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Cardigan - Witchery, Dress - Wish, Shirt - Saba, Boots - Camper, Satchel - "Troll" by Mimco (and it sure looks like one!)Quite similar to what I used to wear to the all-girl school that I attended more than 20 years ago.It was a set of uniform that wasn't designed to be worn in hot and humid Singapore (before classrooms were air-conditioned) - a loose navy blue pinafore with three huge box pleats running down the front and the back, belted at the waist, over a white short-sleeved blouse. With white socks, folded, and white canvas shoes.We used to run around without the mandatory belt - we had to let air in under those layers somehow, and getting those box pleats to sit all neat and tidy under the belt was hell! Very often, we were sent to the headmistress' office by prefects for breaking the "uniform" rule.When I finished high school, I didn't think I'd want to wear another pinafore-like thing for a long time but I did. And always without a restricting belt. *A song with some racy lyrics covered to death by too many musicians.
Dear Miss J,The Powerpuff and I did poorly with the touristy-type photos again today. Here are some taken when we remembered...Gratuitous Shot #1 - Bondi Beach
We picked a good day to go. Not to the beach but to the shops, specifically Tuchuzy. The weather was lovely - around 20°C with clear blue sky the whole day.It was a bad day for shopping, though. It's the first time that I've left Tuchuzy empty-handed. The other shops yielded zilch too except for some flip-flops and a t-shirt but they are from Mommy Noi-noi's shopping list. Bah.Gratuitous Shot #2 - Bosom (Powerpuff's)
But that's not the reason I took this photo! The colours! I love the colours that the Powerpuff was wearing today. A sight for sore eyes in a city where everyone is clad in dull winter blacks. I wore matte silver and deep plum, if you're wondering. The shopping situation didn't improve after we left the beach-side shops to go to the gigantic Westfield Mall at Bondi Junction. The only thing we got excited about was a pair of boots that the Powerpuff tried on at Country Road. A tan pair because I kept saying "NO!" to all the black ones that she kept fondling.The day ended with dinner at Chat Thai, my favourite cheapie Thai place, with the boyfriend.Gratuitous Shot #3 - Sexy Straw-sucking Action
Again, starring the Powerpuff. And her Yakult Blend - two bottles of that healthy drink blended with ice. Deeelicious.The lighting was not ideal for food porn but we did get some what-we-ate-today shots for you - spring rolls, basil chicken, air-dried pork loin and giant king prawns in the best spicy sauce ever! All on her camera because you know I hate flash photography (unless it's Terry Richardson-style).She said it would be great if we have our pal Alan Y, the Director of Photography, with us all the time. Haha! We can just go, "Eh, light this, leh!" and beautiful photos guaranteed. Having our whole crew especially hair & make-up and wardrobe would be brilliant! Alright, got to go to bed. Taking her out for breakfast in the morning near where she's staying. She's happy that she doesn't have to travel. Haha. And we'll be more diligent in the photo-taking department.xxx your pal in Sydney
Tartan Corsage - Topshop, Cape - Secondhand, Stripey Top - Fiona for kids, Flat-front Jeans (with detachable suspenders) - Sportsgirl, Bag - Mimco, Oxfords - online, Pearls on wrist - Haberdashery, Band-Aid on finger - Johnson & JohnsonPlayed silly dress-up game again - incorporated things that I associate with Mademoiselle Chanel into what I wore to the movie yesterday. A "camellia", a striped "fisherman's shirt", "pearls" and comfortable menswear elements. A quilted 2.55 number would be good too but I don't have one and it would be a bit too obvious, wouldn't it?And like a good little fangirl who remembers Mademoiselle's wise words always, I looked at myself in the mirror before I left the house and removed a piece of "jewellery". Well, three actually. The strands of haberdashery pearls around my neck.Now, the movie. Poochie has made me promise not to spoil it for her in any way so all I'll say about Coco Avant Chanel is...I was left gagging for more at the end of the 100-odd minutes but I guess that's a sign of a good movie, right?...and if that's how you feel too, try to find Chanel Solitaire on video - it was pretty mediocre from what I can remember (and I don't even know if it's the right movie - it was the only one that looked familar on a Google search) but it gave me my first ever peek into the world of Coco Chanel late one night on TV when I was a teenager in the 80s and, as trite as it may sound, made me see fashion and style in a whole new light.
