fashion hotbed

was it my imagination or was today like family day out? on the tube or the sidewalk, there were kidlets running around everywhere (how they don't get lost in the crowd, i don't even know) as well as a kajillion baby strollers and baby bjorns. i'm amazed when i see so many parents in new york or london navigating with their young 'uns, as i'm not convinced these cities are the best family friendly cities. when you're walking behind these 'rents and kidlets, it's surely enough to try your patience.

but when you see a yummy daddy or a "dummy" like i saw on the tube today, well, that does change one's mind about the family plans. it's always heart-warming to me to catch a 30-ish husband/wife with one or two kidlets spending time together touring the city; especially if they're beautiful hip young things.

i can honestly say, there's nothing brings a smile to my face more than spying a hip and stylin' husband and dad who's totally into their kids. don't get me wrong; i'm not saying this in a predatory skank ho kinda way. it's more appreciative and wistful and makes me hope to have that too one day. the oughties' norman rockwell family with dad's style a la johnny depp, david beckham, gavin rossdale, jude law, jamie oliver or ewan mcgregor.

michelle, vyvy, nathan and i journeyed out to the v & a museum, my favourite museum in london. when we arrive, we all split up to do our own things and meet up later.


forever-an audio visual installation created by universal everything in the john madejski garden at v & a

i HAD to see the fashion v sports exhibit, which explores the relationship between street fashion and sportswear brands. the exhibition features 60 outfits including tracksuits, trainers, bathing suits and leotards from designers stella mccartney (love her), dries van noten, sonia rykiel. footwear displayed included nikes, the 35th anniversary special edition adidas trainers as well as the adidas diamond encrusted shoelace jewellery. and of course you can not speak of fashion and sports without the mention of david beckham.



i caught up with vyvy and nathan who went to see the cold war modern exhibit at the v & a. we then went off to the science museum, passing the holiday ice rink right outside of the natural history museum. we wanted to check out the japan car: design for the crowded globe exhibit, but after paying admission for the exhibits at v & a, we did not feel the japan car was worth the £8 admission.

nathan went back to the flat to leave me and vyvy to our girls day of window shopping. vyvy took me to check out sloane square and chelsea's high street, the trendy king's road. it's not as packed as oxford street, but then again, there's not that sorta electric buzz either. it's posh, neat and pristine; the stores, the street and the shoppers; kinda like kerrisdale in vancouver. and although it felt like it lacked a bit of character, i did like that you could actually had room to walk on the sidewalk.



my favourite parfumery penhaligons is located on king's road. and although i couldn't justify the thought of spending £50 on 50 ml of blue bell eau de toilette (though i LOVE it), i did go in for a wander.

next stop was selfridges at oxford circus. i love this department store and was more than happy to put up with the crowds to see what was on display and what was on sale. everything about selfridges is beautiful and i'd recommend selfridges over harrods any day. (except for harrod's awesome food hall) we also checked out carnaby street (for me), banana republic (for vyvy) and topshop (for me).



my belief is that with so many shops, styles and choices out there, there simply is no reason not to be fashionable in london. mind you one need not be on the cutting edge everyday but it's quite inexcusable not to have any pride in how you dress here. i feel that londoners have the best sense of style and individuality next to new york and tokyo; 2 other cities whose inhabitants take pride in their attire. if only canadians were thought of in that best dressed list; our country of gore-tex, birkenstocks, hiking boots, flannel and denim as the national tuxedo.

speaking of flannel, we have so far been blessed with such great weather, considering it's winter time in london. there hasn't been any sign of rain or snow. truly lucky as it was raining non-stop a couple of weeks ago. however, it's been flippin' freeeeezing.



how do i know that today was the worst day of the bunch? by the stabby, throbby tension headache i had from mid-afternoon onwards. i never get headaches (in the forehead region) but i do get headaches or throbs as i call it, below and along the base of my skull. it was doing my nut in today. so much so that vyvy indulged me in window shopping place to place. after finishing selfridges, she'd ask if i wanted to go home or if i wanted to go to carnaby. then after carnaby, she'd ask if i wanted to go home or if i could go on to banana. and so forth. how lame am i? we were always a stones throw to the tube station; at the ready mark should the headache prove to unbearable for me.

i was bundled up in 4 layers, plus winter coat, scarf, tights, boots, toque and still i was shivering. not that it was all in my head, as the pavements were glacial by the time we got home after 8pm. it's the first time of my stay that you could see dewy frost on the sidewalk.

unfortunately for me, because of the piercing "shut your whole body down" cold, we did not go back to spitalfields as hoped. vyvy had wanted to take me to check out the group of jugglers that teach juggling and hang out every tuesday there. so disappointed i couldn't check that out. but if i had tried to go, i'm sure those balls would be doing more than just being tossed into the air.

i'm starting to realize that holidaying in london during the winter does not make for london nightlife out.

the importance of good food

michelle and i thought that it would be a breeze to head down for a ride on the london eye this early afternoon. boy were we wrong and unprepared for the onslaught of holidayers thinking the same exact thing.



it was a zoo from the time we walked out of westminster station, over westminster bridge, past the london aquarium, dali museum and to the eye. however, on a positive note, it was a beautiful warmish winter day and we got to take in glorious views of the parliament building and the river thames.



postponing for another day the london eye idea, we headed to harrods in knightsbridge. once there, we found ourselves in the food hall from which we abandoned ourselves to for the next hour. one word: store-wide boxing day sale. (okay, that was 5 words). second word: food. need i say more?

