from east village to west

Last Sunday, my roomie Sabrina and I traipsed all the way from our dorm to the heart of the East Village, all the way across to the West Village and then back again to our dorm in the heat of the scorching sun. I'd wanted to check out the hotel that my mum will be staying at when she comes to visit (in just a little over a week!) which is all the way over on West Eleventh. While I remember the heat to be pretty unbearable and nastily reminiscent of that of Singapore's (UGHHH I did not come to NYC to face the same sort of heat!), the afternoon's walk was made much more pleasant with the funky sights of the East Village and slow siesta feel of the West Village.

Funky Graffiti. I love spontaneous urban art like this. :)

Originally we'd planned on checking out the famous Cafe Habana for lunch but when we strolled over at 1pm, it was PACKED to the brim. We waited for like 10minutes and they kept telling us that the 'hostess' would be back soon (from where, huh??) to put us on the waiting list blahblah. The 'hostess' never showed up and our growling tummies lead us elsewhere. SIGH.

But we ended up at a quaint little cafe not very far down! I love how there are always great places to eat at practically every single street so it really doesn't matter if you don't manage to find a seat at an intended place because there's another great, albeit relatively undiscovered place just around the corner.

Our brunch at:

Prince St. Cafe

26 Prince Street

My "New Yorker" (it was literally called that) brunch special. AWESOME eggs benedict with scrummy hollandaise sauce. Only thing that wasn't fantastic was the bread that was crunchy at the sides but almost impossible to tear into pieces in your mouth if you aren't a dinosaur. So...you'd probably wanna help your granny with that if she ends up ordering it.

Sabrina's vegetarian sandwich. Yeah, she likes to eat vegetarian stuff. Like my sis. Go figure these people out. ;) I'd never foresake my bacon.

Fruit bowl for dessert! That was part of the brunch special. I relish every opportunity to sink my teeth into some yummy fruit when I'm over here... I love how Whole Foods Market has such fat juicy strawberries all the time... but that's a story for another day.

Walked by some street stalls. This one (without a visible owner) sold movie Scripts! I was so tempted to get the one for Dead Poet's Society (one of my favorite movies!) and The Social Network.

Isn't it fun how there are all these stalls along the side of the road that sell just about ANYTHING? You could get all the furniture you need for a new apartment just off the sidewalk... add a new coat of paint of your choice and it's good to go. :D

Quickie outfit shot taken outside our dorm (photos of me taken by Sabrina and vice versa!).

(top and bag: Urban Outfitters, skirt: American Eagle Outfitters, shoes: Aldo)

So I have recently discovered the awesomeness that is American Eagle Outfitters thanks to a fellow coursemate whose entire outfit that day comprised of A.E.O wear. I've never ventured into it before because I thought it would be something like a Hollister or Abercrombie and Fitch; just full of generic tank tops and hot shorts for summer drenched in cologne. But A.E.O had some pretty nice stuff! :D And the offshoot brand, Aerie, has such a nice collection of nightwear and lingerie for really reasonable prices too. And no, no one's paying me to say all this. X) I do recommend you check it out for some pretty summerwear and lingerie at decent prices. When I saw this skirt in the store, it really reminded me of some sort of whimsical oil painting on a canvas. I suppose the beautiful Kandinsky paintings were still fresh in my mind from last Friday when we went to the Guggenheim (sososososo good. One of the best museum experiences ever!) so I pounced on it. Imagine my happiness when I found out that EVERYTHING was 30% OFF!

Sabrina in her new shades that she scored off Prince Street at a random stall. She has such a great collection of colorful print clothes.

And before I end off this post, take a look at what I found nestled in a RECORD STORE.

JUST ABOUT THE FATTEST GREY CAT ALIVE!

We went into a random record store in Greenwich Village and as I walked down the aisle not really looking for anything in particular, something MOVED out of the corner of my eye. I nearly choked on my own saliva when I saw this monstrous fur ball right in the center of the store. It was probably the most grouchy cat I'd ever seen. -___- But cute in its own way.

