Japanese Loot

When I said I didn't shop much in Japan, I meant it. Mostly because I didn't have the patience to go into every store and browse through racks after racks of clothes, and also because I'm more interested in sight-seeing than shopping really.

After failing to find a Issey Miyaki BaoBao Bag in a colour of my choice, I ended up hitting the drug stores and falling off the organic/non-toxic bandwagon cos the allure of the Japanese drug stores is simply too irresistible. Given that I was plagued by really bad cystic acnes (ok, there were only two but they were HUGE) while I was there, I thought I would give the organic/non-toxic options a rest until my skin recovers and stabilizes with products that have been tried and tested before.

So here's my drug-store loot. Not that crazy really....I was mostly stocking up on the Maquillage foundation and Anessa BB Sunscreen which are a hell lot more expensive in Singapore. These two are freaking amazeballs with great texture and performance. I'm really hoping the organic brands can quickly come up with products that can rival the Anessa BB Sunscreen as it has such great texture that's non sticky, wears so comfortably and acts perfectly well as make up base!

Then in Kyoto, I bought a trial skincare set from Yojiya which is a Japanese cult favorite from Japan's old capital. Rumour has it that they're also a favorite among many Geisha so that can't be bad! They're on the pricey side but I've been using it for close to a month now and so far so good. Will write more in another post.

Then below is my favorite loot from Kyoto. A famous stationery shop at the Teramachi Mall named Kyu Kyo Do that sells things like paper, incense, calligraphy supplies and many artsy stuff I so love! These are actually courtesy of my amazing bf cos the shop was closed by the time we get there (they close at 6pm) the day before we left Kyoto. So, the next day, while I was still sleeping, he ran to the shop early in the morning to get the stuff I wanted before we left Kyoto!

Anyway, I was thrilled when he came back with gorgeously wrapped up packages that I couldn't bear to open!

This Japanese prayer beads, or Juzu in Japanese, is my favorite item from the trip. It's so pretty and they have an array of pastel colour prayer beads especially for women.

Kyu Kyo Do also produces their own incense too and these ones are great when I want to bring back my Kyoto memory in my room. Always perfect for a tranquil night in reading a book curled up in bed.

New York Minute Part 3: The High Line, The Met & Union Square

"First World Pain" would be quite the right term to describe my new york trip. Jet lag, too little time and too little money too many things to buy aside, it's a first world pain to do short trip in New York because there's so much to do.

Planning where to go in two days became an agonizing task that required great mental discipline to decide on something and stick to it without straying. The focus of a laser is a prerequisite to keep to the time allocated in a specific area and move on to schedule, while fighting the urge to linger longer with a constant onslaught of interesting and visually stimulating everything in sight.

With a miserly two days free to myself under the influence of jet lag, I've done pretty well, covering new grounds and revisited old favorites, sweeping the entire Manhattan from downtown to uptown via the complicated Subway (which I strangely think is a piece of cake). Among the many places I walked through, the three that made it to my musing list by providing the most pleasure were The High Line, The Metropolitan Museum of Arts and Union Square Farmers' Market.

The High Line
Being very much the only new ground that I covered this trip, The High Line was one I enjoyed thoroughly. Stretching from Ganesvoort Street near the 14th Street in the Meat Packing District all the way to the 34th street, The High Line is an urban park built on an abandoned old railway track. A stellar example of recycling old spaces and preserving heritage while breathing a new least of life into dated urban landscape.

Fully opened in August 2011,  The High Line is an unconventional walk in an elevated park above the city, spotting a partial view of the Hudson River to boost. It is now a favorite among many New Yorkers to chill, relax, sunbathe and soak in on a slice of garden in the Big Apple of urban jungle. The only shame was that the flowers weren't blooming when I was there since the plants are at their best and most colorful during Spring and Summer, but it was totally enjoyable nonetheless!