in the retail side of the food hall, you'd find coffee, hot chocolate, tea, biscuits, cakes, chocolate, sweets, marmalade, jam, honey. most ridiculously sale priced. so indeed, we stocked up on shortbread cookies and clotted cream fudge, cream biscuits and tins of tea.

at the other side of the food hall, you can buy the most exquisite looking food stuff for takeaway. how cornball are we that we ran around taking pictures of food behind glass? it looked so scrumptuous, delectable and perfect as you'd expect anything from harrods would be.



one must visit the world famous harrods if ever in london, even if just cross it off one's list and say that one did it. however, it is certainly not my favourite department store in london. (that accolade would go to selfridges) although harrods is quite an institution, the gold over the top glitz and egyptian opulence is too much for me to take seriously.

michelle had to check out the princess diana and dodi fayed memorial, consisting of their pictures, a wine glass with lipstick smudge from diana's last dinner as well as the engagement ring dodi had purchased for diana the day before they died. mohamed al fayed had wanted to keep his son and diana's memory alive, but as with anything princess diana-related, the memorial was theme-parkish with camera carrying tourists.

rather than eat at the uber-price harrods restaurants, cafes or food counters, michelle and i grabbed some takeaway sandwiches from sainsbury and went down to trafalgar square to meet up with nathan and vyvy. we were excited to check out some botticelli, da vinci, caravaggio, rembrandt, vermeer and seurat at the national gallery.



not to be outdone, i wanted us to check out the national portrait gallery, adjoining the national gallery. the gallery houses portraits of historically important and famous british people. the national portrait gallery also showcases contemporary photographic work and the annual bp portrait prize competition.

the last time i visited was for a kate moss portrait. this time i got to explore the 3rd floor featuring the tudors portrait gallery. i was like a kid in a candy store because i loved watching films about that time period in royal history, particularly the story of lady jane grey and of the virgin queen elizabeth. while walking through and viewing the royal portraits, i found myself thinking, "hey, i know who that person is", "hey, i remember that person from such and such film", or "oh, so that's what they really look like. well, the casting director got that one way wrong."


left to right: queen elizabeth, lady jane grey, anne boleyn, queen mary

there were portraits of king henry viii and his wives anne boleyn, catherine of aragon and catherine parr but the most stunning portrait was that of the young virgin queen elizabeth. she through her portrait still commands your attention and admiration to this day, especially with that curlicue frame around the portrait.

current exhibits include a retrospective on annie leibovitz: a photographer's life, 1990-2005 which we didn't see because of the rather steep admission cost was £11.

one exhibit i did spend time at was champions: portraits by anderson & low (to benefit the elton john aids foundation). the black and white nude portraits of internationally renowned male and female athletes were nothing short of stop you dead in your tracks striking. the project was conceived to raise awareness about hiv/aids and showed these formidable athletes with their incredible physiques being just as vulnerable to hiv and aids as the rest of humanity. photographers anderson and low current projects also include an incredible portfolio of circus performers and athlete-warriors.

another was the taylor wessing photographic portrait prize exhibit where there were a few portraits that i thought were fantastic.


left to right: james stroud's viktoria, peter arnold's little novice and 3rd prize winner catherine balet's ines connected with amina

for dinner, we all strolled over to the 15th century cittie of yorke pub nearby on holborn. the pub has bragging rights as reportedly one of the longest bars in london, though it didn't look very long to michelle or myself. the traditional bar is dark wood panelled and has large oak vats at the counter. the booths are small and confessional-like which may explain why this pub is most frequented by lawyer types from the nearby courts.



after our fish and chips, we headed over to the marks and spencers simply foods across the street. i learned today from vyvy and nathan the hierarchy of food shopping for londoners. here i was thinking that tesco was awesome fun from my june trip, marks and spencer would be out of my daily budget if i lived in london and that i felt that our harrods shopping bags today marked michelle and i as tourists on the tube. but i kinda got it wrong.

tesco is one of the largest supermarkets in london and one that newcomers think the world of when they first arrive in london, not knowing any better. yup, that was me. the better quality marks and sparks was a little more pricey, but i found out not outrageously so and harrods is considered high end grocery shopping, although the only people who carry harrods shopping bags are tourists, simply because whoever can afford to grocery shop at harrods, usually has their groceries delivered.

so the hierarchy generally goes something like this: (from lowest to high end)

01. asda
02. tesco
03. sainsbury
04. waitrose
05. marks & spencers
06. harrods
07. fortnum & mason

i feel like a londoner now. looky that. i go out for groceries and i come back with an education.

8/6/2011 update: UK's daily mail put together a tongue-in-cheek guide to shopping styles.

girls day out

just when i was getting used to being in hoxton, home of the famous hoxton fin (a variation of the faux hawk made famous and sported by lads in the hoxton/shoreditch districts in the early 2000s), i had to move. because chris was heading to wales with friends for new years eve, i bid him bye bye and moved from hoxton over to east london to stay with my very good friend from new york, michelle and her friends, vyvy and nathan for the remainder of my trip.

this is michelle's first trip to london and i was excited to spend some time with her, for i hadn't seen her since february. and it was so very awesome that her friends, vyvy and nathan, who hadn't even met me invited me to stay with them also.

jumping the tube over to nearby bow road station and making my way to fairfield road was straight forward. but i was completely stunned as i approached vyvy and nathan's place at the bow quarter, an urban renewal project of a converted match factory which is now a modern and beautiful apartment complex. the 7 acre bow quarter also includes an onsite gym, swimming pool, jacuzzi, steam room, sauna, bar, restaurant, convenience store and postal facilities. the different buildings have new york place names too, such as lexington, arlington, manhattan, staten and park. what a place to live. i called it a walled city. you literally have everything outside your front door.



