Christmas Market

The Christmas market opened with a procession of lanterns in various forms ranging from Rudolph to Hello Kitty (!!). Just to let you know, for those who are very competitive, judging for these lanterns begins at 5pm (ish).










The market officially starts exactly a month from Christmas day with an ice skating rink smacked right in the middle of the gamut of stalls selling incredible knick knacks. We came across Santa Claus and his igloo too.




I would've been happy to curl up in bed but no, Little L was adamant we went to see the procession despite the freezing weather.



The council has been busy installing Christmas lights and decorations all over the town centre in the past couple of weeks. It's a sight to behold when the lights are switched on by nightfall which tends to be around 4.30pm at this time of the year.




We walked under the canopy of lights on our way to the Christmas market.

Zadig & Voltaire

I've always loved the French version of casual. It's edgy with a hint of bohemian. The drop waist dresses are comfortable and forgiving. The style's relaxed and looks amazing when thrown together with an air of carelessness. I've visited Zadig & Voltaire outlet store at Marais but sadly, walked away empty handed because they didn't have what I wanted in my size. Their clothes aren't cheap They're rather pricey for quality comparable to Comptoir des Cotonniers. Nonetheless, I'm very tempted to purchase a number of items on their e-shop. Perhaps I should wait for the Boxing Day sale.

I'm mad for these dresses. They're just what I need at the moment. I don't care much for the skull motif plastered on most of their t-shirts and dresses. They scare me!

Dress Nosfo 195€

Dress Rem 248€. I'd pair this with a sheepskin or faux fur gilet

Dress Cora 160€. I'd wear this over a long sleeved dress and perhaps a belt to cinch the waist.

Dress Rill 235€

In search of wedges

While I love the idea of trotting down the street looking like a yummy mummy in high heels, I'll probably won't survive walking beyond 100 metres. Point one, it has been so long since I've spent any length of time in heels that my strut looks like someone who's trying to walk on a tightrope. Point two, navigating the cobblestone streets in heels is by no means an easy feat. If you can manage that, see if you can keep up with a 4 year old scooting downhill at 30 miles an hour.

I'm vain enough to admit that I'd like to have legs right up to my armpits. I can dream, right?  When you're only a couple of inches over 5 feet, you'll do anything bar surgery to look taller. This brings me to conclude that I need a pair of mid-heel booties/wedges.

I've always considered Clarks a fuddy duddy brand but lately, the shoes they've churned out have been rather impressive.

Clarks Yarra Dessert £99

Mellow Yellow booties 159€ from monshow

Luxury Rebel Willa Slouch Booties from Shopbop $280 

I've found a few examples of deliciously put together outfits with booties. Looking at these photos have inspired me to be more creative with daily attire.

Photo credit: net-a-porter

Imperial China, London

In the midst of all the excitement of procuring a few coveted pieces of Lanvin pour H&M, I completely forgot to post the Part Deux of my glutton-fest in London. K is my best friend's little girl's godmother and has only recently returned to her country of origin after spending many years in Australia. She's mad for Chinese food and was dying to drag me along to her favorite yum cha restaurant in town. I'm useless at ordering dimsum dishes so was persuaded by K to call around my other girlfriends to join us.

Em, my other yum cha-mad friend and J who eats more than any man or woman I know jumped at the opportunity. So, what does a Hong Kong born (Em) and bred girl and a British/Russian/Polish/Aussie girl (K) have in common? Yum Cha. I've never seen two people who got so excited and practically orgasmic over yum cha. Em, our yum cha connoisseur stated that the yum cha at Imperial China was far superior to our favorite haunt, Peninsula at North Greenwich and the best she has had in UK so far which was rather high praise indeed.  My favorite dish is the taro with glutinous rice roll which I could gladly inhale an entire dish all on my own. The service was quick and polite without being intrusive. Dishes piled up on our table during our gorging session. Our bill came up to just under £60 for 4 people which is very reasonable for London standard. Most of all, it was a wonderful meal because of the 3 wonderful friends I have the privilege of spending time with.


I don't generally go for shao mai (or siew mai in Cantonese) but this version is delightful. They sprinkled fish roe on top. The Xiao Long Bao (direct translation small dragon bun) was beyond scrumptious. Just the right amount of "soup" wrapped up in the dumpling.


Glutinous rice wrapped up in taro. My favorite.


Imperial China
25a Lisle St
London WC2H 7BA, United Kingdom
020 7734 3388
Tube Station: Leicester Sq

What a day it has been!

