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glamourous? NOT!
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as most of you would know by now, i do fashion and writing for a living. okay not so much for a living since it pay peanuts.

forget the glamour, forget the glitz. yes, i get to attend some rather fabulous events now and then, not to forget the bags of freebies that get thrown at me every other day.

but behind the scenes, it is a mess of clothes waiting to be sorted out into their respective mountains, the never-ending sourcing ("fiona, i need to find TEN leather organisers by THIS EVENING.") to be done, and of course, bitchy behaviour from.. just about everyone. in all seriousness, being bitchy quite inevitable considering the pressure-cooker environment. deadlines, people. deadlines!

so what happens behind the glossy and slick fashion spreads you ooh and ahh over? hard work. and alot of waiting.



firstly, the fashion director seperates the clothes of the day into two racks - the wanted and the unwanted. once that's done and she sits down and starts whining about everything under the sun, the steaming of the clothes begin. mind you, no crease allowed! satin and denim are hell to work with.



and then there's the accesories table. in between takes, i have to note down every item that gets featured, for the credits page. it's actually easier than it really looks because most of the time, the items on a shoot are borrowed by me so everything falls into place.



and of course, the model. modelling is a very boring career, because models wait FOREVER before she actually gets photographed. for e.g, she'll be asked to be at the location at 9am but her make-up and hair will only commence after the clothes are ready, and it will be almost noon by then. after she gets primped up, it will be 3pm and then i will start sighing because it will mean that the shoot will only wrap up after 8pm.



most of the time, the clothes are really ill-fitting so an absolute essential at a fashion shoot is the humble peg. what we do is we wrap the peg up in sticky tape so it won't dent the fabric, and then peg it accordingly onto the model. on average, an entire outfit will require at least 6 pegs.



the lovely model whose name i have forgotten. they all look the same on their com cards to me! contrary to popular belief most models are actually naturally fabulously skinny like me. you'd be surprised at the amount of shit they eat while waiting.

anyway. i don't know if it's time for me to explore new horizons. would love to try creative writing and advertising stuff, but it seems like i'll be stuck with fashion for quite a while :)

woo i am tired. nites

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some days..
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just how many of you actually pee when you dream about peeing?!!!

i do.

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pet peeves
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speaking of pets, i noticed hammie has been looking rather lethargic lately. it is very unlike of her to lie down motionless yet awake, sulking quietly. she is pretty old now, almost two years old! i guess that's why.

anyway.

maybe it is better for me to remain single, as i have come to realise that i have developed too many pet peeves and habits as a result of having the luxury of staying mostly alone for the last 6 or 7 years.

sleeping habits especially. i never knew how serious my "loner habits" were until recently when i started staying over at mark's place. yes laugh all you want but i've never slept in the same bed with a guy before, except for absolutely chaste bedtimes with the childhood sweetheart.

i could only sleep knowing that mark was fast asleep, because i was afraid that he'll baulk at how horrible i look while deep in slumber. YES i look like some demented monster unconscious because i sleep with my mouth wide open. because of this stupid vanity, i had to make sure i was awake before he was. which explains why i am always so dog-tired the morning after.

him being the temperate ang moh, the air-con would always be at full blast at home. poor sensitive nose of mine would start flowing like a broken dam. he would offer to turn the blasted thing off but because the smart boy doesn't own a fan, i would always reject it because i'd rather be sniffing then to sweat buckets. this also happens frequently at hotels and friends' places.

and there are the little things that really get on my nerves, such as the omnipresent blanket issue. i think you all know how it is when you wake up in the middle of the night freezing your arse off because your special other has somehow managed to entwine himself warmly in the blanket. you then attempt to gently tug on the blanket to claim your side, only to be greeted by a grunt. so what do you do? selfishly wake the other person up by yanking the damn thing away or shrug and give up? yeah yeah call me submissive but i always choose the latter. I MAKE A DAMN GOOD GIRLFRIEND.

i cannot imagine giving up all my bad habits such as rubbing my nose really hard, clearing my occasionally itchy throat (and making all sorts of weird clicking sounds) and the super gratifying mega sneeze that reverberates around the house.

i think i will gently suggest the idea of sleeping seperately when i finally settle into another relationship again.

