Dova & Ko

high waisted

2008-04-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

ko, some inspirations?
d.

is this wrong?

2008-04-01T01:55:00.000-07:00

I grew up in hong kong and man, I love that band, soft hard.
they were like the funniest and most orginal comic duo in hk.
but I just cant help but notice they have been doing the helmet thing for a while since they reunited.

daft punk has been doing it for ages! they are a french music duo that does great electro music and put on great light shows in their concert. they have never really shown their faces in public, hence the robot look was made famous.

there's a fine line between copying or drawing inspiration from other sources.
and from the rate of things, the future is looking bad.

angry and frustrated
D.

I dreamed of roasted goose

2008-03-22T09:20:00.000-07:00

tell me if anyone can resist this?
this is roasted goose heaven!
in my opinion, better than yung kee, and half the price!

this place in tai po market is always full but don't worry you wont get your goose.
cos the roast it and bring them out by the trolley-full all through the dinner rush!

the night i was there, they happened to have a just out of the oven, still warm suckling big coming out! get it better than this?

i went there because my auntie loves the place and I saw it on anthony bourdain!
you are right again, mr bourdain!

best to go in a big group, so you can sample more! meat lovers' paradise!

yat lok - tai po market

d.

exfoliate.

2008-03-02T23:09:00.000-08:00

I been meaning to write abt this AMAZING exfoliator since forever!
and after 2 mths of use, i can honestly tell you this eve lom exfoliator is the best that you can get!

u spread it on like a mask and you wait for 15 mins for it to dry. the texture is very coarse. after that, you rub it off with yur finger tips in upward motion so the mask and all your deadskin will flake off! and it is immensely satisfying to see all these dead skin coming off! and the motion will help you stimulate the the blood flow in your face, hence brighter looking skin!!!

and you can slo use it as a eye de-puffer. you just dot a few little dots under your dark circle and since it has eucalptus in it, and you will rub if off afterwards, it will calm the skin and helps circulation around the eye area

instructions said that you should finish off by washing your face with eve lom muslin cloth, I am abt to get that, lets see how I go!

www.evelom.com or anyhwere in the UK.
28 pounds for 50ml tube (I do it once to twice a week and it has almost last 2 months)
48 pounds for 100ml jar

D.

gone but definitely not forgotten

2008-02-20T05:28:00.000-08:00

I think it is time to resurrect ko and my baby.

although our blog is no longer about sydney, but I still have a back log of sydney stuff I will have to write about!

this was my second last visit at fratelli fresh, it was one of my last weekend in sydney I got to spend with our lovely friend, kay!

it was a big lunch, we had the antipasto, it was so yummy, esp the egg with mayo!
u know after u took a bite of it you just smile, it's that good!

next for main, we had pork belly and fennel salad, the crackling on the pork belly is too die for, makes the best crackling sound, oh its like sweet music! the fennel salad has blood orange in it, I tried to replicate it, but it wasnt that good, cos I cant shave the fennel that thinly.

to finish off, I think the pink thing its called supazzo or something like that (kay can u pls check?) its like a berry sorbet with sparkling wine, kinda like a adult version of spider. and last but not least, the BESTEST banoffee pie ever! (Ko, u will have to show me ur best version soon, do share ur recipe!)

i think this will be my first stop when I go back to sydney for a visit!
It's not far from the airport.

fratelli fresh - cafe sopra, danks street, waterloo
D

Wedding thankyou gifts

2007-12-27T01:01:00.000-08:00

As my blog partner now busy everyday wedding shopping (for her sis!) I thought this blog is helpful...

To be honest, I hate going to weddings of people I dont know cos all you do is sit there and eat and stuff yourself with disgusting chinese "wedding" food! I just think its so pointless... so in my opinion, even tho you are inviting ppl u dont know, it is always nice to keep those "unknown" entertained so that they wont go home and blab on how damn boring and what a waste of time the wedding is for us. The 3 musts to keep "unknown family guests" happy is:
1) Good videos to show in between the banquet
2) Good and must be funny speeches, speeches should be about the groom and bride and the speech is best when its about their personalities and memorable + easy to understand recap of incidents and not of past stupid behaviours or incidents which no one understands except a certain group of people.
3) Table gifts that can be taken home and USED. I know that since its your wedding gift and you would love to put your name on the gift so that everyone remembers the "memorable day". From my experience, any gift with a name on it usually ends up in the bin (if that happens, why bother?)! Picture frames, phone straps etc usually never fails, CHocolate which tastes good are a good idea but ones that doesnt taste good, then dont bother wasting the money.

I have been to many many man weddings these 2 years, so many that I cant even recall some of them and mostly to people which I hardly know. The rule of thumb to newly weds who want a really special wedding that everyone remembers is that just to keep all speeches and videos simple, easy to understand and funny at the same time, the more you do, the more no one understands and hence bore them outta their minds!

Hope this is useful D.

Just got some pics to show you my favourite wedding gifts which I have kept!

Ko.

hamburgers that is not from maccas

2007-12-27T00:41:00.000-08:00

Haevnt bloggged for so long that I almost forgotten the password of the login haha... thanks to kay for reminding us that our blog is nearly dead .. i decided i should save it and relive its glory!

why maccas so successful?
During school days, everyone of us has done the activity called "brainstorm", when I give the word "hamburgers" to you, what is the first thing that comes into your mind? McDonalds!! (whether you like maccas or not, it just comes to your mind) For me actually it will be Triple O's

everytime i go to Pacific Place, I will definatley go there for dinner and usually I will order the mushroom burger with extra cheese. The mushrooms,the beef patty and the cheese is really juicy! On top of that, the beef actually smells and tastes like real beef!

The other must order would be their milk shakes (more like thick shakes), it feels like drinking icecream!

Tips:
Dont order the fries because its not nice, another reason is because a normal female wont be able to finsih a burger and milkshake! Best to Go with a friend, order 2 singular burgers and 1 milkshake to share! If not, you will be wasting half of the food! The price aint cheap as well so dont over order.

Ko.

happy hens

2007-12-07T09:09:00.000-08:00

the most delicious eggy dessert....creme caramel from france
1 pound at borough market in london.
how cute is the tub it comes in?
france have happy hens, hence they laid happy eggs, hence yummy creme caramel!

D.

and wait! there's more foie!

2007-12-06T19:02:00.000-08:00

our 2nd meal at les deux magots
salad with smoked duck and foie gras!
i know for a fact that my liver has became a liver of an overstuffed goose.

is that humanly possible?

D.

more more more foie gras

2007-12-06T18:57:00.000-08:00

this is my first lunch in paris.
most memorable, simple and delicious lunch

lentils with 2 giant sticks of foie gras....hmmm....
12.95 euros

les deux magots on blv st germain
good cafe creme, too!

D.

more fauchon

2007-12-06T18:52:00.000-08:00

this has got to be the poshiest sandwich I ever had in my life, drum roll please....
baguette filled with foie gras (goose pate, the real stuff not the fake stuff thats mixed with chicken livers), champagne jelly, walnut and rocket...heavenly!

13 euros, merci!

perfect (posh) brekkie

2007-12-06T18:47:00.001-08:00

so I read somewhere (in a magazine) that a carbs + protein loaded breakfast is very good for you, it helps concentration and increase productivity at work.
so i reckon some fluffy pastry and eggy madelienes will do no harm!

yum!
hazelnut croissant
very eggy and delicious truffle madeliene(with a dollop of creme friache inside)
lemon madeliene

at fauchon in paris (place de madeliene)

ps and you would think the coffee there is good, NOT!
came out of a machine, they didnt even froth the milk! for 4 euros a pop, it's so not worth it!

D.

kate moss for topshop

2007-12-06T18:32:00.000-08:00

I am finally blogging, I have so much back blogging to do, but this is all the stuff from sydney! and i already left sydney for a month (!).. so guess those materials is not good for blogging anymore, it's too old! so I present to you, something current...my trip so far...

I took this at the selfridges in london, cos I cannot be bothered to go to topshop on oxford street! it's crowded,overpriced and overrated.

anyways, since i had some time to kill this arvo, i went into selfridges to try on this kate moss for topshop cape, it's quite dramatic, quite fine for london's winter. but maybe not so in hk! or sydney!

I think there are a few cape inspired coats in zara, but has anyone seen something like this one, with no sleeve, but not as warm and dramatic?

D.

New member in my room

2007-12-02T19:52:00.000-08:00

Girls and shopping! you can never think of what a girl ends up buying during aimless shopping tours. Friend (Nat) and I walked past this street stall showing vase with a plant and around the plant is decorated by different colour beads sized of glass marbles. Out of curiosity Nat touched it and went "OH !!! its slitery slimy!!" In this situation obviously the owner would use all his sales skills to tell us what they are and why they are like that and how miraculous they are to persuade us to buy it!

As a normal human female, of course we bought it but its really cheap. For HKD25, you get a pack of beads (looks like a pack of seeds), 2 bean shaped seeds and a welcome phone strap gift. All you need to do is pour all those beads in a vase and fill up the vase with water, the next day the little seed-like beads will become the size of a marble. Its the same idea with sago.

Supposedly the plant should grow in a week and the beads are the plant's source of water, we do not need to water the plant at all for 3 mths until the beads shrink. When it shrinks, we fill it up with water for it to grwo big again... this should go on for 2 years. This new life has become a very important person of my room because everyday i am waiting and waiting for it to grow. So far the seed has blown up but no plant yet! will update later of the progress...

Ko.

Chinese cuisine

2007-11-30T18:09:00.000-08:00

To all Westerners, Chinese cuisine consists of food like spring rolls, mongolian beef, san choy bao, sweet and sour pork, stir fried noodles and fried rice. For us Chinese locals, internal organs are a major part of our meal.. for me anyway...

The chinese are known for being hardworking and because most of our parents or above generations are raised poorly therefore they have learnt not to waste any food and eat whatever they have. Picky with food was not an option for them. Having internal organs was considered lucky, they are lucky not being starved to death. My dad said when he was young, he only had soya sauce with rice each day...

For people who love internal organs would love livers, duck liver sausage is recommended. How to detect if a duck liver is nice or not? Its if it is crispy outside and juicy inside, not to moist and not to hard should be the best. Most importantly, there should be a strong taste of duck liver and a rose wine kinda taste! Trust me, there arent many places that can do nice duck liver sausages!

