Dream collection fulfilled~~!!

A story of my obsessive tendency to collect almost all the things I own in two-three different colours. Usually two. Three if I really, really like it. Thus, I have Osanpos in twos (just sold off my black osanpo kyandi-chan however, even though Beansprouts says it is the nicer colour), Mary Magdalene milrose in twos, Chanel in twos, black-white Mcqueen heels in twos…etc. ‘Twin’ would be more grammatically accurate but it unfortunately also has a Stephen King connotation. I don’t know, I am one of those boring individuals who can even have the same dish for weeks on end if I feel like it. Its changing. I try.

But there are some things which just deserve to be in twins. Like the Moitie irongate. ~Irongate love~!!~~~!!

I first fell head over heels for it when I saw it on egl on this pretty egl-er above, and clamoured to learn what was the print. It is the only print I have ever desired to form a three-some for. White-black, black-white and black-navy. I was so happy to see sweet_misa put up an auction for the black-white version today, and of course fought to have it (scary fight too!) She is the most, most darling and accomodating seller, and was very quick to answer to my questions and requests. I think it is sellers like that which make egl a better place. After having been on the EGL Community for about 3 years now, I now really appreciate a good and kind seller when I meet one.

I now have my Moitie irongate dream collection and own the skirts in all three colour schemes! This print is the rarest Moitie print in the community- it took me three whole years to finally build up the collection. And I have no wish for the ops as I think the cut won’t fit me, though they are so pretty in stock pictures, and egl-ers like Kagetsuki look so pretty in them. Ah~~ And I think the black-white will be more practical? I just can’t wait for it to arrive and I sure hope it fits as I bought sz 2 this time! But I’ll eat carrots for a month just for irongate. XD

I don’t think I will be buying anything else after this, and it will probably be only sales of my remaining pieces to the end of 2010.

After all, sleepy cat is clamouring for better quality salmon.

Yes I know, I’ll never be able to sell that petticoat after she has sat on it XD

How about you? Have you ever wanted to build up a collection in different colours? I am curious whether other people do it too : D

ps Beansprouts: I’m still so amused after my phonecall tonight that you are able to read my moods. Do you know it was just today? Sigh. I was so happy to speak with you tonight, and would have loved to see the brown box with a big brown bow!~

pps: Will be sharing photographs from the party soon…

Cards, Champagne and an adorable boy~

We went around to N’s house on the evening before Hari Raya, just for a gathering and cards. We started off with a great dinner at Katong, sambal stingray, kang kong, hor fun, chicken wings, all kinds of local delights matched with sugar cane. The sambal stingray was excellent. I was so addicted to the chilli that I wished to just buy it to keep at home! And everyone was bantering on about various issues casually and catching up since we last met all together in a group. As T would say, ‘good times, good times!’

I am always amazed by N’s place, as there is not a speck of dust in the house. The kitchen is absolutely immaculate. I think the lawyers I’ve met in my life range from the downright all-out messy hoarders and the those who champion dust-free (and item free) living. In the kitchen, there is not a pot to be seen, everything is labelled and arranged perfectly.

This dichotomy was reflected in the offices of two of my lecturers in the UCL academic circle – Riz Mokal and A. Reisberg. Whereas A.Reisberg’s office was always spick and span, with all his books in tidy rows and with an incredibly minuted  schedule, I recall ever stepping over some papers (and one suspiciously an essay) in Riz Mokal’s office. But do offices ever make an impression on me? To me, Riz Mokal is one of the most brilliant, if not the most brilliant, academic, lawyer and teacher I have ever had. Just an hour in his office, debating with him all manner of issues, from jurisprudence to insolvency, always left me with an enraptured and floaty feeling afterwards. I think the moments hearing him rationalize and debate issues were some of my happiest. Every logic link was always poised, calculated, and he was always willing to explore and challenge other points of view. The last I heard, he left to head the insolvency team in the World Bank, and they must be better for it. It seems as though the exterior state of his room was in way indicative of the consistency and tidiness of his thoughts and opinions.

