Bun mam, a Southern Vietnamese dish

I have realized that I seldom talked about Vietnamese cuisine, besides a few popular dishes. This is quite strange as I like eating as much as shopping. Maybe it is because the huge backlog of my travel posts which I am trying to clear as quickly as possible.

I do not consider myself as a foodie. That requires a lot of knowledge and researches when eating and writing about a certain dish. I just like to eat good food. And good food to me might not taste so great to others, except for desserts. I am very confident in my sweet tooth. And very picky with which cakes/chocolate/snacks I consume. Every calorie counts after all.

Therefore, I can rarely recommend a good Vietnamese restaurant in Singapore. It is very frustrating to eat Vietnamese cuisine in this tiny island. The country is near to Vietnam, but hardly offers some decent places. At least, what I think good enough to pay more than 6 bucks for a bowl of beef noodles (known as "pho" to some). So once in a while, I will have to cook myself.

Yep, I do cook, if gasping is what you are doing. And I believe I cook quite well myself. I am just too lazy to cook more regularly. I do not like rice much, which is very strange for an Asian. I prefer noodles (especially those made from rice). And to have a delicious bowl of rice noodle soup, it takes some effort to churn out a good pot of soup. Only when I am in the mood, I will jump into the kitchen and cook some special Vietnamese dishes. This time, it is "Bun mam".

This is a less known dish from the South of Vietnam. It is particularly popular in the west of Southern Vietnam, i.e. Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, etc. In this region, it is also called "Bun nuoc leo" with different versions for different towns. However, there is always one common point, the soup.

Ah yes, the soup. This is what makes the dish so well-known with the local and might make foreigners walk away hastily. It is cooked from a variety of "salted fish" sauce and the smell of these sauces is very strong. Many people, even Vietnamese, could not stand the overwhelming smell. Some told me these sauces stank. So yeah, if you can't stand the smell, it must be hard to enjoy the food itself.

For my version of "bun mam", I use "mam ca linh" and "mam ca sac" to cook the stock. Then I add "ngai bun", a root which I think only those who know how to cook this dish have heard about it. And you must have it for the soup. If not, the dish will turn into "mam va rau", which could only be eaten with rice. After removing all the bones from those salted fish and other undesirable and unidentified things, I throw in some stalks of lemon grass to lessen the strong smell of the soup. At the same time, I fried some finely-chopped lemon grass and garlic to give the stock another extra kick of taste. About 5 minutes before turning off the fire, I add the above fried mixture and some eggplants into the soup. And it is ready to be served.

Due to limited resources in Singapore, I could only use squid, prawn and roasted pork as the main ingredients for my "bun mam". For the "bun" part, I buy thick bee hoon, or laksa noodles which is quite sufficient. After arrange all the ingredients into a big bowl to my liking, it is time to pour the soup in. And depending on personal liking, I will add Chinese garlic chives (he) and bean sprouts to the bowl. But it will definitely taste better with all the above ingredients. So if it is your first time to try this dish, you should try all of them and adjust your next bowl according to your taste.

Even though it has been more than 10 years since I cooked this dish, I seemed to retain my skills. If what my housemates reacted was true. And if you have a chance to try this dish, don't walk away because of the smell. Give it a try and you might have a new favourite Vietnamese dish.

Singapore shopping - Kenzoki and Burberry Beauty

Metro was having a 20% store-wide sale this week. Initially, I did not plan to buy anything except Chanel UV Essentiel and Givenchy Prisme Libre Loose Powder. These are two stable items in my make-up routine and stocking them always gives me a peace of mind. However, recently, I am thinking of trying out sunscreens from other brands as the price of Chanel UV Essentiel is increasing to an unacceptable level. But again, I do not want to waste money on trying new products and eventually still have to go back to Chanel. It is a very disturbingly tiresome argument I was having with myself.