(Miss J. Jones was planning to visit with the Powerpuff but her chronic athritis doesn't like the cold so I suspect there might be quite a few of these "Dear Miss J" posts in the next two weeks to show her what she's missing. Or not. Poochie (who's going to Italy in August instead of coming here to play with me) and Mommy Noi-noi (you need a break from work and the kids soon!): Wish you were here too! It's good to have girly company from home.)Dear Miss J,Remember that recent email about sending me photos of all your purchases from your upcoming trip to Hong Kong, right down to scanty panties (well, your kind of "scanty panties", if you buy any)?
I'm showing you mine by Kit & Kaboodle (cute name, huh?), from the Kirribilli Market yesterday, so you'll have to show me yours too now!After we came back to this side of the bridge, we did a few op shops and secondhand stores in Surry Hills then up Oxford Street to Paddington. I showed the Powerpuff this cute shop and she said you might like some of these bow ties to add to your collection. Yes? No? We can go back again. Just for you.The Fringe Bar Market was next and a few more local designers' boutiques in the Glenmore Road hub. Then we got a text from Auntie Bahbah to say that she's coming to play too! Arriving on Sunday with Mr WennieH for a shoot that's just been confirmed and will be staying for a whole week! The Powerpuff certainly picked a good time to come.So excited and distracted we were that we couldn't continue up the other half of Oxford Street so we turned back and headed for Lumiere, one of my local "kopi-tiams" to quell the Powerpuff's sudden craving for an Eggs Benedict which she didn't have in the end.
We both had the same Lumiere breakfast - two fried eggs (mine well-done and hers runny), toasted sourdough, housemade baked beans, oven-dried tomatoes, sauteed spinach, gigantic field mushrooms hidden under the melt-in-you-mouth kipflers which I asked for instead of piggy bacon. My first meal with the Powerpuff here this year. I didn't book a table at Tetsuya's. Haha. We'll save it for when you eventually come.Then we headed back to mine for what we do best - guzzle white wine and gossip the whole afternoon away. She showed me everyone's Facebook pages and photo albums (I love your food porn with commentary best!). Kind of made me wonder if I'm missing out by turning down invitations to join all these years. Nah, I decided. I like my uncomplicated reclusive life here too much to bother with the Joes, Berts, Susans and Jessicas that I now have nothing much in common with anymore - a handful of really good pals that I know will bail me out of jail whenever and wherever is better than a hundred "hi-bye" acquaintances is what I always say.Anyway, got to go. It's movie-date day (Coco avant Chanel!) with the boyfriend - giving him a bit of quiet time, haha, before unleashing the loud girlies on him for the next fortnight (he loves you all as much as I do!). The Powerpuff is going to the last day of the Sass & Bide sale at the old Fox Studios (now known as the Entertainment Quarters). We'll be hitting more shops together tomorrow. Will try to play tourists and take more photos instead of yakking away.xxx your pal in Sydney
I don't do trains here, preferring to walk or bus it whenever possible but my pal, the Powerpuff, from home arrived last night for her annual Sydney shopping holiday and I had to take the grubby CityRail with her at 9am(!) today, across the Harbour Bridge. We could have taken the more enjoyable and scenic ferry ride but she was still on Singapore time and we missed the 8.45am.
After a bit of a slightly hilarious the-blind-leading-the-blind ticket-buying situation at Central Station, we finally got on the train and nearly sat on what looked like a splat of purple spit (that, and the somewhat cold and sad vibe in the carriages immediately reminded me to not travel by CityRail again unless absolutely necessary). It felt like we were travelling to a shoot on-location, like the good old days. Except we weren't going to work. Then why the early call-time, you might ask.