Of the two styles of living, guess which I belong to? (No BS you are not allowed to join in this of course! You know me sometimes better than I know myself!)

Back to N’s house, he brought us around, and explained the placing and choice of his accessories and fittings. Much thought had gone into every part, even whether to have a hanging cupboard fitting or to attach it to the ground. He also shared with us many stories about people in law in his time, and we had fun times going through his photograph albums and spotting people – N especially looks very different! He was the head of the NUS Law Club in his time, and made it his business to know practically everyone in law, and had stories to share about every person, where they were now, and what they were like then. It was very interesting also seeing some past photographs of Raffles Institution, and I like the way he keeps little momentos, like all his bus tickets, food menus from the Istana (our N was spotted having lunches with the President…apparently he was a PAP volunteer before he joined the central bank!), and candid shots every now and then.

We had no work the next day, so we all had several rounds of wine and champagne. I stayed with only champagne though, as I had a book to read that night. I think I am drinking less since I left London, which can only be a good thing.

Two of my favourite girls, SH and GF. BS, I think I have mentioned GF to you before, she is one whom I chatter incessantly with most of the time haha, and she also has two adorable kids she nicknames Wei Wei and Di Di! I love hearing about their antics and how Wei Wei loves math so much he would hug his math book to sleep!

See, here’s Wei Wei!!

So adorable! According to his mother, he is here practicing ‘psycho-motor’ skills. He was asking alot of ‘hard’ questions like why there are extra buttons which you cannot button on mummy’s jacket. Questions like that which even grownups do not have the answer to. XD Really, it is true that I do not really know why there are 34141 extra buttons on my dresses which I do not use whatsoever, or why they are so many extra parts to a top which have no practical use. He must take the male point of view that practicality is foremost- do you see as many redundant aspects to male clothing as you do to clothing for the fairer sex?

And here is N on the left!

Our resident taekwando black belt jiu-duan expert slicing…no…shuffling cards!

N is a cat lover like me (I notice most lawyers tend to be cat lovers before anything else…) but he is allergic to cats…so this toy dog is his living room substitute I suppose!

Cake brought by Sin Huey…made by a ‘Chef Yamashita’, a mango cream cake…did it sound grand! I did not have any as I was far too full for dinner. This was not the whole cake, which was almost gone when I took the photograph!

Our finance expert WY and I share a happy shot.

Cheers to a fantastic evening! (and no one in particular won the card game)

More AP? 0.0

Umm…yeah…I just got AP’s Dream Doll House in mint and lavender. I know its utterly contradictory as I had been saying just a few weeks ago that I didn’t like it and it was too busy. But I loved it when it came out! Even the mint was more adorable than I expected. I think mint is my new favourite colour.

I have love-hate relationships with AP prints!

*not my picture, as I have obviously not received the set yet!

Must sell off something to make up for it hmm….

Hello Kitty Lab @ Expo

Today, I visited the Hello Kitty Lab @ Expo, something I’ve been longing to do since it arrived!  I’ve heard good reviews of the lab when the team visited Hong Kong, and thought it looked pretty cool! It was crazy popular in Hong Kong and I heard there might be a repeat new version their next anniversary.

Hello Kitty Lab was devised to commemorate Hello Kitty’s 35th anniversity, and Sanrio linked with other companies to build up a participatory gaming ‘cute paradise’ within a ‘Kitty-fied’ simulation city. (Just think of Neopets being brought to life).

Interesting facts: Hello Kitty was born on Nov 1, 1974 in London, England. She is also said to play the piano and bake cakes! Her favourite items are a bottle of milk, an apple harvested from her Papa’s garden, cookies baked by Papa and her pet goldfish (a cat without gourmet tendencies??) She is said to weigh the same as three apples and stands five apples tall (I really like this height measurement technique haha)

I was supposed to go with J last week, but in the end the entrance fee also frightened them away. And my friends don’t tend to be hello kitty lovers, so no one was really interested. But in the end, I still decided to go as I tend to be quite mad over all things cat!

