Love, airflown

It's been kind of a rough week.  One of our favourite uncles passed away very suddenly and the world seems like a different place; some strange and soundless change in the air.  

Amid all the craziness, a package arrived from Australia, from Beck.  When we were in Secondary School, we were in a group of five extremely close knit friends.  We lived in each others' pockets and spent hours together in person and on the phone every day.  One day, Becky made us beautiful thread friendship bracelets that we wore constantly, like characters out of Pretty Little Liars.  Over time, some of those friendships disintegrated, while others grew stronger, but I continued to wear that bracelet religiously.

I left it on when I exercised or went swimming or on holiday.  In the shower, I liked to watch the way the string would go stiff with soap and to mould the bracelet into waves with my fingers.  I pulled on the clear blue bead on the end when I was anxious, rolled the thread between my fingers when I was bored.  Beck has since bought me other things, and I wear that bracelet less and less, but I cling to it, as I do our deep and special bond.  And a couple of weeks ago, when I noticed the thread around the bead start to fray, I begged her to make me another one.

Well, she made me three, complete with crazy instructions and an amazing card that made me cry.

There is a fishtail braided one, a diamond flecked one with a tiny hematite heart a thicker (and therefore stronger), but otherwise almost perfect replica of the original.

Losing a loved one is painful and brutal.  But it means that you had a loved one to begin with.  And sometimes, what keeps us going is that feeling of loving, being loved, and of knowing that we are privileged enough to have people in our lives that care deeply for us, even if they only stay for a short while.  

Rest in peace, Uncle Was.  You live on in my heart.

And thank you Beck, for your undying love and friendship, this year and every other.

Gratitude list: Lately

On Wednesday night, my colleague Rebecca texted me.  "Hey, tomorrow bring your camera," she said, "We can be the designated photographers."

We were having a farewell for a friend the next day and we were eager to capture as many moments as possible.  It turned out to be a lot of fun.  I've never cooperatively shot with someone else before but we ran around together pretending to be from a photography company, ordering our friends around (some of them were more than happy to comply) and saying things like, "Yes, yes, this is my second shooter.".

Games aside, I learned a lot watching Rebecca.  She's been taking photos for a lot longer than I have and has a great eye.  

We were interested in slightly different moments and different angles, and that was why our batches of photos turned out slightly different in a good way.  We have the same Canon body, so we could easily compare what we were doing.

After the party ("it's the hotel looobby"... sorry, going a bit R. Kelly on you there), Rebecca told me she had had fun taking pictures with me and I wholeheartedly agreed.  It's nice to find someone who enjoys doing the same thing and running around and taking pictures and comparing techniques and learning new things (I only found out what a light leak was yesterday).  I love that she is non-judgemental and doesn't tell me how things should be done, like some photography enthusiasts that I've met.  Rather, she's open to discussion and learning and looking at things from different points of view.  

I'm editing the photos from that party now but in the interim, here are some random things that I'm grateful for.

Someone brought my parents a crate of the juiciest yellow peaches.

A visit from a good friend.

Snowskin mooncakes with sea-salt black sesame (!) and champagne truffle (!!) filling.  I got them from the moon cake expo thing at the Ngee Ann City Atrium.  Amanda and I took a special trip to town and spent the afternoon eating our weight in mooncake samples.  It's criminal that this is a once a year thing.

An awesome orange-themed bracelet that my mother made for me.

My parents just got back from their trip to Canada where they were visiting spawn number three.  I was adamant that they not buy me anything because my room is full to bursting, but my mother stopped by the dollar store and couldn't resist getting me this washi-tapealike.  I have to say, I'm loving it.  Imagine that, one (Canadian) dollar!

PS  I tried to make them say "69" in the bottom picture but the backs of the dispensers showed.  Oh, life!

A couple things

Last week was lots of fun.  Because the 'rents were out of town, I got to do whatever I wanted, swanning round the house like a Duchess.  (Full disclosure: when they're away, I pretend I'm the Queen and sleep in a different bedroom every night.  The best nights are in the giant king-sized bed in the master bedroom.  I toss and turn with abandon and wake up feeling delighted.)

