Classic illustrations

Came across an article on classic Penguin book covers. It brought back some good memories of the little library in my mum's study when I was growing up. All of the books were given away or thrown when my mum converted the study into another bedroom in the late 80's. Now I feel all nostalgic when I see some of the covers featured in an interview with David Gentleman, an Englishman who started illustrating book covers for Penguin way back in the 50's and was best known in the industry for his detailed engraving, lithograph and watercolour work as well as his designs for British postage stamps.

Loved the illustration he did for the cookery book Plats du Jour in the mid fifties. I seem to remember seeing this book in my mum's collection. The front cover was of a French family beginning their meal; when you turn it over, you see the table at the end of the meal, with the cats sitting among the debris.

He was also very fond of having his illustrations drawn on blotting paper with a felt pen as seen in the book " In a German Pension", " Homecomings", "Room with a view" and "Last Things". By doing it this way, he mentioned that one had to get it right or else you would have to start all over again.

More buttons

Just like how squirrels store up on nuts and acorns for a cold winter day, I stock up on buttons. Not sure when I will actually get around to using them but I love looking at their colours and shapes.

Especially when my favourite market vendor "Uncle" starts selling them at a fantastic price and giving me more on top of what I am buying. These old Japanese buttons remind me of those colourful Vicks cough drops in different flavours. Strangely, I don't see these cough drops anymore and wonder if they are still in production. My favourite buttons among these are the ones in shades of blue and green and in between.

Breadou

Wandered into a shop at Bugis Junction yesterday after lunch and came across some wonderful confectioneries such as macaroons, donuts, swiss rolls and loaves of delicious bread with cute expressions. Only catch - they aren't meant to be eaten. Some people destress by eating cakes and other delectable sweet delights and I must confess that I am amongst them. But what I found helps to destress in a different way without the calories. They come with cute emoticons and are oh so squeezable.

I did assume they were created in Japan, land of the kawaii but was intrigued by the use of the word ROTI on some of the products. Singaporeans used the Malay word ROTI for bread and roti culture is very prevalent in my country. The French have their cafes but we have our versions with our unique roti kaya toast and the blackest, strongest coffee. Was pleasantly surprised to discover that these little cute confections were created by Singaporeans using NASA memory foam. Loved it more ! Bought some Roti Toast that can function as a card or mobile phone holder as well as a sweet pink macaroon which can be attached to the mobile phone. I didn't see these lovely baguettes which are actually computer keyboard rests at the shop but I chanced upon them on the Breadou website.

Deepavali - Festival of lights

Flower garlands Elephants on a line

Muruku

More Muruku

Little Clay oil lamp burners

I was glad I could catch the last day of the Deepavali bazaar in Little India, Singapore just a day before the festival. It was the last day for vendors to sell off their goods and there were good discounts all round. Deepavali is the Hindu festival of lights and it is celebrated with Indian sweets, muruku, flower garlands, new bangles and saris and most of all, burning oil lamps to celebrate the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil.

15 minutes - Friends, Food and Fame

Andy Warhol once said " In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes." Welcome to the cafe 15 minutes - Friends, Food and Fame housed on the campus of the LaSalle Collegue of the Arts. High ceilings, huge menu chalk boards and even a stage where anyone can come up to perform and earn their 15 minutes of fame in the evenings . It is so easy to be mistaken that one is in a cafe in Australia or New York.

Food is fabulously cheap and chic especially for lunch. Not a huge selection but what they have is satisfyingly good. Try the wasabi prawn with mayo pizza, the beef stew or their sphagetti spicy prawn aglio olio. For $3, you can get some wonderful golden fries or even some chicken wings . And of course, what is a cafe without a cup of coffee. How about a cup of long black coffee at $2 or a iced capuccino at $3 ? Good food with a huge dose of spaciousness and ambience. I will be coming back for more.

Rex the dinosuar

My favourite vendor at the market had some noisy displays that caught my attention this morning. "Uncle" had the most unusual toys that roar (dinosaur ), croak (frog), crow (rooster).

They were electronic motion activated toys that greets everyone approaching its path with the appropriate sounds but only if you leave a certain button on . That means they can take the place of a guard dog. Had to get Rex and I must say he looks looked quite regal against my favourite flowers. My kids think he is quite funny and they want to use it to scare grandma when she comes to visit. I have no objections.

Banana Chips

Came across a CD cover of a Japanese all girl band Shonen Knife that had an striking Yoshimoto Nara illustration. It belonged to a friend who met the 3 ladies Naoko, Michie and Atsuko way back in 1998 and even had them personally autographed.

The band is still playing today and they described their music as "super-eccentric-pop-punk-cult-band-shonen-knife!" . Their upbeat melodies and frivolous, carefree lyrics often touched on sweet and animals. They do sing in English occasionally and their most famous international hit was banana chips.

" Banana chips for you, banana chips for me, banana chips ". Most infectious once you hear it.