Collections

Let's Talk About Watches!
The boyfriend just added a new item to my Casio collection!

He knows that I've been looking for a small "delicate" watch for a while now and see that likkle baby watch squooshed in the middle of all her big brothers? That's the one he bought me. The smallest Casio and one with the least buttons and functions (only date and time) that I've ever owned. Haha.

For most of my life, I've worn (and collected) watches with faces bigger than my puny wrist, usually boys'/men's watches, save for a few cartoon character watches and the designer watch that my father bought me when I graduated high school. I like feeling their weight on my wrist and how they always look better and are less precious and fragile compared to dainty girly watches.

So I can't figure out why the sudden interest in smaller timepieces (I'm not usually one who lusts after luxury goods but I'm finding the classic Chanel chain watch, in silver, very attractive at the moment). Maybe it's got to do with age and wanting to wear things that are more understated. Or it could be the need to go against the flow - suddenly every girl and her best friend have a clock on their wrists.

It takes a lot of getting used to, though. So light and almost invisible compared to the usual bricks of rubber/stainless steel that I wear. Yesterday, for a moment, I thought I'd lost the little one when out at the crazy Boxing Day sale. Haha.
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Let's Talk About Toys!
This Tintin figurine (I love how it's presented like one of those dioramas in museums!), my gift to the boyfriend, might just be the can opener that opens a whole new tin of worms. Haha.

We both love Tintin comics and have resisted buying these cute collectibles because we know that once we start, we might not be able to stop. Or rather, me and my have-to-have-things-in-sets mentality might not be able to stop.

Then last week, when we were out shopping for the real kids in the family, we saw display cabinets chock full of Tintin and Snowy (I love the Snowy toys more because he's a puppy and I love puppies!). I noticed how the boyfriend was studying the displays more than he usually would with such cutesy-shit nonsense and I knew then that I've found his present. I went back to the shop alone the next day and bought this "Explorer Tintin". Because the boyfriend has a thing for pith helmets.

Present-buying for him will be easy from now on! When I don't know what to get him, simply buy another Tintin figurine to add to his collection.

I told you I couldn't stop at one...

I sneakily put this magnetic bendable Snowy in the basket. For myself. Tee hee hee.

People always say to not start smoking because once you have had a puff, it's not easy to stop? I think it's the same with collecting. Don't start!

A White Christmas (With Bits Of Colour Here And There)

I wanted to be an all-white Christmas tree yesterday. And dressed for maximum feasting comfort! My Nancy Rose dress (last seen here and here) is the perfect shape for both. Tee hee hee.

For "tree" ornaments, I had on one "branch" (arm) this chunky colourful wood grain-veneer bangle and a couple of flat odd-shaped wooden ones. I actually piled a lot more chunky colourful acrylic ones on but they were too noisy and heavy so I stucked with a "Wood" theme.

Most white Christmas trees come with a white base and these Superga's are mine.

They were a very cheeky purchase while out shopping for Christmas baking needs middle of the week. I couldn't help myself because they were super-super discounted. And you know I love white shoes!

Plus I've never seen a pair of high-top Superga's, or any canvas high-tops for that matter, in this unique tongue-less lace-up style. Kind of like a poor girl's flat version of those Ann Demeulemeester sandals that were all the rage not too long ago.

At Mr R's for Round No.2 of feasting, G pranced up in his just-purchased white McQueen for Puma trainers. Also found while Christmas shopping and going for cheap because it's "past season".

Mr R's cat, Socksy, came out to play too in his white "socks"! Which was win-the-lottery kind of rare! He's always very shy and likes to hide away and yesterday was the first time ever that he truly hung out with us for the whole afternoon. He allowed himself to be patted and brushed by me and sat under my chair like a likkle puppy. So sweet!

G wearing the white(!) pressie I gave him. We were meant to do home-made presents only this year but I saw this white ceramic gun at a market and knew he would love it so I added it to my box of baked goods for him.

Finally, some bits of colour again. Lollies before a huge Round No.2 of Christmas food which I have no photos to show because at that point, I was slumped in my chair like a well-fed fat cat too lazy to move. Haha.

Round No.1 Down...

Just got home from my aunt's Christmas lunch. *BURP*

My contribution to the meal were two dozens of these Spiced Fig Tartlets. I made the mini tart cases from the spiced dough leftover from the gingerbread letters and filled them with vanilla mascarpone.

I was going to use cherries (very Aussie Christmas!) but we saw trays of really good-looking figs at the greengrocer yesterday and bought them instead. The golden chopped almond praline is for crunch. In hindsight, I should have made a pistachio one. Green of the nuts + pink of the figs = Christmas colours!