Gripes about it though – so expensive! And despite the entrance fee, they still did not allow photography. But of course like Victoria I couldn’t resist taking a bit of the cute setup they had at the expo!

Its been some time since my pink AP velveteen jsk got some love~ I wanted to do a blue and red colour theme at first for HK but I had no red in my wardrobe besides the red syrup on my Ribbonholic

There was no official explanation, but a staffer dressed in a lab coat explained the game’s storyline, that an explosion had occurred in Dr Kitty’s lab that caused her to look rather woolly (or bubbly?) and required her DNA and physical being to be reconstituted. Thus, there is a series of mini ‘challenges’ to help Dr Kitty look normal once more.

Plenty of people have been asking, “Who will attend a Hello Kitty exhibition?” To my surprise, the main crowd at the exhibition was actually made up of couples … exactly like the Night Safari! The ticketing booth looks empty now…but just a few seconds before this picture was taken, it was swamped by couples…

Upon entry, you get an electronic device which is apparently supposed to be a form of ‘Hello Kitty DNA’ and a map which directs you to a series of ‘locations’ to complete the challenges. You basically put the ‘Kitty DNA’ on each booth’s recognizing device to activate each challenge. However, as I tend to be quite bad in directions, I often found myself going in circles, though it was an enjoyable idea getting lost amongst the different locations!

Kitty Ribbon Salon…my first stop to choose from a series of head ribbons a ribbon for my kitty!

There was even a ‘Hello Kitty’ boutique which had a range of fashion items for Hello Kitty, and included a Haute Couture section with Hello Kitty Chanel bags!

An enormous woolly kitty in the center of the exhibition…I tried to get a picture but was caught by a ‘Hello Kitty officer’ 0.0

What songs would Kitty sing in the KTV?

This was part of the boutique, and was quite a fun game…you had to sort of repeat a flinging motion with your hands to retrieve Hello Kitty’s clothes at the bottom of a soiled stack. On one hand, I felt utterly juvenile doing it, on the other, when was the last time you played easy Wii?

There were different ‘locations’ besides the above like Kitty Cafe (where you had to ‘slurp’ a bowl of noodles…and I never figured out why before doing it haha) , a Career Centre to find a job for Kitty, a Formula One booth for kitty racing, Kitty College, and even Daniel Travel (where you are sent all over the world find pretty accessories for Kitty!) The lab even had a ‘Hello Kitty police station’ where lost Kitty-philes could head to to ask for directions. Complete the tasks within 35 minutes, and you get a Kitty star badge. Of course I had to get one, to hang it proudly on the collar of my real life kitten!

 But um…I admit to having really bad psychomotor skills. Somehow I turn left when I feel like going right often, and press buttons all over the place (which is why I make a great Daytona arcade driver with my crazy driving and a terrible gamer with everything else)…haha and so my Kitty id ended up looking like Avril Lavigne Kitty drinking milk!

Overall I really liked the experience and thought the whole project was quite unique! Everyone possibly needs a little obsessive experience like this once in a while.

And of course, before I left…snuck a picture with Woolly kitty…~

I didn’t get any souvenirs as though I like Hello Kitty, I am actually not so interested in HK merchandise! I suppose my real life kitty is sufficient for daily living. But I did like the eco tote bags they were offering which looked really cute.

All in all I really enjoyed Hello Kitty Lab and might visit again when I go to Tokyo!~ (will drag either the poor boyfriend or the poor best friend next time)

On presents

“You’re in BIG trouble. I got your present the other day – its been sitting on my desk for 48 hours and I like it so much – I might keep it myself… and go out and buy another one for you. Would it be strange, if we both had the same ____? Or should I just close my eyes, and send the ____ away with your Christmas card – and pretend I never wanted it for myself? That seems quite heroic. Wouldn’t it be nice if you got a HEROIC gift? Or would you rather that we shared an object- that (hopefully) not many people have? I dunno. I’m in a dilemma – the 3rd option is of course buying something else completely but that takes time – and acc to the newspapers, I only have until 1st week of December to send Christmas post- otherwise, it will arrive late. ”

Awwww I like you so much XD. And I just had to post it here as I think it is one of those quotable quotes which sounds almost Kate Atkinson.