I also got to spend lots of time with my friends, including a long overdue book-binding tutorial with colleagues where I made this.

Now, I like to journal and I like to draw, but I can't do crafts to save my life.  I'm one of those irritating people who can't cut paper in a straight line, even with a guide.  I briefly entertained origami one long-ago Christmas morning and ended up shredding neon paper and flinging it violently at my mother.  (She's crafty.  And smug.)

So for me, at least, the bookbinding session promised to be a disaster.  And you know?  It wasn't half bad.

It started off a little shaky, but I think once I got the hang of the strokes and how tightly I should be pulling the thread, I managed to make a somewhat decent piece of stationery that I would probably use.

We used the coptic stitch, which means that the book will lie flat. 

It's too complicated for me explain via text and we had Rebecca actually giving us directions, but there are plenty of videos on YouTube and it's how most people learn.  The clearest video I can find is this one which has a great view of the steps and some good instructions.  All you need is a needle with a large eye, thick thread, paper to fold into signatures, and covers.  We used some plain 100gsm stock and for covers, I cut up a cereal box.

Speaking of boxes, the first round of Project Box also ended last week.

As I said here, Rebecca, Amanda and I decided to start sending some good old-fashioned mail to each other in the form of a themed package every month.  Instead of writing letters, we planned to design a package of presents, artwork, photos and other bits and pieces.  This month's theme was "Greed" and I sent my package to Rebecca.  In turn, Rebecca was supposed to give hers to Amanda and Amanda, hers to me.

When I opened my mailbox to find one package from Rebecca and one from Amanda, I was first confused, then worried that we had gotten our wires crossed and that Amanda was receiving nothing.

To my surprise, Rebecca's package came with two pictures in a frame, a red pen for Teachers' Day, and a note that said:

This is my interpretation of greed.  Putting two photos in one frame.  

Sending two packages when you're only supposed to send one.

I thought it was a very unexpected twist on the theme.

Her brother, an animator, drew the second picture.  She didn't say it, but I know that's me being greedy over a massive pile of sweets.  Rebecca knows I'm a chocolate fiend and we spend ages at work lolling around the pantry and teasing each other with, "How many calories do you think this cookie is?"  (Amanda said hers was a girl surrounded by piles of clothes and handbags!)

Amanda's, as I suspected it would, employed washi tape to generous effect.

She made me this awesome piece of washi art that I've displayed on the porch with my mother's favourite cat statue.  I was especially touched that she'd used loads of her favourite red and white washi tape - ostensibly the one she's most greedy over.

This month's Project Box theme is Blue.  I'm meant to send something Amanda's way and I've already started planning it.  Hopefully it works as well!

Gratitude list: Technicolour dream

1)  Notebook from Malaysia

S and E got me this very cool notepad from a recent trip across the Causeway.  We were teaching about Aurangzeb and his empire in class that week and this was the perfect reminder (we do that a lot at work, make inside jokes and send each other articles about the topic of the week).  It's so pretty that I haven't been able to bring myself to use it, but if I ever do and finish the paper inside, I might get the cover framed or put it up on the wall. 

2)  This ridiculous box of nerds

A student brought them to class and I just had to take a picture.  There were even separate slots to dispense each flavour!  He said they tasted pretty foul and offered me the lot, but I really just wanted to enjoy the colours.

3)  Washi tape!

Amanda is probably smirking at my washi tape collection, but I love it anyway.  I went from being a washi skeptic to fully embracing it and just looking at this plastic pot of tape on my table makes me smile.  I've promised myself: no more new rolls until I've used up some of the tape here. 

I have to admit though, JM's growing collection (solid colours!  Moustaches!) is making it quite difficult for me to resist. 

A present from my mother

A couple of weeks ago, four pairs of my best work shoes (flat, comfortable, suited to hours of walking) gave out in one fell swoop.  I'd been wearing them throughout my journalist days, walking door to door and in the rain.  One pair even followed me to the UK where I slipped and slid around in slush so I suppose it should've been no surprise that bits of rubber started coming off them and giant holes appeared in the heels.