Call me obsessed but little ol' me who absolutely detest getting out of bed before the crack of dawn did it all in the name of Lanvin. For those of us who can't afford Lanvin RTW, this is our only opportunity. It took me well over 1.5 hours of maniacally refreshing the screen before managing to get into their online store. By then, everything has sold out except for fishnet tights which I'm sure will cause a lot of jaws to drop (and not for all the right reasons) should I wear them out in my little medieval town.

I decided to change tactics and call the H & M customer service only to find that their systems have crashed. Just as I predicted. Two hours later, I got back on the phone and managed to nab these:

I didn't manage to get anything from my list. I felt a little foolish and yes, sheepish, for grabbing whatever that were left in my size whether I liked it or not. So, off I got back on the phone again and canceled the order. I'm sure I've made another woman really happy. By now, I was starting to feel despondent. All the effort for nothing.

My wonderful friend q9y8 came to my rescue. Bless her heart. Within less than an hour of sending her an email, she sent a reply telling me that she bought my two most desired items from Lanvin for H & M collection. I'm so touched that a blogger friend whom I've never physically met would go through the hassle of procuring and posting the jewelry for me. Thank you, q9y8!

Photo credit: nitrolicious.com

 Photo credit: nitrolicious.com

Countdown to Lanvin for H & M frenzy

Okay, I admit I was fairly tempted to be one of those who are crazy enough to queue outside a H & M store in the wee hours of the morning just to be the first ones to barge through the door tomorrow. Since there's an option to order online at 7am in the UK, I think I'm going to stay at home tucked under my cosy duvet and click away. That is, if their website doesn't crash under the weight huge traffic volume in the morning.

I've been busy checking out various blogs in the US to read comments on the collection. It seemed that the consensus was the T-shirt dresses are well made, their dresses are made of polyester and wrinkled beyond belief but can be revived with a proper iron/steamer.  Handbags are poorly made. Regardless, I am excited and can't wait to get my hands of a couple of dresses myself.

Wolford Tights

It's absolutely freezing lately. The temperature is dipping lower and lower each day. Believe it or not, I only own a single pair of el cheapo tights from River Island. You DEFINITELY get what you pay for. I've only ever worn it once and it's stashed somewhere at the back of my closet. I decided it's high time I invest in better tights.  I'm planning to order a couple of these Wolford Merino tights in black.

I checked them out at the Wolford outlet store in Bicester Village last weekend. I can't help but be impressed by the quality. The fabric composition is made up of 50% Wool, 48% Nylon and 2% Elastane (Lycra) and feels buttery soft. They cost £16 at the outlet but standard retail is priced at £28. They have a pair in dark brown so I'm going to wait until their next delivery comes in.

Wolford Merino tights £28

Advent calendars

Growing up in Borneo, I remember Christmas very differently to what it is now. I've never even heard of advent calendars until recently. In fact, Christmas tree decoration were haphazardly purchased and discarded. Thus there weren't any nostalgic memories attached to any of them. In fact, our Christmas tree was this weird spider like tree which had little leaves and the "presents" under it were empty shoeboxes wrapped up in Christmas decorative paper. Beautiful lights were hung on lampposts along all the major roads. The stereo systems in the shops blasted Christmas songs day and night. We practised our Christmas songs weeks ahead and performed in our school and local church. I remember going Christmas carrolling till the wee hours of the night, belting out "The First Noel" until we were so hoarse we could barely talk the next day. No one slept early on Christmas eve because we had to be in church for the midnight mass.

One Christmas, my aunts and I spent an entire day in the kitchen baking all the delicious nyonya cakes. Those were the days when my aunts were young and single with all the time in the world to indulge their nieces and nephews (aka my siblings and I). As kids, we had tons of parties to attend which often involved games such as musical chairs with the party ending on a high note when a skinny Chinese looking santa turned up in a suit 3 sizes too big and a pillow stuffed around his waist.

Things were always hectic around Christmas Day and Boxing Day because everyone went "visiting". The roads were jam-packed as everyone were out and about to see friends and family. This was the ONLY time other than Chinese New Year where us kids could stuff our faces silly with cookies, cakes and fizzy drinks and mom couldn't say anything. You see, mom was a nurse and a health nut as well as our sweet police. Every sweet given to us had to be handed in. Whatever happened thereafter was a mystery because we never saw those sweeties ever again.

Christmas in New Zealand, however, is a quiet affair. You could hear a pin drop because the roads are practically empty with not a soul in sight between December 25-26. Over the next two decades, we got used to the frantic pace where buying presents was a frantic exercise one must do in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Everyone looked stressed in the malls. In short, Christmas became commercial.

