RAINCLOUD for RENT

Rethink

2013-04-19T09:16:00.001+08:00

Since the day life sneakily caught up to me, I find myself being on the Internet a lot less ...hence the lack in posts, which I greatly regret.

In light of this, I think a massive content re-alignment is in order. You know ... just so the blog can remain a hefty part of my life without Photoshop being so necessary and such.

I haven't figured it all out just yet but I will definitely be purging my archives. A clean slate is always the best, no?

Thanks again for reading, as always.

Update

2013-04-11T10:31:00.001+08:00

Hello again, Internet.

I realise that an (unannounced) month-long sabbatical was probably really uncalled for, but life just kind of got in the way of my not having a life in a really obtrusive manner and I simply chose to forget I have a tiny blog on the World Wide Web that nobody reads anyway.

I may or may not continue posting on here sporadically because sometimes, it's nice to blog from one's phone. It makes one look busy, like one is sending out a million and one work emails, which is a really nice image to portray about oneself...

Hart of Dixie

2013-03-09T10:18:00.000+08:00

I'M JUST GOING to say it:

I watch Hart of Dixie for Rachel Bilson's style chops, and could really care less about the plot.

I mean, have you seen Rachel Bilson in this show? The girl is equal parts gorgeous as she is stylicious, which is a term I've just coined that I'm hoping does not currently exist. I am also hoping it will take off soon (by soon, I mean it better be in a dictionary by next week), so do your best to spread it round with vigor.

( 1 / 2 )

( 3 / 4 / 5 )

( 6 / 7 )

I don't think I've seen her in an outfit I hate yet, and I've been following this show with religious fanaticism.

I'll probably have to keep revisiting her style on this show, so this may or may not be the first in a wildly obsessive string of posts about Miss Bilson in her role as Dr Zoe Hart.

... I'd like it if you could try not hate me too much.

(photo credits)

Printed Pouches

2013-03-08T09:50:00.000+08:00

USD 65 [ 1 / 2 / 3 ]

Weight: 5oz / 0.14kg.

Height: 9in / 23cm

Length: 14in / 35.5cm

Depth: 2.5in / 6.5cm

THESE PRINTED BEAUTIES from label Samudra are a visually appealing and affordable way to distract people from the fact that you've (pretty much) only been wearing black for the past week or so because it's a mega low-maintenance colour and deceives friends and family into thinking you're svelte when in reality, the weight you accumulated during CNY has pretty much set up a comfortable camp around your mid-section.

(product details & image credits)

Magpie Alert

2013-03-07T09:34:00.001+08:00

USD 850 [HERE]

Leather: Cowhide.

Weight: 32oz / 0.90kg

Height: 8in / 20.5cm

Length: 10in / 25.5cm

Depth: 3in / 7.5cm

Strap drop: 20in / 51cm

TWO THINGS THAT should allow for this bag to ascend to Fashion Holy Grail heights: 1) It is of Alexander Wang make, 2) It is delightfully silver.

I say delightfully, because I'm almost a thousand percent certain I have Magpie Syndrome and looking at this bag is the equivalent of tossing barrels of fuel onto the proverbial magpie fire in my head.

(product details & image credits)

Faux Playsuit

2013-03-05T09:43:00.002+08:00

THERE'S PROBABLY NOTHING in this world I despise more than wearing a romper and then needing to use the loo.

Shimmying awkwardly out of one's clothes in a germ-infested bathroom stall isn't exactly how I envision things when I am purchasing said romper.

To be really honest, I'm usually only imagining myself wearing said romper and suddenly being discovered by fashion heavyweight Karl Lagerfeld, who greatly admires my style panache when he comes across me lounging in a nondescript coffee shop ... (how exactly he will discover me on the island of Borneo is irrelevant - the point is, I am suddenly discovered and rapidly catapulted to fame).

Top - AUD $229 [HERE]

Pants - AUD $299 [HERE]

Which brings me to my point.