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ZOMG
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a week ago, i finally managed to see this distant cousin i only meet once a year on chinese new year upclose.

and immediately, i developed a crush on him. this despite him being married to an ex-model who bore him a gorgeous little tot and him being probably 10 years older (no, not a problem at all!)

and i had to dream about him last night. my dreams are usually lucid events but boy i remember this vividly in technicolour details.

and he even held my hand.. thrice!!!

incestual shit man. :)

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ah, well
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despite all the nasty things i have been saying about mark, sometimes i find myself wondering in despair about the good times we had.

i miss sitting on the toilet bowl watching him trying to shave around this annoying mole on his neck. yes, he uses shaving cream which it doubly fun to watch.

i miss being there at 8am in his bed, because that's when the alarm will irritate the hell out of us, prompting him to hit the snooze button, grunt and then try to smother me with his hug.

i miss laughing at his no-brainer wardrobe, with labels such as "work clothes" and "shorts" on each compartment.

i miss smoking in the balcony with him, snug in his arms, overlooking the east coast greenery and the wind in our hair.

he's probably the only one in the whole world apart from porn webmasters to describe his schlong as a "big and juicy". cheesy but i miss that.

i miss poking fun at his pale thighs and pink nipples.

i miss the priceless look on his face when he finally unwrapped his christmas present from his mother two months late, only to discover an ancient "best of australia" album. with waltzing matilda on the tracklist!

i miss staring into his smoky blue eyes as he fastened up my helmet.

i miss his huge hands.

i even miss washing his dishes.

and coming up, an "i hate" list.

but for now, allow me to wallow in the misery of missing someone that i have grown to hate.

good night

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HUAT AH!
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okayyyy. after frivolously blowing quite a fair bit recently on my recent trip and probably a dozen new outfits (with chinese new year as an excuse), i had to recoup my losses to mend the big gaping hole in my bank account.

and the verdict? after 3 days of maybe 20% visitation, 10% talking cock with the relatives, 10% stuffing my face, the rest was spent gambling the hours away with relatives and friends.

i shouldn't be complaining because i didn't lose any money, but my luck has been pretty damn weird so far. it comes in waves, and i can make up to $100 during such lucky waves but apparently they come and go and i'd lose everything in the next hour.

so... after counting, i am glad to announce that i have made a grand total of ...

$52 at the gambling table.

more to come of course.

here are a few of the new outfits i have bought for chinese new year.



maroon tube dress : inc
champagne necklace : ??
gold pumps : tangs studio
gold clutch : a small little shop in tsim tsa tsui

i actually prefer wearing this tube dress without leggings. by the way, it is NOT a sin to wear a short dress without leggings. i find it extremely annoying whenever i hear people say "you know, you ought to wear leggings with that short dress" ( and when i ask "why should i?", nobody seems to be able to give me an exact answer) because it is not a damn rule to wear leggings with every damn short dress. just because leggings are still quite in season, you don't have to wear it all the time. i mean, nobody was wearing leggings pre-2006 and yet people were still walking around bare legged in ultra mini dresses.



white cotton dress: some shop from the Central
off-white lace heels: nine west in hongkong
necklace : ladies' market in hongkong. for just $2 !!!

hemlines are going up on many of this spring's runway looks. i don't religiously follow trends though i have to keep myself updated on them due to my work, but since the short dress works for me i'll do it to death. or until my thighs become jiggly.




not quite an auspicious colour theme for the new year but the little black dress is (and will always) be a staple in every wardrobe because it is so versatile. it'll take you from casual to cocktail and even black tie events! i actually have around 4 black dresses even though i'm not too big on black as it makes me look skinny.