vyvy took michelle and i over to spitalfields market for lunch at canteen. michelle had her first taste of tea, scones, jam and clotted cream the other day and absolutely loved it. so we ordered that as well as scrambled egg on toast for me and bacon, eggs, bubbles and squeek for her.

the market stalls outside the plaza and nearby sold mostly handmade, designer originals. we braved the cold weather to ooh and ah at scarves, dresses, purses and home accessories. the busiest day to go to the spitalfields market is sundays but it's also the best opportunity to people watch. there are 3 different sections that you can check out, depending on your flavour. after the touristy section, we made our way over to the grafitti'd alleyway where it was crowded with hipsters and their clothing, scooter and record stores. (love rough trade records)



this hidden alleyway was a gem for taking pictures of a double decker bus which operates as a coffee/tea cafe/takeaway, grafitti of clockwork orange's alex delarge and other subversive wall art. overall, i loved spitalfields (even more than camden and portobello markets) and i couldn't believe that i passed on this market up on my last trip. now i know.

michelle wanted to check out neil's yard, so we made our way to the covent garden area. neil's yard is a blink and you'll walk right by the narrow entrance that opens up into a courtyard of shops and outdoor dining in the seven dials shopping area. the cobble stoned area is so named because it's where seven streets of retail and boutique shops converge, where we did some damage to the pocketbook.



continuing on, we checked out the christmas lights at covent garden's market and piazza as well as the museum of transport. and despite the weather dipping close to zero, we pushed on through to leicester square, which for the holiday season had been gussied up to a bright lights mini winter wonderland carnival, complete with wave swinger, bumper cars, octopus', tilt a whirls, carousels and other amusement park rides. and if it wasn't so damn cold, we may have well re-visited our childhood days.

there was so much we wanted to show michelle but we didn't want to have her experience sensory overload, (which is so easy to do in london) so after briefly walking a bit of soho, we ended up having dinner at golden harvest restaurant in the main thoroughfare of chinatown. i don't know if it was the tea bringing feeling back to our noses, fingers and toes, being able to sit down comfortably after being on our feet all day or the fact that our timing could not have been more impeccable as we got there right before the big a** queue started or a combination of all those factors, but it indeed made the dinner of spring rolls, tofu & veggies and egg fried rice that much more tasty.

the best girls day in london ever.

my simian adventure

after 8 months of following the progress and success of monkey: journey to the west and 2 disconnects in timing, i finally got to watch this "circus opera" which got extended until the first week of january in a specially constructed tent at the meridian gardens, right next to the o2 arena.




illustrations by jamie hewlett

chris was a good egg for going with me all the way out to the o2 and not familiar with the story sat for the couple hours to take in the mandarin speaking, operatic singers as well as the corde lisse aerialists, plate spinners, uni-cyclists, contortionists and hand balancing, pole climbing, gravity-defying acrobats.

monkey: journey to the west opera tells the story of the monkey king and his co-horts' pilgrimage to bring back the buddhist scrolls from india. in their quest for redemption and their hopes for immortality, the group must confront the white skeleton demon, the spider woman and princess iron fan.



the first couple of scenes of monkey had me a touch annoyed watching the brattish and arrogant monkey king cause havoc all around. it also started wearing thin hearing the monkey king snort out his annoying laugh, hiss at his opponents and scratch continually at his nether regions. it's only when he gets his comeuppance, that the opera starts to get better.

i found the animation projected on the scrim before each scene wonderfully imaginative, the costumes and make up eye-catching, the colourful set, especially the last scene with the 30 foot buddha mountain fantastical. the 20-ish piece orchestra playing both western and eastern instruments sat stage left in full view of the audience, which i thought lent itself to creating an intimate feeling.

what was weak about the production was that the surtitles were off to stage left and right, rather than projected above the stage and in keeping with the big-top circus feel, the long rows of metallic bleacher-style seats became uncomfortable after a time. but these small inconveniences did not detract from monkey.

the story even got a bit saucy. a modern and adult spin on the childhood fable, especially in the scene where the scantily clad spider women try their damndest to seduce the pilgrims tripitaka and pigsy on their silk banners hanging down from the rafters. the song they sing gives rise to a new euphemism for doing the sexy times with the phrase, "let's rock the dragon and flip the phoenix."



the event space for monkey includes a pre-show dinner and intermission lounge, red paper lanterns festooning the ceiling of the lobby, a foot massage parlour, a painted wall mural where you can take pictures standing beside monkey on their journey and a booth selling merchandise ranging from £10-80.

and a funny note: when i asked the usher if there was an intermission in the 2 hour show, his face drew a blank. when i asked again, thinking he didn't hear me the first time, he still looked stumped. erm, turns out the english refer to intermission as interval. now is it just me or does intermission sound more appropriate and better than interval?

after monkey ended, chris and i got to hang out for a backstage tour, walk amongst the very diminutive acrobats and performers with their wash board six pack stomachs as well as meet and have a drink with the show producer so that i could express our appreciation on a wonderfully stylish production.

i waited so long and never thought i would be able to catch monkey but i'll be a monkey's uncle that the opportunity as well as the timing did finally present itself.

welcome to the jungle

the word "gong show"? a staggering understatement for today.

it was as if everyone who was away for the past couple of days came back into the city with a vengeance just for the boxing day sales. from the time we got onto the tube and made our exit at tottenham court road, walking to oxford circus was like being carried by a swell of shoppers. the energy was on the insane side but it was somewhat welcomed after the freakish ghost town-like atmosphere yesterday.