These are two separate pieces by Tluxe in the same print. Pair them up and you get to trick the unassuming eye into thinking you have on a romper!

No more awkward shimmies in the toilet stall.

Win.

(photo & product details)

Holographic Beauty

2013-02-26T10:02:00.001+08:00

£140 [HERE]

ONE WORD: OBSESSED.

This is probably what LSD would look like as a shoe.

(photo & product details)

Gettin' Shifty

2013-02-24T15:07:00.001+08:00

£35.00 [HERE]

ASOS IS A terrible place to default to on the Internet when you're bored but trying not to shop (as anybody with a pulse will tell you, the minute you say no to doing something, it suddenly becomes imperative that you get to do it ... immediately).

So here I am, barely fifteen days into the new lunar year and already I've found something to covet.

This dress is all slinky jersey with a whiff of muscle-tee cool, and then BAM! suddenly there's that ridiculously compelling metallic hem.

Couple of super important questions though: What is that hem doing there? And why do I like it so much?

Add another thing onto the list of stuff I like that will send rivulets of fear streaking through my mother's heart.

(photo credits)

Camera bag love

2013-02-21T10:12:00.002+08:00

USD 195 [HERE]

Height: 6in / 15cm

Length: 7in / 18cm

Depth: 3in / 8cm

Strap drop: 22in / 56cm

MUCH LIKE BELOVED Internet sensation Maru the cat, I am obsessed with boxes.

Even more so when a bag is in the shape of one.

Here it is in another incarnation - black/green.

(photo & product detail credits)

Life Update

2013-02-20T10:35:00.001+08:00

I THINK BEING forced to sit at a desk when all I want to do is sleep is a mega cruel and unusual form of torture.

Am still recovering from all the visiting and lack of sleep.

This is sad. I think I understand why more and more people are opting to fly as far away as humanly possible, because on top of having to give a wide spectrum of unmarried people money you also have to feed them if they come calling to your house.

... Which just kind of means you're paying for kids and their parents to come over, eat, make a huge mess and then just leave without cleaning up after themselves.

---

I downed a super cup of coffee the size of my face this morning to distract myself from the fact that my breakfast was terrible and now I can't stop using exclamation marks in chat windows. I'm trying hard to refrain from repeating this irresponsible behavior here in this space so I don't come off as crazy ... but it's getting too difficult to restrain myself.

I'm not even sure if I am using proper punctuation, I'm so buzzed from all the caffeine. I mean, who can really tell.

CNY Photo Diary

2013-02-18T09:12:00.002+08:00

Spent the first four days of the Chinese new year in that concrete jungle also known as Singapore, basking in child-like wonderment at the miracle that is outdoor air-conditioning & rooting around various stores for clothes (almost nothing was in my size save for a pair of printed green trousers from Zara, thus reiterating my fanatic belief that Zara just about NEVER disappoints).

I also found the time to gawk stupidly at decorations with my infant nephew, and cavort along an impossibly deserted Orchard Road before proceeding to marinate for hours in the humidity with Twinnie and Peadle Pops (MISS YOU GUYS).

Then I got on a very small plane and braced myself through a maelstrom of turbulence (have you ever gotten on a very small plane when it's raining? If you haven't, I pray you never find out what that's like) just to get to my tiny hometown along the Rejang River where house-visiting consumed nearly all my waking hours.

I don't think I could look at another slice of cake the same way again.

Now I'm back home, sitting at a desk tapping this out to you because sadly, all holidays have to come to an end. Not sure if this post is fully coherent, but it will have to do for now because I don't think I've managed to fully recover from it all yet.

Temporary Hiatus

2013-02-10T22:00:00.000+08:00

I'M GOING TO be MIA for about a week.

Will be too busy navigating the dieter's hell that is Chinese New Year - cakes, cookies, dumplings, nuts, buns, Chinese kuihs ... YUM. I'm probably going to forget I even have a blog.