Anyway, I was in a very bad mood this week due to family matters. So I knew that I would, either spend a bomb shopping or walk home empty-handed. With that kind of mood, I went into Metro Paragon and headed straight to Kenzoki. Err? That sounded so out of the blue. Well, at the time, I suddenly remembered Kenzoki also had a suncreen (which brand does not have?) and a lot of customers seemed to ask for it last time when I was there checking out its moisturizers. So I thought I might want to see if the stock had come in (it had been out of stock in July).

When I reached the counter, the SA was the one had served previously and I had felt quite comfortable with her. I asked to test the suncreen on my hand to feel texture and if it left a white cast on my skin. Even though the product looked thick at first on my skin, when I spread the liquid, it took less than a minute to absorb into my skin and leave nothing behind. No white cast and stickiness. And the coverage seemed great, just a few drops to cover my forearm. I thought to myself, maybe worth a try. I asked the SA about the price. $61, compared with $73 of Chanel. That was great. "I will take the suncreen, thanks!"

But I did not stop at that. I did not feel satisfied, so the SA recommended other products from Kenzoki. In the end, I walked out of the counter with a night eye cream (for dark circles) and an exfoliator for my face. I had some from Origins (GWP and reward points) but I was having a withdrawal from those products. And Kenzoki scrub had very interesting texture. So yep, I gave these products a try. After all, I am pampering myself so it should be money well-spent.

But that was all I bought in Metro. Amazingly, I did not think about stocking Givenchy loose powder. I passed by the counter without a second thought. I guess I still had until end of this year to buy a new box.

My next focus was Tangs and the newly-opened Burberry Beauty counter. Why? Because I wanted to take a look at Burberry Beauty products, especially its blushes. I was reading beauty blogs the past few months and got hooked into this brand. I am a sucker for clean and classy packaging. That is why Chanel, Givenchy and Kenzoki call to me. The design of Burberry beauty products could not be any less perfect. So yeah, I needed to see them for myself to satisfy my eyes, and then tested the products to see if they were as wonderful as those bloggers described them to be.

The counter was situated near to MAC and the perfume section of Tangs Beauty Hall. And it was quite empty when I was there, which made me hesitant to approach the counter. I just wanted to check out the products, but I might not buy anything. And an empty counter might make that difficult as the SAs would have more focus to push you. Again, my depressing mood prompted me to go there. (Yep, I usually do many thing unreasonable when I am stressed.)

The SA serving me turned out to be very polite and nice. She asked me if I was interested in a particular product and my answer was blush. Due to two unfortunate accidents, my eyes are extremely sensitive and dry nowadays. I cannot put on eye make-up without irritating them, which means eye shadows, mascaras, eye liners, etc. are out of my focus. So when I shop for my make-up, they usually include liquid foundation, loose powder, blush, eye brow related stuff, lip sticks and blush. Since I was sick of my current blushes at home, I looked forward to exploring some new options at Burberry.

Singapore counter seemed to carry all the light glows (that was what Burberry calls its blush) which were available on the UK website. This means more than what is offered on Singapore website. And the SA recommended Tangerie (No. 6) and Blossom (No. 5) to me. After trying both on my cheeks, I wanted to buy both colors. One interesting point about the blushes was that they looked quite different from the pan and on my cheeks. And different in a good way. The texture was another winning point, velvet and pigmented. What else could I expect from a blush? I was sold. But which color should I choose? After asking me a few more questions, the SA convinced me to take Tangerie as most of my current blushes were pink tone. Tangerie would give my blushes a variety.

So yeah, I happily took Tangerie home with me, after parting 61 bucks at the cashier. The price was high, but it was comparable with Chanel. Also, after I checked the website, the pricing in Singapore was quite compatible with other countries carrying the line, which made me even happier. And you will definitely see me at the next Tangs 12% sale.

Here are some shots I took of the blush. Beautiful, isn't it? However, due to my lousy iPhone camera, the color of the blush was not reflected well in the picture. It is the best to see it in real life.

Singapore entertainment - "Jacky Cheung 1/2 Century Tour 2011"

After more than 4 months of waiting, I had finally a chance to listen to Jacky Cheung singing live the first time in my life. And it was worth all the money I had spent on the ticket.

