because I'm a crap cuff-folder - I've had loads of practice wearing my jeans and pants with turn-ups for decades, way before the recent ankle-baring madness. It's the damn fabric.

Think I'm going to take the lazy (again) way out - shorten them to mid-calf and add thick elastics at the hems for a similar gathered poufy cuffed effect. More harem than jodhpurs but easier than making button holes or loops and punching eyelets in. A time-saving and less frustrating alternative to folding perfectly ruched cuffs everytime they come undone. Maybe in another month's time.

Glitter Mascara - Dewdrops On My Lashes

From never writing about face paint to two back-to-back posts on the subject. In one day!

Gervy the make-up maniac/addict will be pleased. I think her secret mission is to slowly work me (and other sans-make-up people, friends or not) into wearing what she would call "flaw correctors" again.

On our shopping date on Saturday, I told her that lately, I've been feeling a real need for glitter mascara. In silver. And I don't even wear regular mascara. It must be a trickle-down effect from the previous need for coloured mascara from a few months ago that wasn't met or acted upon and has since been forgotten. Bright colours reminiscent of those that I used to buy from Shu Uemura when I was a teenager, like tangerine, hot pink, electric blue, lime green...

When she heard of my eye glitter-lust, I could feel the joy reverberating through her whole being, like a proud owner who's just taught her puppy a new trick, but she played it cool and kept her elation to herself, like the same pet owner would, not wanting to seem too pushy. Baby steps...baby steps, she must have thought and chanelled her energy into finding me one, stopping at every beauty counter in the stores.

Of course we didn't find any - Sod's Law, Murphy's Law, the Unspeakable Law...whatever you want to call it. The closest thing we found was a glitter eyeliner which I tried on my lashes to which Gervy said, "Oooh, looks like you've got raindrops on your eyelashes!". I liked that description. It conjured up a very pretty picture in my head. Hence the post title (which I've tweaked a little - "dewy eyes" vs "rainy eyes"?) and a more urgent need to find some.

The next day, I went to the only place in Sydney that was remotely similar to the trashy make-up heaven, Sasa, that we have in Singapore - a tiny Japanese cosmetic shop in Chinatown. Pay dirt! I grabbed the only silver one left.

Verdict: I had more glittery bits all over my face than on my lashes where they were meant to be. Not good for a contact lens wearer.

But fear not, an order has been placed with Poochie, the "personal shopper" in Singapore. Another one, hopefully one packed with more staying power and larger silver squares, is on its way. And I will be on mine to mirror ball eyes.

But She Never Talks About Make-up!

That's because I don't wear any. Except for Origins' Pinch Your Cheeks. It makes me feel less like Death every morning and it looks really natural and is not a pain to apply (read: doesn't dry up the moment it comes into contact with my skin, leaving me with red dots instead of flushed cheeks).

And I'm only bringing it up because while shopping on Saturday with Gervy, I found out quite by accident (Gervy wanted to buy her friend a rub-on blusher and I recommeneded it) that Origins has decided to withdraw everything in their make-up range from the shelves in Australia! Shock! Horror!

No, they have not suddenly found components in them that would cause you to break out with pus-filled boils. It's just that "the range only make up a very small percentage Origins' profits", according to the oh-I-so-don't-want-to-be-working-today girl at the counter at Myers, and they want to concentrate on developing the rest of their big bucks-raking products.

The thought of not being able to "pinch my cheeks" in the mornings and facing the world looking like a don't-wannabe Goth chick was not a good one. We ran to David Jones hoping the Origins counter there would still have some in stock . They did and I stocked up. The sales assistant, a very much chirpier version of the one at Myers earlier, said she wasn't sure if the product withdrawal plan was just for Australia. From what she was told, it could be worldwide! There goes my hope of gettting Poochie, the "personal shopper" in Singapore, to ply me with an endless supply.

They are still available on the Origins website but I don't know for how long. So if you are a user, run out and grab some now! Each tube expires 24 months after opening but it only lasts about six with me because I love to "blush".

Maybe that's why I stopped painting my face. Products and colours that I fell in love with and have gotten very attached to over the years have somehow all dropped off and fallen into the "discontinued" shaft. I can't remember the names of lipsticks, eyeshadows and bases that were "taken away" from me twenty years ago, the last time I wore a full face of make-up, but recent casualties were my M.A.C Lip Conditioner Stick SPF 15 (clear and sheer - available everywhere except in Australia) and an OPI nail polish called "Throw A Tempura Tantrum" (matte creamy beige - totally shafted worldwide). And these are in basic nude non-trendy colours. I can't win, can I? Even with non-colours!