I recommend 2 places:
1) Yung Kee - central famous for their bbq goose, their duck liver sausages is a must try too!
2) "Snack king 2" (direct translation) - in causeway bay famous for eating snake soups and duck liver sausages. My friend Nat and I went there the other day, its her first visit. We ordered the snake soup set including 1 bowl of rice with sausages and another extra bowl of rice with bbq pork and duck liver sausages. Her mind was thinking, how can we eat such a big bowl of rice with only sausages? we ended finishing everything! thats how much girls eat nowadays

This is another long blog... somehow i can never shorten them! please dont get bored!

Ko.

i am still alive

2007-11-29T04:01:00.000-08:00

hey y'all
I am fiercely typing this in the hamburg airport so this will be short and sweet.
i know i havent been posting and ko has been so good!
i promise i will have lots for u, just havent found the time or proper internet to do it!
cant wait to blog again!
D.x

winter musts

2007-11-28T01:11:00.000-08:00

Winter in Hong Kong suddenly made a 180 degree change, last week anything more than a light jacket was too hot and today scarves, big jackets, boots are out! This week my mind has been all around what should I wear this winter????

Apart from this problem, the sudden dry weather has cracked my lips opened! I have been using this water sleeping pack from Laneige... its a mask put overnight! Very absorbing and its not oily at all... best of all is the quantity in the jar is very generous, not like brands where the jar seems huge but u realise theres an inner layer which is not even half of what it seems on the outside. Laneige actually fills up the whole jar!!

I dont really like to recommend facial products cos its really personal and i dont wanna ruin peoples skin! But i would really like to give a pat of the back to Laneige for offering such a generous amount inside the bottles and their price is not expensive at all! Makes our life a lot easier!

Ko.

Brow talk

2007-11-28T00:30:00.000-08:00

Plucking brows has alwasy been this grey beauty problem which you will never want to spend money on.... to most people, what can a shaped brow will do anyway? Miraculously it does make a difference (clarification: this difference might not be obvious to boys...)! I never use to go pluck my brows but my sis intro this really dumpster looking place to do my brows for HKD50 (now 60 i think), the beautician is a 50 yr old lady who sits in a shop selling dust covered make up. Scary as it sounds, on peak hours, a queue of 20 ppl can be seen lining up to get brows fixed!! (NO exaggeration!) They dont really pluck ur brows out, but they fix your shape and all you need to do is pluck roots out as it grows and the brow shape should last around 3-4 weeks. No more unbalance brows and most importantly no more plucking too much on one side and making one brown seem to be shorter or twitched!

Warning for hygiene freaks: they use this sponge to wipe your brows first, when they finsiehd they use the same sponge to wipe off those bits thats fallen on ur face or nose.. that sponge is used by the whole world so it includes other ppl's make up as well.... sounds bad but it doesnt really affect me tho...

Another common brow problem is the tweezers we use at home... cheap tweezers can never take out the roots, and when pulling from the wrong part, it snaps the hair and leaving unpluckible roots and this really gets on my nerves. So after trying my frd's orignal tweezerman, I realise the importance of buying good tweezers cos you can actually pluck out roots, those roots that is just a black dot?? But I almost fainted when she told me the price! Laura Mercier has a tweezer made by Tweezerman which retails a lot cheaper and works as fine...

Address of brow place: Causeway Bay Apple centre, therse only 1 dumpster looking cosmetics shop with full of mid aged women

Ko.

cafe deco

2007-11-19T07:48:00.000-08:00

again disappeared for a while... just didnt have much inspiration! i always want to talk about things which i feel is special and which i wanna recommend! or else it will be too fake! its just not me!

oh anyway, as my frds all know i always complain about my bf being boring and never give me any surprises and as usual for any special events and dates of ours... he just PRETENDS to try hard and think of a place and it always ends up to be cafe deco at the peak! for all those who are thinking we are going there for the view or watever... trust me we just go there for the food, im a huge fan of cafe deco on the peak!

their menu consists of many cuisines and so far the stuff i tried is good! the must try for foie gras fans is their foie gras handroll.. this was recommended by my frd and ever since i have been ordering that! prices are very reasonable considering its the peak! its around 250hkd pp.. seriously thats pretty good for a tourist restaurant... in syd .. who would be able to walk out of a syd tower restaurant paying that price?? NO WAY!

the reason why i cant stop talking about this place is that i really appreciate how that their main customers are tourists which means ppl will go to them no matter what but they still dont slack off with the quality of their food... thats also the reason why i love hong kong... good food anywhere anytime!

Ko.

VOGUE 93'

2007-11-06T01:51:00.000-08:00

the reason why you should NOT throw your clothes out cos you never know what you can do with it 15 years later. Look how stunning that outfit looks!

Ko.

another jap treasure

2007-10-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

list of things which i love from the japs:
- fruits
- food
- junk food
- clothes
- cartoon characters
- gadgets - cameras etc
- music
- culture
- the list can go on till forever!

that just have shown im those die hard jap fans! i have my back up for this ... i havent been working long but i have to say i have met quite a lot of people already from all over the world... so far all my jap clients will come with a gift when they meet us and mind you, we are only their supplier. Their huge sense in manners earns my respect for them!

I found this place which does quality teppenyaki, not those circus acts where chefs throw eggs at your bowl, or juggling pepper and salt mill up and down just to sprinkle some on the meat and last but not least writing thank you with the salt sprinkler... this place is just full on quality ingredients, skillful knife/cutting techniques and right mixing of sauces.

Pricing wise I think its quite acceptable 350 pp for a set meal with prawns as big as your arms (ok i exaggerated a bit there!) scallops and quality beef (but for other things they can be super pricey). A really cute thing they do is they put a piece of toasted bread under the meat and veges to soak up the oil! But the toast was too hard to resist so I ate it before it could soak up anything! I suggest to everything to ask the chef to make an extra toast to eat, trust me its really good!

Sorry for the bad pics, I only had phone cam with me and this was not my phone either so it look like 2 months before I could actually do this blog (wuge: yes im talking to you...thanks for the QUICK sending of pics!)

http://www.hanasakazuki.com/ - for details

Ko.

claudes

2007-10-28T17:46:00.000-07:00

Please tell me this is the most perfect souffle you have ever seen!
It is so delicious, too. we were seated upstairs on the night, there's a small pastry kitchen right next to our dining room, and as it gets towards the end of the night, the head chef chui lee luk was busy whisking away egg white with a whisk and copper bowl! I admire her, not only she is a female chef but also she owns her restaurant and relentlessly make souffles for us lucky souls! we had a bitter orange souffle this time, it has a contreau cream on the side, it's so yummy. But my favourite was a hazelnut souffle with almond praline and cream I had in the last two visits, oh it's like I've died and gone to heaven!

Claudes deliver time and time again, I love this restaurant, it's my favourite out of all the 3 hatted restaurants. This place's got soul, it's not flashy, it's elegant. food is so well done, service is attentive, the restaurant is small and intimate, best of all they encourage you to BYO and corkage is only $15.

I am sure i will be be back! (when I come back to sydney!)

D.

how to dress like ther perfect couple by ashton kutcher

2007-10-28T05:18:00.000-07:00

I heard a while ago Ashton Kutcher is writing for bazaar and I am thinking, what an odd pairing. But trust me, I came across this article he wrote in US bazaar, it was so cute and funny. and he let us in on a mystery abt men and fashion, enjoy!

It was another hot, humid iowa summer afternoon. My eight year old fingers managed to fasten a bottle rocket to the back of my GI Joe, using only scotch tape, while I watched ny sister, Tashua, dress up her Barbie doll for some fancy party that I hadn’t been invited to. I had a brief visual showdown with her nude, slightly arrogant Ken doll, who was a few plastic tidbits short of being a man. (his lack of man parts seemed only fair, given I had been solely disappointed weeks before to find that Barbie herself lacked the answers I’d been looking for.) The GI Jow launch was a rousing success and Ken shuddered in fear, knowing he was next. I went in for the swipe. But Ken was snatched up just in time by my sister, who was a little bit bigger, faster and bitchier than I was.
“you cant blow up Ken,” she said. “he’s coming to the party”.
“ But how’s he gonna go to the party naked?” I asked.
Little did I know that I was about to receive a sage piece of fashion advice from my greatest adversary. “barbie gets dressed first, then the shoes , then Ken then the bag,” she said with a smirk. “ and if you blow up Ken, I’ll kick u in the nuts.” Enough said. Ken lived.

I believe there’s wisdom with which women enter this world that men will never understand. Its like how a woman can cry for no reason, then an hour later still be crying. But now it’s her man’s fault, because he didn’t console her while she was crying for no reason. While this remains a mystery, in the summer of 1986, thanks to Barbie’s party preparation. I was let in on one of the greatest female fashion secrets of the modern era. I realized that when it comes to getting dressed, men are a little bit more important than handbags but less important than shoes. At any rate, we are merely accessories.

In a day and age when most American men would rather be blowing something up than getting spiffed up for some social occasion, I imagine getting your significant other to wear even a suit can seem like a Sisyphean task, let alone matching said suit to your outfit so you actually look like a couple. Here a few insights that might make this feasible.

If you got dressed up and asked your guy how you looked, how would you feel if he replied, “ You look tough”? Likewise, guys don’t like to be told they look nice, pretty, or cute or they clean up well. We want to feel dirty, rugged and most important that you feel safe when you are in our company. So when your guy finally tries something that you like, tell him that he looks like James Bond or Tony Montana. Feel free to be even more vague than that: “wow that suit makes you look like that hot football player!” Or just ask him if he feel like he can still throw a punch in the outfit, just in case he needs to protect you. Trust me, say sany of this and tou wont be able to get him to take the damn suit off. Before you know it, he’ll be wearing an Armani tux to league night at the bowling alley.

You never want people to notice your accessories. When you walk into a room, heads should turn. The desired effect is for everyone to say or think that you look beautiful. If people comment on your shoes or bag, they’re not appreciating the entire essence that is you. If you go to a museum and see a statue on a podium, you don’t want people to say, “wow, what a stunning podium. Where can I get one of those?” Your entire ensemble should be so captivating, so cohesive, that one particular thing cant be singled out. It supports you,; you don’t support it. In this same way, your man should not upstage you. He is here to highlight you.

Men’s clothes, for the most part, are simple but looking like stylish couple is in the details. When you go shopping for Lanvin flats to match your Marc Jacobs dress perfectly, swing by the men’s store and pick him up a shirt tie, vest or sweater that works with your palette. Because if there’s one things that men hate more than getting dressed, it’s going shopping. This may also helps us forget how much money you managed to spend due to that “incredible sale!” that oddly never seems to end. But make sure that look isn’t too matchy matchy; you don’t want to seem like you planned it all out. Youe best bet is to match the man gear to that great new Balenciaga bag that you’re planning to carry. If your bag works with your outfit, so will he. Always make sure that your jewelry is in sync that he is not more or less dressed up than you are.