Alright, we're off to Round No.2 of eating - the yearly "Orphan's Christmas" meal at Mr R and G's. Hope you're eating heaps and making loads of merry too! xx

Season's Greetings

Merry Christmas!

From me, Pixie Boo-boo and Ralph! xxx
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Pixie Boo-boo (my reindeer) and Ralph (yes, the boyfriend gave his a boring name) are flat-pack assemble-yourself reindeers by Muji. They arrived in the mail yesterday. From my sweet pal Nah-nah all the way from Singapore.

I hope they like candy canes like horses love sugar cubes.

Today's "Likkle Baking Elf" Is Brought To You By...

...the letters M, E, R, Y, X, A and S.

I wanted to make some reindeer-shaped gingerbread. Not saying that those in the shape of snowmen, stars, Christmas trees and angels don't all shout "CHRISTMAS!" but I like cute likkle animal-things and who fit the bill better than Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid, Donder and Blitzen and not forgetting the most famous reindeer of all, Rudolph?!

Embarked on a Reindeer (biscuit cutter) Hunt I did and found loads but all of deers leaping/in mid flight/prancing when what I had in mind was just a simple face/head. I did find one but it looks more like a moose, don't you think?

So I did what my old art director from my advertising days would do when the client couldn't afford suitable photography/stock images/illustrations for an ad -> turn to typography...

Working with gingerbread dough on a warm Summer's day certainly isn't the same as laying types on the computer.

Putting the dough sheets into the fridge every five minutes didn't help much and I ended up with mangled letters looking like they are all from different families of typefaces instead of one. Haha. Good thing I decided to go with "XMAS" instead of the much longer "CHRISTMAS"! Imagine cutting that out twenty times.

And then it's time to ice them...

Literally. Haha. I don't like using food colouring so I left my royal icing white and "snow-capped" the letters.

Five sets down yesterday and heaps more to ice today! Yay!
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~ Gingerbread made using Hilda's mom's recipe. Thought I'd try a new one this year.

~ Icing - from an old tried and-tested recipe:
- 60g egg whites
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice {might need more depending on consistency of mix}
- 330g icing sugar {use only pure icing sugar and sifted (very important!) to remove all lumps}

1. Lightly whisk egg whites and lemon juice in a mixing bowl. Just to combine. Do not take it too far.
2. Add sifted icing sugar in parts and beat with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until you get a smooth mixture.
3. Check consistency: Lift your spoon/spatula to allow some icing to drip back into the bowl. If drip hits the surface of the icing and holds for 5 seconds, it's ready.
4. If it's too thick for your icing needs, add lemon juice. If it's too runny, add sifted icing sugar.
5. Add colour now if you so desire. And flavour too if you like - nothing too liquid-y, though, as it'll change the consistency of your now-perfect icing. Vanilla-from-the-pod is good. If you're using liquid flavourings (I like orange blosson water), add in Step 4 instead of lemon juice.

The Likkle Baking Elf

Last night, I started baking the first batch of Christmas treats for pals and family in Sydney - biscotti in Christmas colours! Red cranberries and green pistachios. And they hold for a week too! Just right for giving away on Christmas Day.

This morning, I started packaging some of them in the clear plastic cases we found last week.

I tried a few different "looks" with various coloured tissue paper, ribbons and trimmings but I guess I'm a brown-paper-and-twine (in this case, food-safe-waxed-paper-and-twine) kind of girl at heart so yeah, I followed my heart yet again.

Another Koala + A Christmas Art Show

Yes, another koala! The third in two weeks! (See here and here.)

Saw this cutey, made entirely out of recycled plastic bags, sitting on Zoe's shelf when I popped in to Gaffa earlier this week to drop my work off for their Christmas group show...

An exhibition in celebration of all the artists and friends who have been in, and come along to our recent programs.

This is a significant end of year show for us, having moved to our new home in February, and we’d like to celebrate with all of you, who have made this year so enjoyable.

Hung in the traditional salon style, the focus is on showcasing the diverse plethora of work that Gaffa features and supports.

The cute koala along with, I think, 300+ pieces of work will be shown on all levels of the gallery from now until Thursday 23 December. Do pop in for a look if you're near. And "in the spirit of Christmas", artwork purchases can be collected immediately.

Gaffa
281 Clarence Street (behind the Queen Victoria Building)
Sydney
Phone: (02) 9283 4273
Website: gaffa.com.au
Opening Hours: Monday to Friday: 10am - 6pm / Saturday: 11am - 5pm / Sunday+Holidays: Closed

Symmetrical Late Night Shnack

Frozen pizza base + tomato paste + mozzarella + anchovy fillets + Spanish onions = quick & nyum!

