Hello and goodbye to my very first bunny

Say hello to my very first bunny.

It's been doubly sewn to make sure that my little niece won't be able to tear it apart. My favourite bits are the knotted ears and cute little tail.

Now say goodbye as it boards the plane tomorrow and makes its journey to Singapore.

My kids love it so much, they have made me promise to make them one each. I'll get a pattern together and post it here soon.

have i fallen off the face of the earth?

Well, kinda. To be honest, I have jumped right back into work and after having a month away meant a lot of adjusting back to normal life. My break seems so far away now!

I haven't shown you pictures of my holiday yet have I? I had a packed little month away. We spent much time in KL. Most of the time was spent repainting and putting my parents' extensive library into some visual order. We did the best we could since they live in a little tiny apartment BURSTING with books. There were lots of sorting out and throwing away. I wonder if Ma is making good headway into the pile we leftover in what is now the library. The best part of it all was the fact that the apartment's main room had a new coat of paint and my favorite bit is the photo wall that now graces one wall of the apartment. Ma loves her collection of family photos!


Khoa and I took a little trip, just the two of us, to visit his relatives in Ho Chi Minh City. I haven't been back for about 4 years and was surprised at how different it all felt. It felt relatively safer than before and looked cleaner too. It was needless to say, I was in shopping heaven with the Australian dollar so strong. Here are some pics:

The quintessential motorbike and the tree-lined boulevards of Ho Chi Minh City

Quan An Ngon is probably my most favourite places to eat in Ho Chi Minh City. They recently moved into a newly restored and adapted historic French villa. Lovely! The restaurant boasts the best cooks from all the regions of Vietnam and let me tell you, it's true! YUM.

My quang (pronounced "mee wang") is Khoa's favourite which we ALWAYS have when we visit the restaurant.

And a visit to Vietnam is not complete without having some sea snails. I'm not a big fan but I enjoy the odd one or two.

I really should mention the fruits and the mangosteen in particular. Another big YUM!

We did also take a road trip down from KL to Singapore and thanks to my brother, we got to stay at Marina Bay Sands Resort. Look at the view from our balcony. Yes, we did have a balcony we could walk out onto!

View of the unfinished resort and the port area of Singapore.

That's it there in the background, Marina Bay Sands Resort. That almost ugly monumental looking tri-tower with the ship like structure on top of it. The ship like structure houses the sky park that has the largest infinity pool in the sky. In the foreground is the double helix bridge.

It was definitely an amazing experience swimming to the edge of the pool. The kids LOVED it! Okay, I loved it. Skypark is amazing. If you ever get a chance to go to Singapore, definitely grab your swim stuff, make a visit to Skypark. Swim to the edge of the pool and then after the swim walk to the end of the ship structure and stand right at the tip of it with only the glass balustrade holding you back from falling. As you can tell, I absolutely LOVED it.

Oh a visit to Singapore during the Christmas season means a mandatory visit to see the Orchard Road lights. We did a super quick tour in my brother's car.

So, as you can see, I've had a packed November AND December and to tell you the truth, I am still a little pooped. It's no wonder I haven't had much time to do any crafting. Maybe I should go on holiday to get over my holiday. What say you?

Happy Australia Day!

So I've been in a hiatus. Well, that's not entirely true. I've been on a virtual hiatus. I've been pretty busy in real life.

I just spent an exhausting week in Canberra on a course that ran from 9am to 9:30pm for six days and went on a whirlwind visit to Melbourne.

But I am back home and ready to get back to the routine of normal life. Photos will come, promise.

Incredible Hong Kong

For those who haven't had the opportunity to visit Hong Kong, I offer you a little pictorial taste of the vibrant city. I must qualify this by saying that I hardly ventured beyond the city's boundary except to visit Macau. I am sure there is much more to explore and I shall be doing that when I am next in Hong Kong.

First stop, the Peak. The view of the city from the Peak is breath taking. The more iconic buildings are the Bank of China by IM Pei (the building to with the criss cross on it) and Hong Kong Shanghai Bank by Sir Norman Foster (two buildings to the left of Bank of China). I must warn you: to get this view, you actually have to pay to access the viewing deck. I'm a little too commercialised for me but I did so want to see the view!

Next stop, Hong Kong by night. This is a definite must: take a tram down the main street and enjoy the sights. You will pass Wan Chai district, which is famous for its illuminated signs that hang over the street vying for attention.


Third stop, the laser light show. Every night at 8pm, the city puts on a laser light show that last approximately 15 minutes. Check out the details of the show here. The night we were there with the kids, they were having a dress rehearsal for the opening ceremony of the East Asian Games. The laser show was complete with junks, boats representing the participating countries and fireworks!