A word of warning, however: Don’t tell him that you’re doing any of this. Just tell him he looks like he can kick Ken’s ass.

by ashton kucther, from US bazaar September 2007

Fruits

2007-10-24T02:07:00.000-07:00

Japs somwhow have the brains to do spectacular things thus making them a market leader in many things. When it comes to fruits and food, they are also the best! (but the price of their stuff is scarrrry)

After dinner, a common dessert will be fruits, my first question is ... "is it jap fruits?" if yes i will jump up and grab for them! my favourites are:

1) Grapes - big and juicy! has a tiny bit of an alcohol taste inside! open a hole on the top and you can suck out the whole juicy grape and spit out the skin!

2) pink peaches - i call this "the explosion peach", when you get a good pick, you take a bite, and the feeling will be of a peach has been exploded with juice in your mouth, water will start running from the sides of the mouth cos there is just too much juice! Best to put in the fridge so when eating it, its like drinking ice cold peach juice...

3) Strawberries - every single strawberry is in the perfect shape and is super sweet. Just like strawberries seen on drawings... its that perfect!

All Jap fruits seems to be always very juicy, I wonder why?? I really admire the japs by how their country is so united together and protective of their own products. All their best products is only served to their own country, try going to Japan and try the chips, they are usually so much better.

Will do another blog later on fruits from other countries which are as exciting as the japs! stay tuned...

Ko.

good lips to ... kiss!

2007-10-23T07:24:00.000-07:00

hey im still alive !! for all my blog readers... just have been laying low to avoid any unnecessary expenses

several months ago, i wrote a list of possible blog entries i can possibly write about for the future and in the list i found "carmex" ... good idea!

"carmex" - my favourite lip balm which has been in my bag all the time!
as everyone knows i have a really bad habit of always picking the peeled skin off my lip and its always chapped so i have been trying many lip balms which can heal these chapped lips as quick as it can possibly do... so far after testing many brands, carmex has been my personal pick! before it arrived in hongkie land, i had to get my bro's gf or whoever to bring me some from syd! now i would like to announce carmex is now available in watsons stores !! yayyyy!!!

i will try to write another blog reallly soon!

ko.

melbourne bumper special - food 02

2007-10-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

kokoblack - royal arcade bourke street

this is my favourite chocolate palace in melbourne.
it's like a boutique kinda chocolate shop, I grew so sick of max brenner in sydney, it's used to be good!

kokoblack made the best ruffles, because it is made fresh, I am a purist and only like the classic belgium, see it says on the box you must consume withing 7 days, hence I have none left and therefore no image of it here, hehe.

I remember 3 years ago I went to melbourne and it was the day before new year and i was about to leave melbourne to go back to sydney, so I loaded the rental car with kokoblack truffles, thinking that I will enjoy this while i watch the fireworks. so back in sydney, just half an hour to midnight, i opened the the box with excitement but all i saw was molten chocolate!

what was I thinking? like chocolate will not melt in 36 degrees heat inside the boot. so you see how much i cherish each and every piece of truffle this time around!

kokoblack in royal arcade has a cafe upstairs, their ice choc is to die for, it's not sickeningly rich, i think it's cos they made it with proper dark choc. it has one scoop of vanilla and choc ice cream in it....hmmmm...

heard they are planning to open one in canberra and possibly one in sydney!
D.

melbourne bumper special - arts

2007-10-09T05:14:00.001-07:00

looks like sulley is gonna gimme a good old slap!

I went to the pixar exhibition at ACMI at federation sqaure in melbourne.
luxo (the desk lamp) is there! he even brought his little ball that he is going to crush!

the exhibition was amazing! they showed a lot of behind the scenes stuff. Apparently it takes pixar 4 years to do one animation. they also showed all the short films that you see in the beginning of every animation. Apparently you can buy them all on itunes!

I urge everyone to go and watch ratatouille, it's nothing like cars! the story is very good but children might find it a bit long and might not get the jokes.

D.

melbourne bumper special - food

2007-10-09T05:13:00.000-07:00

rockpool bar and grill at crown casino

I didnt have super high expectations of the place but man was I blown away!
by far the best steak I ever had! the menu was so extensive, it covers fish, lobsters, pasta, salads, soups.....but I stick to my guns and since they have a meat hanging/drying fridge, baturally I went straight for the steak!

the one that's sliced is the wagyu I had, aged for 49 days. the marbling is perfection!
and it's only like 200 g so you dun feel like it's too rich.

something abt the wood they use for the grill, it's a got a sweet and smoky flavour.
the sides are very very good, too. we had a potato and cabbage gratin, it's a must!
it's thin layers of potatoes and cabbage baked with cheese on top, cheesy and sweet at the same time. even an very ordinary sounding boiled veg with lemon and olive oil was fantastic. and if u ever go to any rockpool establishment, u must have their salads, it's the most well dressed salad in sydney!

to finish we had a passionfruit pavlova (I hate passionfruit, but i love this dessert) and a blood orange sandwich. we had a long black with it and it was soooooo delicious!

service was perfect, wine list was perfect, food was perfect, interior was perfect (they have really comfy club chairs) I cannot ask for more!

D.

Bouillabaisse

2007-10-09T05:07:00.000-07:00

whipped this fish soup up the other day, I used to do it with a donna hay recipe, but I think this is the best tasting one I have made when I didnt follow the recipe! yummy....it's not too fatty and full of goodness of seafood!

1. browned leeks, garlic and fennel in a pot2. add prawn heads, until it's changed colour, add salt n pepper to taste

3. add fish stock, saffron, can of tomatoes bring to the boil.

4. add pieces of fish, prawns, whatever seafood you can get

5. serve with parsley or chives

traditionally bouillabaise is served with toast and aioli (like a garlicky mayo)

but when u are cooking for one, who'd bother? you should be lucky you find rice from last night in the fridge!

lovely jubbly

2007-10-09T04:50:00.000-07:00

I want to post a shoutout to all my lovely friends here, thanks so much for my lovely birthday presies!

I will keep them forever and who knows, if i have a daughter I can always past on the little black dress to them! (trust me, I wanna be a cool mom, I will try and keep everything that's cool and that might come back in fashion for her)

and this fluffy print from the lovely kay! this is definitely an heirloom item!

I am so looking forward to hanging this in my new room in hk!

kay went into so much trouble getting the print, pls note the stamp on the envelope, it was posted on 3 aug! so thoughtful!

it is signed and numbered by the fluffy illustrator, simone lia. she was so nice to have drawn fluffy on the postage envelope and she even wrote kay a little note, too sweet!

as you can see the excessive use of exclamation point here, I cannot contain my excitement.

thanks again everyone!
d.xoxo

my new hoodie

2007-10-09T04:42:00.000-07:00

I am such a die hard fan of american apparel!

I bought this salt n pepper hoodie a few weeks ago and I love it sooo much!

i try to find every oppotunity to wear it...to the gym, at home, to work!

it fits perfectly, it just sit on the bum and although it's unisex, it gives that sexy slouchy fit on a girl, and seriously the hood on this hoodie is so nicely shaped, I feel so ghetto fabulous when I have it on! haha

it's unisex and quite roomy and looks very nice with the sleevs pushed up!

just like how nicole richie wore it.

its warm, too!

ps. I am so in love with her sunnies!

pps. sorry abt dropping off the radar completely, work been too crazy!

i promised I will return with some supersize blog next week. it's my way of farwelling sydney, too! =(

new favourite

2007-10-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

My dream is to do something i love e.g. fashion for my career... obviously this dream didnt come true. I guess it was only a dream cos when it comes to it..im totally not good enuf!

Found this website www.polyvore.com which you can make collages sorta like pages in a magazine.. theres tonnes and tonnes of pics to choose from so you can be as creative as you can be

i did my most wanted list haha.. its a really crowded page!! (meaning theres so many things i want to buy!!) This actually took me an whole hr of my work time i was so addicted i had to finish it before i stopped!

Ko.

flowers and flowers and flowers...

2007-10-01T19:33:00.001-07:00

went to a wedding with really amazing flower arrangements... this is the only time i can say the florist well deserves to earn the money! its truly beautiful!

i realised the flowers used during the day at church are cut up into pieces and rearranged and created a totally different look at nite for table decorations... fantabulous !!

never really liked flowers but a girl really cant resist this!

(sorry for the really ugly pics)

Ko.

happy bday my partner!!!

2007-09-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

happy bday to a very special girl today! my partner & my biaaaatch who loves exactly what i love...

(sorry for this really lame pic my notebook batt is gonna die in 10mins cos my power adapter stuffed up.. i had to do sth easy hope u like it anyway!!)

Ko

daily visits

2007-09-23T22:21:00.001-07:00

francisco goya janice dickinson crossover !! ahha sorry im not suppose to be mocking such a famous painter!

who loves to blugde at work by surfing the net???????? I DO!!!

i have a list of websites which is updated daily so that each day i have sth to do... such as people mag, the sart, perezhilton, whowhatwear... i realise all these sites are recommended by D. (which basically means she bludges more than me)

currently i found another one to add on my list, its another hilarious one which i love cos it makes me smile during work!

http://galleryoftheabsurd.typepad.com/

it has the funniest illustrations of celebs which ususally mimic their depressing life ! love these gossipy sites! j

ust go thru all the celeb names on the left!

Ko.

fratelli fresh

2007-09-23T21:12:00.000-07:00

my new favourite lunch / grocery spot!

fratelli fresh in waterloo
they wholesale to restaurant but also have a market open to public, upstairs is the always packed cafe sopra.

because it is is a warehouse, so the cafe have a very high ceiling, there's no menu, you have to try and read that very cramped and big black board menu. It's so jam packed with food that lots of people have to go up to it to read it.

we had osso buco bianco with little ear pasta and the very very delicious cod pate with bricohe, it's got a soft boiled egg on the top and you crack open the egg for the yolk to ooze out..hmmm.....

to end we had a deconstructed tiramisu and very good vittoria coffees!

the staff are so nice but beware you cannot book and it's always full!
we waited for 40 mins! but so worth the wait!
I think either go early (before 12pm) or towards closing time (2-ish)

I didn't mind the wait cos downstairs they have a very good market. you can buy restaurant quality produce at a cheap price ($2.95 for a punnet of strawberries).
next door they have a homeware shops which sells mostly italian homewares.