Sun deck near the 14th for some sun-worshipping

An amphitheater near along The High Line with a viewing gallery to the road below. A favorite hangout for many New Yorkers

A partial but still beautiful view of the Hudson River near the 14th street stretch

Part of the old railway track that used to transport meat around the Meat Packing district in the olden days is still clearly visible

No time wasted to catch some sun at the first sign of Spring and Summer. A respite from the bitter winter

Graffiti wall is not only legal, but part of its soul

An amazing bird house structure with colorful fruits makes an instant live art installation

The Met
An old turf that will forever be a favorite is the Metropolitan Museum of Arts. Being the largest museum on the Northern Hemisphere, it is said that the Met is so extensive that if you spend one day every week to carefully look at its exhibits, you can't finish looking through everything in your life time (according to my New Yorker aunt). Fact or Fiction, I haven't the honor to find out but I know that to attempt sharing all the photos I snapped during my fleeting visit might overload and crash my macbook.

The European painting section on the second floor will forever be my favorite spot in the Met and I took the chance to sit in the middle of a few different galleries surrounded by magnificent work of European masters like Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet and so many more. It's really not every day that you get surrounded by stunning painting and every visit to the Met will be a special one no less. You simply can never, ever, get enough. At least I know I wouldn't and that much I'm sure.

The famous steps outside the Met. Fans of Gossip Girl and Blair Waldorf would definitely recognize those steps where Queen B sat in her throne

Union Square
Right smack in the middle of 14th street lies Union Square. It's a simple square on Tuesdays and Thursdays with garden benches and people hanging out but for the rest of the week, it's the Union Square Farmers' Market where indie farmers in New York (usually not from the city) sell their produce. Not only do you get the freshest flowers, produce and products, you meet the people who farm or make them, giving what you buy some much-needed provenance in the faceless age of hyper mart and mega mart.

Being from a little island starved of such luxury, Union Square excites my senses every time. Food stuff and flowers aside, you see people playing chess everywhere. How I wish there's the equivalent of such lovely place in Singapore!

 

Photos overloaded yet? That's it for now! Till the next post which is very soon.  Yes, I really have tons to show and share!

The Wicked Weekend

AMAZEBALLS! That's all I can say about my weekend of Wicked The Musical at the Marina Bay Sands! If you haven't caught it yet, do it now! Like NOW really! It's officially my favorite musical of all time and successfully replaced The Producer (I watched that in London) to be my #1 musical. Magnificent set, great songs, hilarious scripts and amazing performance! There's everything to love, especially when I can totally identify myself as Elphaba the green witch! I seriously won't even try to review it as it would be blasphemous and the only way to do it justice is really to watch it at the theatre. All I can say is that, it's AMAZING!

What I would talk about, however, is my pre-show noms at Mozza Osteria at MBS. Like the musical, I have nothing but praise for Mozza cos their food is delish and the ambiance lovely! I only wished that I was really hungry at that time cos we had an early dinner at about 6pm before the musical and I was still full from my previous awesome lunch (at Herbivore at Fortune Center, will talk about it another time).

With hardly any appetite, Mr Bear and I ordered little (very unlike us), with grilled artichoke (yum!), cheese and pesto on burrista to start. Delish! Though the artichoke could have been grilled to be a bit more tender.

Then I ordered a Tortellini with Brodo in Primi size as I wasn't hungry. It's a non-vegetarian (indulgent day hello!) with a bit of parma ham and cheese in the tortellini served in a full flavored chicken broth cooked with parma ham. The broth came in a little tea pot and was poured in for me and after the first taste of it, I regretted not ordering the bigger secondi portion cos it was amazeballs! The broth is totally aromatic and it's similar to those flavorsome double-boiled cantonese soup.

Mr Bear ordered some gnocchi with wild mushroom and butter sauce which was one of Mozza's signature dish. It was yummy but I still think my tortellini was better.

Then I didn't managed to take a picture of the dessert. We ordered the "Nonna's cake" and it was too yummy to slow down for a photo op. I'll have to go back to Mozza Osteria when I'm hungry one day and have a full blown Italian meal.

