echoes of the rainbow

A film review...

'Echoes of the Rainbow' (歲月神偷) is a film about a family in Hong Kong in the 1960s. The storyline is strikingly simple. The father in the movie is a shoemaker, who together with is wife struggle to maintain their family against a backdrop of social upheaval and an ailing economy. Their eldest son, a teenager, is a first class student, athletic champion and has a talent for the guitar and songwriting. The youngest son who is 8 years old is not the model student his older brother is, but dreams of being an astronaut and walks around with a fish bowl over his head in show of this.

We hear the story narrated by the 8 year old son and share in his family's warm moments, but also in their struggles against poverty and sickness. As the film is ultimately a tribute to the director's older brother, it is no surprise that the film has its poignant moments. The child is aptly appointed as the narrator as we see the uncomplex, yet touching story unfold through the innocent eyes of an 8 year old. The choice of storyteller is a great contributor to the film's success in conveying a simple story that has a powerful impact on the audience's emotions and thoughts.

The strong depiction of Hong Kong in the 1960s brings back memories for many, and introduces others to the life and times of those that lived at that point in history. The costumes and decor transport the audience from their 21st century lives to different times where the neighbourhood had dinner in a rather communal fashion outdoors, telephones were a rarity and songs of The Monkees played on the radio. Against this setting, the audience becomes deeply moved by the love between the parents, the parents and their children and between the two brothers. The scenes where the family members interrelate are crafted in such an effortless and direct manner that it is impossible not to have your heart strings tugged as you watch this film.

the snow egg

For a blog that is named after food, it's probably strange that none of my posts have been about food or cooking, as one would expect. Well, I finally had a 'petit fours moment' over lunch, where I had that little burst of happiness over a certain dessert.

Those that watched the Master Chef final, would be familiar with The Snow Egg- signature dessert of Quay, a restaurant in Sydney. I had made a reservation at Quay about a month prior to the Snow Egg being featured on Master Chef, as part of my plan to take my sister out for lunch whilst she was visiting me from overseas. So that Friday after the Master Chef final, my sister and I were blessed enough to have a table at Quay to try The Snow Egg (as well as their beautiful entrees and mains).

The moment we spooned that dessert into our mouths, we could feel all the textures coming together to create this harmonious combination of what was smooth, creamy, crunchy and cold. The taste was fresh and light and had us blissfully anticipating the next spoonful of The Snow Egg. After polishing off our respective Snow Eggs, my sister wanted to order another. We didn't try, but would be interested to know if they allow that at Quay...

And of course I have to show you the petit fours!

woody & buzz

One lunch time, I was happily chatting away with a friend about Toy Story 3. Having seen the movie on different occasions, we were both recalling the funny scenes. My favourites were Barbie disguised as Ken in the astronaut suit and the scene at the daycare centre where Mr Potato Head had to put all his facial features into the pita bread.

My friend also recalled that we had seen Toy Story 1 together when we were in high school. This sounds cliched, but it doesn't even seem like that long ago. And some things don't change. Seeing Toy Story is still a fun experience for me and I still find it amusing. I guess I'm a child at heart. This is probably proven by the fact that I was just as excited as my nephew about his box of Toy Story themed Lego. Not being a fan of 'Lego Men', Woody and Buzz were thrown aside and my nephew turned to focus on playing with the car made of Lego pieces. Feeling rather sorry for Woody and Buzz (they are the main characters after all), I thought it would be nice for them to feature on my blog. So here they are. The Lego versions of Woody and Buzz.

photo shoot

Recently, I organised a photography trip for myself and a couple of other friends so we could learn from 'the master' (a friend that has recently started his own photography business). He mentioned that he was doing a pre-wedding shoot and I politely invited myself along. As a result, my friend hired himself an assistant for the afternoon (for free) and the unsuspecting couple had an extra person taking photos of them on the shoot.

Having never been on one of these shoots, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Even though I was not obliged to hand over any of my photos, I was still a little nervous. The couple were really nice and I had fun. I also didn't realise how tiring it could be. We were only out for a few hours, but I was losing concentration by the end.