the stores of oxford circus were trying to outdo each other with posters screaming of their sales all around us. it was like you didn't know where to begin. granted, oxford street is a draw for local and tourists shopping no matter what time of the year, but i haven't ever seen it heaving with people like it was today. you'd never guess there was a credit crunch on with some people dropping money on things reduced to still on the high side of £20-75 for tops and bottoms at topshop.

course a visit to oxford circus would not be complete without going into topshop. chris and i were to rendez-vous back at the front in half an hour; chris going to topman upstairs and me going downstairs. surprisingly, although the rails and rails of clothes were picked through, the sales were not so significant. not surprisingly, given my experience from last summer, there were nothing in my size to try on or even look at. the only thing i can say i got from the topshop boxing day sale was a topshop bottled water which the store made available; all the more reason to spend your time and hard earned cash in no other stores than theirs, hydrated.

the half hour flew by and by the time i got up to our meeting place, chris was already there. seems that topman was so packed and the queues to the till and change room so long (and i thought women were the power consumers), that he didn't even want to shop around. poor guy had sat there for half an hour, waiting for me.

as the afternoon wore on, the london streets remained ever crammed. we walked through carnaby street and i've mentally earmarked a couple of things to check out when i return the next few days. as for now, i decided to play the observer and not active participant; yes, i'm a gal of incredible self-restraint.


i thought the large balloon snowmen suspended all around carnaby looked like they were all going to descend and attack the shoppers at any second with the maniacal grins on their faces. kinda like the ghostbusters movie. i found it quite hilarious.

we walked under the christmas lights of regent street and found ourselves at piccadilly circus before cruising through chinatown streets. did i say that our original plan was to spend the day at the national art gallery (the only museum opened today) down at trafalgar square?

rather than be doomed to wait for service in the surely long lines at any given restaurants down in covent garden/leicester square area, chris and i opted to find a low-key pub back up in hoxton for dinner and drinks. i knew we found the right one when i looked at the sign. spread eagle. with a name like that, how could you say no? yes, folks, i have now found a pub name that has beaten the one i found when i first visited england, the cock.



and what did i eat at spread eagle? my first official eating out meal? fish and chips, naturellement. and it was good and savoured and appreciated in this dimly lit and quiet-ish pub on this crazy consumer day.

cool yule day

today was one of those days i knew i was writing off. i slept on and off throughout the night but forced myself to stay in bed and rest until i saw morning's first light break through the window curtains. and i swear, it seemed like the longest night ever. i guess that means i wanted up and at 'em. in reality, i probably was in bed for just over 6 hours and slept maybe 4 hours.



morning was nice and leisurely. got up at 8am and had some brekkie and slowly got ourselves out for a walk. as there were no trains and buses or very limited but uber-expensive taxis for hire, chris and i walked down to the nearby angel/islington area.

for london being such a cosmopolitan city, vancouver has it beat when it comes to businesses being opened on christmas day. the couple of miles to angel, i think we saw only 2 corner stores opened, where you can buy convenience store items. london is definitely not a 24 hour convenience city. chris told me that it was only within the past decade that retail stores even started to stay opened past 4pm. really?! and not a 7-11 at all in sight.

the weather was cold, overcast and brisk. a proper late autumn day. but i'm hardly complaining. compared to what vancouver is going through with 2 more accumulated feet of snow that fell after midnight last night, i even count my blessings as i seem to have made it out of vancouver airport just in the nick of time. everyone is telling me that today's an absolute nightmare; wherever you are, there you stay put. jeepers.

got back to the flat and was astonished that it was not quite 10am yet. it felt like we packed in a full afternoon, walking about and waxing philosophical into just a couple of hours. and that was pretty much it for outside excursions.


i brought my polaroid spectra camera with me (love polaroids)


(johnny) cash, the resident cat

while watching jim jarmusch's dead man dvd this afternoon, it was lights out for me. for everyone that knows me, i do not nap. don't even know how to do the 20 minute cat nap. because if i sleep at all during the day, it's a good money bet that i'm royally screwed with my sleep that same night.

i woke up after a 6 hour sleep at 9pm to my shock and dismay. guh-reat. i know that i really needed it and i hope that takes care of any jetlag that is lingering.

but it is now 3:40 in the morning and i'm freakin' wide awake. brilliant.

merry christmas from london

london eye


regent street christmas lights

happy holidays everyone! xo

rockabilly christmas greetings

for my cry-baby loving' rockabilly best friend...





merry christmas peggy! xo

tumbleweeds in london

so after 2 hours flight delayed, followed by one hour on the tarmac being de-iced, i finally made it to london. i had made a concerted effort to get some sleep/rest after the evening meal. so with toque, night shades, ear plugs and blanket, i tried to call it a night. but even with all my sleep aids, it was difficult falling fitfully asleep in an upright position with a full plane of about 300 passengers. and patches of turbulence at 41000 ft. and crying babies, gotta love 'em.

cleared customs easily and jumped the gatwick express into town. when i finally met chris at victoria station, it was about 730-ish. my flight was originally supposed to get in at 3pm. uhm. yeah.

we jumped the tube to go to old street station and everywhere you looked from the platform, to the station, on the train and on the street was practically deserted. when we got to the normally busy hoxton/shoreditch area where we're staying, there were no cars or people in sight. people weren't kidding when they told me that london on xmas eve/xmas gets completely shut down. on the one hand, it's great to have the streets all to yourselves, admiring the festive lights and decorations, but on the other hand, it's 28 days later surreal.