This is the reason - the monthly Kirribilli Market where, according to the Powerpuff, you have to be at before 10am to bag all the wearable goodies at her favourite stalls in the huge tunnel under the train tracks. I'm quite ashamed to say that a tourist pal has to take me on my maiden visit to this market.
The Powerpuff did well, scoring a slinky jumpsuit (she has quite a collection) at the first stall we stopped at, a gold sequinned tunic that I picked out for her and some paint-splattered leggings. A great start to a whole fortnight of shopping!Came back to our side of the bridge by the same mode of transport and I hope it'll be the last ride for me in a long time.Kirribilli General MarketBurton Street Tunnel & Bradfield ParkMilsons PointFourth Saturday of each month
8am to 3pm
A handwritten receipt - how rare these days!...is the Artisan Guild & Curiosity Shop! It's the latest addition to the slew of really good shops in the neighbourhood that's already filled with too many of the purse-emptying variety.I walked by on Tuesday on the way to my quarterly dental appointment but didn't have time to stop. Yesterday, I'm glad I did, on the way home from a "personal shopping" expedition for Mommy Noi-noi.I often hesitate to use the overused "well-curated" when describing what is basically a well-stocked shop because (call me old-fashioned) the phrase only sounds right when uttered in the same breath as "museum" or "art gallery" but the Artisan Guild & Curiosity Shop certainly deserves that prefix.Run by Marsu Homme, a local label that makes the most lust-worthy men's shoes, the charming space is filled with the complete range of their footwear and the goods of their designer/artist pals who have been invited to show.
Marsu Homme's Jesus Boots - love-at-first-sight when the boyfriend and I saw them online a while back. Can't wait for them to make things in girls' sizes this Spring!It really is one amazing shop with much to see and touch and feel - without giving too much away (you have to go see the array of merchandise for yourself!), there are new things, old things, new things that have been made to look old, old things that have been given a new lease of life and quite a few pieces in the one-of-a-kind league. The kind of shop I've love to work in or own one day! Imagine being surrounded by an ever-changing display of beautiful things. Never a dull moment for the two super-lovely girls who work there.Curious to know what I brought home from ye olde Curiosity Shop?The sort of attention-to-detail that I love - aged swing tags on every piece of merchandise!A smocked cumberband-like belt by Mine. It brings to mind those cute smocked bib-front dresses that my aunt used to make me when I was little girl, like how I associate some of the other "curios" in the shop with happy days.The Artisan Guild & Curiosity Shop (open from now until 31 July - yes, it's another one of them fun pop-up shops)263 Oxford StreetDarlinghurstOpening Hours: 10am to 6pm daily (10am to 8pm on Thursdays)
Remember Blue Peter? I loved crafty shows when I was a child. Children's programmes in that genre and Ladybird how-to books played a big part in cultivating my love (and head) for D-I-Y.These colourful plastic kuti kuti were also playthings from my childhood. I bought two bags ("Dinosaurs" and "Planes, Trains and Automobiles") from an old toy shop a few years ago back in Singapore. I had grand plans for them but they were forgotten until I found the bags today at the bottom of my craft box. The "one I made earlier" is this necklace. It's as far as I got with the "grand plans", I'm afraid. Six down and about seventy more to use up...
While Goggling for a pair of Puma boxing boots, a pair from years ago that I thought was "blah" then but now think is "PHWOAR!", I came across these by Sergio Rossi for Puma.
The "Lace-up Pump"Adapted from the classic Puma Clyde sneakers, these cool heeled wildcats were released (haha!) earlier this year in satin (shown here are what I think are the leather prototypes which I think look way hotter).