I also have a confession to make! Once, I gave a pair of violin cufflinks to someone. But I really loved the violin cufflinks. I stared at it so much for ages in the end I became a COWARD and bought an identical pair. XD

But in this case I want to be SPECIAL, BS. I want the first present you got and want so much, and I want the second one you buy to be yours. *hee A selfish only child tendency!

My colleague was talking today about her children (both energetic boys) and how they always fight over the same thing (in this case, a toy car) although they had so many toy cars.

I think best friends ought to have the same things for eitherwise how can we say Billie Holiday belongs to you or me, BS?

But for Tottoro’s dust mite, even if we both had one, I’ll FIGHT for yours too XD.

There’s something about it being BS’s dustmite which makes it innately attractive.

Hold on to your horses, Beansprouts! Your Christmas present is officially on its way ~~

I tried very hard to get you a blue Steinway piano but unfortunately they only carried those in black, white and pink.

I have so many long letters to write, so exciting. I love writing Christmas letters!

Yuletide callings;

As it draws near to Christmas, even bus rides become quite an exciting pleasure at night observing the decorations put up for the occasion. At the same time, often feel a bit lost thinking of ST whom I miss, and of Christmas in London. In the past few years, there was always a lingering pleasure of the Christmas season, long lunches with the Bibimbap Lawyers, and the year we had the failure of the gift exchange (everyone could guess who gave what from the character of the presents).

The last I spoke to ST (he has been very busy with cases and such), he mentioned of being frustrated with the cold in London, wishing he had the warm weather of the Carribean which he remembers, or the mornings in the East. I told him I would give anything to see snow again, and am dashing into places all the time for the cold! And of course I love cold cold weathers so that I can walk out with a cup of miso in hand and wear all my favourite coats (a distinctly female thing).

It is impossible to have proper coat wearing sessions in Singapore, or shiver in the cold whilst holding a lover’s hand alongside the Thames river. Yes, the fantasy of the coat, and zipping into art galleries to keep warm!

If I could have a coat this year again, I would be dreaming of these:

Jesus Diamante has the loveliest chiffon interlaced coats for the most expensive price in the industry, unfortunately!

And who would still complain about shivering in the cold with this polka dot darling!

Or for some couture, a little fur capelet a la Chanel?

 I’ll even be tempted to take out my favourite Samantha Thavasa white fur bag from hiding which I almost never use as I am so afraid of getting it dirty. Of course being totally impractical I never thought of this when I first got it. So I suppose it is reserved for the really really special days out when I feel a little wintery inside (and for me winter is not associated with Plath-y notions!)

So how about you, are you a winter or spring person? I am guessing Beansprouts is just like me.

Beansprouts, I think I am going to have to call you less often until you sort out the phone thing. So expensive! And I am scared of your parents now 0.0 just as I think I am scared of most parents. Heh I wish I could get a cup phone and call you in our club treehouse.

I recently sold a dress and had funds, and so bought my first necklace from Ribbonholic since C was making an order! I love it absolutely and it is like wearing strawberry waffles haha. If Beansprouts was here I bet you wouldn’t be able to resist figuring out if the whipped cream could come off.

I am feeling a little lonely and bored this weekend but tried to stay in as I wanted to try out CFA book 1. It is ok but just not very exciting. But I think I like it more than studying for the DipSing because of the nature of math, once you resolve it its over and done with. And you feel a little pleasure after solving things after some time! But my scatterbrained memory means I can just forget a formula I learnt seconds ago! And how should I get excited about studying variances and covariances? If only SP was here to tell me mathsy stories again…

To end off, a little Lisa Ekhdahl I just had to share, my favourite song by her.