When I Feel Like A Blimp...

...I dress like one. Why fight it?

Boilersuit - Cheap Monday, Shoes - Converse in brown corduroy, Bag - Mimco

I love my fatsuit.

Dinner At Sugarcane

With so many new eateries constantly sprouting up in the neighbourhood and joining the already-long existing list, we really don't have to go far for a good feed. Getting a table spur-of-the-moment on a Saturday night, however, is another story.

The latest on our to-try list is Sugarcane, serving "Southeast Asian cuisine" by two chefs who used to work at the legendary Modern-Thai outfit Longrain. Unlike some of these "hot" places, they take bookings (yay!) but after half-an-hour of redialling and getting an engaged tone everytime, we decided to brave the cold and the howling wind (the weather has been so un-Spring-like!) and walk the ten minutes down to see if they could seat us without reservation. We thought if they couldn't, there's always our good old-favourite Chat Thai which is only another ten minutes away.

We arrived at the right time, I suppose, before the crowd started trickling in, was greeted by an extremely friendly waitstaff and was shown to a just-vacated and reset table in less than ten minutes.

Looking at the menu, we figured the way to eat would be the communal Asian-style - order a few dishes and a side of steamed rice to share. It didn't take us long to decide because we were hungry and eating out with me is easy - give me seafoody things and I'll be happy. It didn't take too long for our food to arrive either, my glass of wine and the boyfriend's beer were not even half-empty. Low lighting condition in the restaurant was not conducive to food shots so there will be none here.

First to arrive was the soft shell crab and green papaya salad. The shell-less crustaceans were deep-fried to perfection but the salad, I know it's meant to be sour and I like sour, was too tangy and nothing else. It did "open our appetites" for the stirfried prawns and snowpeas in a sweet and sour sauce and the Indonesian-style sambal fish in banana leaf which came very shortly one after another accompanied by a huge serving bowl of rice.

Both dishes were pretty near-authentic with minimal toning down and tweaking to suit the Australian palate - the prawns tasted like something my mom would make and the fish took us back to the nasi padang stalls in Singapore.

Of course I couldn't leave without a taste of their desserts but with only two on the menu - slightly heavy Asian pudding-type sweets - and one on the "specials" board, we weren't really spoilt for choice. Plus I'm not a big fan of bananas and two out of the three had the fruit in them. I settled for the "special", banana and coconut ash ice cream with blood orange, to share with boyfriend. The banana ice cream was alright while the coconut ash one was pretty amazing. According to our charming and knowledgeable waiter, the smoky flavour and grey shade of the ice cream came from the burnt and then ground coconut husk mixed in.

What we thought of Sugarcane at the end of the evening? The friendly and efficient service and the casual and fun vibes scored top points with us. The food is tasty and affordable but we can have a meal that's just as delicious at Chat Thai for a fraction of the bill. Then there's the scanty dessert menu! After a tongue-tingling Asian meal, there's nothing I love more than something sweet but light and refreshing to finish. There are so many desserts that can be made with Asian flavourings and tropical fruits. A lychee and lime jelly? A coconut and palm sugar pannacotta? The traditionaly Thai "Red Ruby"? And the luxury of having an ice cream machine in the kitchen! I would be churning loads of tropical fruit-based sorbets - mango, pineapple, kalamansi lime... and even sugarcane.

These Would Be The Perfect Pants...

...if the crotch was lower. Just like my drop-crotch pants would be the ultimate(!) if they had a lot more volume on the sides. Big hips, saggy ass. Yeah.

Out shopping: Deep V-neck T: American Apparel, Vest - Witchery, Pants - Skunkfunk, Bag - YSL, Sandals - Bally, Watch - Citizen, Beads - collected over the years

Out for dinner: Same as above except: Capelet (worn like a shawl) - vintage David Jones, Bag - Mimco, Shoes - Funkis

Bye Bye, Teardrop (An Ode, Of Sorts, To My Dying Phone)

This beloved Nokia 7600 of mine is nearing its last days.

It has not been well and is beyond saving. It is making me sad because it is my favourite mobile phone ever. And I've had many before (always Nokias except for my first phone which was a Motorola), thanks to my hefty monthly bills (my previous line of work required a phone permanently stuck to my ears) and the annual S$500 vouchers that Singtel so generously give out to subscribers of their biggest phone plan when I was living in Singapore. I changed top-of-the-line phones like other girls would swap designer bags. Yes, materialism runs rampant on that tiny island but my line of justification was "but the phone is my rice bowl, my office, my life, my everything!".