The "Mary Jane"It's been done before, of course, crossing trainers with proper shoes but the lover-of-"awkward"-shoes in me are strangely attracted to these and I'm not a fan of Sergio Rossi's shoes (too "woman") or Puma (except for the occasional pairs that were un-Puma-like).However, I don't think I'd be able to walk in these towering heels even if they are touted to be comfortable and the US$500+ price tag is not something I can afford at the moment.So back on the hunt for those elusive boxing Pumas...
Swingy Raincoat - French Connection, Cardigan - General Pants, Vest - Witchery, Grandpa Thermal Top - David Jones, Jeans - Roy, Boots - Frye, Bag - MimcoThat's me. A drenched chook. A wet puppy. Or a drowned rat. The things I do for food!We had a brunch date with our pals G and Mr R at the Sydney Winter Fair down the road on the forecourt of the beautiful St Mary's Cathedral this morning. 
It was drizzling when we got up but the lure of tasty treats from Balzac, Becasse and Etch made us trudge down with raincoats and umbrellas, hoping optimistically that the rain would stop and that the organisers would have the good sense to put up more marquees.It did lighten up when we got to the outdoor event so we swapped some cash for "snowflakes" (coupons for food and drinks), thinking it was a sign to stay but everything went pear-shaped from there on...it started pissing down...we headed for the two tiny dining tents for cover but they were already full...most of the stalls didn't have their food ready...we got wetter by the minute...tried returning our unused "snowflakes" (not our fault that it was pouring, had no food to buy or anywhere dry to eat even if we had some!)...failed...got angry with the bad organisation (the stallholders we spoke to thought so as well)...and left to go to one of our local brunch places. Bah! If anyone is thinking of going for the last day of the festival tomorrow, don't. Even if it's not raining. It's really not worth the trouble. The only good thing was the petting zoo, if I have to pick something.
The boys, ravenous by then, could only see food in the cute animals. "Mmmm...lamb chops," Mr R said quite loudly when a little girl was cuddling a lamb. "Imagine the veal off that one!" G exclaimed.
And the boyfriend said his favourite was the duck...
...Peking duck. Or a confit of the legs. Nyum for a cold and wet day.
Dress - Veronika Maine, Rollneck - Sportsgirl, Leggings - Mango, Boots - Campers, Men's Tote - YSLMy pal Yayapapayar used to say that I look like one of those cartoon costumed heroes when I'm in my matchy-matchy mode.A visit to my hairdresser today called for brown (the darkest colour that black-hating me would wear) and prints to camouflage those tiny "hairlicles" that love sticking to clothes. "Hairy beast" is not a good look when running errands after.The new 'do is just like the last one but I did bring up the subject of getting a huge 'fro again - my dahling hairdresser wasn't too keen the last time but I think he's slowly "seeing it". Now, I just have to let my hair grow to a suitable length. Easier said than done because I always give up when it gets to that ugly I-want-to-chop-it-all-off-now length. We shall see...
Emmie the Faux Fox Stole - Slow and Steady Wins The Race, Circle Vest - American Apparel, Cardigan - Country Road, Asymmetrical T-shirt - General Pants, Jeans - Roy, Boots - Secondhand Frye, Satchel - MimcoI know I shouldn't but I went to two pop-up designer sale shops today - Josh Goot followed by Paul & Joe. My lame excuses? They weren't going to be there for long and were too tempting (up to 80% off!) to miss.Josh Goot - The visit was more for the boyfriend (yet another poor excuse), hoping that they might have some dead stock of his old menswear. No luck. Instead, I fell in love with a long layered wool dress in camel in a shop full of black and more black (fans of Josh Goot and black, run there now!). It was cheap considering it was actually two dresses - a long-sleeved piece under a sleeveless wrap number which can be worn separately. Went up to pay and noticed a run in the delicate fine-knit wool. One of those runs that I know would go wild (even though the sales assistant tried very hard to convince me otherwise) and it was the last piece! I let it go. Crap luck.Josh Goot Sale Shop (from now until Sunday 28 June - look out for runs in the fabric!)Shop 2463 Oxford Street PaddingtonPaul & Joe - My first piece from this French label was a pair of flat-front jeans I cleared my bank account to buy in my 20s. At Tangs, a departmental store in Singapore. It was love and with only one piece in my size available, I couldn't wait until my next paycheck cleared. Totally bad un-adult-like shopping addict behaviour but I still have those jeans today. The love affair with Paul & Joe continued until I move here - no one stocked them in the early years and now that the label is available, it's goddamn expensive compared to back in Singapore. I can only patiently wait for the sale to score and score I did today. Three obscenely-reduced pieces! There's not very much left and they won't be re-stocking so I'd dash if I were you.Paul & Joe Sale Shop (from now until Saturday 20 June)212 Oxford StreetPaddington
I've amassed tons of weapons in my arsenal of winter warmies to combat the dreadful cold since we moved here and these are some of my current favourites...
