Curry Fish Head Ooh La La

The best eating places sometimes are those that are hardly posh or even noticeable.

There is a hawker centre above Beauty World. And right at the corner is a zichar stall that is always full of customers during weekend nights. It is a place where my boyfriend brought me to eat the unforgettable Curry Fish Head. Food is cheap and good, service is prompt and stall owner uncle is always full of smiles. Just a bit warm if the day is hot.

The stall is Fu Gui Chun. And you can see my boyfriend doing the ordering. i always leave the ordering up to him. He seems to have a knack for sniffing out/cooking/delivering yummy food.


The tofu was dancing on this sizzling hot place. As you bite into the tofu, the flavoursome gravy spews out. The plate is lined with a thin layer of omelette that is cooked just nice and not charred which always happen with hot plates.

The assam curry fish head is their specialty. And whenever I eat with Gary's family, I never have enough of it. The sourness of the gravy packs a punch but it is not weighed down with the greasiness of coconut milk. It actually sends your tastebuds singing ooh lala. The fish meat could be softer.


The kangkong is crunchy and spicy without being overwhelming. A few prawns or shrimps would have made this dish perfect.


Everything was finished! A testamount to how tasty the dishes are.

All these for only $33. Cant wait to be back again.

The 3 Misconceptions About Starting A Business

1. You need lots of capital to start a business.
That's what everyone thinks. But if you are creative, you dont unless you are building a hotel or some mega project. And I think the more $$ you have, the more you are afraid to venture and lose it. I started with less than $3000 with no financial help from my parents who spent what they had on my education. Yes you heard it right. Start small and build up.

When I first started, I couldnt afford any physical space. And I sold online. Whenever anyone was interested, I will lug around my big bag of clothes in various sizes for the customer to try. I developed a chronic backache as a result. I will meet customers in shopping centres or hotels or their houses. Some of my earlier customers will have remembered that. I remembered once when a rich tai tai called me to bring as many designs as possible to her apartment after seeing them on my web. There was no lift and I climbed up the whole stairs with my luggage bag. In the end, she told me my clothes are expensive for her as she could invest in designer togs instead. And I climbed back down the stairs with the big luggage bag. And she lived on top of a slope.

2. You need lots of experience
I didnt had any former fashion education or experience. But what helped me was my experience in the creative field and marketing communications, it helped me market Fuchsia Lane effectively. I created a unique story angle for my press releases and Fuchsia Lane was featured in the papers for more than 30 times. You need to know what you are getting into but you dont need years of experience. And be prepared to fall and learn.

3. You can do whatever you want as a boss.
That is so not true. As your business grow bigger, you take on more obligations and responsibilities. Fuchsia Lane has the obligation to the staff and their families. I have to make sure they get fed even if business is bad. They get paid first. I have a responsibility to my customers to make sure they are getting what they pay for. All my designs get finalised after destroying many samples which explains the price. I cant stop working or declare myself a holiday just because I feel like it. I think I work 16-20 hours a day. My head is full of stuff like creating new designs, making sure my staff are working hard and happy, attracting and retaining customers, thinking of new ideas to increase business in these times.

Pasta by the River-Da Mario Pizzeria

Da Mario actually started as a humble joint which served very homely pasta and pizzas. Last year, when I visited them again, they actually moved to a bigger restaurant with a slightly more posh feel but still retaining the cosiness associated with family pizzeria. I love supporting such places where you can see their business grow over the years due to the hard/heartwork of the team.

I ordered the Spaghetti al Cartucio and Pizza Rustica.


This is made of Italian sausages, cheese and rustica.


The picture says a thousand words isnt it. The piping hot gooey cheese and sausages were a heavenly mix. I can still remember the taste when I sank my teeth into the pizza. The crust was made just the way I like it, it wasnt too thin or thick and there is a freshness to it as I think they made the pizza in house. The portion was just nice for 2 people.