A wicked weekend indeed with awesome musical and gastro-rgasm! And I can't wait for the next weekend to come cos I'll be in dim sum land with Mr Bear for a much-needed breather! Some serious count down starts now!

Watch this!

Lovely! Wish I could be as spirited as Agnes Varda at age 80 if I'm still alive at that age. Now I just gotta try and get the dvd on Amazon.

Kim Noble

It is often said that tragedy is a source of creativity. Some of the most creative and talented people were/are those who suffered some kind of personal tragedy, be it in the form of life's misfortunes or mental illnesses, or somethings, both. Between the two, mental illnesses seem to yield the most brilliant artists the world have seen.

If there's such a somewhat disturbing thing as the common mental illness that's linked to producing the most amazing artists, authors and musicians et al, it would probably be Manic Depression or Bipolar Disoder. Cue in Vincent Van Gogh, Ernest Hemingway, Kurt Cobain, Virginia Woolf, Nina Simone.....the list goes on. A fact not unknown to the many who appreciate these amazing talents. Then there's a whole different category. The creativity genius of the Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD).

Introducing Kim Noble. The very talented MPD artist with over 13 different personalities. Having spent 20 years in and out of hospital, she discovered her gift in painting through art therapy. Not just hers, but also many of her different personalities within herself are gifted painters, each with their own distinctive styles and voices.Within five years of starting to paint they have already had seventeen successful solo exhibitions and participated in an equal number of group exhibitions. Kim was also the first Artist in Residence at Springfield University Hospital in Tooting, South West London.

People with MPD develop different personalities in themselves (usually during childhood) as a coping mechanism to trauma. Kim's MPD was a result of her extremely traumatic childhood where she was a victim of a trauma-based mind control programme called the Monarch Programme for 13 years. (Read more about the Monarch Programme here).

The paintings from the different personalities in Kim are incredible. Incredible not only for their artistic excellence but also the haunting stories of physical, sexual and mental torture and abuses they tell.

This piece, titled "Symbolic or What", is indeed ... symbolic. Two girls (or two personas of the same girl) avoid stepping on the checkerboard floor due to the presence of a snake. The appear to be covering their genitals, implying that the snake is phallic symbol. The painting also attests to the great psychic power of the checkerboard pattern on victims, a trait that was probably part of the programming.

This one, entitled "Golden Kaballa", uses the same basic layout as the previous image but replaces scenes of trauma with occult symbols and the central figure with the kabbalistic Tree of Life. Each one of the Tree of Life's colourful spheres, named Sephirots, are used in Monarch mind control as "compartments" to store alter personas. The outer layer of the work contains the name of each of the ten spheres of the Tree of Life with its associated Hebrew letter.

This piece is named "Ted's legless". "Ted" is the small Teddy Bear sitting on the floor. Young mind control victims are often given Teddy Bears by their handlers to make them develop an emotional attachment to them. This attachment is then exploited by the handlers to create emotional trauma.In "Ted's Legless", Ria's handler rips off one of her best friend's legs while forcibly holding her on the ground. The trauma causes dissociation, which is represented by the transparent version of the girl. Haunting words are inscribed on the wall: "Help Me Please" and "Pratt was Here".

"The Naming" is an auto-portrait of Kim with one eye that was removed from the face and placed above her, bloody, which conveys the violent nature of the process. Once again, mind control is symbolized by the loss of an eye which appears to have been replaced by a text/poem that was probably used to program her.

These are some of her work and looking at Kim's disturbingly beautiful paintings and the blood-curdling stories behind had me literally in tears. Her art pieces not only chronicles her traumatic life, it again reaffirms the grotesque human race and the atrocity human beings are capable of inflicting on one another. Depressive to say the least. If only a magic wand could make all these go away. Kim's more detailed story is available here. 

I left my heart in Bali

The island of gods

padi fields.....nice breezes....infinity pools...villas.........soto ayam........pristine beaches........Potato Head....Frangipani....offerings to gods....

I left my heart in Bali