Many apologies.

I'm sorry... I tried to upload some photos on a lady photographer that I wanted to feature but there's a malfunction with blogspot at the moment. Will try again tomorrow. I promise it to be controversial and may change the way you see things.

Sunrise at Paris.

After a long tiring weekend, seeing this photo re-energises me. It is a photo of hope, faith and peace. It reminds me that everyday there is something to be joyful for and also that I have not enjoyed sunrise in a long time.

I think it is healthy for the soul to abandon the cares of the world and just let ourselves enjoy the little pleasures in life. Focus on our current environment, our current state and take it all in. Notice everything around us from the edge of our nails to the curve of a leaf or even the smell of your loved one's hair. Let your senses be free.

St Falls, Fall Creek, Australia.

I love snow and skiing since I was introduced to it a few years ago. I reckon it would be a dream to be able to wake up to snow for a week and forget the pretty outfits, make-up and well coiffed hair, instead slap on moisturisers, lip balm and suit up to ski for a week. Imagine doing nothing but skiing, eating and sleeping. Wicked.

When I came across St Falls at Falls Creek, Victoria, I was overwhelmed by how beautiful it is. It's not just the aesthetics of the building but the way it blends into the ever changing landscape. This is definitely the property to own if you want to have an investment property which gives you a choice to rent out (you can stay for 7 weeks in a year) or keep it all to yourself. It is conceptualised by a boutique property developer, Zacomoco, it has also won Wallpaper magazine's best ski resort in the world.

If owning it isn't your sort of thing, you can also rent an apartment there (min 5 nights booking). Take a break from the madness of life (or in my case, the horrible Singapore weather) to enjoy the great outdoors (skiing, or snowboarding of course) and return to a nice toasty apartment, with retail shops, restaurants, cafes and a spa downstairs.

Shopping at the W Store.

Once in a while, I like surfing the W hotels' W Store. It has a mish mash of interesting things that range from a candle to a mattress. I reckon that they have a good collection of items for gifts. Here are some of the interesting gift choices. Do check out their website for their beddings, men and women items.

Old Fashioned Wooden Car Toy.
Labbit by Designer/Illustrator Frank Kozik. He was the one who drew the famous smoking rabbit illustrations. This Labbit comes with 4 different accessories. It's cute without being overly cliche.

A collection of toys for display. For the man who loves his machines.

Afterglow Massage Candle. After burning the candle, blow it out, dip the brush in it's warm wax and brush it across the skin on the areas to be massaged. kinky.

Mantel Dome Clock.

Charlotte Gainsbourg. Great CD for a late night.

Jasper Morrison's Cork Family. These are stools. Quirky and a great ice-breaker.

Top Gear 210609 with Michael Schumacher as The Stig.

I thought the last Top Gear episode with Michael Schumacher as the Stig is such a hoot. He drove the new Ferrari FXX so perfectly and the Suzuki Liana so terribly. You need to see the following youtube videos yourself. Needs no explanation.

Emily Peacock Tapestry.

Cross-stitching used to be one of my favourite past times. However, over the last few years, I haven't found a pattern that interests me at all. So many of those in the shops are a tat juvenile and too cute. Last week, I came across some images of cross-stitch patterns by Emily Peacock done into cushions. They have an old rock and roll vibe about them. This might just be the thing to make me pick up that needle and thread to stitch again. Imagine how fantastic that "kiss" cushion will look on a bed.

She sells both the kits (canvas, threads and a needle included) and charts (patterns for the design).

Roche Bobois.

Roche Bobois is a French furniture company which initially started as just a distributor of contemporary furniture in the 1960s. Now they are not just a distributor, they have also had some collaborations with famous designers to manufacture furniture exclusively for themselves. They had also a small collection of furniture designed with an environmentally healthy conscience.

I particularly liked their bookshelves and storage consoles. I suppose that's why I featured them instead of their sofas or tables.

Enologist Cabinet. The French manufacturer looked to the past for inspiration for its Architecte collection. This 94-inch-long, cherrywood-veneer Enologist chest is based on an old piece used by vintners to store bottles. I love the vintage feel and look of the chest. Stunning.

This shelf is designed by a young French man, Christophe Delcourt with wood harvested from chemical-free, sustainable wood forests. The item requires minimal packing and can be flat packed to improve it's carbon footprint.

What I like about this bookshelf is the way it reaches upwards and outwards like a tree. It's simple wood structure makes it beautiful to display pieces or shelf books.

This one almost seems to defy physics with it's very minimal skeleton. To me it looks like two sine curves inter-twined. Sure to bring out the "geeky" or "cheeky" side in a person.

Imperfectly Perfect.