Ear MuffsThe boyfriend often laughs at the things I wear to keep warm in the "mild Sydney winter". "Mild", my ass! Any temperature lower than that of a standard air-conditioned mall is cold for a girl born and bred in the Tropics. This will be my sixth winter here and I'm still not enjoying it except for the dressing up bit.This is an old pair but if you like some to keep the nasty wind out, similar ones are available here. Made from fluffy sheepskin! I wanted the grey ones but changed my mind after reading the reviews about the band snapping - not good for klutzy me.You know what I'd love? Some Hello Kitty ones! The boyfriend will definitely not want to be seen out with me.
Faux Fox StoleMeet Emmett Foveaux Sanford III - an old-school thing needs an old-school name, we thought (the boyfriend didn't laugh at this purchase - I think he likes it).I love my furs (vintage, of course, NEVER new) but until society is ready to fully embrace the wearing of a dead animal (with head and all) around necks again like in the good old days (see here), I'm very happy with my cheeky Emmie from my favourite to-collect artist/designer Slow and Steady Wins The Race.
MittensGood-looking ones are so hard to come by in this glove-loving world! Over the last five winters, I've only found two pairs that are good enough for fussy me. Why don't they make more?! I think mittens are way cuter than gloves. I've tried but I can't wear gloves. My long and skinny fingers look seriously creepy in them. Fingerless ones are fine but they kind of defeat the purpose, don't they? Anyone who sees nice mittens, please point me their way?
Hooded PonchoThe latest addition to my arsenal. More for keeping the rain out than keeping warm. I love its drippy-drapey-ness (unlike the regular tent-like ponchos) and its various ways-of-wear.Again by Slow and Steady Wins The Race in their first collaboration with the Stand Up Comedy store in Portland, inspired by Portland's wet weather. They made four different ones for the range and named them after waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge. How cute! Mine is the Latourell.Yep, I'm ready, Evil Winter. Bring it on!
The dining room upstairs - love the birdcages and the kopi-tiam (old-school Singapore coffeeshops) vibe!Quite a few Fridays ago, we went to the new-ish Local Taphouse, a pub with a bistro upstairs, just down the road from us - the building is beautifully-old but the management is new.
The view out of the window we sat next toI've been trying to write this post since but it's turned out to be one long blab about how I miss our local and our pals back home in Singapore (I indulge in quite a bit of reminiscence when it gets cold here) because this Local reminded us of the one we all used to go to, every evening, without fail, in an old converted two-storey Peranakan terrace hidden in a historical area behind the shopping strip of Orchard Road. 
The century-old tram seat that we sat on for dinnerI've deleted it all now. All you need to know about The Local Taphouse is the following:~ We loved it!
My favourite beer of the evening - the Meantime IPA (Indian Pale Ale - I think I tried nearly every one they had before finding this bottle of perfection)~ Loads and loads of very tasty local and international beers, with at least 20 on tap at any one time, and many more in bottles.
