Eiffel Tower in black & white
A view from La Samaritaine’s rooftop cafe. Wish this image was sharper on our Samsung 145S.
Picture taken on: 16 October 1998
Knots for a friend
Thyroid
This one is ready to be mailed to a dear friend whose birthday is next week, who has recently been very stressed and whose thyroid isn’t taking it well.
Last night, we were out for a meal with my family at the Plaza Market Café in Raffles City, where we were treated to a nonya buffet spread. While we were chatting about the past, the topic on thyroid was brought up when my aunt shared what my mother had to endure when her thyroid problems acted up after the birth of my elder sis. That was news to some of us. My mother had never told us the full details.
Car-stacked at home in Kyoto
This stacking scene was spotted in a residential home along our way to visit the Shimogamo Shrine in the northen part of Kyoto.
Picture taken on: 31 December 2006
Simple Smile By Mariko Hirasawa
‘Simple Smile’ [いつもシンプル いつもスマイル] is by illustrator Mariko Hirasawa [平澤まこ/平澤摩里子]. This being one of the first few Japanese books I bought. Her illustrations are simple and full of life. She is also a columnist for popular publications such as Lingkaran, Lee and cafe dinos.
I find myself spending extra seconds on these pages (and when that happens during the browsing stage at Kino, it’s safe to buy the book, without regrets):
Knotting blooms
Got to complete knotting one of the “bloom” tags yesterday (to my satisfaction, that is). Finally. What do you think of it? The pink bloom is a traditional art form of Chinese knotting which has many variations and therefore known by many names.
Ancient knotters would use silk cords, now, it has been replaced by rattail, which is made of satin. For me, I choose cotton cord, for its non-silky texture, hue and the good thing is, it’s stiff enough to hold all knots together.
The ornaments accompanying the bloom are a bright combination of beads, buttons, stainless steel washers and a smaller knotted lilac bloom hanging off the washer.