we dropped off my gear and went for a walk to the nearby hoxton square. as both kitchens to the only 2 opened pubs were closed, chris and i went back to the loft/flat to cook up some nosh and catch up. chris had made sure to have the most important necessities upon my arrival: shortbread cookies, mince pies and jaffa cakes. (bless)

what a welcome! and surefire ways to help deal with the jetlag that is sure to knock me flat on my butt any second now. as with flight turbulence, i'm bracing myself for it.

do not touch a good thing

a reminder that some homages, tributes and remakes just don't match the original. the song that spawned all the pop celebrities cause-related music videos: band aid - do they know its christmas? the best version, the 1984 version, natch. as a child of the 80s, you gotta love these 80s fashions and mullets, aka hair that is all business in the front and party at the back.



much better than the dancey prancey 1989 stock aitken and waterman version band aid II. course, being that these were the same producers for rick astley and kylie minogue, no wonder it sounds like this. (and for the record, i loved rick astley back in the day and think ms minogue is just plain awesome)

then of course there's the 2006 band aid 20 version, which if i listened to just the song is alright, albeit a little too mellow for my taste. the video too, is uninspiring and dull.

they should've left band-aid frozen in time and stopped it in 1984.

and just for these bastardizations, giggle rightly so with pulp's parody of these "band-aiders" in their video, featuring celebrity impersonators, bad cover version.

this is your pre-boarding call

i knew my flight would not go unscathed with all the snowy weather that's caused havoc on the city since friday. vancouver is not equipped to deal with this much snow all at once. after calling for over half an hour to get a cab and just getting a busy signal, i started to panic, thinking there's no way i'd make it to the airport on time, even if i plowed knee deep through the snow to try to catch 3 connecting buses.

thank heavens for my friend q. i called him to see if there were any limos from his company was available to drive me. not that i wanted to rock star it to my flight, but desperate need that i felt, any car would do, even their 10 person stretch limo. fortunately, q offered to drive me there. what a luv and a lifesaver!

so i made it in fine time, only to see that the air transat flight was delayed by 2 hours, now leaving at midnight. there was a break from the snow today but the airport was having to deal with the backlog of passengers from yesterday. at least the flight is not cancelled, as so many domestic flights have been, leaving passengers stranded at the airport for over 24 hours; some may not even make it home by christmas.

looks like i'll be getting into london at 5pm. i'll then jump on the gatwick express to meet chris at victoria station.

now i just have to get myself on the plane and level out the jetlag by getting some sleep on the plane.

a very merry raveonettes christmas

i adore danish band, the raveonettes because they draw their musical influences and vocal stylings from buddy holly, the everly brothers, the velvet underground, the ronettes and jesus and mary chain. singer sharin foo is like a female jim reid and just as sexy too.

and i love that they love christmas, releasing dreamy, psychedelic, shoe-gazy songs for the holiday season.



and dare i say it? a better and hipper version of u2's it's christmas (baby please come home):



rave on.

no cowbells here

this has got to be one of THE best holiday movies ever. AND one of the many roll-in-the-aisles-laughing scenes from elf.

what can i say? i love slap-schtick, sight gags, low brow, velveeta humour. thank goodness for will ferrell.



*sigh* i heart christmas in new york.

hug you close

now that i have a baby niece, i've found more reasons to go shopping at toys 'r us, my favourite section being children's books. like greeting cards, i will buy a children's book if it touches my funny or sentimental bone.

erm, did i mention that i buy it for myself?

after picking up a birthday gift for my niece, i decided that this teeny hardback book, hug by jez alborough, was too adorable not to buy. the story of bobo the baby gorilla is relatable regardless of one's age. call me a sap but the illustrations just nail it on the head how i feel oftentimes when i'm in need of that encompassing hug.





i'm affectionate, a touchy-feely kinda person and an all embracing bear-hugger. i'm proud to say that i have had many people compliment me on my hugs. (that compliment is better than gold)

i believe in the power of touch, be it a kiss or holding hands. but a hug has got to be one of the most simplest, yet most profound gift you have to give. too often in our busy "hands-off" life, we suffer from touch deprivation, skin hunger and hug inhibition. what we need to realize is that we have in our possession the power to make someone feel cherished and loved.

inspired by the free hugs campaign, a social movement started in 2004 by juan mann, australian band sick puppies used the campaign film footage for their music video, all the same. and yes, i become quite the smiley and teary-eyed mess whenever i watch this video.



the hug is communication uncomplicated by words and is absolutely necessary for our physical and emotional well-being. so give generously. hug often. hug well.

oh and for the record, i'm always open to giving or receiving hugs.

on the other side of the world, xmas is sunny and hot

for miss d. down under -



our white christmas in vancouver.

mukluks and snotsicles

the first thing i did when i woke up today was take a peek outside my window to see that it was still snowing. weather reports anticipated that vancouver would get anywhere from 5-10cm of the fluffy white stuff overnight.

the second thing i did whilst still in my jammies was don on my wellies, hooded down coat and toque and went out onto my deck and then went outside on the sidewalk to take it all in. even before i washed my face and brushed my teeth (conjuring up a lovely image i'm sure)



i shuffled around in the snow and walked around the block. the stillness of the air was marred only by the sounds of car tires trying to find its grip in the distance. someone should tell that yabbo that today was definitely a walking day or a staying at home day. but that didn't disrupt my mood as i felt like a kid again with the snow falling all around and landing gently onto my face. what a way to start my holiday off from work.

it's not often that vancouver gets a white christmas. according to environment canada, vancouver comes in 3rd place under the "lowest snowfall" category compared among 100 major canadian cities and has about a 13% chance of a white christmas.