Then I moved to Sydney. New pared-down life, a totally different occupation that didn't require a phone, mobile or landline, all that much, not many new friends to text or call and when the Nokia I brought with me died two years after (I've never had a phone do that to me - I retire them, they don't conk out on me!), I bought the 7600 - the first time that I've bought one that wasn't a "latest release". It was launched two years earlier but I've always wanted one because it was pretty-ugly and different and most new phones coming out then were just plain bad-ugly.

Nokia had big plans for it. It was supposed to be the prototype of all new phones to come but the public's reception of it was degrees below lukewarm and I think the Finnish telecommunication giant stopped production after the initial run and also had to shelf all future mobile shape-defining plans. It wasn't easy hunting a brand-new-in-box set down but I finally found one online.

It was love at first touch when it finally arrived. And the things we do and have to put up with for love!

The most difficult was re-learning how to text - before, I was Ms Quikdraw McGraw when it came to texting but with its vertical keypads I was reduced to a little spazzy. Many times I wanted to it throw it hard against the wall but love won out. I never got my texting speed back but over time, I felt less of a cackhanded retard.

And forget about using pretty little clutches or bags when going out! It wasn't going to fit in them even when I reduced my bare essentials.

Then there was the taunting by friends. Not one to crumble under peer pressure, I held on to my little teardrop-shaped darling. Those naysayers did one day realised that it really was true love and have learnt to acccept and even appreciate its quirks.

It has been a good little phone to me for the three years that I've had it. Wow! That makes it my longest-serving phone. It's never thrown any tantrums and I've never had to send it to the 'shop. I couldn't have asked for more. If Nokia still makes them, I wouldn't think twice about buying another. The reconditioned secondhand ones on Ebay don't count.

It's now on its last bar of battery.

And its replacement bought and brought home.


















The boyfriend thinks I should just turn it off but I'm going to let it slowly fade away.

Bye bye, Teardrop. I now have to un-learn texting your special way but I won't forget you. My right thumb won't let me, not for a while anyway, judging from the way it's been hitting the "7" button on the new phone thinking it's the "3" on you. You will be sorely missed.

The Meal That Finally Happened

Just how hard is it to meet up with pals for a meal these days? Very, when we're not professional ladies-who-lunch.

Two months, rounds of email ping-pong, working weekends (mine), dirty weekends-away (Gervy's) here, here, here, here and here and a 4-hour haircut (Ms K's) later, we finally managed to sit down all at one table for lunch, wine and gossip. Phew!

And it's a good thing that Bird Cow Fish has finally decided to reverse their no-booking policy. About time too, I say!

The food was delicious, as always. Gervy and I shared a smoked eel (yum!) and leek tart to start and she had braised oxtail pasta for main while Ms K and I both had chef Alex Herbert's famous fluffy gnocchi with prawn in a burnt sage butter. Not exactly very Spring-y choices but the nippy weather yesterday called for comfort food which Bird Cow Fish does so well across the seasons. Washed down with the bottle of Pinot Gris that Ms K picked - perfect. And no meal at this unpretentious neighbourhood restaurant is complete without one of their fuss-free desserts - Ms K and I shared a vacherin of lemon curd mascarpone and passionfruit caramel (pictured). Its good balance of sweetness and tartness made a great finish.

The company was just as tasty. It's one very good thing that has come out of this blogging business - I would not have met them otherwise. And Ms K had a great thought - she wondered why women, when old and widowed/divorced/still single never thought of pooling resources and living together instead of being alone. "Like The Golden Girls!", I said. I think it's such a great idea plus meeting up for lunch then wouldn't be such an ordeal.

Colours DO Beget More Colours!

Arghhh! Goddamn Blogger is driving me crazy! I have been trying to post this for the past hour and the alignment is all fucked up each time. I'm going to stop trying to rectify it before I get angrily violent - if this last attempt is still wonky and full of ugly dead space, it's not fault of mine.





















Gervy, inspired by the last post, said she would carry the most colourful bag in her collection for me to lunch today. Big sloppy kisses for her!

Note how she's picked out colours from the bag and worked them into her outfit - cute knitted vermillion cropped cardigan (from Anthropologie, if anyone is curious, brought all the way back with a whole load of other pretty things for her from New York by the very obliging Ms K - why do they not ship to Australia?!) and light jade green wedges from Camper. I like!


And a dotty brolly (which I'm glad we didn't have to use) completed her adult Rainbow Brite ensemble!


And this is what I wore in reciprocation.





















Photo - Gervy, Ruffle-front cardigan - Alannah Hill, Maxi Dress - Tree of Life, Bag - Grandma Takes A Trip, Watch - Mustafa in Singapore, Paintbrush necklace - Tatty Devine, Sandals - A cute boutique on Crown Street that's sadly not there anymore

Colours Beget More Colours?