black not-so-shift dress: zara
lace clutch: nine west in hongkong
silver patent pumps : $5 from some store in mongkok. so damn comfortable too!!

okayy. tomorrow there'll be a shoot and i still haven't managed to contact the photographer YET. i am fucked.

can't wait to catch the following movies

1) paris je t'aime (vignettes style !! i love such short takes, ala coffee and cigarettes)

2) notes on a scandal

3) letters from iwo jima

i think it was the devil that made me do it when i decided to spend friday night watching this chick flick, just my luck starring lindsay lohan. wasn't that bad actually, apart from bad acting and bad plot. hahaa.

yes okay it was THAT bad.

good night all.

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yay
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happy CNY!

this chinese new year, i shall just focus on winning money from relatives/friends, stuffing my face with goodies and answering questions from concerned distant relatives e.g

"wah! grow so tall liao ah?" (yes.. my puberty only ends when i'm 30)

"so when you getting married ah?" (oh, my boyfriend feels that we should tie the knot only after his grandson gets married next year)

"so when you takin O levels ah?" (only after i take my PSLE later this year)

"why you so skinny ah?" (why are you so fat?)

"wah last time you dark dark skinny skinny now become so white liao ah!" (yes.. i've got the michael jackson syndrome)

yes, these are but some of the few inane questions i constantly battle come every chinese new year as distant relatives i see only on an annual basis flock to my house.

but well, in exchange for the ang paos i get, i am more than glad to entertain them noseyparkers.

past week has been particularly uneventful apart from two photoshoots and random meet-ups with friends.

okay, time to get dressed up for reunion dinner :)

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the globetrotter returns
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apologies for all the worry i've caused to some. a flurry of emails and voicemails along the lines of "WTF are you doing fiona?!!!" amused me somewhat actually. =p

so you must be wondering what actually happened. nothing much, really. just that when you're feeling like you're caught in a limbo, all that you want to do is to just drop everything else and live someone elses' life for awhile. of course i couldn't play god so i did the next best thing: travel. a decadent i-love-me treat.

within a few hours of facing mark and hearing him say all the dreadful words, i decided on a whim i HAD to get out. and fast. so i got online, and contemplated on tibet to embark on a soul-cleansing zen trip. but accomodation would be whack so i randomly chose shanghai and hongkong for its accessibility. a few clicks later, the trip was on.

yes, i was THAT impulsive.

so i hopped onto the plane early tues morning.

hello, shanghai.

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extremely satisfying breakfast of cheese omelette crepes and new potatos on singapore airlines business class. very unphotogenic but oh! so good.



my room @ the grand hyatt, shanghai. yes... room for one, thank you very much. and don't give me that sympathetic eye!



the gorgeous view from my room @ the 78th storey. too bad fog got the better of it and a few hours later all i saw when i peered out was.. whitewashed murals. fuck!



nanking street.



no hand carry crabs, please. use your feet.



the eerily quiet shanghai financial district. then again, it's rather new.



like little stacked matchboxes.



very windy.



i like to stand in the middle of the pre-war streets, and imagine the glorious days when shanghaiese women wore slinky cheongsams and smoked long stemmed cigarettes, and the intoxicating scent of opium lingering in the cold. sophistication is long dead, honey.



handy clothes racks.



modern alleys.



not-so-modern alleys.



doesn't this remind you of some really backward soviet country during the industrial phase?



pictures do no justice for the sheer yumminess of this popular shanghai snack.



deep-fried spring onion pastry. so oily that it is every dietician's nightmare. only for 1 yuan ( SGD$ 25 cents )



light but crispy batter encloses a delightful mixture of mincemeat and spring onions. oral orgasm!!



the startling reality of shanghai's income gap. walk along the streets lined with Gucci, Prada and Dior stores but wander into the alleys and be greeted by a parallel world of poverty and old people huddled around small bonfires.



another popular shanghaiese snack but i don't have the balls to try it lah. i am generally wary of street peddlars selling seafood. and you should be, too!



old-school charcoal roasted sweet potatos!