The show was performed at Singapore Indoor Stadium and on 28 Aug which was a Sunday. It lasted for more than 3 hours, without any break. When I reached home, it was after midnight. Luckily, the next two days were public holidays in Singapore so I had time to rest and upload my photos.

Finding the way to the venue was a tad difficult, which was actually unexpected. I had gone there before, for Andy Lau's concert and the semi-final football match between Vietnam and Singapore. I had even done a check on Maps app from my iPhone. However, the result on Maps app and my memory did not match. So I checked the bus route at the bus stop. And guess what? Both buses from my memory and Maps app did not pass by Singapore Indoor Stadium. What was going on? Just to be sure, I checked with the bus driver of the bus from my memory. And he said the route had been changed for a while. Yes, it had passed by the stadium in the past. But no longer since sometime late last year. Oh dear...

In the end, I had to take Circle line to Stadium station and walk to the venue from there. At the time, it was about 15 minutes to 8pm. And I was not happy as I wanted to go in and take some picture pre-show. To add insult to injury, I stood in the wrong queue. When I reached to my seat, it was 8pm, when the show was supposed to start. But there were still long queues outside. I guess that was why the show had not started on time. Well, it was the first time I felt relieved for a show starting later than it was supposed to. Why? The reasons are below.

After around 15 minutes waiting, the light was dim and everyone stayed quiet. It was the time to admire and listen to Jacky. He appeared on stage in a white suit, tap-dancing for a few minutes. My first impression was "Interesting". In fact, I did not have much expectations about the show as I thought his greatest strength was his voice. So the show should not have much dancing or skit. Well, I was utterly wrong.

As the show progressed, I had mixed feelings. In one hand, I was amazed that Jacky had put a lot of efforts to make the show more interesting with his dancing and acting. However, like I said, I love his voice so I felt these performances had been distracting me from thoroughly enjoying his vocal. Nevertheless, they were a joy to watch.

Also, as I was not very familiar with Jacky's newer songs/albums, half of the songs performed in the show were first-timer to me. And it was kinda hard to sing along or feel my emotion with them. Only when older songs were sang, I then felt my heart beating faster and cheering along with other fans.

One thing that made me truly respect the artiste was no break during the concert. Jacky sang live without any real break. Just some small breaks in between songs. But the energy was still great until the end of the show. From my limited understanding of Chinese, the singer sang more than 30 songs. That was impressive. And he had a lovely sense of humour when interacting with his fans. I would love to understand all of what he said then.

I especially love the part that he sang some of his oldest songs, which I know and understand quite well. He did that with a band of cello and piano, which are two of my favourite musical instruments. It blended beautifully with his voice. It took me back to my childhood and uni time, a time without worry and stress. Life was so simple back then.

However, I was really sad when realizing that he did not sing my most favourite song, 我等到花儿也谢了(Anh Sẽ Đợi Đến Khi Hoa Tàn). That was the song that brought his terrific voice to me, and not hearing it singing live was such a sad feeling. That was why I left the concert feeling incomplete. And that was also why I still prefer Andy Lau's Wonderful World Tour 2008 to Jacky Cheung's 1/2 Century Tour 2011. However, my childhood dream has been fulfilled two third. If only Michael Jackson were still alive...

Singapore eats - Chocolate truffles from "Truffs"

In case you have not figured out yet, I am a chocolate lover or chocoholics. There are always some kinds of chocolate in my fridge, be it a Marks & Spencer hazelnut milk chocolate bar, or Royce's Petite Truffe in Orange. When I feel a lack of energy or just plain bored, I would pop a piece of these goodies into my mouth. And immediately, I will feel much better. So yeah, I could safely say that I might not be able to live without chocolate.