I must go back soon!

D.

ps. beware of parking rangers in the area!

beauty products

2007-09-21T03:50:00.000-07:00

recently bought a new cleanser which i love, the one i was using before was way too dry, the one i used before that was too moisturizing... and the one before that was too rough for my sensitive skin

finally found one which i found just right for my combination and sensitive skin...

ppl say u need to change ur beauty products every now and then.. i dont realy cos seriously it is sooooooooooooooo hard to find the right products for my skin!

ko.

Goodbye Saigon !!

2007-09-18T06:49:00.000-07:00

This will be the last part of my Vietnam special so I saved the best for last.

The Flower Pot
Yes I was actually eating flowers!! This is how this dish was prepared:
1)Soup base - tomato and starfruit soup base
2) King prawns - very fresh ones
3) Flowers
4) Rice noodles
I found a technique for eating this which enhances the taste. Cook the prawn, eat the body and leave the head inside for a while. Put some rice noodles and soup into your bowl. Eat both the noodles and flowers together, then drink the soup. You will have the taste of prawns, tomato and starfruit in the flowers and in the noddles. Drinking the soup at the end IS A MUST! Take the prawn head out and slurp out all the juice thats in the head (gotta make that slurpy sound hehe) You will find the juice in the head is just magnificent!

The Chinese saying for food is: there are 4 essentials in a dish and that is: "colour, smell, outlook and taste" I think this dish addresses each of those very very well! I loved this restaurant the most cos I have never tried nor seen this anywhere else

An Vien
178A Hai Ba Trung St District 1 HCMC

Ko.

the simpsons on runway p.2

2007-09-18T05:38:00.000-07:00

as i was browsing thru catwalks, i realised how well the simpsons pics are drawn! so much detail and effort... it has a total simpsons way but at the same time the settings and emotions on the character's face are pinpointing the style of the designer

i did a side by side of designer vs simpsons replica for everyone to enjoy again

ko.

alphabets

2007-09-18T01:18:00.000-07:00

this is something that was taken out of an exhibition at work.
it doesnt spell my name cos it aint got any "o"!

but it spells other stuff....
I really want F, U and G haha
if you want these letters, pls let me know.

elizabeth and james

2007-09-18T00:47:00.000-07:00

I usually think celebrity clothing lines are so overrated, but I came across elizabethe and james by the olsens twins and I love it!
It reflects their style and its highly wearable and they are all classic pieces you can keep.

I have my eyes on the leather jacket, but I am too chicken to buy it online (and a bit exie)!

the bonfire shirt has buttons in the back to give it that I borrowed it from my boyfriend look without it looking to slouchy.

see neiman marcus website:
http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/catalog/47/search.jhtml?ip_state=&ip_autoSummarize=true&ip_perPage=15&orgUrl=%2Fstore%2Fcatalog%2F47%2Fsearch.jhtml&srcText=elizabeth+and+james

D.

ps. yesh its been all abt food recently, point taken, so here's a fashion one for a change!

banh mi thit = pork roll = and another thousand names

2007-09-17T04:17:00.000-07:00

i have to tell you i had a awful lot of trouble finding the pork rolls online or even in HCMC. I was searching and searching for pork rolls online and it didnt get me anywhere, later i found the name was actually banh mi, street sandwiches, street rolls, street burgers, sargies etc etc

pork rolls are called banh mi thit (pronounced as barn me tart) and thank goodness to the tourist information centre, i got the actual address of "banh mi nhu lan" store. (which my frd also intro me but gave me a totally incorrect address)

i have to say syd ones are equally good cos they have the fish sauce dressing but the one at HCMC has chunky pieces of pork, a huge spread of pate and mayonnaise/butter suace, very tasty white carrots, very crunchy "HOT" bread fresh from the oven (pic above is the extra pork roll for supper but no longer crunchy hot) ...

.... IF ONLY if they have the fish sauce!

Address: Banh mi Nhu Lan Store - 66-68 Ham Nghi, Q1 (Q1 = District 1)
Tourist information centre: 4G-4H Le Loi St, District 1 - really helpful getting information on spas, restaurants or day trips

ko.

tabou

2007-09-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

this has got to be my favourite french bistro.
Sometimes you have the nouvelle cuisine fancy stuff but sometimes you just want comfort food that's simple and well made.

for starters, it's a dish with humble beginnings - tripes lyonnaise (cow stomach)
when a culture had a very long history and some of their food is born out of hardship, these bits of offcuts could have meant survival, people think of inventive and creative way of making the worst into the best, it's truly admirable. this dish have quite a sour taste and it reminded me of how chinese handle tripes. I suppose the sourness is used to mask the flavour of the tripe. It was delicious to soak up the sauce with baguette!

for main, I had the very simple but very delicious steak frites, you can choose a range of sauces like bernaise, cafe de paris (which I had, think it's made of anchovies, butter and parsley, it's so nice with chips), truffle and a few other sauces. I am not a fan of shoestring chips (cos it reminds me of mickey Ds) but the chips here were not oily and very crisp, don't even need ketchup, only had sea salt and black pepper with it.

wine list was very good, too, we had a french rose, half a bottle for $23, quite reasonable.

to end, it has to be a creme brulee and a strong coffee
(which explains why I cannot sleep last night)

it's the simple pleasures that makes me so happy!

D.

ps. sorry abt a long blog with crappy images, damn why do all restaurants have such dim lighting these days?

God of Pho at HCMC

2007-09-14T07:18:00.000-07:00

half of my intention to go to vietnam is to have authentic vietnam food, so pho, spring rolls and pork roll is on the top of my list!

Pho Le is the god of pho in viet... seriously ... (ok everyone is now thinking OH wat an exaggeration!!) we travlled 20mins from the city to district 5, on the way we passed by local stores and houses and for sure its not the cleanest place to be... the look on my sis face was... "this better be good or ...." so i was quite nervous on the taxi! the minute we hopped off, the smell of beef stew went roaring into our noses...oh man...

the beef soup was mild coloured (which made me panic a bit) but filled with beef taste! we actually had to drink the soup in the end!

the utensils and surrounding arent hotel style so it might be a bit of culture shock but if i made it through, it should be fine for everyone! just close ur eyes if ur a hygiene freak (d? and me?)

Pho Le
413-415 Nguyen Trai St P.7 District 5

ko.

relaxation at HCMC

2007-09-12T04:15:00.000-07:00

spa and massage is a must when going to Asian country for holiday! Just chose 2 places by reading books etc... I did a facial at L'Apothiquaire and scrub and massage at Saigon Spa.

L'Apothiquaire
I have heard this place is famous for facials and and their products which are made in france. Their jap customers actually not only swipe out the products at the place but also order online. I was thinking "what doesnt the japs buy anyway???" I was pretty sure I wouldnt buy the products! Anyway I did the facial transparence which is just deep cleansing therapy, doing exfoliating, steaming, removing black and white heads and mask. The therapist was really professional, and the whole purifying process was very comfortable. I actually walked out of the store with a mask and liquid exfoliator!! I wanted to buy more but my budget didnt allow that. At night, my sis and I was back and forth trying to decide if we should try new massage place or just go back to L'apothiquaire

I did facial transparence which was USD34 and the promotion was USD60 including a free mask (the mask originally is USD52)

One package I highly recommend is 4 hrs therapy including scrub, massage, facial and manicure+pedicure for the price of USD70 - I didnt have time for this but i regret not doing it

For more info: www.lapothiquaire.com
free pick up service if you are doing their packages.

Saigon spa
Included free boat trip to and from the place and we saw the building we were amazed of how grand it looked. Sparkling white buidling with green grass! The lobby was a grand entrance of course and what I loved about this was they really payed alot of attention to delicate details. All interiors, furnishings, furniture has the same sensation and colour palette. I really loved we all have to get changed into our halter neck wrap, with a beaded bracelet for the locker key. You actually still look good when basically undressed! Scrub was only so so... but massage was gooooood!

Scrub + massage was USD55, add another USD10 you will to do their jacuzzi bath as well.

A bit more expensive than L'Apothiquaire but both is highly recommended!

For more info: www.saigonspa.net

ko.

Saigon here i come!!!! - my Vietnam break special

2007-09-11T04:23:00.001-07:00

I dont know where to start ... the trip has just been so amazing.... sorry but i cant help but mentioning about my proper business class encounter, you know how normally upgraded passengers get treated the same even if ur in business class cos they all know u got upgraded, this time its different! I was actually a proper business class passenger and got greeted with a business class smile whereever and whenever. Champagne, orange juice and water comes every now or so and QUALITY french red is offered and most surprisingly the food is actually hot! (yes even the bread and utensils is hot!!) Napkins are placed on your lap and on your table before meal is placed down And now i realised "manners" does really exist in the plane but I found only in the business class! I dont know if I wll be able to bother to spend so much money on buying a BS tic again but surely I finally understand why they are expensive!

Back to the real story. Day 1 : Cooking class

Menu:
Spring rolls with fish sauce
Caramel pork in clay pot
Clams soup with dill in clay pot
coconut rice steamed in clay pot

I was really hesitant with this course cos its mostly for Western tours but because the other cooking class did not open the only choice to kill so much time was to attend one which was available, however in the end this was the wisest choice ever. We actually cooked things which were makeable and easy but super tasty.

Spring rolls was the best, there were many hidden secrets taught to make a nice Vietnamese spring rolls, we used ingredients that was ready available in asian supermarkets. The only thing which you must buy in Vietnam is the special fish sauce and the net spring rolls paper (i actually carried 2 bottles of fish sauce and 2 packets of spring roll paper back!), however its not a must!

The pork and soup was again really easy to make and very tasty, didnt take more than 10 mins... people who live by themselves.. and most importantly ingredients are easily available and doesnt need major preparation.

Last but most difficult was the coconut rice in clay pot, the coconut water must be just right so that the rice is steamed wiht a bounce feeling on the rice. The rice must also add a bit of salt so that it doesnt become too sweet. The chef made the rice perfect, dunno if I can do the same tho....

Foood lovers that cant cook surely wont fail this menu hahaha ( S.Mo Im directing this to you)

People who want to join: please visit their site www.vietnamcookery.com located around 20 mins away from city

Ko.

pork roll a la Sydney

2007-09-09T17:28:00.000-07:00

maybe it's a dumb idea to do a peice on pork roll knowing that KO will be back from vietnam doing a piece on the AUTHENTIC pork roll!