This is post #300.

Can't believe I've crapped on so much about frivolous "pwetty things"...More amazed that I've kept at it for so long - not too bad for someone who's easily bored....It's an addiction, I tell you...I still feel the same about this blogging business...It's actually got uglier which is kind of sad when, if you think about it, it's the beautiful things that we love that prompted most of us to start reading and writing blogs in the first place...The number of known regular readers here have increased by about three, making it a grand total of ten - a nice round number (thank you for reading)...Still finding it hard to leave comments on blogs that I read daily...I know, comments beget more readers but that's not what this is about for me.

Anyhooo, thought I'd throw in a little something different in the mix today seeing I've reached another round number (I love them!) - photos of clothes with a person in them.

"Colours Beget More Colours" because this is (a "re-anactment" of) what I wore last Thursday to the Peter Pan Opportunity Committee's Bi-annual Jumble Sale and came home with a haul of more colourific things.

White T-shirt - Petite Bateau, Skirt - kid's dress by Fiona, Bag - Transversion by LoopNYC, Sandals - Douglas, Plastic Beads - collected over the years

It was the first proper Spring-y day that we've had in weeks and I've just re-discovered the very colourful and season-appropriate bag at the back of the bag pile - sequined rainbow, grass and butterfly...beaded butterfly, flowers and apples on an appliqué tree...more flowers and another butterfly in cut-out plastic - and decided to dress around it. Long flowy skirt and sandals make trying on clothes easy at a jumble sale with no change rooms. Strings of plastic beads, which I've taken to wearing across my body recently, are kind of apt, I think. They remind me of little girls playing dress-up, raiding their mommies' jewellery boxes and piling them on which was what I was going out to do except they are other people's mommies' closets.

It was my first Peter Pan Jumble Sale but I know people who have done very well at previous ones with both designer and vintage buys. The committee was, afterall, started by Sydney socialites and I trust them and their high-society pals to donate the most amazing of castoffs. I was not disappointed.

A vintage pleated column dress in my favourite shade of blue! And it fits like it was made for me. The antique silver belt is from my grandma's collection - it was used to hold up the sarong that she wore with her nyonya kebaya in her younger days.

Thinking of cutting the sheer sleeves off to make the dress more modern but...

...the work on the cuffs is so fine that it will pain me to do so. Maybe I can wear them like Wonder Woman if I do the chop?

Another piece from another era - a pure wool Liberty of London tiered skirt in Irish handwoven tweed. Again in my size, and in two of my favourite jewel colours! Worn here with a French-cuffed crispy white shirt and a thin green bow belt.

The skirt actually came with a friend - this off-shoulder poufy-sleeved top.

I don't know what the previous owner was thinking when she bought them. A little too Esmeralda-goes-dancing for me. I've belted the top here (with the blue sister of the green bow belt) but the look is still pretty frumpy. The top and skirt will not be worn together ever again.

At this point, I have to say that this dressing-up-for-an-outfit-shot business is not easy! And I've taken the easy/lazy way-out! Putting together what came to my head first and within easy reach, not bothering to dig for the right accessories, bags, shoes and other complementary items to match/mismatch. And my bedhead is scraped under a huge hairband and my teeth have not had their morning brush. I don't know how other bloggers manage do it everyday - so much attention to detail, all the right elements to make the perfect combo plus perfectly-coiffed hair and artfully-applied make-up. Hats off to them, really.

So, back to flat "product" shots...

The most colourful buy of the day - a checked silk scarf

An emerald green geometric print scarf by some old guy called Pierre Balmain.

A blue cotton/wool blend star print Cacharel shirt with front yoke and wonky pockets.

And yet another vintage slip for me and something poufy for Mommy Noinoi in grey marle jersey, her signature fabric, which I can't show because it's meant to be a birthday surprise.

The rainbow for a bargainous price of AU$114! And it goes to helping kids.

Their Autumn/Winter jumble sale is in May next year. We'll have to see if the "_____ beget ____" silly logic will work again.

More Street Art In The Neighbourhood

A new one that we spotted yesterday on the walk down to Chinatown for dinner.

A lone Lego man! We hope the artist will spray him some friends soon.

Sore Feet?

Medic Esthetic - a collection of six shoes presented by designer Gwendolyn Huskens at her graduation show at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, Department of Man And Identity.

Made from medical supplies usually associated with pain and healing, her beautifully-crafted shoes look pretty comfortable to wear.






















My favourite out of the half-dozen is this called Compression. And I will so wear them.