There is another fact that I have quite a sweet tooth. That is why I don't really like those 70% dark chocolate. They are too bitter for my taste. I prefer my chocolate with nuts, especially with hazelnuts or macadamia. The best chocolate with hazelnuts I have ever tasted were from Belgium. I don't know what Belgians do with their chocolate, but they taste very delicious. In Singapore, for a cheap option, I could go to Marks & Spencer. For a more expensive price, I would say Beschle at B2 Taka (and only when these go on sale). Without nuts, only truffles would satisfy me.

For my normal chocolate truffles craving, I'd say Royce make a perfect snack. I usually get its Petite Truffe in Orange. The price is very reasonable, with $12.5 there are around 10 pieces of chocolate truffles. Two pieces a day and I am a happy girl. However, when I feel generous with myself or too stressed out, Truffs is where I would go to for the best stuff.

Even though the shop is located near Amoy hawker centre, it might be hard to find the place. The reason is the shop is on the second level of a shop house, where the door could be hidden by hungry office people queuing to buy lunch from the fish-head curry food house next door. Not to mention the fruit stall in front of the house. And that is during lunch time, when I normally go there. It can be very hot and crowded outside, but everything will be different once you walk up the store.

Inside the shop, it is very quiet and calm. Sometimes I could even be there when the staff was preparing for cakes. But don't be afraid, just tell them what you want, the staff would be happy to serve you. They would ask about your preference and then give you a sample to try. One of the reasons I like about Truffs is that the sample they give you is a whole piece of chocolate truffle. And 9 of these whole pieces are priced at 25 bucks. So yep, they are not stingy with the tasting at all.

The first time I went there, I tried Truffs' 55% équateur dark chocolate. Since then, I have gotten hooked with it. Very balanced between sweetness and bitterness, smooth and rich in texture. These morsels are heavenly. Just one piece and you feel happy and satisfied. That is what I call chocolate in its finest. Usually I would buy a box of 9 as I would like to finish them when they are still fresh. A box of 18 is a little cheaper but it is pretty hard to store in the fridge for me, and the taste might be spoilt when I could not finish them in time.

Another reason to call Truffs chocolate truffles an indulgence is that they are lovingly wrapped in a beautiful box. A simple but elegant design, with a white leather band to give it an appearance of a gift. This definitely makes a perfect present to anyone.

Besides "55% équateur", Truffs also offers "66% antilles" and "70% honduras" dark chocolate. But those two varieties are too bitter to my taste so I have never bought them. Maybe in the future, when my taste changes. Everything changes through time, so you never know.

A small note: this is not an advertorial. I am neither a food blogger nor a popular one. So there is no reason for any shops/restaurants to pay me to write. Whatever is written on my blog is purely personal opinions and experience. But do feel free to contact me if you would like to know more about anything mentioned on my blog.

Singapore shopping - Shu Uemura and Chanel

Even though I am under pretty strict budget for shopping recently, Chanel always manages to blow my resolution out of the window. Earlier in July, I had bought a liquid foundation from the brand, at full price, just after a makeover. It is Pro Lumiere Professional Finish Makeup SPF 15 and I have not started using it. I will change to it after finishing my current tinted moisturizer from Nuskin. Hopefully I won't need to feel regretted over buying it.

Anyway, Metro was having its 20% sale last week (end of July) and I wanted to stock my Chanel sunscreen, my holy grail product at the moment. But the price has been increased, again, which made me thinking of exploring other options. Really, from $69 in 2009, to $70 in 2010, and now, the price has hiked up to $73. That is very ridiculous for a daily product (even if it is necessary). But I am afraid of wasting more money to try other brands and in the end I have to come back to Chanel. At least right now, as long as there is a 20% discount, I feel less painful to swipe my card.