Oh wow, I was so tired today but somehow at night I never really want to sleep.

loving each day

Hi there, from NYC! :) A week has gone by already and gosh what a week it has been. I'll be in NYC attending a summer program at Parsons for the month and ahhhh what an experience this has been so far! =) If you haven't heard of it, Parsons has what they call 'Summer Intensive Studies' every year during the summer holidays (basically summer school) and the variety of courses they have on offer is really incredible! They run the gamut from your awesome design courses such as interior design (which I really do want to take one day XD), industrial design, fashion design (of course), graphic design... to the more esoteric ones such as footwear design and I think they offer stuff like art history as well. :) The one I'm taking is Graphic Design. I was sooo happy when I randomly googled a few months back and realized that the time frame for the course fit exactly into my summer vacation. It's something I've always been interested in so I figured, why not give it a try now? When I'm young and malleable. And my mama was so understanding about it. Couldn't be more grateful to her for letting me experience this whole other incredible field.

So I'll be chronically my time here in bits and bobs.

This is what my dorm room looked like when I first arrived just a little over a week ago:

I was sooo excited! :) After all, I've never stayed away from home for an extended period of time by myself (since I have never even stayed at the university dorm back at home) and was really looking forward to experiencing life away from... overly concerned *coughnaggycough* parents. I'll probably take a photo again soon, maybe at the 2 week mark, just to see how my room has evolved. Mind you, now it looks... VERY LIVED IN. (My roomie's side, on the other hand, is still incredibly clean. How do people do it, honestly?)

When I first got to NY, I stayed with my mum's friend's place in Brooklyn and she was such an incredible help (she and her mum brought me to Marshall's and helped me through the maze of bed linen and pillows). I don't know what I would have done without all the help settling in (of course, the extra hands with the luggage was fantastic ;p). After checking in at the dorm, she brought me to this great Italian restaurant in Soho, called Il Corallo.

Il Corallo Trattoria

176 Prince Street

New York

NY 10012

I wish I could give a really nice caption of the dishes above as they were written out on the menu but I was too busy eating to remember to take note of the descriptions.

Honestly, that ravioli was one of the BEST mushroom ravioli I've had EVER. I don't even like creamy pasta usually because I've got mixed responses to cheese heh, but this one was simply DIVINE. I mean it. Every bit was a perfect blend of not-too-cheesy-yet-rich cream sauce and mushroom with chewy slices of ravioli. MMMM. I'm definitely going back there to have this dish at least once or twice more if I can. :D

(Soho is just full of quaint little boutiques like this.)

And here are my roomies! :)

(Sisi and Sabrina)

So in the dorm, I stay in well, I guess you could call it a suite, with two bedrooms and two people stay in each bedroom. Sabrina is my roomie while Sisi stays in the room next door. For some reason the other bed in her room never got occupied so it's just the 3 of us for now. Given that this is the first time I'm staying in a dorm with others and how I've heard of some horror roommate stories, I'm so glad they're such lovely roommates to live with. :D They're both doing the Photography course (Sabrina's taking digital photography and Sisi's taking film photography) and the stuff they get to do sounds sooo fun. Plus, they have hardly any coursework compared to me. -__-

Isn't she gorgeous? :) Sabrina's actually a fashion photographer from Uruguay! Check out her website HERE. Her work is really professional and she is such a nice roommate to have. For one, we love the same sort of music so she's introduced me to a couple of bands (some Spanish ones), we both love Urban Outfitters (anyone who's an Urbie fan is a woman after my own heart) and among other things...she doesn't complain about the mess on my side of the room. ;)

Here's Sisi. She's from China and is currently doing her masters in engineering in Boston. Pretty awesome, no? :) That day, she had to retake photos for her class because of some little accident in the dark room. Since it had to be portrait shots, Sabrina was her model and we all went to the nearby park for an afternoon of photos and fun. :D I loooove spending time with people who are into photography. No one finds it weird when you stoop down in awkward positions to capture a shot or break off from a conversation halfway to capture something you've just seen... and no one says no when you point the camera at them. :)

top: Fancy French Cologne (check out their website! lots and lots of pretty stuff and great service. The owner, Carly is really friendly and gets back to your queries about items really quickly. Obviously I've bought quite a few items from them already), jeans: Urban Outfitters, shoes: Aldo (recent buy in NY and soooo comfy), hat: Brixton

So this hat is appearing again, but I do love it. :D I'm too lazy to learn how to do my hair into some funky style so this will have to do for now.