The same 100-year-old tram seat again~ The food was very good - not at all like pub grub. They incorporate beer into every dish and if you like, you can match your food with beers.Between the four of us, we shared four entrees - chorizo & calamari, beer-battered whitebaits, frites and the most delicious saganaki.For mains, I had the cod & salmon fish cake (the biggest that I've ever seen!) and the three meat-loving boys had steak, burger and sausages.We missed desserts because the kitchen closed before we finished the last course. The chocolate mousse on the next table sure looked good in an old-school parfait glass!
"Jellyfish" lights - I love how they all are different~ The decor by Gardener & Marks, a Melbourne design firm, stole my heart. It's so nice to dine in a room that's full of old-world charm (without the stuffiness) and warmth for a change. I wanted to take every piece of furniture and fixture home.The Local Taphouse122 Flinders StreetDarlinghurstPhone: 9360 0088
I'm forever craving for Singapore hawkers'-style food - what I can't find here in Sydney (or found, but of low standard), I will try to make my own.Lately, the very popular chye tow kway has been on my mind - you'll find a stall selling it in every hawkers' centre on the island. In the Teochew and Hokkien dialects, chye tow means "carrot" and kway means "cake". It is, however, not made from the orange root vegetable. Its core ingredient is radish, which is known as "white carrot" in those dialects.Anyway, I made some for the first time a few days ago from a recipe I got from my aunt. It wasn't as difficult or time-consuming as I thought it would be.Meet my first ever batch of chye tow kway!
A success! If I do say so myself. Got the boyfriend's stamp-of-approval as well.
My bamboo steamer was not big enough to fit any of my larger square tins so I had to use a round springform tin.
To the leftover mix, I added dried shrimps and scallops (dried shiitake would be good too but I ran out) to make some dim sum-style ones and steamed it in a mini loaf tin.
The end result on the plate...
...from top left,
- the "white" hawkers' version - fried with eggs, chye poh (preserved radish bits - very important ingredient!), minced garlic and chopped shallots
- the "black" version - cooked the same way as before but with the addition of a sticky sweet soy sauce
- the dim sum ones - panfried until it gets a crispy skin all around the outside
Auntie Mei's Steamed "Carrot Cake"
~ 400g radish
~ 200g rice flour
~ 275ml water
~ half-a-teaspoon of salt
4Clean and peel radish. Grate radish using the course setting on the grater.
4Place grated radish, rice flour, salt and water in a saucepan.
4Stir and mix well. Cook on medium heat, stirring all the time until mixture boils and thickens.
4Transfer cooked mixture into a greased square cake tin (not too large or too deep).
4Smooth surface with greased fingers and steam for an hour.
4Allow cake to cook and cover tin with Glad wrap.
4Leave to chill in fridge overnight to enable easy cutting for frying, when required.
Right after my silly Seven Days of Chambray, I found this in my inbox this morning! From Sportsgirl, my Aussie Topshop fix.The humble blue cotton made it into their current Top 10 Must-Haves list at...#10. Hee. Maybe I'll have new pieces to add to my collection?
I didn't know how much I miss watching Chinese movies until we had a Red Cliff*-viewing marathon over the weekend - we bought the Asian release, broken into two parts, each running two hours and twenty minutes (countries outside of Asia get a condensed 2½-hour film).It's been hard keeping up my favourite Chinese directors (from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) and their work since we moved away from multi-lingual Singapore, away from my old job at which loving and watching films in all languages were kind of a pre-requisite.I miss knowing what the likes of Wong Kar-wai, Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Sylvia Chang are up to, sometimes even before pre-production. There is, of course, the internet but nothing beats waking up in the morning and reading about their next project in The Straits Times, or hearing exciting news through the grapevine. And getting to watch their "visions" on the big screen.*It's not as elegant or "fluid" as some of the Chinese films I love but it's still good (made me want to read Romance of the Three Kingdoms!) and I guess it's better than having none. Plus, one of my future ex-husbands, Tony Leung (the one in the top left corner), had loads of screen time!
Cardigan - Witchery, Dress - Wish, Shirt - Saba, Boots - Camper, Satchel - "Troll" by Mimco (and it sure looks like one!)
