Saturday, June 30

return to owner



ME: I have something of yours. [Returns him a tiny car]
HE: My god. I'd forgotten about this.
ME: I don't need it anymore.
HE: [Knowing look] Why?
ME: [Bright smile] He got married.
HE: [Exasperated] Who, the bastard? I hate it when I'm right.

It seems a bit meta to refer to my own post but the date is sort of relevant. It's been almost a year.

missing

我懷念的 是爭吵以後還是想要愛你的衝動

The best line in the Stefanie Sun song now on repeat mode in my head.

P.S. Would any one care to translate for the monolinguists among us? WW? CO? MS? I'm not up to it!

who cares about hello kitty?

According to the cat with no mouth, I don't care about other people. But the caring test is fun nonetheless. Try to better my score of 40%.

Wednesday, June 27

just shoot me


I've always liked the combination of polka dots and stripes.

After shooting some photos in Provence which I thought "well, those didn't turn out that bad considering it's a crappy one-mega-pixel camera", I've been feeling a little trigger happy. So, my fave photog is gonna lend me one of his many cameras -- the damaged one with 5% LCD not working, but beggars can't be choosers -- and hopefully impart some skills.

Be prepared for more rubbish pseudo arty shots of carpark ramps from now on.

look at the size of that

time for luncherooo


I'm blown away by the obento sets that this mother [I think, not sure, cos the site is entirely in Japanese] comes up with on a daily basis for her kids. The angry octopus above just cracks me up.

pay attention during class, randolph


This Sunday is doggie's final exam for obedience school. Will he emerge as the Top Dog? With this sort of lousy attention span, I think not.

Tuesday, June 26

i like pink i think


With my big-ass crochet needle -- it is the size of an Oral B toothbrush, and made of the same acrylic material too -- and some big-ass yarn, I made a big-ass granny square. Yes, the stitches are indeed so big-ass, and not enlarged due to macro photography skills.


Product photography is so much tougher than I'd imagined. Posing a pink baby blanket took me a good 15 minutes, but I was determined to do it before giving it to Y for her soon-to-be-popped baby.


So you get an idea big it is. And how much I like pink.

Tuesday, June 19

proximity to the next big things

Sadly, the Swirl Girls have not been chosen as one of Fred Flare's the Next Big Things.

But the good news is, two of our dear friends made it! Well done, Kookii:Kooky and Maki Squarepatch. We're so happy for them! Do vote for them here and here or just drop by our boutique to check out their adorable goodies. We can safely say we discovered them before Fred Flare did!

As for our ingenious, quirky and surprisingly useful entry -- the alice band clutch! -- we're in the process of fine-tuning it, so watch out for it!

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Not only does this clutch hold your lipstick and spare change, it also holds back your hair. The alice band is made from lovingly salvaged vintage fabric, while the clutch itself is made of canary yellow satin charmeuse.

Monday, June 18

one, two, three

Three little things that may make you believe in love again. Possibly. May be. Perhaps.


One. Who cares if there is a scientific reason for the otters' hand-holding?

Two. I tear up a little every time I read this engagement story. I'm a sentimental fool.

Three. This lovely story was posted on a particularly forlorn day, and a blithe "Happy Valentine's and all that jazz" text message only made it worse.

Sunday, June 17

open and shut case



not quite a year

Five days in Provence, with non-witty captions and not a single food picture. And I did finish reading A Year In Provence in a fit of last-minute research, but it became quite plain to me by Day 2 that Peter Mayle and I were in two totally different places.


St Tropez -- just saying the name is so glam.


Wish I could paint...


St Tropez -- where Karl Lagerfeld was spotted [not in photo] and four AA batteries cost 7 euros.


I like umbrellas and deck chairs, whether or not they are on a beach in Cannes.


Heady from the rich scents in the perfume factory in Grasse, perfume capital of the world.


Sweet, sweet smell of soap [and tourist dollars].


Miss Suaku here first time see olive trees.


When the French inform you that the nearest village is "10 minutes away", be prepared for a long, if picturesque, walk of at least half an hour -- uphill.


The fortified village of St Paul de Vence, apparently the only one in France.


Fountain of Some Historic Importance, St Paul de Vence.


View from the fortress.


Trust me, even this sort of gorgeous view gets boring after a while.

i flew 14 hours for this

Don't hate me, cos the French were terribly snooty and snobbish [do the two words mean the same thing?], we were nannied to death by the resort chaperon, and I'm still jet lagged/jetlagged/jet-lagged after being back for five days.

Now for the slideshow of the girl who can't pose, can't smile and can't keep her eyes open while taking photos.


The hills are alive...


To the left, to the left...


Blink, and you miss it.


Trying to blend in with the beautiful people in St Tropez.


Horsing around with D and Black Beauty, who was wearing a lampshade on its head.


In a restaurant with really bad French food. Yes, that oxymoron is possible.

fitting in


I laughed out loud while watching. And now I have the urge to dig up my old Tetris game.

Wednesday, June 6

last call



Leaving you with this "Hesitation" karakuri before I fly off tonight. From the lovely A+R Store, in which I whiled away many hours in the office selecting gifts for myself, such as these ceramic crinkle cups and fast cup drinking glasses.

Monday, June 4

jet setter, jet-setter or jetsetter?



Before you accuse me of being one, I must protest that it's hardly the case. I'm just a frequent-flyer-miles exploiter and unable-to-resist-junket junkie.

Too much ca phe sua da -- I <3 Vietnamese coffee! -- at 10pm is a bad idea. So after banging out a banal story on the latest collection of a luxury brand totally irrelevant to me, except for the fact I took its junket, I will now run down some numbers from the latest Vietnam trip:

6: Men on the same trip
5: Of which were gay.
4: Ca phe sua da making sets bought
3: Extremely chi chi restaurants, none of which as good as the cramped banh xeo shop down an alley filled with broken motorbikes and a makeshift manicure "parlour"
2: Times I've been to Ho Chi Minh in as many months
1: Bathrobe I contemplated accidentally packing into my suitcase from the very Raffles Hotel-esque Park Hyatt. Until I saw on the price list that it cost USD 50.

Photo above of the sand dunes of Mui Ne, from my infinitely more enjoyable first trip to Vietnam with my sissy, even though we stayed in crappier hotels, ate cheaper food and endangered our lives more by riding pillion on bikes.

Next, I'm off to Provence. Don't hate me!

[Call me suaku, but I only just last week found out what <3 meant. What to do, I only got to know about Facebook last month. And Pandora last year. But oh oh oh, this blog just celebrated its third anniversary a few days back. I'm not sure how that makes me any less suaku.]