As for the photos...I ended up with a small handful of shots I thought were ok. Not quite the quality I was hoping for, but I think I've just got high expectations for someone who is very much a beginner. I did hand over some of my shots as 'homework' to my friend the Sensei. Let me chase him up to see what mark I got.

hairdresser

I'm not sure how many people have experienced the disappointment of finding out that your hairdresser had left the salon you had been going to. It's also annoying when you have no idea where they went to. I was in this situation not too long ago. The good news is I managed to find out which salon she now works at. I'm so pleased that my hairdresser can continue looking after my hair and........ she maintains a small collection of Japanese magazines for her clients! Not only can I have my hair styled by a hairdresser I like, but I can also update myself on the latest in Japanese fashion via the magazines!

knitting

My Mum is a huge fan of knitting. When she found out that one of the knitting and needlecraft stores was having a sale, she sent me in search of certain types of wool she wanted to buy. Whilst standing in the store and looking completely lost in all the varieties of wool, I came across a couple of patterns for beanies.

Which one should I ask my Mum to knit for me?

gumboots

 

I remember when I was kid I owned a pair of yellow gumboots with blue soles. Sadly, my feet grew so quickly that I only had the chance to wear them once before the gumboots became too small. Having never owned another pair of gumboots since, the rainy weather in the past week or so has made me want to buy a pair.

However, this pair makes me think that gumboots only look cool on kids.

Perhaps if Bob the Builder wasn't so obvious, I'd consider getting these?

Finding the right pair is going to be tough. Making gumboots look cool, without looking like a five year old is the first challenge. Trying not to appear like having gone straight from the fishing trawler to the cosmopolitan world will be the other. Maybe appearing as if I had returned from a weekend at the farm and was unfussed about having left my gumboots on would work?

I will continue my search for a pair of gumboots, suitable for city life.

patience...

I admit it. Since my window shopping (online) post, I have been checking out the http://theoutnet.com/ website frequently, hoping to see again the items I had missed out on purchasing. I was never quite able to forget the Vanessa Bruno or the Marc Jacobs bags I saw back then.

The Outnet did not let me down. One day, the Vanessa Bruno athe leather tote I had my eye on became available for sale... but only in the medium size. What to do? Out came my ruler, comparing the measurements described on the website against an existing bag I had. It seemed the medium sized tote would be more wearable on a daily basis. i.e. it wouldn't look like I could acutally fit the kitchen sink in it.

Feeling the time pressure (as items on The Outnet get purchased in a ridculously efficient manner), I put the tote in my online shopping bag as fast as I could. Clicking through the various pages to buy the bag, I finally reached the point where all I had to do was wait for it to be delivered. I just hoped that I had entered all my details into the ordering forms correctly!

Now having received the bag, I am thankful that I didn't buy the oversized version. I think it would have been too large as a day bag. I guess it was described as a weekend bag for a reason!

Finally, here's a visual of my new bag.

the amateur photographer

Being an amateur photographer, I've found that it's always nice when people compliment my photos. Definitely gives that little buzz of happiness!

"like a pretty woman" by Yumie Kazama

On one of my trips to Kinokuniya (the book store referred to by many of us as "kino") to buy a "girl's style" magazine, I came across a book called "like a pretty woman" by Yumie Kazama.

As I flipped through the book, I found that it was full of photos of Yumie-san in her fabulous outfits. The book opens with shots of her in France. The ones that caught my attention were of her at Lyon train station wrapped up in a dark blue shawl with a hint of the white shirt and navy and pink polka dot scarf she was wearing underneath. Complementing her outfit were long brown suede boots, Louis Vuitton hand-carry luggage and an oversized brown leather shoulder bag. Needless to say, I kept on flipping through that book.

Yumie shares on "How to be a Lady". Here, there are photos about adopting Jackie (Kennedy)'s style,  the "Petite Jacket" and "Rain Boots" amongst many other aspects on "how to be a lady" through your outfits. As I continue through the book, it turns out Yumie is a stylist. Unfortunately, with my very limited Japanese I could not read a lot of the narrative running throughout the book. However, I was thankful for the sprinkling of English here-and-there which allowed me to at least find out about the background of the author.

Before I knew it, I was already at the counter paying for the book!

Having looked through the book many times now, I'd have to say that my favourite section is where Yumie records her outfits on 365 days. The photos were taken from February 2004 to October 2009.

How it's possible for someone to own so many clothes is a little beyond me. Regardless, the shots have been great in giving me ideas on how to pull outfits together. Outfits that have spanned a 5 year period and still look stylish today... that's something to aspire to.

http://sblog.gw.tv/yumie/

http://amazon.co.jp/

http://books.rakuten.co.jp/

"girl's style"

One of the things I've always loved about the hair salon I go to is the availability of Japanese magazines. As silly as this sounds, I always get excited when I have to wait (whether it be for my hairdresser or during a perm) and I have have to entertain myself with the stack of Japanese magazines they leave by my side. This is probably one of the only times I'm happy to wait for something.