but for the first day of winter, or actually the week leading up to the first day of winter, vancouverites dealt with the deluge of 3 snowstorm systems and record breaking wind-chill temperatures dipping down to -15C, vancouver's coldest day in 40 years just this past friday. canadian weather guessers, erm i mean climatologists practically guaranteed that this will be the first white christmas for coast-to-coast canada since 1971.

this is like weather of the east coast making its mark on the west coast. one of the reasons i left new york was because of the bone-chilling winters. ack.

exactly 6 months ago today, i was catching the train from london to paris with chris. we arrived into paris on the summer solstice at 29C plus humidity. i remember feeling a stab of sadness when chris said that everyday after that day we'd get closer and closer to shorter days, longer nights and colder weather. on that sunny hot summer day, it was hard to wrap my mind around this fact.

so as much as i love feeling like a kid with all this snow, i reveled in the thought as i plowed about in the snow with a big goofy grin that today is the winter solstice. that means that every day afterwards, we'll get closer and closer to more daylight, more sunshine and more heat.

i don't even feel the nip on my nose with that tidbit warming the cockles of my heart.

raise your cup of egg nog for holiday celluloid

i'm guilty of loving cliche laden christmas movies. who doesn't love watching christmakah movies while piled on the couch, wrapped up in a down comforter with a cup of hot chocolate and cookies?

every year during the holiday season, there are certain must-see movies i have to watch. it's become quite the tradition since i was wee girl.

every winter my family would watch the following movies aired on tv: merry christmas mr bean, christmas vacation, the wizard of oz and of course, what christmas would not be complete without the sound of music? and although not the conventional christmas fare, my brothers and i would also delight in watching die hard too.

over the past few years, i've added new holiday favourites to my yearly viewings. ever since will ferrell donned on the green felt coat and shoes with upturned toes, i've been watching elf come every december. love elf. love will ferrell. elf is the one movie that threatens to topple my #1 christmas-y movie of all, love actually.



LOVE love actually, the ultimate feel-good holiday movie. i just finished watching it too. never fails, the movie makes me cry, laugh and smile; sometimes at the same time. big fan of writer and producer richard curtis.

and just because i love scores so very much.



i've watched love actually not only because it's just days before xmas but to also get me in the mood because i'll be in london for christmas and new years. i have 2 weeks off from work and i'll be spending one week in london, arriving on christmas eve and flying back on new years day.

i get to visit with my friend chris again. yay! my friend michelle from new york, whom i'm rendez-vous'ing with, will also be traveling for her first time to london. whoo-hooo!

CAN NOT WAIT.

baby girl day

wowzers, time is just flying at breakneck speed. my niece turned two today so we threw her a little birthday party.



watching her play brings back a flood of long forgotten childhood memories. whereas she's all about the elmo at this age, i remember my brother was all about ernie and i always had a soft spot for grover. ah, sesame street rocks.

she's learning new words everyday but kidlet has basically 4 words in her vocab she uses most frequently: noooooooooo, pleeeeease, daddy-eeeee and outsiiiiiiiide. all said with a wail like an ambulance siren.

and she's perfected the wide eyed doe look and a pouty lower lip she can trip over; all the better to wrap daddy, uncle, grandmom and most everyone around her little finger. resistance is futile.

look out world.

break up by proxy

"my name is akira. i offer unique service to the people of tokyo. i finish relationships that have died. welcome to my humble business, no sad, big smile breakup service."


Find more videos like this on AdGabber

an 'effin cool ad promoting adidas' originals safety clothing line. dig on the song too - perro amor explota by bersuit vergarabat.

check out all 3 shorts on the no sad big smile's site.

a lament for love lost

perhaps love is one of those dvds that is a must have, must buy and must watch several times over dvd. i don't normally buy chinese movies but i'm uber-glad i bought this drama-romance-musical.



this movie is simply gorgeous to behold. and i'm not just speaking about its stars. actress xun zhou is ethereal, delicate and porcelain doll exquisite. and takeshi kaneshiro is amazing as always. it's absolutely criminal how beautiful and talented the man is. a long time fan of his work, he's one of the main reasons i even watch chinese cinema.




the set up to the movie is in its first minute when perhaps love opens with a narrator comparing our fleeting lives with movies, whereby we are all leading players in our own personal movies, but no more than supporting players in anybody else's. and like movies, each of us constantly edit or delete our memories.



perhaps love revolves around a romantic love triangle between an ambitious actress and the two men that are hopelessly in love with her. with kaneshiro's character lin, her lover from 10 years before, zhou's character sun na, has edited him out of her memory on her rise to stardom, even going so far to act like she's never met him before when they both end up starring in a movie together.

with her current boyfriend and director of said movie, she's already rewriting that relationship when hollywood comes knocking on her door. as well, the director doesn't have a clue about his muse's prior relationship until filming begins.

perhaps love is a musical within a movie. the break-out-in-song-and-dance routines are strictly confined to the movie that is being made between the three characters, so that it doesn't have the cheesy OA (over-acting) feel of moulin rouge, although perhaps love will invariably draw comparisons to baz lurhmann's flick.

music numbers aside, it is the flashbacks to sun's and lin's angst filled love affair that really captivates. it is a love that is so intense, passionate and bitter that it has not changed one iota a decade later.

the movie captured best actress, cinematographer, director and best original song at the golden horse awards, the chinese equivalent of the oscars.

as i'm a sucker for grand sweeping soundtracks, after watching perhaps love, i immediately went online to buy the accompanying soundtrack. i absolutely fell in love with the instrumental score because it reminded me of the music box i had when i was a little girl.



the circus-like sound of a set of pins on a revolving cylinder striking the teeth of a steel comb between the all-embracing cello, bass, harp, piano, cymbals, woodwinds and violins...absolutely beautiful.



now one of my favourites movies and soundtracks, this ravishing kaleidoscope is dazzling and haunting. it will make you swoon as it breaks your heart at the same time.

the world out there

can't decide which version i love more...