Another must is the yummy seafood in all the colours of the weird and wonderful. We were taken by a good friend to the most famous seafood restaurant in Sai Kung, Chuen Kee Seafood Restaurant. This is the place where most of the Hong Kong stars go to eat if they want seafood. For more pictures and information, visit Foodnut's review of it here.

To order much of your dishes, you stand before the array of aquariums as you can see below and you pick out what you'd like to eat and tell the staff how you would like to have it cooked. A little barbaric for the vegetarians but definitely an experience. The range of seafood is the largest I have ever seen!

Another must see is Disneyland, even if you don't have kids. The park is the smaller of the Disneylands and it makes a perfect one day outing. Amelia and Zach absolutely loved the rides and us adults really enjoyed the shows. (Okay, I admit, I loved the rides too!) Oh, did I mention that there is a fireworks display every night at Sleeping Beauty Castle?

Oh and of course when in between these attractions, you shop Shop SHOP! But the best thing of all was the time spent together having fun as a family. There are loads to do in Hong Kong for family with kids. Amelia and Zach are at the age where they are quite transportable in prams and having my parents with us on the trip was definitely an added blessing!

Sorry for the hiatus - I'm back in Hong Kong

I'm really sorry for the one liner. There is jus so much to see here that it would be such a waste to spend whatever time I have left here in the virtual world. You could say that I am doing more market research and gaining more inspiration leading up to the launch of my shop on etsy in the new year.

More pictures and words, I promise, when I am back home next week.

Warning for Malaysians living abroad: You may feel homesick after reading this

If you know any Malaysians, you gotta ask them to verify this: is it true that Malaysians LOVE eating and will eat at all hours of the day and night?

Well, I'm in food heaven. (Which really doesn't help when I keep looking at myself in the mirror and wondering why going to the gym hasn't really helped make my post-baby (of almost 2 years) disappear!)

Anyway, like my mom would say in mixture of English and Malay, "eat first, belakang kira."
Broadly and loosely translated to mean, "don't worry about the consequences of (almost always wonderful) food you are eating." So taking her advice, I FEAST! Below is only a small sampling of the food I have been feasting on.

Nasi Lemak. Truly nothing beats the humble newspaper and banana leaf wrapped version (as seen below on the left). On its right is also the same thing but wrapped in special brown paper with plastic on one side. The restaurant versions really cannot beat the concept of this fast-food meal. These are sold at a variety of eating outlets as well as make-shift stalls by the roadside, all readily packed.


Inside, you'll find fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk that is coupled by a segment of a hard boiled egg, spicy hot sambal which may or may not be accompanied by dried anchovies, roasted peanuts and slices of cucumber. The banana leaf adds another dimension to the fragrance that captures you when you open the wrapping. Oh and the best thing about this version of the Nasi Lemak is: You can't beat the hit and miss factor of the rice being slightly undercooked or not getting much of the egg yolk.

Korean BBQ. Okay, so this isn't Malaysian at all obviously but boy, what a meal it was. YUMMY! This is what we ordered: a beef dish, a squid and prawns dish, and chicken soup. This is what appeared on our table! My favourite side dishes were the hot and spicy pickled cucumber, the bean sprouts, the salad drizzled with vinaigrette and the
sweet pork. The kim chi wasn't bad too.

Satay. Satay really should only be enjoyed late in the evening when the sun has set and you can watch the satay man fan the flames that grill these delectable sweet meat on sticks. To give you an idea, the seasoning of the meat includes lemongrass and turmeric. The satay sauce is peanut based that is hot and spicy. The way I like to enjoy this is to dip in the satay sauce, take one bite, then skewer a piece of cucumber and onion respectively, dip and into the mouth! YUM. Nothing can beat the smell of satay grilling away as you enjoy your own satay.

So, I should stop here because I should go finish off my mee goreng from the local mamak store. Made you drool yet?

Extraordinary mondays - Hong Kong!

The verdict is in, I absolutely LOVE Hong Kong. The lights, the smells, the people, the trams. Particularly, the trams. If I ever decided to move to Hong Kong and lived on a tram line, I would take it as much as I can. I simply love the jerky, bumpy movement, the sound of the bells and the noise of the tram on the rails, and the whole concept of the movement of people in the most traditional form of public transport.

Unfortunately, I cannot show you my own shots as my camera loved the city so much, it decided to stay there! (Actually, Khoa needed my camera and I didn't get a chance to download my images off it before I left) However, I've found a shot by limaoscarjuliet that captures the scene quite well.

hong kong, originally uploaded by limaoscarjuliet.

What souvenirs did I bring home? I bought some clothes, handbags, some really beautifully handmade 3D pictures of iconic scenes of Hong Kong, lovely lovely jewelry from this little shop called La Fleche. (okay okay, so I'm sure one of the "e"s requires an accent but I can't figure out how to do it). More info on the shop will be in later post. Watch for it, I promise it is worth the wait.