Although I do know a little Japanese, I am far from being able to understand everything that is written in the Japanese magazines provided to me. However, they say "a picture paints a thousand words" and the images projected in those magazines have given me ideas on how I should be using items in my wardrobe, or clothing and accessories I've seen in those magazines have made their way onto my mental shopping list.

It was during one of my visits to this Japanese hair salon that I discovered "girl's style". I thought to myself: this is the magazine perfect for fashion lovers that don't know much (or any) Japanese.

"Girl's style" contains image after image of hit Japanese fashion items for that season. There are also pictures of complete outfits along with some street photography to give you ideas on how people are wearing the latest trends. Be it gumboots, leather jackets or boyfriends jeans folded to just above the ankle... I feel I've got a pretty good idea on how to work these items into my outfits, thanks to "girl's style".

http://www.kansai-girlsstyle.net/

o easter egg

Easter rolled around, and in keeping with a similar theme to the Christmas tree, Ferrero Rocher decorated the shopping centre with a large Easter egg. Once again, very classy. However, just a notch below the Christmas tree from before in my opinion. Nonetheless, still a delightful sight to shoppers like me!

o Christmas tree

As I was making my way amongst the bustle of busy shoppers during the Christmas season, I came to a halt at this amazing sight. This photo from my camera phone does not do the Ferrero Rocher Christmas tree justice. With a little imagination, I hope you can sense the elegance and grandeur of this Christmas tree that was the centrepiece in a shopping centre. What a classy way to celebrate Christmas.

window shopping (online)

In one of my recent shopping expeditions (online), I came across the Vanessa Bruno Athe Oversized Leather Tote. I almost immediately clicked "add to bag". Although the bag was decently priced, I held back. Unfortunately or fortunately, I am one of those analytical shoppers. Before making the purchase, multiple questions came across my mind. Would the khaki green leather go with what I usually wear? Would it look stylish when I carried it? Although measurements were provided, the fact that I was being told that you can "pack your weekend essentials in style with this oversized leather tote!" made me wonder whether the bag was actually too big for daily use. And of course, the usual questions: did I really need a new bag? And what impact would the purchase have on my bank account? Although I could provide answers to my questions to perfectly justify the purchase (the khaki green was verging on grey which made it a versatile colour and a big bag would mean that it could hold my D-SLR camera comfortably), I still hesitated. I decided to "sleep on it" and make a decision overnight. If the bag was still available the next day, it was meant to be!

For those that are frequent window shoppers at http://www.theoutnet.com/ will know that those "bargains" can be snapped up pretty quickly. To my disappointment, the Vanessa Bruno bag was no longer available for sale the following day. I instantly regretted dwelling on the purchase for so long. Now I'd missed out on owning the bag! I tried to tell myself that it just wasn't meant to be and the bag wouldn't have suited me anyway. However, I did bookmark the link to the page showing the bag, secretly hoping that one day, it would be available again.

A few weeks after the Vanessa Bruno episode, I found myself looking at the Marc Jacobs Stella Tote in Olive. It was clear that subconsciously, I had not recovered from the loss of the Vanessa Bruno khaki bag and was keen to find a replacement in a green shade. I rationalised the purchase in exactly the same manner as before. However, this time, more cash was at stake. Unable to immediately decide whether to make the purchase or not, I once again walked away from the website, relying on fate to determine whether the Stella Tote could be mine the next day.

The following day when I revisited the website, I was disappointed once again! The Stella Tote was no more!

My bank account is now thanking me. I'm also telling myself that I now have more funds to buy a bag that I really like some day. In any case, it's probably better to try the bag on in front of a mirror before buying it anyway!

things that make me happy

When I travelled to Hokkaido a few months ago and had this scene before me, I could not help but giggle. Now, everytime I look at this photo, it never fails to put a smile on my face and cheer up my day.

Visit him at Shikisai no Oka in Biei.

petit fours high tea

Why call my blog 'petit fours high tea'?

Simply because I'm hoping to share about the bits and pieces that give my life that same little buzz of happiness you get from eating the sweet bite-sized treats served at high tea.