This seafood pasta is cooked with white wine, tomato sauce and garlic and then wrapped in "paper" which sealed in the flavour. It usually takes about 20 minutes to prepare. So be patient. $18.


The spaghetti was infused with the flavour but I found it a wee bit too wet and soft. But the consistent texture of the savoury sauce saved it and the really hearty serving of fresh seafood. I lost count of the prawns that came with it, there were 2 mussels at least, scallop and lots of clams and squids. $22.

The waiters are friendly and many have been there since day 1 which is a testamount to the fact that the boss is nice. This pizzeria is diagonally opposite Gallery Hotel at Robertson Quay. I will recommend it as a place to chill out with your friends or your boyfriend on lazy Sunday. But reserve in advance on friday nights

Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?

Entreprenueurship has surged in these difficult times when almost someone you know is retrenched. When the job market becomes saturated, more and more people start to think about starting a business. To test whether you are suited for starting a business, I have deduced 5 qualities every entrepreneur should possess based on my own experience.

1. Passion
This is the most important ingredient for starting any business. The course of business never quite run smooth. Almost 95% of your friends and families will dissuade you and not believe in you. You must believe strongly in what you do especially when times are bad, and when you are not making money and your bank account is falling everyday. When I first started my business, my parents didnt believe me, my closest aunt didnt either, it was painful. If I didnt have the passion in what I do, I will have given up many times.

2. Stamina
Unless you intend to start a business, get a quick buck and end in 2 years, you need stamina to build your company, your brand, your empire. You need to slowly gain the trust of your customers, staff and even your family members who initially objected to you starting a business. It is a marathon that can span as long as you live. I want to be able to celebrate Fuchsia Lane's golden anniversary.

3. Vision
Create a vision of what you want your business to be in 1 year, 3 year, 5 years and 10 years' time. My vision is for Fuchsia Lane to become a global designer label with strong artistic and cultural roots and everything I do now is to take baby steps towards this big vision.

4. Proactive
You are the driver of your business. If you wait for things to happen, nothing will. You have to actively pursue it, make things happen, create miracles everyday. Go out and make yourself known. Close a deal proactively. Actively seek for help if you need it. Your business face threats everyday and you must think of innovative ways to overcome it. If you dont advance, your business dies.

5. Strong financial sense
No money no talk. Cash is essential to survival. I am still learning to master financial control. Every business exists to make money. You either bring the costs down or sell your goods high. But it is not a simple equation. There are many things that will affect your financials like a sudden economic crisis, months of bad business, hikes in supply prices, a deal didnt go through.

Window Inspirations

Being a designer means I have to be inspired constantly with fresh new stuff. Everything can be an inspiration from travels, to spending a day at the museum and even window shopping.

I like looking at CK Tangs window displays. It has a strong theme, changes frequently and you can see there is really a professional team behind. Recently, I walk past Tangs and saw this mobile unit outside and all the below you are going to see is the work of design school students!


I like the pop colours + vintage feel. The bags are inside the cage.


Brollys can be displayed in a eye catchy way too.




I like this chair! Any idea where I can get such boudoir looking chairs?







Watches need not be displayed in glass showcases.



Cool isnt it?!

Cheap and good pasta

When I was in Milan during university days, I developed a palatte for pastas since it is the national food. Even Italian classic beauty and actress Sophia Lauren once said whatever she had today she owed it to spaghetti.

But when I came back to Singapore, alas Italian food is really expensive cuisine. So having just started work then, whenever I had pasta craze, I will go to Pasta Mania which also just started! But over the years, as my palatte grew more sophisticated, I also found that the quality between different outlets seem to differ. Some outlets are good whereas another outlet's offerings can be barely satisfactory.

But I ate at the Cineleisure outlet few days ago, and I really fell in love with it again. After almost 2 years of not visiting Pastamania, they have added alot to their menus like even Japanese based pastas and fanciful drinks. But I always only go for the traditional ones. So I ordered the good ole aglio olio with prawns.