I think this year, I'd like to get my very first advent calendar but I'd like one that actually reflect the true nature of Christmas and that is, to celebrate the birth of Jesus. I'd like the kids to understand what Christmas is all about and no, it's not all about presents.

Glittered 24-door advent calendar illustrated with the scene in Bethlehem on Christmas night. 3D effect foreground. Opened windows illuminate when placed (safely) in front of a light source. Bible verses and pictures inside windows. Orchard Cards £5.25

Traditional 24-door advent calendar illustrated with a nativity scene. Orchard Cards £5.99

Unusual and fun pop-up stable-scene advent calendar. Open a door each day to press out a small cardboard nativity character to make up the full tableau by December 24th. Orchard Cards £8.99

Delightful re-usuable advent calendar in the form of a 3D Christmas Cottage. Fold the cardboard to construct the cottage, and fill each of the 24 little drawers with a tiny gift or sweet. No glue is required and the cottage can be disassembled and folded away. Orchard Cards £8.99

Window displays

For the sake of my expanding girth, I'm going to move away from the topic of food until tomorrow. One of my favorite pastimes is checking out the window displays along the shopping strips of Chelsea and Knightsbridge. Harrod's puts on some of the most exquisite, theatrical and ostentatious showpieces which I wasn't able to photograph. The narrow footpath along Brompton Road right through to Sloane Street is always choked up to the gills with masses of mostly tourists and some locals who are brave enough to battle the crowd. Let's not forget the anti-fur protestors permanently stationed outside the main entrance of Harrod's.

 Ooookay, going back to the whole point of this post. Lately, I'm sick and tired of my outfits. I'm not a morning person so unless I've put clothes aside the night before, I often end up wearing whatever that's within easy reach of my arm. I love the creative ways how the different boutiques style their mannequins. I managed to get some great ideas which I'm going to put to good use.

A weekend of gluttony - Tukdin Restaurant

The title was supposed to be a weekend of feasting but honestly, flitting between 5 restaurants in 2 days seemed almost gluttonous. After the non-stop glutton-fest, I looked like I was at least 6 months pregnant and as round as a barrel. Not a pretty sight at all. I arrived in London, armed with a pair of tights with loose elastic waistband and a very forgiving shift dress.


I'm only featuring two restaurants here as I completely abandoned my camera thereafter and concentrated on the most important task at hand - eating. A few weeks ago, an old Malaysian classmate whom I've known since I was 7 arrived in London after a whirlwind trip around Europe. A mutual friend and fellow former classmate who's currently residing in the UK thought it'd be fantastic to have a mini reunion sans husbands and kids. Two decades later and a few pounds heavier, I concede that we're still as wacky as ever and no better than when we were hormonally charged teens.

R had heard from her friends in Kuala Lumpur that the best Malaysian restaurant in town was Tukdin. Despite growing up in Borneo, my exposure to the Malay cuisine is rather abysmal with my repertoire extending to the ubiquitous rendang and nasi goreng. The chef, Tuk Din used to work at Malaysia Hall which is attached to the embassy. As its the traditional West Malaysian cuisine, the food is halal and quite different to what I'm used to in the east. Nonetheless, I won't hesitate to pay another visit to the restaurant on my next trip to London.

Tukdin Flavours of Malaysia 
(020) 7723 6955

Bayswater
41, Craven Road, Bayswater, W2 3BX
Paddington, W2 3


Fried satay meat. Really lovely. My favorite!



Nasi goreng padang. Fried rice wrapped up in omelet.



Curry puff



I can't remember the name of this dish but it's basically aubergine braised with chillies, tomatoes and peppers



Nasi Lemak



Beef cooked in soy sauce and spices


Another variety of nasi lemak


To be continued...............

In search of more statement necklaces under £100

Everyone I know seems to be on a lookout for necklaces. I love the fact that a statement piece can liven up a simple top or dress and change its look altogether. Lately, I've been helping family and friends locate necklaces which are unique but do not cost an arm and a leg. I took my friend to my favorite store, Anthropologie last Saturday and she fell in love with the selection of jewelry there. Here are my picks from my favorite store.

Frozen Globes Necklace £32

Oolite Necklace £34

I featured this necklace in a previous post but it's available again at Jaeger Outlet store (online) at a much reduced price. I managed to nab one for SIL who has been looking for this for quite sometime.

Jaeger Plaited Necklace £40

Kenneth Jay Lane Gunmental Crystal Embellished necklace theOutnet.com £60

Mango Lagrimas C Necklace £29.90