外面-周迅, "the world out there" sung by zhou xun (the movie version)


外面-周迅, "the world out there" sung by zhou xun (the radio mix version)

it's a wonderful world outside
will i fail if i go outside
it's a generous world outside
i'll survive if i dare to go outside
staying here i can not find any future
i'll find my future outside
i've made up my mind to change and the life becomes harsh
i blow off the candle, wishing to leave
it's a wonderful world outside
i'll be adorable
i'll find my opportunities in the outside world soon
i'll surely find myself

step away from the stray

i attract strays. guys, that is.

guys who are lost. guys who don't know who they are or who they want to be. guys that don't know what they want. guys who are in transition.

val tells me it's because i wear my heart on my sleeve. that i have a tendency to save or rescue lost souls, when what i really should do is not get involved and therefore develop no feelings of attachment or responsibility. and i have a tendency to wipe the slate clean. yeah, girl knows my pattern.

stephen tells me it's because i'm more assured and stronger-willed than most of the directionless or commitment-phobic guys i meet. and because of that, it's like a moth to a flame. only, i need to meet a guy who is as bold as i am to keep up with me. runts need not apply.

i had a laugh when i stumbled upon the u.s. humane society's rules of what one should do when one finds a stray dog/cat on the road; some of those rules could be taken under advisement with the strays i meet.

How to Help:

This is a wrenching scenario for all who care about animals. Once you've seen the dog (or cat), many feel it's too late to drive away from him or her. So, before you pull over, use these guidelines for assisting animals safely and effectively.

If you know in your heart that you're a rescuer, why not equip yourself to do the best possible job?

* Think about your safety first. You cannot help an animal if you become injured in the process.

* Consider the safety of the animal. A strange, frightened and possibly sick or injured animal can behave unpredictably. A sudden move on your part, even opening your car door, can spook him and cause him to bolt—possibly right onto the highway. If the animal looks or acts threatening, or, if for any reason, you feel uneasy about the situation, stay in your car.

* Use caution when approaching the animal. Should you succeed in getting close enough to capture him, you stand a good chance of being scratched or bitten. Even a small animal can inflict a painful wound.

* Don't assume you are dealing with an irresponsible owner. The frantic owner could be looking everywhere for their beloved pet.

that's funny.

my girlfriends val, lilli, jackie and i went out for a pre-xmas celebratory catch-up dinner the other night. and as we round-tabled it, catching up on all the minutiae of our lives, i heard the summations of a new mother, a newlywed and a perennial singleton who's recently fallen so madly in love that she's thinking the unthinkable for her. moving in with her new flame.


l to r: ex-singleton, me, baby mama, newlywed

and i'm absolutely estatic that my girlfriends are doing well and happy with what's going on in their lives right now. but i'm left feeling a bit wistful. especially when it was my turn for updates. i think i pretty much summed it up in about 50 words or less. career, school, career, school, career. oh, look. less than 10 words even.

year end always gets me into a state of reflection. and evaluation of past mistakes. and thinking of how i've grown from experiences. and most importantly, to remember the lessons learned. like re-programming the ingrained feeling to remain friends with everyone, due to my fear of that "if tomorrow never comes" thinking. it scares me willy nilly to lose any opportunity to be in each other's lives, even if it's at the expense of my bruised or broken heart.

it's certainly in contradiction to the "love yourself first" way of thinking i've been trying to adapt these past few years. and therein lies the internal conflict. the latter part of the year had me seeing with more clarity and summoning more strength to let go of things that may not be good for me and commit to myself first.

it's hard as heck as it is so contrariwise to my nature, but i know my worth and that i deserve much more. if you ask me my laundry list of what i'm looking for, it would be meeting someone who knows his own mind (nosce te ipsum) and what he wants. and to have no fear in jumping in feet first. course, i'm not speaking of tempting fate with reckless acts like jumping off a cliff to rocky shores below; but he would have to be unafraid to expand his horizons. be fearless.

maybe i'm getting older or maybe i'm just getting wiser, but i'm at a point where if someone doesn't have his emotional sh*t together by now, i'm not taking to it, like candy to a baby. i hate wasting time; we have so little of it, in this our only life.

and funnily enough, i now literally hear voices in my head; that is, those belonging to my dear friends telling me "don't bring home that stray" and curtailing me into making a bad relationship decision. i don't even need to pick up a phone anymore, i already know what they're going to say.

elizabeth gilbert nailed it on the head about how i've been in relationships, with this nugget that resonated from her book, eat, pray, love:

"I have always fallen in love fast and without measuring risks. I have a tendency not only to see the best in everyone, but to assume that everyone is emotionally capable of reaching his highest potential. I have fallen in love more times than I care to count with the highest potential of a man, rather than with the man himself, and then I have hung on to the relationship for a long time (sometimes far too long) waiting for the man to ascend to his own greatness. Many times in romance I have been the victim of my own optimism."

but it's all part of the learning process, isn't it? so we can recognize and make changes for the better. i'm kinda done with all the tomfoolery that goes with casual dating. i don't want to bother with something that isn't real. for anybody can have a boyfriend. finding that elusive thing called love, that's what i want.

and that's what's worth holding out for.

i've gained weight

because i arrived from work late to archery class, the 15lb recurve bows i normally practice with were taken by 2 newbies at tonight's group.

no matter cuz the manager of the gallery thought i was ready to try out the 20lb recurve. adult archers typically begin with a bow 20-25 lbs in weight, compared to the 15-20 lb ones which are appropriate for young or new archers to hold onto easier while developing good form.