The spaghetti was al dente and not overly soft. The spaghetti absorbed the favour of the olive oil with chopped garlic. There was a fragrant burst of flavours in your mouth. Last time they used to serve whole prawns generously but now they only served prawns chopped in tiny bits. But one cannot expect too much from a pasta dish that cost less than $9.


The cream of tomato soup was so yummy that I actually drank it halfway before I remembered to take pictures. I dipped the prawns in the tomato cream soup to make them flavoursome. The soup has the right tinge of sourness which sent my tastebuds in euphoria for a while. My boyfriend did comment they could improve the soup's appearance by putting parsley and sprinkling chopped garlic on it while adding tomato chunks to improve the texture. He is a cookaholic! But well the bowl is only $2.30.


And 2 of us finished 3 bowls! The bowl should have been bigger.

15% off if you have their discount card. Of course you can't expect fine dining standards here, but good enough to satisfy your cravings for cheap and good pasta.

Lord of The Fries!

Kim Gary's Fries Selection. $3.60 per basket.

I hate to admit it. I love fries. Even though they are unhealthy and fatty. Thats the truth even though all the fast food chains claim they use the healthiest fries. I am the kind who will walk to the nearest macdonald when they have the SHAKER/SAMURAI fries! YUMMY.. And I will reject fries served that are lifeless and
COLD!

So you can imagine my excitement when I discovered a restaurant that offers a wide variety of fries in different flavours. Cool! they have mayo fries, beef sauce fries, seaweed fries and blah. So far I only tried the beef sauce fries and the seaweed fries and I think the former tastes really good with its gooey beef sauce. It just makes you want to keep eating them even though your subconscious mind tells you to stop as they are fatty. I tell myself just one more two more three more and soon they are all gone.

The restaurant is Kim Gary- one of the HK cha chan teng in Vivo City. The service was only so so as I went an hour before they are closing and they seem more interested shutting down the place than serving you.


Kim Gary's Seaweed Fries with the bowl of Nissin Noodles served with egg and luncheon meat.


I can never cook instant noodles that good. The texture of noodles is very important to me and I love their springy noodles. It costs $5.80 per bowl.

I will be back ... for more fries!

The Curse of Flat Feet

Like every little girl, I dreamt that I will be strutting my pretty gowns with my dainty glass slipper waiting for my prince charming. That was until I found out I was born with the curse of FLAT FEET!

This meant standing 5 mins in heels is enough to send every cell in my calves, heels and arch reeling in pain. If I choose to ignore the pain, it will then travel up to my lower back. And after a day, I will probably toss and turn in bed for an hour with my achy legs till I can fall asleep. Even flats are not totally good for me, as most of these shoes are too narrow for my flat feet and I deduced I need footwear with arch support. All these years, sadly, I have not managed to find pretty heels designed for flat feet souls. But there are some comfy shoe brands which are catered for the flat feet.

When I am not meeting my clients, I will wear my pink Rockport sandals courtesy of my boyfriend. They are not pretty but they are really god sent comfort with their thick padded in soles that support my arch. New Balance has wide shoes and arch support for flat feet which made me feel I am walking on sunshine..ooh yeah.. And there are the Everlast canvas shoes that are wide enough for my feet and can go with jeans.

If one day, you ever see my shoes mismatched with my clothes, please forgive me. It is my archilles heel!

The Great Watsons Sale

I cant believe how cheap some items are going at this sale.
The Nivea Anti Cellulite Slimming Silouette Gel is going at half price which is 2 for $45 when 1 originally costs $45!

I stock up bottles of the ZA Cleansemax gel which removes make up as they are going off at 20% and come with small samples which are great for travelling. I dont spend much on cleansers as long as they can fulfil the job of keeping my face clean and not leaving my face dry.

I bought 2 bottles of the Maybelline eye/lip make up cleanser. I swear by this as my waterproof mascara comes off easily with 1 wipe unlike other gentle eye make up remover cleansers. They were originally selling $11.90 and now there is $3 off!