Aside from the sunscreen, I wanted to buy a couple of brushes, powder and blush. One thing I never try to save money on is brushes. A good brush makes a huge difference in your make-up. And finding a good powder brush is the biggest challenge to me. It's easier to find my favourite blush brushes. Most established brands offer good blush brushes. I'm using YSL and Shu Uemura blush brushes and they have been working well for me so far. However, when it comes to loose powder/face brushes, that is another story altogether. I have tried Rouge Bunny Rouge, Giorgio Armani and Japanese hand-crafted brushes. Even though they are not bad, I still feel unsatisfied when using them everyday. That was why I wanted to buy Chanel brushes. If they are good, I could finally stop looking around. And if they are bad, well, at least I get these products from the brand out of my system. But you know what? When I finally decided to buy these brushes, Chanel had also decided to stop selling them. Something about a new range of brushes being launched in a month or so. Damn! In the end, I had to settle for a Shu Uemura face brush. And planning to buy Kanebo's Lunasol brushes the next time Metro having its 20% sale in September.

Because I didn't buy any brush from Chanel, I felt a need to buy something else. And last week, the Fall 2011 has just arrived to the store. So obviously, I took a look at what was offered. As I don't do eye make-up and the cheek color isn't appealing much to me, I set my eyes on nail polished. Wow, that was what my first thought. At first look, I liked all three colors. They all looked beautifully when I tried on my nail (with tape underneath, of course!). However, Peridot caught my eyes and I knew I had to have it. No thinking was required. I don't have any duo chrome color in my collection and the term "limited collection" also helped to push me to the cashier. So yep, I left the store with my Chanel Peridot Le Vernis and sunscreen that night.

For the other two colors, Quartz is pretty but I don't feel it is special enough for me to fork over 28 bucks for it (that is after 20% discount). Though I was hesitating about Graphite. I really like the color but I didn't know if the Paul & Joe bottle I had bought previously could be duped for it. So I didn't buy Graphite and went home. However, I kept thinking about it. Reading nail polish blogs blogging and raving about it didn't help either. That Paul & Joe bottle doesn't seem to be a dupe either. So yeah, I went back to the store the next day to get my share of Graphite, with 20% discount still in effect. If not, $36 for a bottle of nail polish is too extravagant for me.

Above are two new members of my collection. I haven't done any manicure or pedicure with them yet. But I think it will be pretty soon. Singapore has no season so I usually wear my colors based on my mood. And right now, my mood is duo chrome and graphite.

Note: I have just done a manicure with Peridot and a pedicure with Graphite. I have no photo for you as I am no good at taking picture of my nails and toe nails. But I've gotta say I love both the colors. Peridot looks gorgeous, ever changing itself whenever the light hits. Obviously it isn't an appropriate office color but due to the nature of my job, it doesn't really matter much. I could wear it anytime the muse strikes me. Graphite is very metallic but strangely more office-friendly. Even though it's less interesting than Peridot, it's a beautiful and amazing color to have. BTW, it seems Peridot has been sold out at Takashimaya. I haven't checked at Paragon, Isetan and other places. But if you are a Chanel lover or nail polish lover, better run to those stores and grab a bottle for yourself.

Happy 29

Nowadays, birthday is just a reason for me to pamper myself. To buy something extravagant, to dine in fine-dining restaurants or to buy tickets to a musical and a concert. When spending my hard-earned money, I usually have a guilt trip right before and after the moment handing out my plastics. So birthday is the best excuse, only followed by Christmas. And I no longer care about how old I am (or getting upset over aging). After all, age is just a number and I feel absolutely much better than when I was 21.

That day was all about me, aka I did everything alone. Unlike when I was young and loved to have a big birthday party with lots of friends, I prefer much few companies nowadays. I feel that I don't want to fake my laugh and waste my time on those who are just being there for the sake of being there. Trust me, it is a very tiring experience, for both host and attendees. You fake yourself enough while at work. You shouldn't do that in your private time, much less your birthday.

I had quite a full-day event scheduled, considered my saturdays always start at around noon. First I had a complimentary birthday make-over, in cutesy of Chanel. Then I treated myself a nice meal at Osteria Mozza, and then enjoyed myself with a musical. I had written about my experience of watching "The music of Andrew Lloyd Webber" previously, which means I will focus on the make-over and the dinner.