obviously, it was longer and heavier but after a few minutes, i became very comfortable with it. you could feel that much more power when you draw the string back and release the arrow, compared to the 15lb'er. i liked it immediately.

however, a heavier bow is best for shooting a further target. at the 10m line, it felt like it was too much power for such a short distance. but at 15m or further, it felt just right. i shot much better than last class, even got my first bows eye with the 20lb'er at the 15m mark.





fellow archer, alanna got me all excited tonight. she was talking about taking outdoor archery later in the spring. there are no outdoor targets posted flat against a wall, but rather, the targets are all 3-D. (stuffed animal shapes) a much different approach and skill required. it sounded so intriguing. ahem, not the make-believe shooting at animals shapes, of course, but shooting from a distance at something that could sway and rock.


ready, aim...

fetching our arrows

trio of photos courtesy of scotty

so i'm psyched to continue practicing with the 20lb bow for the next classes until i become comfortable to move up to the 30lb compound bow. (i want to shoot the recurve consistently well before going onto the compound with its lever and pulley system) i'll get there.

yes, only in archery would i get excited about the thought of gaining 15lbs.

new york this isn't

franz ferdinand. love them.



who doesn't love a band with lyrics like Ich heiße superfantastisch. Ich trinke Schampus mit Lachsfisch? (translation: my name is super fantastic. i drink champagne with salmon, from darts of pleasure)

franz ferdinand will always occupy a special place in my heart because they were the band that i was listening to when i became convinced that i was making the right decision to move to new york a few years ago.

it was february 2005 when i went to new york for a week. i took that trip as my opportunity to really look at the city with the eyes of a prospective resident. (i would move that august)

i went to meet my new friend who was dj'ing at a resto-lounge in the chelsea district. in between him feeding me some late night nosh at the bar, playing tunes and entertaining me during his breaks, i was exposed to some new music that i hadn't heard before.

i already knew franz ferdinand from their song, take me out and really liked it. but the song that i was then listening to coming over the speakers, i REALLY took a shine to. so much so that we were both grooving in our seats, turning ourselves around on our bar stools and generally making spectacles of ourselves. it was 3am, we were in new york and the restaurant patroned by the post club crowd didn't bat an eyelash with our antics.

the song was the dark of the matinee. i loved this song so much that i went out and bought their fantastic self-titled cd almost immediately after. to this day, it's still one of my favourite cds.



the dark of the matinee would be tied into that moment of cheeky fun as i also befriended a stranger who came to sit beside us at the bar and who would eventually become a friend, thus making the transition of moving to a another city for me that much easier.

that october 16-17, franz ferdinand played at the theatre at madison square garden in support of their sophomore album. and i was there on the floor, up by the stage, jumping up and down with the band and all the other giddy fans on the springy dance floor. my first new york concert notwithstanding, franz ferdinand was wicked. the band was super tight and so excited to be there and completely engaged the fans. the energy at the show was damn near electric. i don't think i was able to wipe the smile off my face for a couple of days afterwards, they were so good.

*sigh*



so what went wrong tonight when they played for the sold out crowd at commodore ballroom?

franz ferdinand's vancouver stop is part of their 9 date blitzkrieig of north america to preview their forthcoming january release, tonight: franz ferdinand.

12/3 montreal
12/4 toronto
12/6 boston
12/8 portland
12/9 vancouver
12/11 oakland
12/12 las vegas
12/14 los angeles
12/15 san diego

with back to back dates like this, it's no wonder they were stiff and disconnected and started off singing as if by rote. they certainly did not bring their A game tonight. (at least not until the gig was well underway)

secondly, i was gob-smacked at how awful the sound was. the bass not only went pumping through your body, it was so amped up and fuzzed out that the vocals were way distorted. most everyone around me was plugging their ears periodically, wincing in pain and complaining about the ringing in their ears. i'm never without my ear plugs at a concert and even with them on, i could hear that things are not as they should be, volume-wise.

i'm not a techie by any means, but someone was clearly ineffectual and in need of re-learning their skills and i don't think it was the fault of the venue's, as the last few concerts i went to at the commodore sounded great.

and by no fault of the band's, the rent-a-goons that stood guard between the stage and the rail? ever so annoying. it sucks to be right at the front of the guard rail and not be able to take any good pictures (clickety click) without these meatheads getting in the shot with their beer guts and dour looks on their faces. i seriously think they take pleasure in 'effin up people's shots when they move about unnecessarily.

a short set of 14 songs but overall, it was a good mix of new music to come and the sing at the top of your lungs party-banging anthems:

bite hard
michael
the dark of the matinee
live alone
walk away
do you want to?
take me out
ulysses
40'
what she came for
(encore)
turn it on
fallen
outsiders

and the finale song which figuratively set the room ablaze, this fire.

it's only too bad that the band didn't really start to get into the swing of things until the latter part of their gig. that's when out came the maracas and singer alex kapranos even threw himself, guitar and all, into the crowd, surfing on the sea of hands. that quite rattled the rent-a-cops as all of them rushed over to retrieve the singer.

MAYBE if this was the first franz ferdinand concert one attended and with no other to compare to, then maybe one may think the gig was okay, maybe even good (depending on the amount of one's concert going experience)

upon exiting, i heard some guy shouting to his friend about how awesome the concert was. i side-eyed him and thought, dude, you don't even know half of what this band is truly capable of.

maybe i'm just being a bit nit-picky. maybe that madison square gig set the bar too high for me. but like everything else in life, the first always make an impression. and you'll always remember the first.