Albert Einstein - on fashion

"If they want to see me, here I am.
If they want to see myclothes, they can look in my closet."

- Albert Einstein, while greeting visitors at his home in rags.

Stunning Editorial

The ethereal Lin Chi-Ling in Red Cliff II.

Pls watch the movie - both parts of it. Great work by John Woo.

Sofia Coppola for French Vogue: breathtaking cover.

We don't always need a celeb/model showing a big sunny smile on the cover.

Or looking at the camera, for that matter.

I wish more magazines will take chances like this, it's so refreshing to see real thought and design/art on a fashion cover.

Penelope Cruz for Mango Spring/Summer 2009

Tis what i call beyond gorgeous.

the bitch called age

I read about the Saturn crisis quite a while ago.
But am only feeling it now.

Basically, it's like some mid-life crisis that occurs on the brink of 30.
Typically at age 28/29.
Bingo.

I kinda skipped that wretched quarter-life crisis. Thankfully.
I had none of that angst/frustration at age 25/26.
Maybe cos i was pre-occupied with marriage/home/baby.
So i guess this Saturn thing is a long time coming.

Now, officially, i have the time + energy to be worrisome.
I hate it.
It eats up my nights.
Makes me lose my focus. And keep feeling not good enough.

What exactly is my grand life supposed to be?
What am i supposed to achieved in this lifetime that i have not already?
When can i rest easy and just relax?

Outstanding editorial, beautiful women

Kate Winslet - photoshop or is this humanly possible?


The divine Angelina Jolie - Vanity Fair 2008

Supermodel Doutzen - Vanity Fair 2008

Starring Jennifer Aniston's impossibly taut body - Vogue 2008 December

Marco - toddler year

At the playground just 2 blocks away from our house

Christmas Day 2008-- River ride at Clark Quay

Scaling new heights - January 2009

Waterplay at Vivocity

Waterplay at Vivocity

sleepless night in january

Haven't been sleeping well these few nites.
Which is really a waste, cos i'm on a super-luxurious 9-day break.
And i imagined this is the week i'll kinda retrofit my leftover lifestyle from 08 and try to make good.
But no. Of cos, things never went like i planned.
I crashed out.
Kinda slipped into a mini-depression of sorts.
Was retrospective and quiet and subdued and kinda watching things from a distance.
Had bouts of insomnia.
Last night, it kinda came to a crux.

I was sleepless, yet again.
So i watched 2 DVDs, back to back.
After that movie marathon, it was disappointingly only 3.30AM.
Still too early for bedtime, according to my insomniac body clock.
I felt like talking. Just chatting to someone.
Just hearing another voice comment on my 'issues'.
Just knowing that i'm not just dreaming and internalising it all.

What did i do?
I woke my poor husband up.
After all, he of all people, should know how depressed his wife is.
After a good 10 minutes, he woke up, as in, he became really awake.
So awake i think he couldn't sleep after that, hahah.

Naturally, i felt better after talking.
Women are women - we just need to yak.
We talked so much we nearly woke Marco up.
In the midst of making Marco go back to bed, i crashed and fell into my long-awaited deep slumber.

So i guess it was an okay night after all.

And now, i feel the sun is kinda back.
Maybe not shiny bright, but i can see a lil past that gloom and doom at least.

Not the best starts of years, i have to say.

J & LZ's wedding

I attended the wedding of Jacqueline and LZ ysterday.
It was such a fairy-tale, my 2 sec school frens tying the knot at 28.
Truly truly beautiful.
In fact, it could be the most beautiful wedding i ever attended.
You know Jacq ... never one to doll up, have not even seen her in a dress.
But she was ravishing and spectacular yesterday.
Her petite frame filled up the gowns so perfectly, even the guys at my table were gushing.

And with both of them coming from RV, there were easily 5-6 tables of familiar faces.
I think that was what made it so special.
Catching up with everyone, going back to our roots and seeing how everyone has matured, grown up yet still largely the same.
I saw people i haven't seen since we graduated.
And i was so happy!
So happy to be in touch, so happy to be there, so happy and grateful to be part of this.

I never appreciated my sec school in all the 4 years i was there.
It was never cool enough, never 'English' enough, never 'me' enough.
But that was just silly immature me.

In hindsight, no, it wasn't perfect, but it made good of all of us.
It drummed in us a certain academic discipline, trained us to be bilingual and instilled in us great Chinese values - values that would be appreciated anywhere.
Looking at the people around me last night, i felt so privileged.
Privileged to be part of them.
Proud that we shared the same background.
If only i could have seen this at 16.

RV people are the simplest yet nicest people i know.
There's never the wanting to be cool or hip or in the limelight.
Everyone is jsut quietly brilliant in their own way.

I hang out with a lot of alumni from CHIJ and those supposedly more 'English' schools,
and thank God i didn't go there.
They are so intellectually empty, bitchy and gossipy, all the time.
Even the guys.
RV girls are like angels in comparison.
Well, you can say they are boring... but i choose to think they are focused, more intellectual and just not vain/petty/spiteful, sort of above all those mean stuff.

But back to the wedding - yes it was magical.
I haven't seen a wedding like this in ages. Or before.
It was a union of kindred souls.
The perfect beautiful finale to an enduring love.
And 2 of the sweetest people i ever will know, how amazing can it be?
My heart goes out to them.

