That warm feeling in the tummy

Sorry for my slow updates as I can hardly breathe preparing for my new fashion showcase, upcoming design trip, new collection for fashion design incubator @ Japanese Parco next year and a queue of custom make orders. Not to mention I have to constantly come up with new arrivals before my customers "complain". :P

Anyway, I was so happy that tonight I got to savour Gary's cooking again. Sometimes I think he is a food genie coming up with fantastic creations whenever I wish for it. His seafood soup packs a oomph with the most generous serving of seafood I will ever get. Will be perfect with mussels and pasta. There was once he even served it with toasted garlic bread oozing with garlic goodness for my family. And my whole family was relishing it. So unforgettable.... The dishes he whips up always get cleaned out when served in gatherings!

And he prepared a bottle of milo just the way I like it with milk and not hot water that can last me for 2 days of breakfast. My mum moved to my sis house temporarily to take care of my new born niece. I felt a warm cosy feeling in my tummy as I bade him farewell tonight.

Seafood soup with generous servings of prawns and clams.

Served with meeee...

Satisfy your craving for Penang food

Char Koay Teow. I chomped it down readily.


Penang Curry Mee. Soup is not too thick and prawns are big.

My mum was a Penangnite and when I was a kid, we always made what seem to me an annual "food" pilgrimage back to Penang. What made me excited during the long ardous journey back was the promise of koay teow thng (flat rice noodles in duck soup with bouncy fishballs, char koay teow (fried rice noodles with prawms and clams), Penang laksa, loh bak (assorted fried meat) and oh jian (fried oyster ommelette) when we arrived. The list goes on. Even now I make sure I go back every year to visit my aunts and alas Penang food with my loving bf. He will make the trip back with me every year even though Penang is not the most exciting isle on earth.

I never quite seem to find Penang food in Singapore that satisfies my craving. Even Penang buffets in big hotels dont seem quite near to Penang standards. But if the craving kicks in, I will visit this humble hawker store in ABC Market which is near to Ikea Alexandra. It is called Jason Penang Cuisine, Block 6, #01-113, Jalan Bukit Merah. It is closed on Monday.

A plate of hot piping char koay teow is only $2.50 with big prawns and springy koay teow plus clams! So is the curry mee with flavoursome soup and tau pok that squirts curry as you bite into them. They serve many Penang favourites like laksa too. Looking at the pictures make me salivate again. As portions are not big, you can actually order 3 dishes with a friend and savour them All!

Romance is ...

As you mature, romance takes on a new meaning especially when time becomes a luxury commodity other than money. 5 years back, flowers and fancy dining in a posh restaurant wld send me over the moon. I even received flowers air flown from London before. Now it still makes me smile but perhaps the impact it has on me is not as great.

Romance now to me is being able to enjoy wine over board games after work.
Romance is exploring recipes and baking cakes together during a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Romance is holding hands in a foreign land like you just knew each other yesterday.
Romance is dancing in each other's arms.
Romance is gazing at the moon together on a beach without having to rush for the last bus.(I even painted this image before on a canvas!)
Romance is about accompanying him to look at fishies and asking him 101 questions even though they are boring.
Romance is writing and reading poetry together.
Romance is falling asleep on his tummy while he watches Discovery Channel. (I like falling asleep on people whom I trust:))))
Romance is painting the wall of your new house with a bear and bunny watching the moon together.
Romance is exploring something new together with a flower in your heart, in this world of uncertainties and insecurities.

Most importantly, romance is being able to face life together everyday positively despite all the challenges. Because romance like companionship should last a lifetime.

Italy

Even at this time, I cant really believe I am going back to Italy again. Well, many deciding factors come into play like finances and my extremely busy schedule. I was invited to participate in a design and art event in Verona Italy by world renowned artist Thomas Diego Armonia. Famous for his figurative art, his works have been showcased in musuems from Milan, Paris to Shanghai. Thomas has also showcased in luxury fairs alongside Porsche and Chopard. The venue for this event is a church in the heart of the city, where international press and buyers will be present. And I will be the only local label out of 11 other European luxury labels.

Verona is the city where Shakespear's characters Romeo and Juliet were based. A city bustling with artistic legacies that when you visit Juliet's house, you can even imagine Romeo serenading to Juliet under the balcony.

Italy is a place of bittersweet memories for me. I once studied in Milan when I was in the university. It was a period of drama, romance, excitement and freedom. I remembered jumping out of a moving train to shut someone up before. Eating gelato in freezing winter. Being pursued over a few streets by an Italian romeo. Visiting a friendly lonely old man in a city's outskirts. Roaming picturesque Firenze (Florence) and the art museums alone with my camera and enjoying being alone doing nothing. Taking a midnight train alone. Mistaking the police car for a taxi. sunbathing at Italian island-Sardegnia. Going to class initially and pretending to understand when everyone only spoke Italian. Working on retail projects with amazingly talented people. Eating my favourite 2 euro pizza after school. I probably came across as a gusty and aloof oriental girl.