I like the almost-symmetrical pattern I made on it. The boyfriend thinks it's the work of someone with a case of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Pizza toppings are meant to be shlapped on in a haphazard manner, he believes. Bah.

More symmetry...

Perfect portions. Cut free-hand. Using a knife (none of that rolling pizza cutter nonsense). OCD-style. Yeah!

Ruffly Flower Shower

Collar - Big by Fiona, Floral Tunic - secondhand Country Road from op shop, T-Shirt - American Apparel, Scarf (worn as belt) - vintage Pierre Balmain, Cut-offs - from secondhand jeans, Clogs - Swedish Hasbeens

This colourful blooms-falling-everywhere tunic is a recent op shop score.

I fell in love with the print - happy florals on a navy blue(!) background - a couple of seasons ago in Country Road. The pieces - this top and I think there was a dress and a blouse - that they made out of the fabric, however, didn't wow me.

This time around at the op shop, this ruffly-shouldered number was so cheap that I didn't care. It's cute enough to wear but I just might use the fabric for something else further down the road.

Gloaty McGloat

I played three Bingo's in one single game! Whooopeeeedoooooo!

It's a record for me!

I don't care if nobody gives a hoot. I do. Enough to document it. So there.

How Often Do You Send Your Jeans To The Wash?

Blouse - Vintage, Cut-offs - from secondhand jeans, Bag - The "Troll Satchel" by Mimco, Clogs - Swedish Hasbeens

Not too often for me. Everything else (well, all Summer things) that I wear gets chucked into the laundry basket after one outing. Just not jeans. I don't like the clean roughness. You know what I mean.

And these cut-offs, my favourite pair, don't see the inside of our washing machine very much. Like this week, I've worn them everyday, each time with a light vintage top. My lazy uniform-of-the-week and many Summers past. It might change next week and the shorts will get a good tumbling but I'm not sure. It's just too easy this combo.

So, how often do you send your jeans to the wash?

Little Edie's Back!

Oh, you don't know how long we've waited for this "re-make" of Grey Gardens to be released on DVD!

I've put "re-make" in inverted commas because the original, shot in the 70s, was a documentary film and you can't really re-produce a film that was made to document real events as they happened, can you? Maybe "re-enacment" would be a better choice of word?

Anyway, this long-awaited release starring the always-spunky Drew Barrymore (Little Edie) and veteran actress Jessica Lange (Big Edie) is not only a re-enactment of the charmingly eccentric Bouvier-Beales' days in their decaying holiday home. It packs quite a whole lot more.

The blurb on the back of the DVD did quite a good job of describing this 2009 "remake" so I'll just plonk in on here...

"Told over a span of four decades, the film...focuses on their well-heeled lives long before the making of the documentary and on the circumstances behind their riches-to-rags story."

It definitely answered a lot of the questions I had when I watched the original film. And there's loads more in the wardrobe department to look at! Woo!

If you haven't seen the 1975 version, I'd say take it out of your friendly neighbourhood video store before renting the current one. You need to see the real Bouvier-Beales (I LOVE Little Edie and her stylish ways!)...to give you some kind of perspective.

Pickled Green Chillies

I made some chicken char siew...

...to make some wonton noodles (without the wontons)...

...just so we can eat the latest batch of green chillies that I pickled over the weekend. Like how some girls would work an outfit around a pair of new shoes. Haha.

Pickled green chillies are a standard-issue condiment at most noodles places in Singapore. These humble sweet and sour crunchy bits bring the taste of noodles to a whole new dimension.

Here in Sydney, I've yet to eat at a Chinese eatery that have jars of the chillies at the table sitting next to the little bottle of soy and salt & pepper shakers. And we've been to quite a few. Sydney-siders don't know what they're missing with their noodles!

Great Finds From The Most Unlikely Places (#168)

Does a clear plastic case warrant a post? Yes! If you're looking for suitable vessels to present your homemade edible Christmas goodies in. That's me!

The usual glass jars, plastic take-away containers and cardboard noodle boxes are boring but I was ready to use to them again until we found stacks of these heavy-duty clear cases quite by chance at Reverse Garbage on Monday. For pittance! Whooopeeedoooo!!!

My little baked goods will be travelling in style. Wheeeee!

Great Finds From The Most Unlikely Places (#167a)

When I was writing about Great Finds #167* the other day, I thought of a pal who would love to have one of these creepy-looking likkle girls too and back to the shop I went.