But if it werent for the ones in sydney, we would not know abt how delicious it it is!

the baguette at this place in hurstville is very famous. Their baguette is crisp but it's not hollow inside. the pate and pork is the best bit! drizzle with fish sauce, it's to die for!

and for $3, what more can you ask for? beat any overpriced sandwiches in the milk bar!

D.

wanna be an hongkie ?

2007-09-03T07:52:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong famous for long queues as long as 2 hrs to buy hit products like Portuguese tarts and cheesecakes, and this also happens to restaurants... To see a restaurant’s popularity, is simply how long you have to queue up for it. Wing Wah restaurant is 4 storey building is famous for its traditional local Hongkie stir fries.

My favourite has to be the 5 flavor chicken, simply soya sauce chicken but the meat is very soft and smooth, not too salty or sweet too. My next fave is clay pot rice which this enhances the "rice" smell more, you know the saying "smelling the rice next door?". This mixed with a little tablespoon of lard (pig oil.. dova taught me this term) and soya sauce is what this place is mainly known for!!

must book trust me on this...

(pics taken by caroline mak, i found these on the net... forgot to take my cam... very nice pics indeed!)

Ko.

why?

2007-09-02T18:04:00.000-07:00

sydney in locked down mode.
we have the apec forum this week,
because George bush decided to arrive early and leave early.

so quiet this morning, most of bridge street was lined with barricades.
cbd workers need to show their work ID, in case you are asked by the police!

the only good thing that came out of it is we get friday off.

D.

fashion babylon

2007-09-01T06:54:00.000-07:00

I am reading fashion babylon at the moment, according to the review on amazon this is the less interesting version compare to the babylon series (there's air babylon and hotel babylon). I have yet to read the others.

but i think it's a jolly good read if you love juicy gossips and fashion.
also a good insight for anyone like me to see how the (BIG) fashion business works.
things like chanel no. 5 costs 55p to make!

D.

hot choc no.2

2007-08-30T06:33:00.000-07:00

Previously written abt intercon hotel hot choc... so this time i went to mandarin oriental cafe causette highly recommended by my sis! its just a simple coffee shop with cakes. As you walk in, there are statues of cakes in different sizes, One is as big as the size of a 5 year old! Obviously those are for decoration only but still its rather interesting! We specially went in for the hot choc cos theres a choc spoon which you melt in your hot choc ...ummmmmmm... licking my lips again!

To be honest I could have had a better experience... I ordered hot chot with ginger flavour!!! oh well its not too bad but I can imagine how good the vanilla hot choc will be...

By the way, i will go to vietnam next week (free air tics, free hotel why not ????) surely i have a planned a stuffing myself silly with pork rolls, spring rolls and PHO trip! will definately do a vietnam special here... WHO IS EXCITED ??????????? I AM !!!!!!!

Ko.

yoga cat

2007-08-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

it's so appropriate to have a cat in a yoga studio, isn't?
think cats are just natural-born yogi.

this dude is called pu-yi, yes, name after the last emperor of china.
he certainly got the attitude happening!

D.

The fashion simpsons

2007-08-28T06:33:00.000-07:00

I came across this site while searching for info for my Vietnam trip (dont ask me how I got into this page, i dont even remember myself!) Its got everything about fashion like models, magazines, blogs, websites and they put in pages from different mags in the site. If there is job offers anywhere in the fashion industry, they will mention it as well!

The Simpsons mag article is something I found from the fashion pig! ITS SO DAMN HILARIOUS HAHA!!

one thing i have to complain is the pics on the site are too big... makes me fuzzy, like i have to move my eyes around the whole computer screen to see the whole pic!

http://www.fashionpig.com/

Ko.

hugs and kisses to JACOB BABE!

2007-08-27T08:28:00.000-07:00

its jacob's bday today and auntie dova & ko wants to send lots of hugs and kisses to jacob to celebrate his special 1st birthday!! (wat a lucky guy!!! hahaha)

I know jacob is in taiwan but im sure he has felt the love from us!

Miss you babe! (and miss you too YC!!)

Dova & Ko

lazy sunday lunch

2007-08-26T19:56:00.001-07:00

since I am leaving sydney soon, I made a (LONG) list of all the reatuarnt I want to try before I go. So hopefully I will try most of them and be good and write abt it here!

I tried Bathers Pavilion at balmoral beach on sunday.
when you are by a beautiful beach, I guess seafood is all I want to have!

lunch at bathers are very busy over weekend, we opted for the restaurant, instead of the cafe next door, because we can book for a table at the restaurant.

we had a asian pork belly and scallops with a peking consumme.
this was so delicious, the scallops was cooked to perfection and the pork belly is very flavourful (I mean, who doesnt love pork fat?)

for main my friend had the barramundi with a ginger crust, with pancetta, creamed fennel and potatoes. I had the john dory with daikon and a beetroot boullion.

more and more I found in restaurants, the entrees are better than the mains, so next time, I think I will have two entrees instead of mains. the other alternative is to have a degustation, so you try everything, but honestly I cannot stomach 7 courses at lunch!

the dessert was heavenly, it was a light lemon brulee with rasberries sorbet, it had just enough tartness and sweetness to finish off a light meal!

I highly recommend going to bathers on a sunny weekend! the place was so well lit (with natural light), it is made for photographs and there are cushions on the seats! very special!

D.

Thank you and sorry!

2007-08-26T18:10:00.000-07:00

I am so happy actually we have viewers from outside my tiny circle of friends who read our blog. From my last article of "Xi Yan vs Club Qing, we had a very sincere message from the owner of club qing, AC. AC, thank you for being so sincere to leave us a message and I am very happy to see someone so dedicated and passionate about their food. A big thumbs up for you!

Thanks for your message and I realised from your message I had a huge miscalculation!!! My sis and my sis in law had their bday dinner and the table was for 6 of us, so cos it was their bday, 4 of us paid for the birthday stars which ended up being 700pp..... its actually 500pp..... really sorry !!

By the way, if our blog offended you in anyway, its purely just our own thoughts. Our aim is to share what we love in our life to our viewers....

Keep up the good work!

Ko.

xi yan vs club qing

2007-08-25T12:02:00.000-07:00

xi yan and club qing both are famous "private" restaurants in hk (restaurants which are situated in commercial or household buildings) xi yan is the creator of private restaurants in hk offering original fushion set dinners, cosy atmosphere and main chef serving its own customers. As xi yan got more popular, they started to sell their book at the restaurant and bookstores giving away secret menus and which club qing had exactly followed. Altho club qing is a follower i still loved their dishes very much! each and every one had their own special flavour followed by matching teas... Only thing i had to complain is the price! 400 per person excluding drinks! somehow we ended up paying 700 each (miscalculation, see above blog)

Private restauarnts which are recommended by me:
1) Xi Yan - not so original dishes cos they never changed their menu but xi yan is the reason why all restaurants started to have cold tofu and "yeung chi gum lo" but I must admit theirs is the best
2) Club Qing (above pics)- very similar (almost exact) style to Xi yan but different menu, altho I dont like the idea that they copied but I do applaud for creating their own unique dishes. The chef is actually an IT guy!
3) Gung Guan - Shanghainese fushion, Shanghai cuisine is my fav... has diff menu for diff seasons!! I went twice, once in winter and once in summer:
Winter specialty was "dong bor meat" the skin of the meat is not a fatty piece of skin that melts into oil, its actually got elastic feeling!! Another fav was big gate crab with stir fried rice cakes, their sauce for that was heavenly. Summer special was their big prawns in salty egg sauce on sticky rice. However the queue to book the place just makes you give up and must have at least 8 ppl per booking (quite annoying)
The owner is the waiter and is the chef (who is western raised shanghainese guy, my family tested his shanghainese and it was good)... there is a secret to how he manages to do this ALL at once but its quite a long story... please tell me if you want to hear... i dont want to bore people with this long lonnnnnnnnnng blog

To be honest I have to say that Im very pessimistic about private restaurants, normally they are so overrated and very expensive. My rule of thumb is only go to ones that are recommended by friends!

ok i guess everyone knows how much i love food by now!

ko.

where is my creativity ?

2007-08-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

Im back !! have been staying home most of the time so suddenly i felt like arts and crafts.... but then my mind was blank ! where did my artistic side go? where did the creativity go? I realised it wasnt about me, its cos I have lost my tool (junk) box!

Lincraft was use to be my favourite shop, i go there and just grab anything interesting I can see, including fabrics, buttons, ribbons, beads, plastics, paint, sequins, lace and anything you can think of! so when i have time i will just try to sew bits and pcs together to form a piece.

Above is some badges and pins that I have made for my top (I even made the top dont ask me how.... i just sewed fabric togther haha ) I even made a wrist band out of my junk ! I wish I still have the time for these stuff but now my life is all about work. I really miss the school days when I had 2 months of absolutely brainless holidays where I can just be at the sewing machine and play my junk!

Ko.

cooking for one

2007-08-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

cooking for one is hard! This blog is dedicated to our friend S, who recently moved to the bog ol' london town.

principles of cooking for one *according to me*
1. shop wisely - only buy what you need and think carefully abt how you can use up everything.
2. one pot cooking is best, oven is good, too. Lined oven trays with layers of aluminium foil, I think foil is a miracle to men. this means less washing up.
3. think abt food prep, stir fry might sound easy and fast but who has time after school/work to peel vegetables!?
4. use what you have in pantry! no point buying some dried spices you will never use again
5. cook big batch of soups and curries over the weekend and store in freezer, so you have weekday dinners ready, too. (good tip from my sis)

I made this lamb dish last night and all I did was marinade the lamb, peel carrots, chopped potatoes and carrots, bung everything in the oven!

1. marinade 500g organic lamb rump (rump is cheaper than chops): mince ginger and garlic; one tablespoon each of ground coriander and cumin, salt and pepper to taste, drizzle olive oil and mix. set aside best to leave it for 20 mins, while it is marinading, move on to your veg

2. peeled 4 carrots. get potatoes (x4) that doesnt require peeling and scrubbing (kipfler, desiree and nicola is good). chop them into small bite size pieces and keep them in the same size to speed up cooking time.

3. drizzle olive oil, add salt and pepper on veg, put in two cloves of garlic (skin on, so you get soft and sweet garlic later on), bung in oven for 30 mins at 200 degress

4. in 20 mins, check how the veg is doing, taste it!

5. bung in the lamb, on a separate tray, but on top of veg, crank the oven up to 250. cook for 5 mins, turn the lamb. take the veg out. cook the lamb for another 2-3 mins.

I hope this is easy for everyone! the meat and veg can always be substituted. happy cooking!