Oh and I did really like Disneyland Hong Kong with all its kitsch and funfair but that can wait for another post when I get my photos.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho and off to Hong Kong I go...

I'm off to the vibrant city of Hong Kong for a few days. So, my updates will be a little patchy but I'll be sure to be back with loads of photos and truckloads of inspiration for the baroque moments' shop launch on 1 Jan 2010!!

I'll be back next Monday. See you then.

Hair rescue mission at Saw Hair Salon.

So, I had the worst haircut in my life the day before. This lady really went for it! My beautiful long hair all gone in mere minutes. This wasn't just in any hair salon either. It was a hair school and she was one of the senior stylists! I have never cried over hair before but I did after having my hair butchered.

I did some research and found really good reviews about Edwin Saw. I called to make an appointment and requested specifically for Edwin and the receptionist advised that I should come early as he had go to the Palace at 2pm. (Palace? That's probably another branch.) I agreed. Made the appointment and hoped for the best.

When I arrived, I was ushered to my chair where I was attended to within seconds by Edwin himself. He took a look at my hair and asked me what happened. He then proceeded to work on my hair for the next hour and half. He tried hard to keep whatever length that was left but had to cut it off anyway to give my hair shape and form whilst bearing in mind my want to grow my hair out again.

He then handed me over to one of his senior stylist to carry out the straightening treatment and apologised that he had to go out as he was summoned by the King to cut his hair. (The current King of Malaysia? Oh, that's why the receptionist said that he had to go to the Palace!) WOW! The guy that cuts the hair of the current King of Malaysia just cut my hair!!

Anyway, what I have ended up with is a short cut, with not much funfair, but classic in shape that frames my face well. Am I pleased? Yes! My hair feels fantastic after the treatment and I no longer have butchered hair AND the best of all, the straightening method ensures that I do not need to do anything to my hair in the morning except run a little wax through it.

I must say that I am a little sad about losing my long hair. BUT it is after all only hair and hair grows out.

Am I ever going back to that first hair salon? NEVER. Am I going back to Edwin? MOST DEFINITELY! I'm going to have my annual hair splurge at Saw Hair Salon. Next year, I may try the whole shebang: manicure, pedicure, neck and shoulder massage.

To think that all I wanted at the start was this hair cut! Now, it is going to take me at least two years before my hair can get to this length. *sigh*

Image taken from myhaircuts.blogspot.com

p/s: I am in Kuala Lumpur at the moment and having a great time shopping.

Textures of Kalgoorlie

So now that I am back on familiar grounds with a watery edge to orientate myself, I've had a chance to look back at the collection of images taken during my visit. Here are some snapshots of my visit:

Boulder town hall, home of the famous Goatcher Curtain. A painted stage curtain to complete the "picture-frame" stage. Painted by Philip Goatcher in 1908, in a trompe l'oeil style of a Neopolitan scene with Mount Vesuvius in the background. Read more about it here.


And more interesting to me were the chairs in the dress circle.



Kalgoorlie and Boulder had the most lovely stone used in their buildings. My photography skills really failed to bring any of the colour and the red vein alive. So sorry!


I also saw some really sad examples of how some stone buildings were painted over and had their mortar joints repaired with cement rich mortar. For those who aren't sure why this is bad, let me explain. Painting stone is a big NO-NO. It stops the stones from breathing and causes major damp issues. Stone needs to be allowed to dry out. Acrylic paint basically plastic coats the stone and traps the water that rises into the stonewall from the ground (if the damp proof course has been breached). The image below is of some repair work that was done using cement rich mortar. Cement rich mortar is really hard and will eventually eat away at the stone that it is in contact with. The basic rule is that mortar must always be softer than the stone/block. This wall isn't going to survive for very long. The best thing here is to chip the cement mortar away and mix and use a lime-sand mortar instead. (preferably using local sand, in this case, beautiful RED sand).


Oh and finally, a shot of the little lane way of Barista 202. We did finally get a chance to have lunch there and the food was basic. The odd thing was, I had my apple juice served in a Styrofoam cup. As you may have noticed, it is a pretty funky little space, complete with artwork by local artist for sale. Lovely, I would go again for the atmosphere.

Oh, how European!

Oh, look what I found on Hannan Street! I was absolutely taken by this shopfront. It must the only one in the town centre. It is one of the ground floor tenancies of the Kalgoorlie Mechanics Institute. The shop, Barista 202, is meant to have a good cup of coffee and breakfast. I must go try it out tomorrow morning. Well, the breakfast at least. (I can't have caffeine in case you didn't know.) The owners have converted a small lane between their shop and the next building into a rather funky alfresco space. It really had that kinda European feeling. I found it out of place. (Well, not as out of place as Dome and its distinct branding on Hannan Street!) I'll give you the verdict later.