For those of you who are not Chinese and are wondering what we're so busy with for 15 days, it's really just a big smudgy blur of red outfits, house-visiting, red packet receiving, moaning about age, complaining about how fast the days are passing, committing mass carbicide, more red outfits, eating, drinking, fireworks, lion dances, loud gongs and gambling.

I'm going to be so sick of this sight by this time next week.

I'll probably have to remember to Tweet stuff sporadically.

Happy Chinese New Year to all my Chinese readers!

(photo)

Credo

2013-02-07T22:00:00.000+08:00

- John Fowles, The French Lieutenant’s Woman

(photo)

She Dreams of Kitsch

2013-02-06T11:01:00.006+08:00

DON'T YOU JUST hate those days when you sit down in front of your computer feeling all crazy-gungho and ready to work your butt off, but then it dies off the minute Chrome loads?

Is this even normal? Because I'm starting to feel like this is an ongoing battle with me.

This is worrying.

I was all set to wade through a stack of reports but somehow, I ended up collaging.

Marni printed vinyl clutch £201.66 [HERE]

Weighs approximately 0.6lbs/ 0.2kg

Width 12" / 30cm

Height 10" / 26cm

Depth 2" / 4cm

I love it when things reek of kitsch.

This clutch by Marni totally fits the bill because 1) it looks like an over-sized coin pouch, and 2) it has a floral print plastered on the front and a checkered motif on the back.

SAY WHAT?!

This is basically like owning 2 Marni clutches and all you have to do to change it up is alternate sides.

(photo and product details)

Sale Sale Sale

2013-02-05T09:57:00.000+08:00

WOKE UP TO this sitting pretty in my inbox.

CLICK HERE TO PROCEED TO SALE.

Chinese New Year is a hop and a skip away, which means I'm on a self-imposed shopping ban until I reach the sunny shores of Singapore on the 8th (not that the postal system on this island is really good enough to trust with packages anyway).

Then I'm dragging Twinnie out of her cupcake-filled hole to shop until we drop, because I hear shopping when you're on holiday is pretty much mandatory.

... Even if it means I'm just shopping for fried eats at an Old Chang Kee kiosk.

Credo

2013-02-04T21:00:00.000+08:00

"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.

- A.A. Milne

Jetsetter Swag in 60 Seconds

2013-02-04T10:08:00.000+08:00

STEP ONE: Buy this suitcase.

Globe-Trotter Stabilist 20" iPad Suitcase in Brown/Caramel

USD $1850.00 [HERE]

7" high x 19 1/2" wide x 13" deep

Retails exclusively at Mohawk General Store.

STEP TWO: There is no step two.

---

ADDITIONAL BENEFITS: The lack of a wheelie function on this thing pretty much guarantees you a free workout as you're running from gate-to-gate. And who can really put a price on the benefits of cardiovascular health?

Jenni Kayne

2013-01-31T19:00:00.000+08:00

HEELS DESTROY BOTH my feet and my will to live, which is probably why I have an unhealthy obsession for flats. Especially versions that deviate from the usual round-toed basics that permeate the shops, both virtual and physical.

So when I happened to come across these whilst trolling the Market section over at The Coveteur, I basically sat there for a minute and allowed my pupils to dilate.

Jenni Kayne Patchwork flats, USD 695 [HERE]

Made of kid skin/ leather

The patchwork detail on these keep them from being a boring basic, and the shape of these are equal parts going-out shoe as they are pyjama slippers. Totally obsessed. I love me some confused footwear!!

Man. I think I've found the holy grail of flats and JENNI KAYNE MAKES THEM.

... Now excuse me while I go attempt to win the lottery.

Olsen Twins: Back to Black

2013-01-30T15:23:00.000+08:00

"I like change. I've never really had much consistency in my life, you know, from everyday work to my living situation to whether or not I'm going to be in L.A. The one constant thing in my life is my friends and family, which is all I need."