All these precious memories are locked up inside my heart. And when I left Italy then with a heavy heart, I always wonder when will I go back and if I do who will I go back with.


Taken at Torino, dreamy river Po.

The Best Beef Horfun

doesnt this make you salivate?

I seldom use the word "best" when it comes to describing something as it is quite impossible to have the best for something. But this is really the best beef hor fun I have ever tasted in my life. The black bean gravy is thick and flavoursome, the horfun is springy and tasty. There is a generous serving of beef and the slices are so big that you can probably "slap" someone with it. And yet it is so tender that when you sink your teeth into the beef, it melts in your mouth.

Only $6 for a plate which is big enough for 1 person. Served in restuarant Moi Lum at Peck Seah Street which is just beside my fashion suite @ Red Dot Building.

Asking For Help.....correctly

Many people have asked me how do I get so many press features and how do I manage to get sponsors for my fashion show. Sometimes I get a little angry when I hear this. Because their tone seems to suggest that I was plain lucky and "help" just fell like rain from the sky.

Perhaps I was blessed with abit of luck. But more importantly, perseverance,and wit is essential to getting help successfully. I suffer demoralising rejections too. For every "yes" that I get, there are numerous numerous rejections which people dont see. Asking help is an art itself. Some people dont ask and wish for help so they never get it. Some people ask for help wrongly and they get ignored. Excluding loved ones and friends, people will only help you if there is a reason and usually there must be something in it for them. And you must provide the reason for them to help you.

When I approach sponsors, first I study their organisation and their clientele and find out why they have to help me and what I can offer them. The proposition must be compelling and summarised as sponsors are BUSY. Then when you are ready, the scariest thing is making a cold call. And if you are lucky, they grant you a meeting to hear you out. But this is only the beginning of a marathon. There are many layers of approvals in an organisation and you must pass thru them where each have different agendas. This process will take few months at least and rob you of your strength and stamina. The faint hearted will have given up by now. But the determined will perservere and tackle every meeting with wits till you win the battle. So this is how some people get sponsors eventually and some dont.

Applies to press features also. I have to analyse the magazine and think of interesting news angles to pitch to reporters. I write all my own press releases as I have no budget to hire PR firm which charges arm and leg. And the most exhausting part is follow up, follow up, follow up every few days with the reporters, maintaining a thin line between perservering and pesky. And I do get ignored, chided too. This is reality. But when you get a good feature, you taste the sweetness of success

There was once a film student approached me to sponsor outfits for her graduating work. I asked her why she approached me. And she said she like my outfits and thought I could reach out to the students in her school. And when I asked her what's her film about, she emailed me a script more than 30 pages long. She did 3 mistakes. Liking something is not a reason for the person to sponsor you. My clientele are mostly working executives not students. And I do not have time to read a 30 page script. And needless to say, I did not sponsor as it just did not make sense for me.

High On Dancing

Today I went for 60 min non stop latin jam. You have heard of people getting high on alcohol and drugs but have you heard of people getting high on dancing? Well I am.
I think dancing is in my blood. It is a therapy for me where I can get away from the stresses of modern world and get lost in this fantasy world of my own.

I started dancing when I was 5 years old. Yea. I remembered wearing the aloha skirt and bikini and dancing in the kindergarten concert. The teacher told my mum I could really shake my bon bon which made my mum so happy that she enrolled me in ballet when I was 7 years old. I also took Chinese dance and gymnastics. I loved ballet lessons and thought I will be a dancer when I grow up. But when I was 14 years old, I had a very bad sprain accident that made pointing my toes unbearably painful so I had to stop. By then I have already taken a couple of exams certified by the Royal Ballet Academy in London.

However, my love affair for dance did not stop. I will relish every chance to dance and when I was in university I love clubbing at Zouk. Some people go clubbing to drink but I go clubbing to dance. I could dance from 9pm-3am! God knows where I got all this stamina. And undeniably I am drawn to guys who can dance well like Aaron Kwok(yes I am from that era). And when I started working, I took up Salsa and really love it. In fact, latin like Rhumba is my favourite. I also like Bollywood dancing and I really hope to learn pole or belly dancing even though Gary cant stomach it maybe due to his conservative nature? I can embrace all dance forms but I personally dont really fancy hip hop, jazz or contemporary.

Now my latest endeavour is ballroom dancing. Waltz, cha cha, samba, rhumba, ooh la la. I am waiting to learn Tango with TTB. I am lucky to find Gary. He has probably not danced before in his life before meeting me unless probably the macarena?? And after 1 year of persuasion, he finally went dancing with me. And for 2 years, we go dancing once a week! I am the happiest when we go together for Ball which is organised by our dance teacher. He is unusually charming and dashing in his suit and bow tie. And now I wait for him to come back from his hiatus!


At Raffles Hotel Ball

Isnt he cute in his bow tie? :))

Hopefully no matter how busy we get over the years, we can keep dancing together till we are old and frail :)