Beverly Wilshire Hotel

Was in Beverly Hills Los Angeles last year on a work trip and stayed at the Beverly Hills Wilshire. The place was beautiful in a Hollywood kind of way.

Peranakan Houses

Malacca has a rich and colourful Peranakan history and culture. It takes the best from Chinese, Malay and European cultures. From beautiful phoneix and flower motifs on vases , dinner plates and tiles to ornate carvings on the windows of their houses. How charming and quaint.

I even bought a painting from a local artist that featured a row of Peranakan houses. According to the art gallery, the artist is a young lady who signs off as AHA ! It now hangs prettily in my living room wall. It was never my intention to buy a piece of art. All I was looking for were pineapple tarts but then things happen. AHA . A Happy Artist perhaps and of course a very Happy buyer.

Limau Limau Cafe

While strolling down Jonker Street one afternoon in Malacca, I came across the charming Limau Limau cafe. "Limau" means orange in Malay though the walls of the cafe were painted in beautiful lime green. The place was adorned with many vintage pictures of cats and there was even a wall devoted to works ( for sale ) of local artistes from Malacca.

I asked the waiter to introduce a drink as there were just too many on the menu. I was pleasantly surprised by the concoction of lychees and papayas. It was damn delicious and since then , I have made my own version at home. Drinking it just reminds me of the brief yet wonderful moment I had in this cafe.

Cheers !

Malacca

Malacca is a place I retreat to with my family during the school holidays. It is only 3 hours away from Singapore by car and it is here that I have spent many wonderful hours , enjoying moments of serendipity.

I was trying to find shelter from the rain one afternoon in June 2008 while walking through Jalan Chan Koon Seng. There I chanced upon a quaint and beautiful art gallery. What caught my eye were a few paintings of very vibrant colours, distinct style and texture. Here I was introduced to the paintings of Jehan Chan, one of Malaysia's most famous painters. His water color collage on crinkled rice paper, a technique he perfected in the '80s was truly beautiful. I stood there admiring the pictures and when I enquired about the price, I stood there admiring it furthur as it was way beyond what I could afford.

I learnt quite a bit of the artist from the lady at the gallery who turned out to be his daughter.

Dolls, dolls, dolls

I cannot resist buying little dolls especially quirky little ones. The pair of school girls remind me of the characters from one of my favourite children's book Madeline while the little pigs look quite dandy and cheeky. They could even be a gay couple. The Russian doll and her 2 daughters are another of my favourite. They remind me of myself and my daughters.

Matryoshka - Little Russian dolls

Little Russian dolls are making their presence felt all over the interiors world from shower curtains to fabrics and cushion covers.

Here are some hand-made Russian dolls of mine which make such a colourful picture. I call them my pretty maids all in a row !

China clay dolls from the late 70s

During the days when Mao's Little Red Book was still relevant, little clay dolls of China's kids playing ping pong, singing patriotic songs, doing acrobatic moves etc were very popular. They all had the same distinctive yellowish brown tinge of colour. I saw some sold by an elderly Chinese couple when I visited China Square's flea market for the first time last year. I chose 2 little girls which incidentally reminded me of my daughters. The older girl loves reading books and playing with animals while the younger one is always brandishing some Chinese kung fu moves or swinging a pole like a wushu exponent. These 2 dolls are fondly displayed on my sideboard.