- Mary-Kate Olsen

"I don't think you necessarily need to show off your stomach and boobs to be sexy. I'm just not attracted to that type of dressing."

- Ashley Olsen

"I am Henri. Zee American cooking, it tastes like du caka poo poo."

- Passport to Paris

They're Better Off Dead

2013-01-29T15:00:00.000+08:00

MY LOVE FOR graphic tees just won't go away.

I mean ... what's not to love about a juiced-up plain tee?

Better Off Dead CC BDSM Shirt, USD 45 [HERE]

Better Off Dead St Yves BDSM shirt, USD 45 [HERE]

These aren't real but that doesn't make them any less desirable to me.

[edit] Just so we're clear - when I say they aren't real, I mean they weren't produced by either Chanel or YSL. In case there was any confusion over that.

Just in Case

2013-01-28T11:20:00.001+08:00

AFTER MANY TRIALS and tribulations, I have recently managed to acquire the iPhone 5.

It took so freaking long that by the time I held that small white box in my hands, 1) my nephew had been born (he was probably the size of a small orange when the first order was put through), 2) they were already talking about the iPhone 6.

I almost flushed the stupid phone down the toilet.

(... But I'm so glad I didn't because it is super expensive ...)

These days though, you basically can't pry him (uh-oh, can anybody say Anthropomorphic?) out of my fingers unless I'm in the shower or asleep.

He's currently clothed in a plain black RM 40 case I bought from the teeny phone shop opposite my office, but because I am a girl and am therefore prone to being fickle, I've been trawling Etsy for more covers that I can switch around depending on mood.

It took me a couple of hours but I think I've finally managed to narrow them down.

FOR HAPPY DAYS:

(Left) iStyleiCase, Whale & Elephant case, USD 14.99 [HERE]

(Right) happyrabbitz, Elephant in Hot-air Balloon case, USD 18 [HERE]

WHEN I FEEL LIKE BEING A KARDASHIAN (HEY, IT HAPPENS):

(Left) hanaoutlet, Tiffany blue case, USD 17 [HERE]

(Right) URHiso, Louis Vuitton MM Messenger inspired case, USD 19 [HERE]

TO FEEL LIKE A BADASS (THIS IS SOMETIMES IMPORTANT):

CaseCoat, Jack Daniels case, USD 12.99 [HERE]

TO REMIND PEOPLE I AM A GIRL ONCE FEELINGS OF BADASSERY HAVE WORN OFF:

(Left) the case factory, Black and Gold Chevron case, USD 15.99 [HERE]

(Right) iStyleiCase, Chanel Red nailpolish case, USD 12.99 [HERE]

WHEN AUNT FLO IS COMING TO TOWN:

(Left) Luxcase, Biscuit cake, USD 5.99 [HERE]

(Right) TheCuriousCaseLLC, Waffle with Butter, USD 17.99 [HERE]

WHEN I WANT TO SIT IN A CORNER AND CRY FOR MY CHILDHOOD TO COME BACK BECAUSE BEING AN ADULT SUCKS (PMS-RELATED):

(Left) KeepCalmCaseOn, Blue Gameboy hardcase, USD 15 [HERE]

(Right) 1VintageSoul, Pink Radio, USD 21 [HERE]

WHEN I HAVE TO MAINTAIN SOME SEMBLANCE OF DECORUM BECAUSE NONE OF THESE OTHER CASES WILL DO (OF COURSE IT HAS TO BE MONOGRAMMED ... IS THIS GETTING TIRING YET? SORRY):

CreateItYourWay, Monogrammed iPhone case - Black chevron with turquoise monogram, USD 20.99 [HERE]

Seems like quite a number of these categories are about making me feel better during my special moon-time. Hahaha.

Have any cool iPhone covers you'd like to recommend? I'd love to see them!

Accessories for Drunkards

2013-01-27T10:36:00.000+08:00

USD $225 [HERE]

HAVE YOU SEEN this delectable flask bangle from Cynthia Rowley?