A wintery memory in Claridges, December 08. The first second after midnight, a man with bagpipes walked into the bar and everyone burst into Auld Lang Syne!

Moments, coffee and departures

“I wanted to get out and walk eastward toward the park through the soft twilight, but each time I tried to go I became entangled in some wild, strident argument which pulled me back, as if with ropes, into my chair. Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I was him too, looking up and wondering. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”

“People disappeared, reappeared, made plans to go somewhere, and then lost each other, searched for each other, found each other a few feet away.”

– The Great Gatsby

I’ve been typing again with one less finger (due to a bad paper cut) – an interesting feat, considering that if you have ever worked by me, you will notice that that I type with three fingers. Aka, the discouraged, nursery school child typing. 

It began when I was three, and I had access to Microsoft Word, and I remember telling myself I wanted to copy out the text to all the same figures in my story book on the computer, and compete with myself on the times (alas, the useless and miserable things only children do to entertain themselves) and by the time I was six and my parents decided I ought to learn the proper way of typing, I was already typing as fast as the average person and stubbornly refused to change. I still do, type as fast or often faster than average, except compared to L, my best friend, but then again, she does many things much better than me which I am quite thrilled about. L’s understated moments of brilliance, the way she instinctively picks out 50 words at each Bingo game in a couple of seconds, when I struggle at 5-7, L’s pretty paintings when my donkeys look like Poohs, L’s memorization of practically every part of the human anatomy and the periodic table song.

When I first met L, I fell in love with her kind and liberal nature and we both loved spending time with each other so much that we became best friends. Realizing her brilliance came afterwards. I feel advantaged, the way you see your opposing competitor suddenly reveal a set of winning cards, unfazed at the last round of poker. Often I am deeply competitive, but at the same time I have an affection for my competitors, especially those whom are so naturally brilliant that you see a quiet twinkle in their eyes.

Today (yes the way my thoughts jump), a favourite colleague of mine at my place of work declared suddenly in an email that it would be his last day here. He had always been one of my favourite tos right from the beginning, perhaps because he was attached to my primary school friend, and I thought then anyone attached to S couldn’t be half bad. He also was a strong extrovert, had a little jump in his steps, and took actuarial science (I tend to like math people too, because I somehow intuitively link them to C and SP). We had some very happy conversations together, especially in the time preparing for National Day celebrations, when a group of us would stay and hit water tumbler bottles till 9pm, as he terms it, and then go for supper afterwards. How many times in one life can one declare that a group bonded through water filter bottles?

He’s not the first that I know of to leave, and there have been others, and Y reminds me that he will also not be the last in my time here. But often I think that these people left for a reason, and there will always be better things meant for them – Who can fathom the very mysterious ways through which God works? I remember thinking at some moments of my life as if my trail had traced to emptiness, before something new opened and gave me courage. Time is a remarkable healer and life even more so.

And thank God for people like Beansprouts and S who remind me that even a little thing like a poker game forfeit (making YE, who is going into AGC), perform a magical cow dance (will forward you the link, Beansprouts!) can fill the little holes that daily life leaves behind. After all, it is worth looking on the video again, when YE becomes a judge in some court, that he once performed a magical cow dance, just as it is worth looking at the moments of despair we once faced to see what we have learnt from it since then.

On an irreverent note, since her owner has a pink bow, shouldn’t Tempura have her own bow too?

All in all, been having an exceptional week. Even had time for a little engaging discussion on options with fellow colleagues Y and J, and I finally understand graphically what rolling over options means, how to use a straddle, collars etc. and price these complex things, and how to attach exotic features. Besides this, I also learnt in regards to another case about price mechanisms on warrants which catch the Securities and Futures Act. All in all quite an inspiring and interesting week, even got to learn a bit more of excel for the purposes of exhibits.