D.

more audrey

2007-08-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

I love her!
for some reason, smoking seems to look good in the old movies!
(not that I am advocating smoking is good)

the sunnies are almost like wayfarers.

I added the another character from the movie in here, too, cos she looks so damn hot in the turban (so prada this season) and the cape! love the colour combo and the big buttons!

george peppard looks very good with a skinny tie, too!

most of this outfits still work today, dun ya think?

D.

my dream coat

2007-08-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

I watched breakfast at tiffany's for the 10th time over the weekend, it was on cable again. I just cant seem to take my eyes off what Audrey Hepburn wore in that movie.

This is my favourite coat, ever. this is the holy grail of coats, i reckon.
Isnt the back the cutest?

sometimes I hope people still dress like that, it's so nice.

If I haven't mistaken the coat should be designed by Givenchy.

D.

beijing special p.2

2007-07-31T05:27:00.000-07:00

Beijing has nothing to buy AT ALL, basically when it comes to souveneirs, you really need to think hard and deep because they are just plain crap! The best place i recommend for shopping would be "Nan Le Gu Xian" Its an alleyway (basically called hutong), this little alleyway has many western cafes with comfy sofa seats and interiors. Most importnatly got more quality stuff to buy for friends and families. Warning: It is quite expensive! I bought 2 tees for 90 bucks each... only cos my sis said she wants it!

Just a bit about hutongs, they are tiny alleyways and paths with history of 700-800 yrs, it is now protected by the govt as historical landscape. These alley ways are famous to be the place for Chinese style nightclubs where the chinese emperors look for prostitutes! The interior is exactly as seen on tv, pretty intersting indeed! Going around by bicycles for an hour was quite relaxing (after 5 hrs of walk at the forbidden city), and a good view of how old beijing was like!

Ko.

bejing (more like peking duck) special

2007-07-30T02:24:00.000-07:00

Da Dong

Made in China

Qianjude

Beijing was fun despite the traumor on the flight back... I spent 2000 bucks extra off my budget and I AM NOT IMPRESSED!! however I guess when I think back to the Peking ducks i've had, im happy again. Theres been lots of saying that beijing peking ducks are overrated, Hong Kong are better etc etc... actually I think the total opposite. In Hong Kong, they just slice up the whole peking duck so every piece will have the skin and meat, and flavoured with sweet sause with cucumber and shallots and the bread.

Beijing peking ducks actually is like a 3 course meal, the duck seems blown up like a balloon hence on the breast of the duck, there this piece of skin blown up and detached from their meat, its like a A4 sheet of crunchy skin, this part will be dish 1. Dish 2 will be duck drum sticks sliced up so hence the meat will be especially tendor. Dish 3 will be cutting out all the remains of the body and lastly dish 4 which i didnt touch is the duck head. My favourite was dish one where the skin was crunchy like chips, these chips was juiced up with duck oil.... Im lover of duck so this was heavenly....

Beijing has more side dishes to have the duck with. Cucumbers and shallots and sweet sauce obviously the main ingredient. They also included sugar and garlic paste which I thought enhanced the taste, I think I will do this the next time I eat Peking duck in Hong Kong.

Generally, the duck was juicier and more fresh, like you know how when you eat meat, it gives a bounce when you bite it?

Restaurant 1: Da Dong - was recommended by lots of people but rate it the least, the bread was too stiff and the meat wasnt as fresh. THe duck soup which followed was the best!
Address: Dongcheng district

Restaurant 2: Made in China - this is the heaven of god peking duck! THey actually sliced up a very big dish of crunchy skin and the thickness was just right. It was around 4mm-5mm. I didnt like their soup tho.... by the way I saw diane von furstenburg there ... hhehe
Address: Grand Hyatt Wangfujing, not expensive at all !

Restaurant 3: Qianjude - this is the most famous place in Beijing for ducks, no bookings allowed. People said this place is the worst but I thought it was quite good! Only thing I have to complain about is the service and slicing the duck performance was quite sloppy!
Address: Wangfujing street

Eating 1 whole duck each nite, I have now lost my voice and dont mention about my pimples, they are everywhere!

Ko

comfy soles

2007-07-25T06:03:00.000-07:00

due to the reason that I have been buying cheap heels, they are obviously not comfortable at all, and even worse the pair i recently got actually falls off cos it doesnt have a strap to hold it in place!

Found these silicon heel cushions that are transparent and specially created for party shoes! its mad!! you dont need to look like a granny having pads in your shoes! its just like putting flat silicon boobs on your shoes! makes heels lots more comfy...

its sold at watsons etc... for around 50HKD and the brand is Scholl
Ko.

lunch break 1.30pm

2007-07-22T22:26:00.000-07:00

this blog is almost a real time blog, I took these during lunch time an hr ago!
the cockatoos do like to strut their stuff!

p.s. the one with shaggy feather is a real oldie!
D.

aspasia - must try

2007-07-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

complimentary dishes:
a whole loaf of bread - heated in oven surved warm and crispy
bread sticks with dipping sauce (3 types)
cheese (dont remember what type) on tomatoes with vinigarette and olive oil

my menu:
parma ham and rocket leaves with pizza
wagyu beef with red wine sauce
warm chocolate flan

complimentary dessert:
grapes dipped in wine

Yes! its this much food and i finished it all without stuffing myself

my english has gone down the drain so i will give up trying to use my english to try to critique on such a fine restaurant! one word: delicious!!! and well worth the value!

my favourite part was after the desserts, there was complimentary grapes which was dipped in quite an alcoholic wine. With a whole mouthful of sugar, having these grapes clears out the taste buds and is really refreshing!

i can tell the chef has really put an effort into the menu and this effort has really shined upon his food

ko.

american apparel

2007-07-20T07:54:00.000-07:00

do you know how hard it is to find a tee that fits a girl perfectly?

I was so excited when I found american apparel. it's like sexy basics thats you dont get bored with. I mean would gap or giordano ever be featured in french vogue? have a look at their sexy ads and website and you will know what I mean.

their tees have an amazing fit and they have so many styles and colour of tees and all kinds of sexy hoodies, tights, short shorts, pjs and more for boys and girls.

at the moment I have my eye on a pair of lame black leggings, it's mad, I know! it could borderline on s&m-ish! guess it will be fun to wear it in a night out dancing (like whenever that is?!)

what's also good about AA is it's all produced in a workshop in LA (they call it vertical manufacturng), most of their cotton is oragnic and weaved in away that it wont wear and tear like most tees (trust me, I have a tee as my pjs and I been washing and drying it in dryer almost everyday and the fit and colour is still fine)

and best of all, their production is sweat shop free, all their workers get paid fairly. But their prices still remain reasoanble, a classic girl tee for $20 AUD

their website will have a australia store soon! yay, check out the store and sexy pics at
http://americanapparel.net

also retaills at tuchuzy at bondi beach

D.

cheap buys!!!!!!!!

2007-07-18T08:28:00.000-07:00

I love it when i buy sth cheap and people thinks its really expensive... thats the best compliment for me... so here are the greatest buys these 2 months!

Believe it or not, all the clothes im wearing is under hkd200 except for the heels on the last pic...those are 579 (jimmy choo looks for 579 is pretty damn good)

im happy to tell everyone where i got the stuff from if you leave a message hehe

bondi beach saturday morning

2007-07-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

this is my fantasy saturday morning

have a stroll on the beach with your loved one, maybe with a dog (preferably a golden retriever).
a nice coffee and breakfast after the stroll.

Perfection!

Another reason why I cannot leave sydney...

D.

do you like my bag?

2007-07-16T00:14:00.000-07:00

hey look, I designed a bag that no one wants!

sorry this a a "mock blog"
I was so shocked by how much that anya hindamrch bag is fetching on ebay,
1600 HKD to be exact.

d.

clever people with clever words

2007-07-15T04:44:00.000-07:00

I like tee shirts, but for some reason, I just don't look good in them. that's why i don't own many. the only tees I like are american apparel tees (this will be my next blog). And this tee i bought recently.

this is from a aussie brand called chip chop!
I always admire people who have clever words to put on tees.

it's got a tongue in cheek kinda humour
this one i bought was out of a series that poke fun at tourist tees.

also, love this bag from the website
http://www.mychipchop.com/

D.

even more food...paella

2007-07-11T23:43:00.000-07:00

I am mad about everything spanish at the moment.

I should probably invest in a proper paella pan.

Basically you just stir fried all the aromatics, like chorizo, onions, spices. stir in rice, pour in stock and cover. bung in the seafood at the last 10 mins of cooking. SO easy! Especially easy, cos this is a bill granger recipe. Good for feeding lots people.

it was delicious, by the way...

D.

vietnamese food !!

2007-07-11T05:37:00.000-07:00

people who knows me knows my love for vietnamese food! Pho, spring rolls and pork roll!

Favourite place for pho in syd: an restaurant bankstown, their beef soup base is dark brown color (see pic?)

Hong Kong has good viet food but the pho is not even comparable... this is a reason why i miss syd so much!

Well... actually for viet spring roll lovers, this is a really good recipe:

Ingredients: Viet spring roll wrap 15pcs, minced pork 100g, jicama(sliced) 100g, carrots(sliced) 100g, wood fungus (soak and shredded) 8g, vermicilli (chopped) 50g, garlic (chopped) 1/2 teaspoon

Seasoning: 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1/4 teaspoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon vinigar, 1 teaspoon garlic (chopped), 1/2 teaspoon ginger (chopped), some dice chilli (optional)

Dipping sauce ingredients: 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon lime sauce

Method:
1) Use 2 tablespoon oil and fry garlic and minced pork until cooked
2) Preboil all vegetables
3) add the vegetables and seasoning to the pork and toss well. Set aside to cool
4) Brush individual sheet of paper with cold water favour with a little lime juice and honey. Leave in on a towel to dry.
5) Arrange the mixture in the centre of the rice paper, fold in both sides of the paper then fold up 1/3 over the filling. Continue to rolle the paper to enclose the filling. Secure with some flour batter
6) Mix the dipping sauce to serve the spring rolls, add some garlic and sliced carrots and chilli - mix according to your taste
7) Deep fry the spring rolls until golden brown
8) Serve with lettuce

Enjoy!

Ko.

2007-07-10T22:20:00.000-07:00

more men in suits, I cannot resist.
this unbottoned shirt + scarf (tie in a I-didn't-even-put-a-lot-of-thought kinda way)
and that smile!

this is maroon 5 front man, Adam Levine
he looks even better in the "makes you wonder" video, tux + scarf + pantent black leather shoes, NICE!