I am terribly intrigued by the imperfectly perfect. We live in a world that we want to have the perfect everything, for those who have that terribly volatile creative temperament trying to perfect everything like myself; I get really frustrated with my own "failures". However, if we put our ideals aside and stand at a distance to look at the work in its entirety, sometimes our little imperfections do make it perfect. This post is dedicated to just that.

A Photograph of a Weeping Bride by Candice Cunningham. When I first saw this photograph, I had a flood of emotions and confusion that I can't register. So beautiful, serene yet troubled. Please click on the photograph to have a larger view.

Marco Pierre White when he was younger. This Chef Extraordinaire was the youngest (33 years old) during his time to receive 3 Michelin stars and Britain's first Celebrity Chef. He possesses exceptional culinary skills, and a terribly quick temper. Curtis Stone (who worked under him before, was quoted that Gordon Ramsay compared to him is like a "fairy angel"). In his defense, I've watched old episodes of him when he was 27 cooking for his old mentors, I can totally understand his pain as an artist (who sacrifices for his art). He may have a huge temper but an equally huge heart.

Bulgari's Sapphire Earrings. The both sides are not the same but still so beautiful.

My 2004 Mini Cooper. This is a photograph of it when it was 3 days old. It was perfect in everyway except for bad boot space and the horrible CVT. Besides that, when I got it, it's air-conditioning housing was cracked. Despite all these, I loved it, loved it will all my heart; just like a mother loves her child.

Frank Gehry's Dancing House in Prague. How this building with its uneven aligned windows, leaning structure and surreal design, blends into the adjoining buildings is still a mystery to some.

Joan Miro's Constellation: Awakening at Dawn. When you first look at the painting, it just looks like messy colour blocks and childish doodling, but upon studying it further, it makes so much sense in relation to its title.

Eastern Bluebird nestlings newly hatched. The swollen abdomen on one of them is from the nestling eating all the fluids in the egg before hatching. Look at its beautiful little wet feathers. The beautiful blue eggs have such a lovely hue.

This is how it will look in a few weeks time. (For those curious how it will look like with it's nestling feathers).

This is a full grown Male Eastern Bluebird. (Just for you to envision how it looks like when it matures.)

Layered Cakes.

As much as cupcakes are beautiful (not all of them), however, recently I have been attracted to layered cakes. Layered cakes look so indulgent and generous. They stand proud on a footed cake stand which makes a great feature piece on a lunch or dinner spread. It's a pity that three weeks back when I baked a strawberry shortcake, I didn't manage to take any photos of it.

Twigs and Honey.

Twigs and Honey seem to have resurrected wearing vintage hair pieces. Her pieces are whimsical and different. I would love to watch someone get married with such a lovely hair piece and maybe an attached birdcage veil instead of the usual long flowing veils. It's such a pity that most weddings here in Singapore are somewhat similar albeit the different gowns. It's time to think outside the square we live in.

Brionvega.

I've never been a fan of the huge LCD or Plasma televisions. I rather liked my television proportionate to the room size and slightly veering on being a tat vintage. Our current television is a 21 inch LG CRT television. Nothing grand but somehow it seems almost like a huge upgrade from my old 14 inch Phillips CRT television (it was just 2 years ago). The insanity of going to places like Harvey Norman or Best Denki to ask for a CRT television, (to make matters worse, I wanted another 14 inch) leaves my husband in stitches. By the way, we found ours in a suburban mall. Apparently they don't make much of those anymore.

Why do I love CRT? It doesn't get any dead pixels, the colour to me is better and it has a longer life than the plasma or LCD televisions. Moreover, the price difference is huge. Then again, maybe not that much different when compared to a Brionvega television. I'd die to have any one of them.

If there is one television that is for keeps, this is it. A Brionvega television is beautiful. The screens may not be big compared to our modern televisions but they are designed with love. Brionvega is an Italian electronics company, established in Milan in 1945, now located in Pordenone. Former part of the Seleco-Formenti Group, after the crack down of the company, following price dumping from Turkish manufacturers, has been splitted in two parts. The rights for the production of radios and audio systems was bought by Sim2 Multimedia Company. The Brionvega brand, tv branch, along with Seleco and Imperial were taken over by Super//Fluo company in August, 2006. Without a doubt, Brionvega is one of the most famous television and radio manufacturer, due to their designer collaborated products.

Brionvega Algol only in Army Green.

Brionvega Doney in Orange.

Front View of Doney.

Brionvega Cuboglass Television. This is my favourite. It looks like a black glossy cube when turned off.

This is how it looks like when it is turned on.

Brionvega TS522 Radio.

The Radio when Closed.

Brionvega RR226. It comes with a turntable and DVD/CD player.

Brionvega RR227 Radio.