Searching

I have this strange feeling as the year dawns.
I dunno how to describe it, except that i've been feeling it for days.
It's a searching feeling... like i'm on the hunt for something.
Something to complete things? I dunno.
I feel like i'm on the cusp of something.
That i may discover it soon, if i 'search' long & hard enough.
What is it? Where is it? What will lead me to it?
Have you ever felt like this?

i know that i'm not doing things right.
And that, perhaps, God didn't mean for me to continue my folly into 2009 as well.
It feels like a new path to something better.
And it ain't trivial.
It's hard to ignore deep-in-your-guts feelings like this.

Will it come from work? From church? I dunno...
i hope i will 'get' it soon, as in, know what this is.
At least i can spend time to set things right, if they have been so wrong.

It's silly, you probably think i'm writing some stupid riddle.
Believe me, i feel the same way.

I feel like this IS the answer for the whole year.
Or at least, for a long time.

Weekend playgroup fun

Quite a nice day so far.
Right now, i'm super free idling in my mum's room as Marco sleeps.
How peaceful. And quiet. Serene. Awww, sooo nice.

Had a great playgroup session today.
It's Saturday and almost every kid came with BOTH parents.
Only me and another japanese mum came alone.
Not that we minded.
I'm in the camp that believes in playgroups, we should leave our kids alone as much as possible.
They already face us 24/7 at home; why not give them a chance to mingle with strangers and other kids in class?

Marco was quite the 'star' today.
He did everything the teachers instructed, and was often the first to do it.
And also the most independent kid there.
I basically had nothing much to do except hover in the distance and make sure he's fine.
He just played along with the rest, did what the teachers wanted and/or entertained himself with the toys/structures all around.
Such a breeze.
All the other parents were looking at his independent ways, i felt so proud.

I wish i can tell the other mums "give your kid some breathing space!"
That's all they need sometime.
We are not the only ones they can learn from.
They can learn equally as much from strangers or other kids, through play.
In fact, they may learn more this way.

After that, we went home, had lunch together and now, are at my folks' place.
i'm loving the good happy vibes of 2009 alreadi.
Just don't read the papers....

My first 24 hours of 2009

My first 24 hours of 2009:

6.45AM - wake up for run. It's ridiculous the excuses that go thru my groggy head in the morning, so kudos to myself for getting out the door at all.

7AM - begin run around my house. It's friggin' killing, running after such a long hiatus. I ran all of 28 pathetic minutes, stopping 3 times along the way. Like i said, P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C.

8AM - reach home. did some basic yoga + crunches. Ouch. Then Marco wakes up.

9AM - took a shower.

10AM - brought Marco to my mum's house. She's babysitting today.

10.30AM - have brunch with terence at his shop. He's on half day today. Waited for him to finish work at 1pm.

1.30pm - went to Vivocity, with the intention of catching a movie. Every afternoon show was sold out. We gave up. Instead, he bought me a pair of shoes (yes, 2 new pairs in 2 days! the year is off to a great start!) and we developed some photos.

3PM - reached home to watch a dvd instead. Was a boring show. We had a nap instead.

5.30PM - went to IKEA to help my mum get a new laundry bag. And some potted greens for our home. Thought I'll spruce up the doorway a lil. Bought a plank and 4 pots. Cheap, nice and green!
And the IKEA sausages are awesome.

7PM - reach my mum's place for dinner.

8PM - we brought Marco home.

8.30PM - Terence's parents came over to play with Marco.

9.30PM - Marco's bedtime.

10.30PM - i surf the net. and blog. and erm, catch up on facebook nonsense.

last 24 hours of 2008

My last 24 hours of 2008:

9.30am - Woke up to a very fresh and happy Marco. Terence leaves for work.
I play with Marco, have my breakfast and just tend to him.

11.30am - Marco's naptime. I cook his lunch and settle down to watch 'Breaking & Entering'.
Jude Law is just irresistible. Tell me one Jude Law movie that isn't nice. Can't think of one? You get my point. He's just incredibly good-looking and made for the big screen.

1.30PM - Marco wakes up for his lunch. Mashed potato with chicken and loads veg.

2.30PM - We leave for his playgroup session.

3.30PM - Playgroup finishes. We head to Cold Storage for some groceries.

4PM - Then to BakerzInn where he will have his milk feed and I will have my hot cocoa.

4.45PM - We head home. Marco fell asleep in the car and continues his nap when we reach home.

6PM - I have my dinner. Chicken stew with carrots & tau pok. Plus veg. Yummy yummy. Then watched TV, surfed Net and idled around.

7.45PM - Marco wakes up after an unusally long nap. Crap, he will sleep late tonite. He's usually up by 6PM thereabouts. Atrocious, he's having such a late dinner.

8PM - Marco has his dinner.

8.45PM - Terence reaches home. Gives Marco a bath. Has his dinner.

9PM - I go to Vivocity's Toys R' Us to get Marco's stuff. Cos just for today, any purchase gets the privilege card, which we wanted. So i got Marco a toy bike + land bus. He loved it. And of course, i got myself a pair of mustard-coloured shoes from Charles & Keith next door. At 40% off!

10.20PM - head home for cuddle-time wityh marco & terence. our own countdown.

Happy New Year!!!