Also reading a great book, The Snowball, a biography on Warren Buffett. The best book I’ve read in awhile. I am at the beginning family part and it is like a well-written Angela’s Ashes haha! Also inspired me to re-consider my financial plan and current investment strategies – maybe its time I stop resting on my laurels and finally start on UK equities? Hong Kong is not for me as I don’t really understand that market. Also a great book to inspire me to do more math and stop being a cat (does the picture of the cat above convince you it does math??) on weekends.

Alcie’s Tea Party (Part II)

Posting here for once instead of livejournal as I am lazy to doublepost XD. Alcie had a little picnic for the Singaporean egls last Saturday, and it turned out to be fine weather in the Botanic Gardens. Everyone looked so lovely, and we had so much fun! Thought I’ll share a few snapshots I took of the event.

We were having potluck, so everyone brought a little something. There was fried rice, chicken wings, otak-otak, colourful doughnuts, apple strudel strawberries, and all kinds of tea! Forgive me if I accidentally forgot the efforts of any of the egls. We also had mats of all kinds, and even had a visiting caterpillar 0.0 in the process who loved Jolene! Alcie also made the cutest gift bags for us for the event (thank you for the chocolate marshmallows!). I also re-united with one of my high school seniors, Dusty, who had been on the same debating team, and she looks utterly gorgeous in lolita!

We discovered *gasp this tree in the process…which grows burando! It was sprouting all manners of pretty items, even AP’s bunny bear bag, and so many parasols! We deduced that this must be where Black Alice gets their items from.

A dress print shot, of all the egls at the event!

Afterwards, we headed over to Black Alice, and even passed by several swans, and several cute puppies in the process! I love Black Alice, and there were many beautiful prints in the shop that day! I was so tempted to get some of the items as usual, and everyone was a little excited about Vampire Requiem. I was so happy to meet another fellow lawyer in Strawberry Ribbon!

Afterwards, some of us went to the games arcade, and we discovered exceptional para para abilities in some of our egls *wink. We also played the tri-button Japanese game (I don’t know what else to call it?), Time Crisis, Daytona etc. I grew up on Daytona so that was the only thing which I was able to do relatively well *lol but I was so impressed by Victoria’s shooting abilities!

Some photo-machine shots to end the day~ I didn’t join them for dinner as I had another event, but it was awesome fun trying to fit seven people into the same picture and the screaming moments in between pictures!

I loved meeting everyone and I can’t wait for the next meet! Kamen’s rendition of the Pooh Bear song also somehow remains in my mind, she sings it so sweetly I couldn’t forget the mention of the owl, and my poor best friend Beansprouts had to hum it for me a few times afterwards at my request. XD Kamen is the pretty girl in white who twinned with Victoria on Rose Melody Ballerina (print name?) dresses! I twinned Daiso umbrellas with my Mint Rose twin. XD

There are many more photos of the event and the above are just a few, saved the rest in Facebook (bigger shots also available). Let me know if you would like the link XD. Can’t wait for the next meet, perhaps at EOY!

Tea organized by the lovely Alcie~!

Its been a long time since I last posted, for I have been holed up in my little room studying for the exams! It was so nice to be free again …! Congratulations to those who have just finished too, and all the best for those who are still in the midst of studying!

I attended a lovely tea organized by Alcie last Saturday. Everyone looked so lovely, and we had so much fun – I am still editing a million photographs from that event at that moment! Will post about that soon. Meanwhile here are some personal shots to share.

I wore several macaroon/cupcake rings to the event…and by the end I had lost two cupcakes!! So depressing 0.0 I miss my little pink cupcake ring most!

Since it was a picnic, I thought it would be nice to wear some flowers~!

And the last…several of us went into the arcade…and had screaming moments trying to fit 7 people into the photo booth!! There were screaming moments just changing a pose every few seconds! XD Sorry that my camera couldn’t get a very good microfunction shot.