It was my second professional make-over experience and Chanel won my heart wholly. The staff was very polite without making me feel awkward. The make-up artist was knowledgeable and professional. Even though it was a complimentary session, I had a feeling that she didn't do any shortcut with my make-up. She even gave me some good tips on how to draw my eye brows or apply blush. There was no hard-sell of their products, and I personally think that was a very clever sales strategy. Making customers satisfied and happy and they will spend money in your brand. That was exactly what I did. I bought a liquid foundation at full price when I could buy it at a 20% discount elsewhere.

Here was I after the make-over

And Chanel even gave me a surprised birthday gift, which made it a much sweeter experience.

Guess what is it? A very elegant camellia bookmark

After the make-over, I headed to Osteria Mozza for a pre-theater dinner. I chose this restaurant for a few reasons. Firstly , it is located opposite the Grand Theater of Marina Bay Sands, which means I wouldn't need to rush after the meal (who knows how long it would take to finish a meal in these fine-dining establishments). Secondly, I was craving for Italian food. And thirdly, most important, they offer a reasonably-priced pre-theater dinner set meal.

The restaurant is having very good business. When I was there, it was almost full-house. And it was around 530pm at the time. Just imagine dinner time. Of course, I had to make reservation. I didn't want to feel disappointed on that day. And being turned away for your dinner is definitely a big no.

The decoration of the establishment is understated elegance with dark-wood furniture and warm lighting. The tables are spaced cleverly without making you feel like in a tuna can. I dislike hearing others' conversations during my meal. Sometimes I just want to enjoy the food and all I can think is what this guy learns from his culinary school. Well, it is nice to know that chefs think those who order well-done steaks are idiots. But I want to enjoy my tom yam noodles in peace, damn it!

The staff was polite and well-trained. And I was glad that they allowed to have photos taken in the restaurant. You never know which restaurants are snooty enough to forbid their customers from photographing in their premises. Overall, I did enjoy the food but except for the dessert, I don't think I will try the rest again. I am a tomato-base girl, and I won't feel satisfied with my pasta if it is a macaroni or the like. Well, trying to be adventurous had some price after all.

Osteria Mozza @ Marina Bay Sands

Table setting

A glass of wine to indulge myself

A sample complimentary from the chef

Appetizer: Burricotta with radicchio, spiced walnuts, honey & fried rosemary

Main dish: Orecchiette with sausage & Swiss chard

Dessert: Vanilla Panna Cotta mixed berry compote & biscotti

Of course, me dining at Osteria Mozza

Singapore entertainment - "The music of Andrew Lloyd Webber"

I guess it was quite a surprise to some of my friends or acquaintances to know that I love musicals. Well, I discovered that fact myself quite recently as well. But think about it, I should have known before, with my passion in "cai luong".

My first memory about musical is watching the movie "The sound of music" in my English class when I was in secondary school. The fact I had to write an essay about the film didn't discourage me from enjoying it. And I love Julie Andrews since. Her voice was gorgeous and the songs were beautiful, which made me to look for a VCD (yep, VCD, not DVD) so that I could watch it again and again.

The next musical film was "The phantom of the opera" with Gerald Butler, Emmy Rossum and Patrick Wilson as lead actors. My ex-boyfriend and I went for a midnight show and I ended up sleeping in the theater half-way of the show. I just didn't like Emmy Rossum as Christine, even if I liked both actors. And at the end of the day, movies are just movies. They aren't matches for what I could see in a musical theater.

Luckily for me, the movie version of "The phantom of the opera" didn't deter me from watching it when I was in New York last time. And the experience truly opened my eyes and gave me plenty of reasons to spend money on musical tickets, when I could. I will probably write blog post about that fantastic night at Broadway. I feel like cheating myself if I don't save a whole post for it.

And then, last year in Singapore, "Chicago" has come to Singapore with a few shows in Esplanade. I didn't know about it until the last few days. I went with a friend to watch it and fell in love all over again with musicals. Nothing beats the amazement of hearing the cast's beautiful voices, the gorgeous outfits and well-rehearsed dance composition. Not counting the joy of listening to the live music from an orchestra, albeit small. So yes, bring more musicals to Singapore.