D.

Men in suits

2007-07-09T03:27:00.000-07:00

I never really think Roger Federer is good looking but surely hes good at tennis!

But now I really love him cos after 5 hrs of hard core running, jumping sweaty tennis, he still managed to put a white vest and white suit before he got his trophy!! He really should get credit for this

This is what you call grace and charm and how he shows respect to the audience and presenters. Hes soooooo cute!

I havent watched previous championships so maybe this is not the first time he wore a suit but definately the first player to jump in a suit to get the trophy! Hes got my full support now!

Ko.

Im back !!!! With food

2007-07-07T21:40:00.000-07:00

Internet is back! I fixed it !! yes I DID! i must say thanks to the new wireless router that I bought, it had easy-as-computer-idiots-easy automatic set up instructions which anyone can do! Feel like some IT expert now hehehe

OK so back to blogging now! Altho, have been really uninspired cos the lack of money to spend I guess I have to work with some old stuff!

I brought D. out on Valentines day this year to a "private household restaurant" - chinese cuisine which I really liked. OK so this is how it was:

Me: "hello, I want to book a table for 3 but then we can only eat THAT much, would it possible to make the proportions really small cos we would like to order more and have more variety"

X: "SURE no problems!!! I will write up a menu for you guys so you can taste everything but wont be too much" (everyone please remember this)

Menu: (dont remember exactly but approx below)
Entree: Cold tofu, deep fried eggplant
Main: sth similar to sweet and sour pork, garlic prawns steamed sticky rice and soup rice(my favourite)

Me: "Great menu! MAKE SURE ITS SMALL PROPORTIONS! ITS ONLY 3 LADIES"

Food came up to be for the size of 10 people and none of us could finish anything! we were so full that I couldnt even breathe... u know like the feeling when you breathe its like throwing up food type???

FOOD WAS MAGNIFICENT!!! The garlic prawns steamed sticky rice, the rice was no rock-hard-uncooked-rice kinda feeling, it was soft and juiced up by the essense from the garlic prawns!

Another favourite was soup rice! Its like Shanghainese fried rice cakes dipped in soup. This one was different! THey deep fried each and every rice grain like rice bubbles and there was a bowl of boiling hot soup. When the rice bubbles are poored in the soup, it gives a sizzling noise like mongolian beef poured on hot plate! Delicious!

Not to forget to mention about their original location. As it is called private household restaurant, normally these restaurant are situated in commerical buildings or hard to find places. This one was situated in a household buidling, meaning the whole building is not impressed, the secuirty will give a you-are-not-invited look and the lifts are full of signs saying "restaurant should be banned!!!!" Although I like their food but I agree that it is not very polite, imagine u r the neighbour? So thankfully they have a new location which is a proper place!

Sorry Im blabbling on like a lunatic, you know the feeling when you cant talk for a while and when you are free... u will just go on and on and on! For those who are bored, I promise no more long articles! please keep visiting!

bag frenzy!

2007-07-07T00:18:00.000-07:00

First of all I would just like to apologize for my disappearance.... my internet at home is down and i have been so busy at work i havent really had time to even have a bludge on msn ! let alone blogging !

Hong Kong has just went crazy over a cotton bag, cos magazines have shot celebrities using the bag plus the price is so affordable, everyone just wanted to grab a piece of it. But it has just went over the top. There was masses and masses of people actually lining up at every store and special broadcast was actually used to inform people to actually stop lining up cos the bag is sold out!(special broadcast is only used for typhoon no.8 or black rain)

Are people so desperate to own this bag? In Taiwan, theres actually a protest outside the store cos they lined up for so long and couldnt buy it

What is wrong with this world? This bag is trying to promote the idea of being environmentally friendly so instead of using plastic bags, you can use this! But surely the environmental idea didnt pass on but even created more traumor like protesting and rallying because they cant buy a bloody bag? Isnt this just wasting resources!

Seriously, I dont know who actually lined up for nights and days and protested but for those who did, maybe they should think about using their time wisely.

Sorry for such a political article! I just had to let it out!

Ko.

that fluffy bunny rabbit

2007-07-01T18:53:00.000-07:00

I have a thing with childrens' books. Here's my new fave.
It's not exactly a book for children, but rather a children's books for adults.

It is about a single man called Michael Pulcino, he is single, not satisfied with his career and kinda lonely.
He has a bunny called, Fluffy.

Fluffy thinks he is human, like his Daddy, Michael. Obviously Fluffy is in denial.

all at the same time, Michael is stuck in an awkward relationship with Fluffy's nursery teacher.
So he decided to take Fluffy on a trip to Siccily to see Michael's parents and sister.

Along the trip, a dust particle (that's his name) narrates the story, it was meant to be a flake of dandruff (name Flakey) to narrate it, but Flakey isn't interested.

The humour was very innocent but the plot and the problems each character dealt with feels like something we could all relate to.

It was drawn in such a simple and cute way, but you get the emotions of the characters.

D.

the chunky heel dilemma

2007-06-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

ok, when I bought these hot little heels (not quite little, it weighs a tonne), I thought to myself, oh it will go so well with my dresses or skinny jeans! but little did I know, this kind of chunky heel require a good ensemble that is top heavy and bottom light. here are 3 combos that I think works:

1. short potato sack/smock dresses + opaque tights
2. crop quarter sleeve boxy jackets + straight cut dresses with footless tights
3. my new smock style coat (it was on sale, ok?) + opaque tights

ensemble NOT to consider:
any long coats! it looks so silly with coats that sits below the knee, I have tried it and trust me, it looked horrible! lots of it to do with my shortness....sigh

D.

fakes

2007-06-18T01:58:00.000-07:00

One day I saw this lady wearing the toy watches in chocolate brown nylon strap with choc brown + gold timer ring, I thought it looked pretty cute! I did something that I never would do in HK is that I went and asked that lady where she got her watch and she told me its a toy watch!

From that day on I really wanted to buy a toy watch but its 1500 for a copy watch and plastic?? When did copies actually cost so much??!!!!?!?!

One night during some annual dinner, each guest at their table will have a table present to bring home and guess what?? I got a copy toy watch!! I dont usually like wearing or using copies (and I dont suggest it at all) but since this was a copy of something who originally copied anyway, I guess I wouldnt mind wearing this copy out!

For those who actually wants to buy a toy watch and hesitating about their price (since its just a copy!) I suggest that they can buy a copy toy watch !!

Ko.

muse continues....

2007-06-17T21:02:00.001-07:00

on the note of fashion muse...
how gorgeous is dita von teese?
she is one of the few "famous people" (right now) that I love, who actually looks great and have a talent in burlesque dance.

you wondered, why would anyone dress like that, only cos she is a star, right?
there's actually a woman who runs a a vintage clothing shop, called Rockit at The Rocks, her name is Pia and I met her at a shoot for work. she said she dresses in 50s style frock everyday. If she wants to dress casual she'd wear high waisted jeans with a cute rodeo shirt. I sometimes see her walking along george street, I just cant take my eyes off her. Her 50s style makeup - va-va-voom red lips and immaculate hair! she is married and has a little boy, and their whole family dresses 50s style, how cool is that?

p.s. I wish I can post some pics of Pia here, but its work related so I cant! sorry! You can follow this link to see what she looks like, but frankly, I don't think this picture does her any justice!
http://www.hht.net.au/news/media_releases__all2/exhibitions/fifties_fair_2003

D.

whos your fashion muse?

2007-06-12T07:29:00.001-07:00

Has everyone checked out www.whowhatweardaily.com? there has been an article called my fashon muse! Its really amusing and you must read the comments!! hehe girls are just so bitchy!

So anyway whos my fashion muse??

I realise they dont need to be stylish or be a fashionista, its someone who can wear something and just bring out the essense, whatever they are wearing immediately portrays a character (in a good inspirational way of course), a character which you want to be!

As I was lining up to pay for car park I saw this very plain and simple woman dressed in jeans and just a white polo tee, I saw nothing inspirational on her except this links bracelet. The image I got was this girl looks simple yet elegant, smart but yet shes a housewife! Thats exactly how I want to look! Not soon after I got myself a Links bracelet as well!

The bad side of it is that I have been getting links charms as a present for every single whatever day celebration you can think of. Last Christmas I got a toilet bowl, how very romantic!

Ko.

my bad

2007-06-08T18:12:00.000-07:00

This week I have been really bad with the blog ... some how my mind is just blank for ideas, creativity and inspiration. Seems like nothing is interesting enough.

In this situation, its even hard to think of words to write... (you know when you have a word blank, you cant even seem to write a sentence with proper grammar?)

Promise this week I will have lots if my mind have recovered...

Ko.

her name is jane

2007-06-03T23:54:00.000-07:00

JANE (US) is another one of my favourite magazine next to russh.
its got just the right amount of (wearable) fashion, celebrity goss, and everything a girl or a boy need to know. How to change a tyre, girls?

I have to mention, the last image is an article about my french heroine, Charlotte Gainsbourg- actress, model, singer, balenciaga muse – it only comes natural when your mom is the legend behind THE birkin bag, no?

D.

My new hobby

2007-05-30T05:59:00.000-07:00

Got my first DSLR camera and have been mucking around with it but the thing with cameras is its not as easy as it seems and you have to have the right equipment. Obviously, I cannot afford the lens and any of the accessories except the filter now but slowly I hope I can build up my equipment

(Most of you might be thinking: "lets see how long this hobby can last??" hahah)

Found this great blog site for photography especially for beginners and gives you tips and techniques. Tells you the function of the different lens and equipment and also will just talk about anything useful related to photography. THe best thing it actually uses simple english hence no complicated explanations using jargon

http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/

They actually put some photographers blog sites on the page... I love tthose pics ! Hopefully one day I can do something like that

K.

wellies

2007-05-29T00:14:00.000-07:00

since we are on the subject of shoes, I been contemplating buying these hunter rubber booties (black ones) for ages, I need some advice - should I or shouldn't I? It's winter in sydney.

D.

My fav cake!

2007-05-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

As born and raised in a Chinese family, I have a Chinese tongue and even as to now, Chinese is my favourite food. Growing up in a Western country, I also have a Western tongue. This comes to difficulty when having desserts!

Having a half western tongue, Chinese cakes, which 90% of the cake is white cream and 10% is 2 miniature layers of chiffon cake and fruits, your mouth is filled with cream when having just a bite. Having a half Chinese tongue, western cakes are way too sweet, rich and thick.