There are also some anti-deodorant rolls which are going at bundle price. Great for the sweltering weather. You dont want to suffer from wet pits or have stains on your shirt.

And there is $5 voucher for every $50 spent! End 1st July when I enquired with the staff. Maybe back again to stock up more.

My Fashion Suite-the Labour of Love

My new fashion suite has been opened for 2 months. And everytime I look at the wall paper, I am reminded by how many afternoons Gary has burnt trying to attempt amateur wallpapering. While he is cursing and swearing and sweating as he did it, I could see he did it really out of his love for me. Oh yes, mushy but it is the truth.

Before that I pulled him shopping with me for the wallpaper at Laura Ashley. And days we spent shopping in Malaysia and Singapore and doing our sums considering whether we should buy the piece of furniture for our suite. The wooden shelves, the drawers,the tables were assembled and drilled on by him and everytime I have to bear with his nagging. But not to forget this is the man who went shopping with me for stuff, moved, carried the stuff, drove me around, installed everything and sometimes even paid for them. All these precious time he could have spent sleeping in or playing games or feeding his fishies but he didnt.

The gorgeous chandelier was given to me by my aunt who is extremely close to me. I felt such a relief as she started strongly opposing me in setting up a business. This chandelier was a symbol of her well wishes and support and accepting my journey from a little girl to a business woman. Everytime I switch on the chandelier I can feel her smile beaming.

I will never have journeyed so far without the support of these loved ones. Thank you.

Malaccan Flavours

Those are not fishballs. They are Malacca's famous chicken rice balls. Ate them in Farmosa Chicken Rice Balls Store. Ooshi..salivating as I see this.


The biggest pineapple tart in the world. The shop actually entered Guiness World Records for that!


See this highlighted doll. It is so cute. I can imagine my little nephew bubu in it though he hates anything attached to his head.




This shop sells papercutting that is done by an inhouse artist. Heard he is quite young.


My boyfriend was so amused that he had to take this toilet paper dispenser



San Shu Gong serves really delicious durian chendol. Thirst quenching and refreshing. And this is coming from someone who never really like eating chendol. My boyfriend and I ate this for 2 days straight!


This famous Malacca river seems to remind me of Venice.


There seems to be a fascination for clogs in this little town. Every touristy shop sells them from actual size to magnet size.


Batik painter patiently painting his works. I love the vibrant flowers and how deftly he paints.


Taken from this little shop called Lim Trading @ 63 Jalan Tokong. The cute roosters caught my eye. But the closed toe design didnt really suit me. Although the shop is hardly well furnished, you will find a fine array of beaded and even potong shoes made with love.

Pictures all taken by my boyfriend Gary.

Peranakan Culture

Given all the popularity with peranakan culture nowadays, I visited a restored Peranakan mansion when I was in Penang. And to my pleasant surprise, the mansion happened to be the place where MediaCorp did the filming for their Little Nonya drama.

This place was previously the home of a Chinese official Kapitan Cina Chung Keng Kwee who settled in Penang and married local women. It was in the ruins after decades of neglect but it was bought over and restored to its former glory few years back.


The main hall


The dining hall was on the 2nd floor where the whole family had their meals.


I find these colourful tassels very inspiring. They are everywhere in a Peranakan household from beds to bridal head gears. And they may even inspire my next collections.


Bridal head gear for the groom and bride.


Missy's bed


Some of these embroidery were actually done by the ladies themselves where they had the time to do it from day to night.

I went for their conducted tour. And it is really worthwhile as the guide was very knowledgeable about the different aspects of the Peranakan lifestyles, their history and it made us feel we were living their life at that moment in time!
Check out their website www.pinangperanakanmansion.com.my

My love for the Peranakan culture started a few years back before the show became popular. This was taken few years back in the famous Penang Blue Mansion which is also a restored Peranakan mansion. I heard you can even stay in it now.