(Stuyvesant Park, May 2011)

Ok, I'm so tired now. The one thing I still can't get used to is waking up for 9 am classes every day so I'm really looking forward to the weekend at the moment. Lots more to come soon!

Have a great week, guys. <3

tea for two

Rather belated I know, but here are some photos from a little tea session my mum and I had in celebration of Mother's Day! =) Did you do anything fun with your mama?

(Jumpsuit and bag: Urban Outfitters, necklaces: Madewell and Chapel, platform sandals: Gap, Hat: Brixton)

I bought this jumpsuit sometime last year when it was on sale in an Urban Outfitters store, but I'd never had the chance to wear it out (or more truthfully, I'd never bothered to make the effort to mix it up in an ensemble). But there's something about being on holiday that makes me feel a little more adventurous... I mean, what better time to try something out than now, right?

(tea for two at Four Season's!)

I looooove high tea. Just the feeling of being in someplace quiet, sipping on steaming cups of refreshing tea and nibbling on tasty treats (i.e. sconessssss) while catching up on things with someone close... it's one of the best ways to spend an afternoon. Sadly, I don't get to do this as often as I'd like to with my mum since we're both usually busy with our own matters. But we usually go for it whenever there's something to celebrate about. This time, Mother's Day and the end of my exams!

(Am not really one for the clotted cream. Normally I just take a huge dollop of strawberry jam and... add the scone in as an afterthought.)

One of my favorite bracelets from a store in HK called Chapel! :) That places is just an accessories heaven. And all sooo reasonably priced too! I just liked how this one's a little quirky and cute.

(Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap)

So a couple of things I've been up to:

• am currently on vacation in the U.S! :D I've just spent a week at my uncle's place in Seattle, visiting my two cute little cuzzins (well, not gonna be little for long) and doing all sorts of kiddy stuff with them like attending Brownie troop meetings and updating myself on the current popular artistes totally rockin' it in tweendom.
• just discovered the awesomeness that is Modern Family. My aunt mentioned some plotlines to me and it sounded hilarious so I decided to check it out myself online. And homg, Mitchell and Cameron are adorable. And Sofia is way hot! Everyone in that show is so perfectly cast. Anyone know a good website for streaming the episodes and one that is errr preferably... free? :P I'll buy the DVD one day, promise.
• Currently in NYC! Just arrived today and am staying at my mum's friend's place in Brooklyn! Anything fun to do in Brooklyn? I'm really keen on checking out the Brooklyn flea markets but the minute I brought it up, my mum's friend's mum (who is like 1st generation immigrant to NY from HK awesome matriarch type immediately recommended I check out Marshall's instead XD for items that are cheap, good quality, and best of all, refundable! teehee. She's really quite funky.)

More updates soon~

of the sun and sea

(Stanley, Hong Kong, Dec 2010)

I went to Stanley for the first time last year when I was in HK. It's basically a town that is part of a peninsula off Hong Kong Island with a pretty waterfront area that's lovely to walk down and take tons of photographs at. I remember the weather being pretty perfect that day, with a cooling, almost chilly breeze that quickly wore away with all that walking around. I suppose the main drawback would be the long bus ride along windy roads and craggly hills but then again, for a chance at the sun and sea, why not?

(These next few posts will probably just be tons of photos that I've finally managed to sort out from last year. :D More to come soon!)

happiness is...

THE HOLIDAYS ARE HEREEEEE!!!!! :)

So that wasn't meant to be a continuation of the title (look further down for that) but it pretty much sums up the situation here. I couldn't be more happy! :D FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY the exams are over and ughh it was such torture preparing for it. I find the preparation and waiting for everything to be over a lot more tortuous compared to actually taking the examination. But that's just me.