And earlier this year in May, when I read about the show "The music of Andrew Lloyd Webber" coming to Singapore in July, I didn't even hesitate and just ran to Marina Bay Sands to buy a ticket to the show. Of course, I could buy it online but nothing beats the feeling of queuing to buy tickets to your favourite shows. And saving 30 cents was a bonus. And before you question my sanity, that trip to Marina Bay Sands was with Tracy, who was here for a short visit. Of course, I had to show her one of the new landmarks in Singapore. The Sands SkyPark is a must-visit if you are in the vicinity.


Here is my precious ticket to the show

Yesterday was the night of the show I had bought, which was one of my birthday presents to myself. It was performed in the Grand Theater of Marina Bay Sands and I have to say it was money well-spent. The cast was great with Michael Mccormick was the standout actor, singing my most favourite songs like "The phantom of the opera" and "Sunset Boulevard". The way he sang and acted was the perfect way to portray the characters, which made me yearn to hear him more. It was too bad that his CD on sale last night wasn't him singing those songs. I would have bought even though I don't have a CD player at home. And the speaker of my laptop sucks.

One letdown was the costume but I understood that the show was just the combination of all the best songs in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals, so I didn't have much to complain. But still, choreography and costumes are parts of what make watching musicals magical. Next time I'm in New York, I will have to watch at least 2 shows to satisfy my hunger for musicals.

BTW, I didn't take any photo during the show as I wanted to enjoy it as best as I could. But I managed to snap some shots of the theater and of course, myself.

Shopping resolutions for the second half of 2011

Yes, I am doing my list of resolutions this late, as I didn't know what I wanted this year in January, and right now, I think I need to write these self-made promises down so that I can keep them. Also, they will act as a memo for me, if I have any urge to break them.

- Shoes: I've had a change of mind after buying my first pair of Chloe shoes. Truthfully, I was a little disappointed when opening the package and seeing the flats the first time. The material is suede, not grain leather that I'd seen in the store. Even when I read the details on the site, it didn't state suede, just leather, though the photos indicated differently. Guess I need to trust my eyes more in the future. And the fitting is a tad tight, but that is the risk I was willing to take. Then, that disaster with the re-heeling and re-soling. I am now very conflicting. Half of me wants to run to YSL and buy that pair of Love flats. Another half doesn't want to buy any more shoes, except those Ferragamo jelly flats for Pre-Fall 2011.

And guess what? I've decided not to buy shoes until my next travel, except for that pair of Ferragamore jelly flats and another pair of Ferragamo Spiffy flats. That makes 2 pairs of flats within 6 months, which is reasonable and practical. And from now on, I think I will buy my other shoes overseas. The reasons are plenty. First, the next pair I want to own, quite desperately, is from Chanel and Ferragamo (I mean their leather shoes). And the prices of these two brands are marked up heavily in Singapore. I feel so cheated to buy anything from them here (again, jelly flats are the exceptions, I have no other choices). And when they are having sale, like now, there are nothing left in my size. Trust me, I tried to go on the first day of sale, and there were nothing left, unless you have giant feet.

So overseas is the solution. When you travel, you feel less guilty to shop. Just think that you might not have a second chance to buy them, it will help you to hand over your card/cash. I made that mistake, not buying a pair of Chanel shoes and I regret it everyday. So next time, I will just close my eyes and pay for it. After all, prices never go down, they just go up every year. And the brands to focus on are Chanel, Lanvin, Ferragamo and Louboutin.

One big note to myself: No re-heeling and re-soling in Singapore for flats. Even if it means the life spans of my shoes are shorter, but at least I feel happy when wearing them.

- Jewelry: No buying online, unless it is a designer brand, i.e. YSL and Chanel. Chanel means its vintage earrings, brooches and necklaces. But I might want to wait until I go back to Manhattan to shop in those fabulous consignment stores. YSL means its in-store costume jewelry. I'm still in love with its arty rings. Such a statement piece.