Read more about them here and see more photos here.

More-ish Melissa

The latest installment of the Melissa + Vivienne Westwood collaboration has hit our shores.

The Lady Dragon, available in four pastel shades, is very Jessica Rabbit, don't you think? They are very pretty but too pretty for me. They will not be joining their pals in my shoe cabinet.

What I'd really love my next pair of Melissa to be is this limited edition pair by architect Zaha Hadid (her other foray into fashion was with Chanel).

















It looks like a pair of fantasy shoes belonging on the drawing board but it has been produced (finally, after months of reading about it) and is now available, sadly, only at Dover Street Market in London. Boo! Hoo!

Revisiting Shop Windows At 5.30am

The mint green two-seater that quite a few of us have expressed girly-love for has been bought by some lucky person - a huge "SOLD" sticker was was placed on it shortly after I photographed the window.

The adorable matching lamp is still in the window this week with new friends - a dressmaking dummy covered in the same floral fabric (cute!) and two really pretty armchairs.

To see more from the same whimsical-fun range of furnishings, go to the EDIT website. Now, drool.

Getting Ready For The Silly Season Already?!

A one-off edible Christmas wreath we made for a charity auction - the "holly berries" are flavoured chocolate truffles (red = Tia Maria, green = Grand Marnier and gold = spiced) and the little packages are panforte.

Larger blocks of addictive panforte waiting to be wrapped in fancy brown paper and beribboned.

Rows of traditional Christmas puddings that I spent hours dressing up - waxed paper...two layers of muslin...cellophane...ribbon...waxed paper...two layers of muslin...cellophane...ribbon...

But I love wrapping things and making them look pretty! We didn't hide pennies or charms in this batch. Next one, maybe.

What Will Americans Be Waking Up To?

"A Breakfast of Change"?

"A Maverick in their morning"?

AirBed & Breakfast proudly presents limited editions of Obama O's and Cap'n McCain's breakfast cereals modelled after morning favourites Cheerios and Cap'n Crunch.

Totally edible but no mention of cute freebies within. Darn.

Materials: Canvas vs Leather

Canvas bags and shoes by Slow And Steady Wins The Race

If you've read the last two "Materials:" posts, it's easy to tell what's been occupying my headspace lately - they were meant to be one huge post, together with this, but I broke them down.

I don't know for sure but I'd like to think that both Jeroen van de Kant with his inflatable chesterfield sofas and Natalia Brilli with her faceless leather-wrapped "Rolex"-es are making some form of statement, as various conceptual artists and designers do sometimes, about the ostentatiousness of certain material objects that we have come to associate with wealth and social standing.

However, with Slow And Steady Wins The Race, a label whose philosophy and goods I've been admiring since I first laid eyes on their cheeky pair of Ballet Flats, they pointedly set out "to make work commenting on how obsessed people have become with accessories and turning them into iconic status symbols" and more.

The "Ultimate" Bag by Slow And Steady Wins The Race

Pretty things, at first glance, always make my heart sing. But it's those with an added twist of something else that will cut a deeper groove in my heart, make me do a double take after that initial look of appreciation. Something a little out-of-the-ordinary yet subtly so. Wit and humour rank high here and a bit of soul (as much as an inanimate object can muster) won't hurt. Things that are just plain pretty can get pretty boring after time. I like a mini headfuck thrown in sometimes and Slow And Steady Wins The Race does it for me as a fashion label, an ever-evolving conceptual art project and an astute piece of social commentary.

Daddy, I Want A Pony

In a few hours, the whole of Australia will come to a standstill - people will be glued to their TV sets, tuned to their radios and logged onto the internet for "live" reportage of the Melbourne Cup, the most important run on the horse racing calendar.

Larry the Llama, recently brought in from Peru by a sweet friend, has picked his favourite. I don't gamble and have absolutely no idea when it comes to placing a bet but am tempted, by the thought of a Mad Rush of cash (I'm feeling lucky today), to make my virgin trip to the local bookmaker. That is, if I can get out of my cowboys-and-horseshoes print (a sign?) pyjamas before betting closes.

Materials: Leather vs Stainless Steel

My fascination with the witty mockery of classic forms by designers through the cheeky use of unlikely materials continues with Natalia Brilli's interpretation of the Rolex timepiece - she stretched leather veneer over a watch to produce a "timeless" cuff.

The designer/artist's love of leather and sense of humour has produced collections of other traditional accessories such as strings of pearls, chunky ID bracelets, academy collar, and medallions all fashioned from hide.

She also makes some proper lust-worthy traditional leather goods like bags and purses when she's not taking the piss.