Thankfully, my mother had vouchers for Isetan and I managed to replace them with three pairs of similarly comfortable kicks!  

I think though, that these are my favourites...

I love the smoking slipper shape and the gold crest on the front makes me feel like I'm the Earl Rothschild of Wickbyshire-upon-Twickenham Spa.

They're by Aerosoles and true to name, the soles are velvety cushions.  I feel like I should have a pipe by the fire and hunting dogs at my feet every time I wear them.

Instead, I took them out with cropped jeans, a cotton shirt and military style jacket to watch Man of Steel.  Well, that's two hours of my life I'll never get back.  Just sayin'.

A present from my father

My father can be quite loving.  He's not overly demonstrative or lenient but he is devoted to his children and he's there for us whenever we need him.  Like many fathers, he also does his best to provide for us and think up solutions to our problems.

One day, when he was driving me to work, I talked with him about my lenses and how I was worried that they might develop a nasty case of fungus.  Four lenses is plenty and even if I rotate them at the rate of one a week (which I don't; some, like my long lens, don't get called into action very often), each lens still spends three weeks languishing humidly on the shelf.  I was thinking of investing in a dry cabinet and mentioned it to my father, a former photography enthusiast, to get his opinion.

"It would be cheaper to get a dry box with silica gel," he pointed out, "and bake it in the oven like I used to do."

We reached my workplace and as I exited the car, I said that I would think about it.

When I got home that night, I found a giant bottle of silica gel on my bed, along with this:

My very own dry box with a built-in hygrometer and a padded bottom from (where else but) Mustafa!  Apparently after I had left, my father made a split second decision and drove to Mustafa to talk with the counter staff about their dry boxes.  When he saw that they were selling this one for $29, he bought it on the spot.

This is one of the best presents my father has ever gotten me.  It slides nicely under my bed, but all my lenses fit into it, even leaving room for a couple more.  The silica gel (which feels like little plastic beads) goes into the little white tray on the top and stays sufficiently active for about a week and a half.

Once the hygrometer reading climbs to about 60 per cent humidity, I take the gel out, put it into a tray made of moulded aluminium foil and bake it.  I went online to make sure that I was doing it correctly and basically, it's a pretty easy process.

You put the silica gel in a foil tray and pop it into a pre-heated oven at about 180 degrees celcius.  Some websites say you can heat it at much higher temperatures but I've also heard that if it gets too hot, the gel loses some efficacy.  So 180 it is.  After it's baked for about an hour, I turn the oven off but leave it in for another hour to cool and to properly dry out.  If you have colour indicator silica gel, you'll have no problem knowing when it's done.  In fact, it's really cool.

Saturated silica gel is this gnarly pinkish-purple colour.

If you've baked it enough, it is deeply, royally, unequivocally blue.  I actually find myself looking forward to my silica gel baking every week just because I can watch the beautiful colours turn.

My father might not spoil us financially or with his words and standards, but he can't stand to see anyone of us hurting or losing sleep over a problem.  Whenever it is in his power to step in and help to solve it, he does everything he can.  In some ways, taking this supportive position is more reassuring than anything else he could do.

I am so, so grateful for my amazing dry box and I have to say, my dad made a bang up decision.

Scook's Raining Deulopbi tote bags!

My good friend Sook is a fashion designer and in her spare time, she makes quirky things by hand (which you can check out at the Scook Facebook, here.  Right now, she's offering cute Mother's Day Cards).  For Chinese New Year, for example, she customises ang pows and she makes cards for all occasions.  My favourite project of hers though, are these cheerful Raining Deulopbi tote bags that made recently.  

I met with up her for dinner a little while ago and ordered two - one for myself and one as a present.  Each of these babies, believe it or not, is $12.  Because there was a little bit of delay in the shipping, Sook generously threw in a third one!  (So one is going my friend Ann-Marie and the other is going to Spyke, whenever I meet her, as a birthday present.  Happy Belated Birthday!) 

The bags came beautifully packaged and they're limited edition so each one has a number.  I'm not sure how many she has left, but the one I unwrapped is number 50.  

Inside, there's a little card with Scook's information and the number of the bag that you've got.