Stuck in the middle

I have a confession to make. Someone mentioned something about the ocean and I had a moment of intense panic. A moment of realisation that I was in the middle of a vast land mass with no sea, ocean or for that matter, river close by. The dreadful thought descended on me that I had edge to hug, no natural line to follow and suddenly, I was filled with a sense that was very similar to feeling claustrophobic! The feeling passed just as quickly as it came.


View Larger Map

I thought about it a lot throughout the day and realised that it is no wonder that I felt kinda lost and lacked orientation the whole time I have been here. My natural point of orientation was not there.

I'm ready to go home now.

Come to the chemist museum

Kalgoorlie could probably be described as a one street town. This being Hannan Street. This is not to say that it is a small town. I was surprised by the grandness of the town. The extra, extra wide streets and walkways. The image below is of one of the major intersections on Hannan Street. As you can see, the streets are triple carriageway on both sides of the road! Hannan Street is lined with buildings from the years of the gold boom. An impressive collection of Federation style buildings in this town that are really kinda stuck in middle of nowhere.


Boulder, however, is a different story. Boulder is a little town next to Kalgoorlie. There is a more domestic scale with single storey buildings that line the main street, Burt Street. During my walk up and down Burt Street yesterday, I chanced upon a rather inconspicuous Chemist Museum. It was in a corner of a working chemist. It was complete with a chest of chemist drawers! (This so much reminds of the Chinese version of this - the Chinese herbalist drawers). The cupboards were lined with brown glass bottles with ointments and names of chemicals that I did not recognise. (I was never really good in Chemistry at high school.) The glass cabinets were jam-packed with medical memorabilia.


It was rather interesting to look at all the stuff but I wonder if it would have been better if the "museum" was made an integral part of the current working chemist shop. Wouldn't that be far more interesting? Seeing the immediate juxtaposition of the old with the new! I bet that would be such a trendy place to purchase your medicine. Just imagine the chemist standing behind that glass counter with the brown bottle laden glass cabinet dispensing your modern day prescription. I would go there to fill my prescription any day!

In the red centre...well...almost...

Super Pit in Kalgoorlie (WA), originally uploaded by eamedei.

Here I am surrounded by red earth and blue skies once again and I couldn't be a happier girl! I've had a day of absorbing the atmosphere, architecture and landscape of Kalgoorlie, Boulder and Coolgardie.

I've even had a trip to the Super Pit and was at once awestruck and almost sad by how man in his might could scar the earth so badly. Gold is what they are mining in the world's biggest open working mine. I feel conflicted. I like what comes out of that mine. (In fact, I am considering purchasing a pair of local gold nugget stud earrings as a souvenir). BUT I also feel that it is so unnatural. So awful that this beautiful natural land is forever marred by this great big hole in the ground.

Well, enough of my inner conflicts. More photos to come later. I'm off to find myself some gold!

A LATE Extraordinary Monday - The Nomadic Museum

Images taken from New York Architecture Images

This may be really old, old news to you but I've just discovered it. Above are images of Shigeru Ban's first major building in New York. It only lasted 4 months, from March to June 2005, on an abandoned pier on the Hudson River.

The building was essentially shipping containers that were stacked and staggered with paper tube columns and fabric ceilings to complete the internal space. The ingenious idea was that the content of the museum could be packed into the shipping containers that made up the walls!

The museum was designed specifically for an exhibition by Gregory Colbert called Ashes and Snow. The exhibition is still travelling the world. Visit it online here. His images were ephemeral, truly baroque in nature. The capturing of a moment, a posture, a thought, an emotion. I found they truly drew me in with their quietness but created such loud internal emotional responses. These two below particularly connected with me. The intense emotion of freedom and respect between girl and a majestic being like an elephant. WOW!

Images by Gregory Colbert

These trees are in full bloom...

...but I have no idea what they are called. There is a whole row of them lining Riverside Drive in Perth and I simply love it when they are in bloom. I find these trees absolutely elegant. The trunk leans ever so slightly and the branches all grow out in a certain way. The red blooms just top it all off.

If you know what they are called, could you please tell me?

Extraordinary Mondays - Our industrial past

If you told me ten years ago that I would love the look of rust and the aesthetics of machinery of the bygone years, I would have laughed and said that you really didn't know me at all. Well, how I have changed. I must say that the work I currently do has given me an appreciation for just that. An appreciation of a kind of industrial Australiana.

I thought I'd share with you a little of it.

The Blacksmith Shop at the Midland Railway Workshops.

The tools left hanging in the Blacksmith Shop.

Aqua and yellow machinery at Midland Railway Workshops.

More colourful machinery at Midland Railway Workshops.

Rusty farm equipment with the homestead in the background, Sutton's Farm, Mandurah.

Close up of old rusty farm equipment at Sutton's Farm, Mandurah.