(top: Madewell, jeans and necklace: Urban Outfitters, platform sandals: GAP, bag: Topshop)

The other night before my finals, I attended a dance concert that a friend was performing in and it felt soooo good to have been able to just get out of the house.

A couple of my favorite accessories -- Pyrite Cluster Necklace from Urban Outfitters (I could live in that store, really) and a little corset ring from ASOS. :)

So to continue where I left off at the title of this post, HAPPINESS IS...

1. Not having to wake up to an alarm clock

I'm sure there's no need for elaboration, this one.

2. Coming up with a list of books to read -- ALL FOR LEISURE :D

So far I'm just coming up with a real hodgepodge of a list. I tend to like to read a few books at a time because at any moment of the day, the book I pick up to read really depends on my mood. (And usually I'm not in the mood for melancholic/tragic stories, which, unfortunately, most of the classics revolve around??)

I'm currently reading The Opposite of Fate, a collection of short stories by Amy Tan. I think I started but never actually completed The Joy Luck Club (perhaps it was too melodramatic for when I was in secondary school) but now that I've read some of Amy Tan's non-fiction short stories, I'm really keen on reading more of her works. I find her work extremely readable and so vivid that you really do get transported off to a whole new other place; not necessarily physically, but just somewhere else within the heart.

Other books that I've cracked open today include: Twelfth Night (yeah Shakespeare, LOL. ;p But I've had that text on my shelf ever since I was in secondary school and well, what better time to read it than now?) and Lolita. AND... since the undeveloped sci-fi bud in me has been ignited ever so slightly ever since watching Thor a few nights back, I've also borrowed 2001: The Space Odyssey from the boy. I hope I'll get to read all of these in the next few days. There's always so much stuff out there it kiiills me to think that we're probably never going to be able to read all the great works out there in one lifetime.

Any books to recommend? :) Or what's on your reading list at the moment?

3. Looking at websites to satisfy whichever path curiosity takes my mind to :)



At the moment, I'm rather preoccupied with my new favorite actor, Tom Hiddleston, probably better known as the actor who played Loki in the movie, THOR. :) Any of you guys seen it? I just have a soft spot for guys with that wide eyed earnest look. Of course, Loki just HAS TO BE evil in the movie. -___- Le sigh. I love how this actor is not just GOOD AT ACTING but he's also pretty darn intelligent! Double first at Cambridge while studying Classics? That's just scary.

But whatever it is, I just love not having to feel guilty/that I'm wasting time. Which is always the case during the school term.

4. Taking luxurious afternoon naps.

'Nuff said.

So ladies, what are some things in the past few days that have made you feel absolutely happy, inside and out? :)

Okie, now I'm off to enjoy the latest episode of Castle before sleeping. :) (Psst, any other Castle fans??) Oh and it's 2.49 a.m. God, I love the holidays.

because i can't sit still

(From Hong Kong Island to Kowloon by ferry)

I suppose it's more of a touristy thing to do, but I really enjoy taking the leisurely ferry ride from HK Island to Kowloon (and the minute I get off at the pier it's STRAIGHT TO THE SHOPS :D). My boyfriend told me that they're going to be discontinuing these rides soon because it's no longer economically sustainable. It would be really quite saddening if that were the case though. There are so few things of historical significance that remain nowadays. I respect places that place emphasis on preserving things that are of culturally meaningful rather than always give in to what makes more economic sense. Which reminds me, I really need to go to Eastern Europe before it gets mass-gentrified and unrecognizably modern (!).



(I do believe that's the BF walking 10 steps ahead while I whip out my camera on the street. :D What's the rush, big boy??)

I also visited my grand-uncle and grand-aunty who live in a quaint, quiet part of Hong Kong called Tsuan Wan. It's almost like a retirement village where the air is (supposedly) fresher, life is slow-paced and simple, and you can always depend on the ONE dimsum restaurant to go to in the vicinity rain or shine.