excellent eating on a frosty winter day.



just like solidified honey. the colour is so brilliant!



curry and coffee.. gives you diarhoea.



touristy shot of the dunno what tower.



these two sculptures cannot be any more randomly placed.



chinese cab drivers are terrified at getting mugged, as you can see from the acrylic 'protection' they have.



shanghaiese subway. got lost while exploring the heartlands because well, i am ashamed to admit that my command of mandarin is atrocious.




finally after a 4 hour delay due to intense fog at Shanghai, i touched down in Hongkong and straight to my room at Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel, located at the harbour in Tsim Sha Tsui. a pretty nice 5-star hotel as well. the mirror looks like it came from an Anna Sui catalogue, yes?



the view.. otherwise maimed by the science musuem. i don't usually dig such modern views but i really feel that HK has successfully created the most beautiful city skyline. kudos!



i've been to many hotels in my time, and the sheer massiveness of this bed wins hands down. i've placed my pair of jeans there so that it becomes clear that it can easily accomodate 7 of me on this bed. depressing, since this kinda bed is definitely made for hot passionate sex (inclusive of various back-breaking positions adopted from the karma sutra) . HAHA. which i am seriously lacking of, obviously.



very very cramped living conditions. not unlike Singapore, but i would like to think that at least we have more space to move about in.



like Singaporeans, Hongkongers LOVE their shopping. this scene in Mongkok is taken on a weekday noon. imagine the chaos on a weekend!



a popular snack among the hongkong teens. it's a cold dish where you choose the ingredients for a list and they mix it up for you in a brown sauce.



and the ingredients include ( literally translated ) :

cow pat fish

intestine baby

lion dog

pig ears

green melon

pig head meat

and..

FISH WINGS!



the "far east plaza" of hongkong : argyle centre. horrid place, be thankful for far east plaza, all ye singaporeans because this place is stuffy, extremely crowded and awful techno is the soundtrack du jour.



the sight of innards turn me off so badly that i have to hold my breath while walking past the vendors. and they are dime a dozen so i almost died of asphyxiation, dahlings.



deep-fried intestines. which, admit it you perverts, resembles penises. really big and limp ones.



typical hongkong snack vendor.



smelly beancurd



and the.. *drumroll* DEEP FRIED INTESTINES! i popped one into my mouth and spat it out after a few chews. the taste is like.. a rush of rancid melted lard with a bitter aftertaste.



wasn't that bad at all! apart from the smell which i have grown accustomed to, it tastes just like tofu except that it was mildly sourish. from what, i don't really wish to know.



not too bad.



ladies' street.



succulent roast duck meat! two thumbs and two big toes up!



public bus.



artistic urm, legs.



TITS AHOY, MATE! Porno flicks @ the Marco Polo hotel. being alone brings desperation to great heights! nah, i didn't catch any at all since it costs like HKD$98 per film!!



the capital of nightlife, Lan Kwai Fong. big thanks to pebbles who managed to get me onto the guest list at the uber snobbish Hei Hei club, where only members are allowed entry.



alleys of LKF



alleys of LKF 2



foreboding buildings of LKF



i LOVE this picture. :)



gloom.



met up with S for a round of drinks and i got slightly tipsy after a couple of vodkas :p had breakfast at 3am at his recommendation. yum!



room service for a hungry lonely person. club sandwiches. one of the best i've ever had.



big red lanterns.



satoshi (a friend who is japanese but speaks better cantonese than the average singaporean. oh the shame) and i outside the harbour. yes i was cold. very.



don't you just love how perspectives always look so pretty? everything's merging at event horizon.



right next to my hotel



just like the MRT at home!



on the plane home.. reluctantly.



aboard the cathay pacific business class. foie gras terrine and fresh mozzarella with rocket salad. gastronomic!

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i was going to write alot more, including what happened just as when i touched down at changi airport which angered/saddened me no end but i'm too lazy. maybe later. =)
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listening to: lily allen - littlest things