They're currently sold out, but are in the process of re-stocking. Something to keep an eye on for all you drunkards out there!

Man, this would've been totally great for NYE - slugging gulps of vino, pretending to be Jack Sparrow...

Luckily for me though, I'm Chinese and I get to celebrate two new years every year, which probably sounds like total shit-sticks to anybody who's only ever known one new year's celebration (my sincerest apologies), BUT what it means is that THIS BANGLE MAY STILL BE OF USE TO ME YET.

Personally

2013-01-26T08:57:00.000+08:00

A SHOCKING NUMBER of you have been voting for more personal posts and pictures from me, and I'm a little terrified that this has happened.

But that's cool. I get it. One of my greatest guilty pleasures in life is finding and reading un-apologetically personal blogs, sooo you know ... if I ever come across a blog with a poll asking me what I'd like to see more of, that's probably one of the first things I'd vote for.

Um. And if it wasn't one of the choices, I'd probably type it in the comments section under a handle like DeZTInee's-CHiLD_6678865700 to throw people off my scent and protect my reputation. (If you ever receive a comment from OmAIGoD_GeOrGe_cLOOneY_4-evA!!!!!!!!!! with that exact number of exclaimation marks ... that was probably me too.)

... Man, that whole Anonymous Voting thing kind of blows because now I really want to know who wants to know.

Although I think I kind of know who ONE voter is ... even though she was being all coy about it.

I woke up to a text from Twinnie one morning that basically said, "Hey, so I voted for you to put more personal stuff up on your blog. Do it," because I think she sometimes needs things to read when she's bored and waiting in line for something like fish-ball noodle soup; followed by: "EH ... soooooooo .... what did everyone else vote for? I kind of need to know..."

I promised her I'd show her, but that was like a fortnight ago. And if I'm being super honest, I was waiting for the 'I like it when you feature items you're currently coveting' category to move up a few points because I was really rooting for that one.

But anyway ... Twinnie, I'm showing you what's the haps with the voting thing right now.

Did everybody just kind of look at this and go, "Well GREAT, now I have to click like a BAZILLION TIMES for personal crap to go up on this blog"? 'Coz now I feel stupid for splitting the posts and pictures options up.

Kay Ell

2013-01-24T15:35:00.001+08:00

Hello all, I just got back from a quick trip over to Kuala Lumpur and I am pretty much vanquished by all the pollution and bad traffic. Hehe. Can't tell you how much I've missed not fearing for my life in some rickety speeding taxi.

Anyway! This is going to be a terrible photo diary, seeing as how I was way too busy either running around or stuffing my face with Aunty Anne's pretzels/tubs of Baskin & Robbins ice cream to remember I actually have readers who want to see these things too ... but this post is up because way too many of you have voted for more personal posts and pictures.

More on this in my next post.

So here we go.

Obsessed with Topshop's eyelash ditsy necklace. Just the right amount of combined sass and whimsy.

"Just wait 'til you get up here ..."

This scared the crap outta me. And I was so excited to see some cheapo Matthew Williamson stuff, too.

WHO DOES THAT?!!?

Topshop jeans and top, Mulberry bag.

I am aware that I am coming off like a nut-job who almost exclusively dresses herself in Topshop, but it's not true.

... I also save a pretty huge chunk of closet space for Zara, and there's a shelf in there that houses like a million tees from American Apparel.

Sneaker Freaker, Faux Python Skin Edition

2013-01-22T11:21:00.000+08:00

ph. pixiemarket

USD $96 [here]

WHAT IS IT about these sneakers that have me salivating uncontrollably?

Could it be the fact that these are equal parts boot and sneaker? Or is it simply that in lieu of traditional laces, there is a zipper that goes down the front; a zipper that basically negates all the fiddly knots and the Virgoean worrying that laces will come undone at any given moment?

Whatever it is, no snakes were harmed in the making of this shoe, which really deserves a super duper thumbs up in itself.