I love designer bags as much as the next girl, but I'm also a huge sucker for cute cotton totes.  When Uniqlo gave out their totes with all the country names on them (remember those?) I faithfully carried one to work for weeks because it was so fuss-free.  I just think that using a soft cotton sack as a handbag lends a bit of an artsy, rustic air to anything that you're wearing.  Plus, they look nice even if you bash them about a bit.

I have to say that these bags are really comfortable to carry.  The straps are flat and wide enough to sit on the shoulder without cutting and the bag itself is so light that I can tote my DSLR about quite easily.  It's nice not to faff about with straps and buckles sometimes.

The only thing is that the some of the seams on the inside of the bag might not be completely finished (though they are sewn tight, don't worry) so one of mine started fraying slightly.  But I got out my Fray Stop and applied it to the edges and we were good to go!  By the way, I strongly recommend buying a bottle of something similar - you can use it for any handicraft, at weddings and for quick fraying solutions.  This shop is in Singapore so the product will ship in two days.

Thank you so much for the bags, Sook, and for all these years of friendship.  

PS All these photos were taken on the 55mm end of my new long lens.  As you can see, in good lighting, it will do as a 50mm prime equivalent with a lot less softness.  I test drove it at the beach later that day, photos to come!

Dashers, Part Two

On Mayday, we had the second part of our Balderdash gathering at my house.  This time, Amanda and Ben were able to make it as well.  I have no idea how we're going to carry it off, but the plan is, perhaps, to go round to everybody's house until we've come full circle.  

When I told my parents I was having friends over, I thought it was going to be a low key, chilled out affair.  What I hadn't anticipated was that because my mother had plans to hold a gathering of her own friends that Saturday, she decided that this was going to be the most dramatic full dress rehearsal ever.

Suddenly, there was Noritake china flying out of drawers (we are never allowed to use the Noritake) and she came home toting a wooden block and proclaiming that she was going to make a cheeseboard because Edie had had one.  She even put out both red and white wine glasses out and started decanting things left, right and centre.  After the initial shock, I got into it although I drew the line at decorating with buckets of fresh flowers.

Regardless, it was a blast.

Retno made her special chicken shami kebabs and other Pakistani dishes.  My mom made a thai green curry and we picked a couple of tze char dishes up from the coffeeshop down the road.  The food we eat at home is usually a deeply odd amalgam of East and West at the same table - curries and stir-fries or spicy dishes with clear Chinese soups.  It has driven me nuts since I was a child, but no one seemed to mind.

Here is the famous cheeseboard with Shirin's hand over it:

And here it is without.

It's dead easy to make one of these and if your friends like cheese, it will be a huge hit.  Just get a big wooden chopping board from any fancy grocery store and arrange blocks of cheese, random crackers and some fig pate on it.  I got the fig pate at my local Fairprice Finest, in the gourmet cheese section, and Arnott's does a really good selection of Cheeseboard Crackers.  Because the figs are sweet, I like the cheeses to be slightly more salty or piquant.  For this board, we went with an aged cheddar and a slightly creamier jalapeno.

And of course, we settled down to play.  Many amazeballs options, but I think the star of the show this time round was Edie's definition of the word Twaddel (actually a unit of measurement) which read "The vibration made by a bat flying into a church bell".  I laughed until I literally cried.

(I think it is clear from these pictures who enjoys being in front of the camera.  AhemAsia'sNextTopModelAhem.)

We finished off with a beautiful, light strawberry shortcake from Rive Gauche, courtesy of the runway queen (I will be sitting on the couch at work and she will bound up and say, "Come on!  Let's catwalk!" and then we stand up and strut round the room pretending to be in a Prada show, a Victoria's Secret show, and a Betsy Johnson show respectively till someone comes in through the main door, stares at us agape and we collapse onto the couch again, as if it was just her imagination.).

The only person who wasn't there was Crystal, but I don't suppose she missed much.  While we were debating the various possibilities of chiroptera clanging about in belfries, she was touring South America in style.  She took many beautiful pictures, and brought me a new best friend.  Look!

His name is Number One Llama, because, well, he is.