Anyway, back to the reason why I won't buy jewelry online, it is because I was badly burnt by an experience with Amrita Singh jewelry. The photos on the site were deceiving. Except for its jewelry box, which is pretty, the two rings I bought were such a let-down. Even though I knew that they were made in China, I thought the quality should be above average as they were charged with such high price for gold-plated material and semi-precious stones (US$100 for a ring before sale isn't cheap). When I saw the rings, I was shocked due to the cheap-looking metal. Gold-plated, my ass! And the craftsmanship was poor, really poor. On the way back home, I had half a mind to throw them into the bin. Yep, they were that bad! So yeah, no more online "unknown jewelry" shopping!

So what will I do about jewelry? Hand-made and order-to-make. I've just realized that Thailand is a heaven for gorgeous hand-made jewelry and I will wait for those Thai fairs/festivals to buy those. Or I can travel to Bangkok and bankrupt myself with those beautifully-made rings, earrings, necklaces, etc. For order-to-make, I have my trusted friend and our favourite shop back in Vietnam, I just need to find the designs and send them to her. She will choose the stones, adjust the designs to match with those stones and have them made. When I go back to Vietnam, she will give them to me. The cost will be definitely much cheaper than those badly-made Amrita Singh rings.

- Clothes: Massimo Dutti and Zara are the shops to go. For dresses, DvF is still my trusted brand whenever one in my size is available on sale on Shopbop (the cheapest on the net and no shipping charge). And I will definitely stock plenty of them the next time I go to New York.

- Skincare: No more buying until I finish two third of what I have in stock. No more space to store. This means no shopping/shipping the next three months.

- Cosmetics: Except for sunblocks, facial mist and liquid foundation, no purchase is needed until 3 months later.

Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung

Look at this:



It is my ticket to Jacky Cheung (Truong Hoc Huu)'s 1/2 Century Tour concert in Singapore this August. And I can't wait until then.

My affair with Hong Kong TV series/movies started early. I first watched HK TV kungfu series when I was about 8 years old. Pretty young, right? Like reading books, I watch movies and TV series very fast. I could finish one series in 2 or 3 days, given that all the episodes had been released. As I'm Vietnamese, I had to wait for the distributors to have all these series voiced over. Therefore, I didn't really know what Cantonese sounded like until much later.

And it was no wonder that my idols at the time were Andy Lau, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Ekin Cheng, Dicky Cheung, Louis Koo, etc. As long as they were in the cast, I would rent the video tapes to bring home and watch. There are some certain series that I keep watching until now (more than 10 times, I lost count after 5 times). From TV series to movies was a logical sequence and before I knew, I was listening to Cantopop daily. And the Four Heavenly Kings were my favourite singers. Why? Cos Andy Lau is one of them.

Lucky for me, it was easy to get Cantopop in Vietnam at the time, not so hard as Western music. Since then, I got to know about Jacky Cheung, Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai. Surprisingly, I didn't and still don't like Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai. Don't ask me why? I just feel unconnected with those two. But two out of four was enough. Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung's music was and still is my most favourite. And I promised myself that I would go to Hong Kong to watch them sing live.

Well, I haven't visited Hong Kong yet. It may be a surprise for you but I just don't have the mood to visit Asian countries. Europe and the States still call to me. Maybe I might go this year, since I only have small budget for travel this year. Either Hong Kong or Taiwan. Or even China (if Tracy decides to go, I don't think I can travel to China alone). Anyway, back to Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung. I haven't been to Hong Kong but I have watched Andy singing live. And soon Jacky.

I watched Andy Lau's concert 3 years ago. That was his Wonderful World 2008 tour and I never regretted paying around 180 bucks for the show. The concert was magnificent and mesmerizing. Andy Lau is a great performer and his voice isn't that bad either. I had a very good time listening and watching him on stage. In fact, I'm waiting for him to come back to Singapore. I will definitely buy a 1st or 2nd class ticket this time. Until then, I have Jacky Cheung's live show to look forward to.

Here are some shots I managed to take in Andy's Wonderful World 2008 tour.