In the two years in a row that I've visited HK, every single time I visit my granduncle and aunty they bring me to the SAME restaurant that's like a 2 min walk from their apartment. I wonder if they groan inwardly every time they receive that dreaded courtesy call from me saying, "I'm here!!" thinking, I haven't even gotten the chance to wash off the scent of that restaurant and now I'm going back again. HEH.

But really, the food's pretty tasty. And being the dimsum noobie that I am, I really can't tell the difference between good and excellent dimsum.

Two of my favorite dimsum dishes - fried rice with lap cheong (the yummy Chinese sausage) and carrot cake!! (though there's nothing carrot about it).

Here's a photo of my dear old grand-uncle. He's a real sweetie.

(GAH look at all the medicine bottles in the background. Enjoy life while you can kiddos, 'cos it ain't getting any better!)

(Yummy tangerines and grapes that they brought out, being the gracious hosts they are! :))




I suppose this is what you get after 50 odd years of marriage.

Ooo and because he received such rave reviews, here's another photo of Chomper! :) Can't wait for the day when I can get my own doggie... I'm all for a Labrador Retriever!! They're the absolute cutest in my opinion... And great to bring out for a jog too.

So my finals starts in 1 week. I'm determined to use less of the internet over the next few days but we all know how terrible my will-power is. :((( I'm sooooo looking forward to the summer holidays which will be in just a little over 2.5 weeks! This past school year has been one of the most tiring and challenging ones yet and it just seems like I never really had a nice long enough break to take a proper rest. In fact, the only break we had was the Xmas break that was just about 2 weeks long.

It's funny though, because I used to be able to sit down at the table and really concentrate on studying when I was a lot younger... but now I can barely sit still before I get immensely bored and have a compulsive need to be stimulated by anything... usually it's the nearby iPhone which is such a blessing (or is it?) since it provides instant access to Tumblr/gmail/Twitter... Tumblr is pretty incredible don't you think? I love how it provides instantaneous gratification through posting something out into the world in such an seamless, uncomplicated manner. So I guess over the next few days, my little tumblr will be overflowing with updates borne out of boredom and study angst/frustration. Let me know if you have tumblr! I'm always interested in finding more tumblr-blogs to read and of course it'd be even better if I could get to know you better through that.

Before I end off, just a little sneak peak into the tip of the iceberg of my Spring 2011 Wish List. :DDD

I've been dreaming of getting a lovely little brown envelope clutch but of course that Jimmy Choo one is merely a dream buy! I think by the time I earn enough to get that it'll probably be a vintage item. I'm planning on DIY-ing my own little leather clutch once the exams are over and more importantly, once I can FIND some leather fabric to DIY it with. I've just seen how simple/awesome it can be from Cheetah Is The New Black and Style Scrapbook and am so looking forward to giving it a try! :)

There are so many things I want to get down to doing this holidays... I think I've been a little too pessimistic about some things in life recently and it's really time to just move on and look forward to the best parts of life, always. Some things I'd really like to get started on or do more of:

1. Bake!! Especially cupcakes. I'm really want to master the art of baking a REALLY GOOD CUPCAKE. Pretty frosting and scrummy flavor combined.

2. Get back to photography. I haven't really had the chance to further my photography skills these past few months (it's always food food food :P) but one day, I really want to just go to a random, less explored part of Singapore and just snap away!

3. Explore all sorts of lovely design, fashion and photography blogs. After quite a long hiatus, I've discovered some really great blogs over the course of this past week and it just so happens to be the week before my finals grrr so I can't wait to catch up on my blog reading and get inspired to do awesome stuff of my own.

4. Exerrrrcissseeee. I've totally degenerated into a big ball of inertia. School does that to you. -___- I actually prefer study breaks to the school term because there's so much more time to do stuff of your own accord. I've exercised more in these past 2 weeks than the entire past year combined. Haha, do you guys feel that way? That really, work or school can just get in the way of the good things in life?

Alright, I guess that's enough for the time being. Till... next... well, hopefully soon! :)

P.S. SOB. I just realized that the change in 'age' in my profile was LONG OVERDUE. Yup, the truth is out. SIGH.