Wanted to get her the third girl but she looked kind of blah on second visit so I bought her the one that Ms Carpet got (there was none of my "Chloe" left!).

Ms Carpet thinks this one with the apple on her head looks like one of those monstrous children from that movie while I think she's a young Kirsten Dunst.

See the resemblance in this photo which coincidentally, like the Chloe Sevigny illustration from the #167 post, is also from Lula. Haha. In Issue #11 shot by Autumn De Wilde and styled by the Mulleavy sisters behind Rodarte.

*You do know that I make these numbers up, don't you?

Funky Buddha

A new-to-me piece of stencil art in the 'hood.

It's slightly marred by the seafoam-ish green paint sprayed on by some tagger who came after but I kind of not mind it. All the colours gel to make a good picture, layers and all. Like it was meant to be. How very "Zen". Haha.

Great Finds From The Most Unlikely Places (#167)

When out shopping, Ms Carpet and I somehow always find good shit. Even in the crappiest of shops. Last Friday, before meeting our pals for cheap Chinese, we popped into one of those cheap disposable fashion stores along Oxford Street to kill some time. While she was flicking the racks in the front of the shop, I zoomed in on the "jewellery" display out back and found these necklaces!

I loved how the girls (there were three different ones) all looked so cartoony-cute and innocent yet spooky and evil at the same time. I hollered out to Ms Carpet, we had a good giggle and left with one girl each. Tee hee hee. They were so cheap too that Ms Carpet paid for mine with her other purchases!

I think my likkle girl looks like a young Chloe Sevigny (if you ignore the red hair and the green eyes). And the neck ruff that she's wearing reminds me of grown-up Chloe's wardrobe in Big Love.

Ms Carpet's likkle girl has got a red apple balanced on her head and stares at you with scary piercing eyes. Ms Carpet thinks she's one of them "Children of the Corn". Her boyfriend thinks so too. I'll get a photo next time I see her.

We are such good little eagle-eyed shoppers, aren't we? Tee hee hee.

* "Chloe Sevigny Wearing Louis Vuitton" illustration by Jonas Lofgren (Bildmekanik) from Issue #8 of Lula

New Discoveries In The Junk Food Aisle

Copy-cat Caramel Corn
Pink for "Strawberries & Cream"!

You know how I go koo-koo over Caramel Corn? I like to spread the love too. I gave some to my hairdresser because he was an Aussie expat brat living in Singapore (small world, huh?) in the 80s and we always talk about the junk food we ate growing up.

More pink for "Strawberries & Cream"!

"It's like Kaka! But classier!" he said about the Japanese snack. For those of you who know a bit of French, he didn't mean "shit". Kaka was the flavoured corn snack of our childhood. With free toy in every pack! Sadly, they've stopped producing them many years back.

Blue for "Vanilla"

So he was addicted at first bite and has been making trips down to the Asian supermarket in Chinatown for Caramel Corn fixes. Tee hee hee. And the last time I went in for a haircut, he said he found an el cheapo version that doesn't taste too bad. These made-in-Taiwan Kuai Kuai ones.

Yellow for "Condensed Milk"

It sure took us a long time to find them because my hairdresser can't read Chinese and couldn't tell me the brand - "Oh, just loads of Chinese characters." Very helpful in this massive junk food aisle where every thing is printed with Chinese characters! We found them on our third try in three weeks - a quarter of the price of a pack of Caramel Corn and is alright in the taste department. We'll be back for more!

Tuna Bak Kwa
The only bak kwa shop in Chinatown that we know of stopped stocking the chicken ones a couple of months back because they weren't popular. "Everybody loves the pork ones," said the shopkeeper. Boo. Damn you, pork-eaters!

I was prepared to eat some from the packet (the shop barbeques the meat slices fresh, in front of you) but we could only find porky-pig ones in the Asian supermarket. Damn you, pork-eaters, again!

This week, we found these tuna ones! Wheeee! In a packet but it's bak kwa that I can eat! And I've never had fish ones so it was an adventure!

It's not as greasy as the chicken ones. Probably healthier but the coat of shiny grease is what makes bak kwa soooo good! However, the spices and flavours are all there and if I was in a blind-tasting session, I most probably won't be able to tell that it's tuna - chicken of the sea! Haha. Or maybe it's really not tuna despite what the label says. Ewww. But for now, until I find some real made-to-order chicken bak kwa, these will do.

Ramune Candy
So so excited when I saw these! I love Ramune, the fizzy Japanese lemonade in the Codd-neck bottle.

These candies taste like ginger beer. Boo. And not at all fizzy.