I found just the right cake for me at Zoe situated in Causeway Bay and Happy Valley. Although I am very SUPER dissatisfied with their service, I still go there quite often! I know I should have a firmer stand! Damn it! Wait till I find a better place!

Haven't done a food one for a while and its cakes again! Will do a restaurant one maybe later...

Ko.

mouse shoes

2007-05-24T23:47:00.000-07:00

we just can't resist to show these as well.
they are so reasonable and comfy!

at Lane Crawford in HK, and Evelyn Miles in Sydney
(not on sale in sydney yet, yes, I been to the MLC shop and checked, I cant help it!)

D. & Ko

my shoes

2007-05-24T09:32:00.000-07:00

Every girl after every purchase love to analyse and reassure themselves they spent their money wisely and therefore come up with more than anything you can think to reason their purchase. This is especially the case for shoes! Why so? Because very often we hear cpmments like.. "Another pair?" "I never even saw you wearing the last pair?" "You only wore it once?" The list goes on....

Here is my analysation on my MJ plastic flats:
1. MJ for price under HKD1300 - thats the cheapest you can get for MJ (note its MJ not M byMJ helllu??)
2. Its silver
3. Its fits on your foot like gloves fits on hands (trust me its that miraculous)
4. Its really comfy
5. It comes with a shiny silver bag
6. The shoes AND the bag is MADE IN ITALY!!
Oh i love them so much!!

Next week later I bought another pair at Zara (Im there no.1 fan)
1. Although its not as comfy and the shape of the head is slightly wonky, the price is ONLY 259!
2. Grey patent is a easy match
3. Love the sling backs how its thick and chunky and love the silver heel too
4. 259 and made in Spain???!??? wat more do you want???
Even if i dont wear it often at least it doenst do heavy damage on my wallet

Conclusion: 2 good purchases hahaahah

PS. I LOVE SHOES !!!!

Ko.

the cute weather girl

2007-05-24T05:09:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but I dress according to the weather, especially with the weather in sydney, it's very pleasant most days, but you tend to get 4 seasons in one day. Those lucky melbourne girls have the luxury to have cute weather girl to tell them the weather.

michi girl is a witty and cute weather girl from Melbourne. everyday she tells you the weather and tells you a little anecdote, the recent one reads:

"Clearing shower, 20... Fiction: placing stamps around your waist is in fact an ancient form of dieting. The wearer would simply write the address of where they would like to send their love handles and then wait for the postman to pickup the unwanted package."

http://www.michigirl.com.au/

love the illustration, too.

time for a michi girl in every city, I reckon!

p.s. sorry I have been slack with the updates this week. My mac is in the hospital, I don't know when I will get it back, hopefully soon!

dog person or cat person

2007-05-21T05:51:00.000-07:00

This fluffy ball's name is Happy and he says "Hmmmm .... what should I do first? Play with these crazy girls who love me or eat snacks??!??!!"

Im obviously a dog person...

Ko.

cat person or dog person?

2007-05-20T17:28:00.000-07:00

cute thing soaking up the sun on a chilly morning in italy...
D.

fashion victim

2007-05-20T00:37:00.000-07:00

Every fashion victim dreams of having sth from Chanel but never be able to afford it (maybe just I cannot afford it) Karl has the ability to create looks that is so chic and elegant, simple but yet sophisticated, there is so much detail and you will understand why its priced the way it is.

Since i'm not able to afford anything from Chanel, I tried to create a similar look and try not to do a exact copy. I have gathered all the gold chains available in my jewellery box and wore it all in one go so kinda getting a bundle look. I know its no way comparable to the real thing but I guess without spending any money its the best I can do! Sadly I dont have enough gold chains so the look still need to be refined....

Planning to match it with my high waisted black skirt and a white tee and my silver MJ flats...

I really do have too much time in my hands, I have no where to go but I have a whole outfit in mind ??

Ko.

PMS

2007-05-17T19:50:00.000-07:00

The day that us girls came out of our mother's shell, we are burdened with the fact that sooner or later we will have our monthly visits where there is pain that can never be described or can never be understood by men

This little passage is sent to me by my friend and I jsut cant help but share it here... I can't stop laughing ...

13 things PMS stands for:
1. Pass my shot gun
2. Psychotic mood shift
3. Perpectual munching spree
4. Puffy mid section (tell me about it, no pants fit properly during this time)
5. People make me sick
6. Provide me with sweets
7. Pardon my sobbing
8. Pimples may surface (I reckon its MUST not may)
9. Pass my sweatpants
10. Pissy mood syndrome
11. Plainly men suck
12. Pack my stuff
13. Potential murder suspect !

Anyone think of more? Lets try to continue the list!

dragon beard candy

2007-05-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

This candy dates back to along time ago where emperors in China had this as their candy and as time goes the expertise to make such delicacies are lost. This candy is bought in the Hong Kong airport where I consider is good enough but comparing to the master in Kowloon City 10 yrs ago, its not comparable. I still remember that time when this candy master still exists, he told me that making this specialty will injure your hands internally because you are using hidden force (meaning things that look easy actualy takes a lot of strength e.g needlework). The society has changed and the young generations don't appreciate crafty things, everything is machine made but for some things handmade is the best (e.g shoes). Its quite a shame that skills are slowly disappearing

To see how this candy is made, there is a nice video here www.bamboogarden.com.hk/resources/mov/master8mb.wmv

In the HK airport, there is the bamboo garden shop which includes the demonstration of making the dragon beard too ! I quite enjoy seeing that altho I've seen it like thousands of time... trust me everytime I see it I will say WOWWW (with mouths wide open)

Im guessing why this candy is called dragon beard its because when you bite half of it off, the strands of the candie falls on your mouth and chin thus looking like beard? Dragon prob is something the emperors wanted to call, everything in China has the word dragon and pheonix... so lame!

Ko.

film français

2007-05-13T19:17:00.000-07:00

for some peculiar reason I recently watched 3 movies that I really really like, and all 3 of them are in french?

I mentioned last week abt the science of sleep, and it did not disappoint. Go and watch it with an open mind, don't go looking for reasons, I guess not everything needs to be justified? Gael Garcia was fantastic as Stephan, (also an absolute eye candy). It's a world that Stephane lives in where dreams and reality collides. this is my best effort to tell you the general idea of the fim, the rest, you will have to watch to understand, since it's so visually lush and surreal.

2nd one is called Priceless (Hors de prix). The story is very straight forward. Basically, hotel employee, Jean (Gad Elmaleh) fell for a temptress/gold digger, Irene (Audrey Tatou, The Da vinci code, Amielie). She mistaken Jean to be a millionaire, but when she later finds out he isn't, she beat an hasty retreat. But Jean was so taken by Irene, he followed her to Cote d'Azur. With Jean trying to match his love's lifestyle, he was quickly out of money. He hesitantly took on an offer to become a rich woman's boy toy and found himself one step closer to Irene. Irene also starts to give him advice on seduction - without realising she is slowly falling for Jean.

Sounds like a dumb plot, you asked? I was skeptical at first, too. But the movie has all the right ingredients - beautiful actors that could act, beautiful location (the French Riviera), amazing costumes (I was doing a mental count during the movie how many Chanel bags Irene has / and Gal Elmaleh in a slim Dior homme suit on a scooter her sugar mama got him....delish). The plot is simple but charming at the same time.

watch the trailer and browse the nice flash website:
http://www.tfmdistribution.com/horsdeprix/

The last film I will recommend is Paris Je'taime. Basically it's a collaborative effort from 18 directors who were give 5 minutes each to interpret their feelings towards the city, it is almost like a love letter to Paris. Anyone who has or has not been to Paris will be struck by the magic of this city. My favourite bits were a story about a stereotypical American tourist (think bum bag and track suit!) narrating in broken French about her adventure as a single middle aged woman travelling around Paris, trying to make some sense to her life – it was charming and heart breaking at the same time. The second one was a story about a child whose parents were mimes, the little boy tells the story of how his parents met.

My least favourite story was shot my Christopher Doyle (wong kar wai's cinematographer). It was just a mad mix of kung fu+chinese girls in tight cheong sams jumping thru windows antics. It's like – WHY?

D.

Shear Genius

2007-05-13T18:31:00.000-07:00

I just love those makeover shows where someone has a head to toe makeover and I would comment on how good or bad the makeover is….

There’s this new show on in the States about makeovers called "Shear Genius" using the same format as Project Runway (my fav show) where one contestant gets kicked out each week if they fail to meet expectations of the project.

As I was browsing Shear Genius page, I fell into this virtual makeover website! The miraculous part is you can load your own photo on, by following the instructions, they can build the face detection system of your face. Eyeshadows, lipstick and hair style will ACTUALLY fit onto your face!

Go try it http://makeover.ivillage.com/makeover/index.jsp

Obviously the quality of makeover is limited but so far the best virtual makeover I been to.
Above is an example of what I did from their already available faces (I did one of myself but of course wont be shown here) is a Korean gal with Jessica Alba hair (changed hair colour to dark marone), red lip stick + lipliner, pink blusher and bronze eyeshadow

ITS SO MUCH FUN!! I did one for my boyfriend ... and i cant stop laughing !

Ko.

Fashion forwards

2007-05-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

I got this pic from a forward email - finally something sensible gets sent in forwards haha

I love this tee! I wonder where you can buy it?

Ko.

Fisheye at a affordable price

2007-05-10T08:09:00.000-07:00

Photographers will know the price of a fish eye lens... its $$$$(x1000) so here is the cheaper version of fisheye which I regard as an absolute must for every single holiday of mine.

Produces vibrant colours and the best thing is you never know what you have taken until you develop your photos. Unlike Lomo LCA, Holga and colour splash cameras where you develop photos and realise half the photos didn't come out. This one never lets you down!

I give you a tip, never use the view finder to take photos, its not accurate!! If you are taking a pic of yourself, just look at the reflection of the glass on the lens, the reflections shows 80% of what the pic will look like. Using during day time will give best results.

For more info go to www.lomography.com

ko.

science of sleep

2007-05-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

I been waiting for this movie to show in sydney since last year!
There's a very sweet song from the soundtrack (it's played in the website)

Finally I get to watch it on saturday! I will post another blog after I have watched it.

it is directed by michel gondry, who did "eternal sunshine of the spotless mind" (jim carrey & kate winslet)
and best of all, gael garcia bernal (the motorcycle diaries, y tu mama tambien, babel) is in it, such a cutie and a great actor!

here's a really fun website of the movie, very scrapy and cardboard-y
http://wip.warnerbros.com/scienceofsleep/

D.