I love my Food

Hi lovelies, have you been commenting and not having your comments published over here? I just realised that there's some problems with blogger and it's affecting my comments moderation (no wonder it's be a little more quiet round here lately). I'm getting only some of your comments. It's irking me and I'm gonna see if I can get anything from the help forum. Fingers crossed because many have reported the problem for some time.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures from my various food indulging trips out and about.

Japanese natto: Yes, those sticky, slimy thingys. I like them actually. They are really healthy by the way.

Indonesian: I love my chillies

Hong Kong style spaghetti

Korean

T's coffee. I don't drink them but I love photographing them.

Cool Capsule - 9h

I’ve always been intrigued by the capsule hotels in Japan. Perhaps it seems potentially claustrophobic but I keep wanting to try it once just for the sake of experience. But I haven’t because firstly there are fewer capsule hotels for women. Secondly, I haven’t got a very pretty mental image of these hotels. Guess what? I think I just changed my mind.

This new capsule hotel, 9h (nainawasu), designed by Fumie Shibata of Design Studio S opens in December in Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto. Capsule hotels do not take the lavish route and I think 9h has found the perfect way to make simplicity work in its favour. Instead of looking low-budget (like many such hotels and hostels), 9h comes across as modern and sleek. I love how clean it looks!

What do you think? Have you stayed in a capsule hotel? Looking to try?

[images: Design Studio S via theartistandhismodel]

Old Western Haven - A Cowboy's Dream

When you check into a hotel, what is the first thing you do? I know some people dash to the windows to check out the view. Afterall, we often pay more for a room with a better view. Others zoom into the bathroom and toilet (yay! Shower caps provided). Some others simply collapse onto the bed (hm… 500 theread count?). If you are like me, when you check into a hotel, you check out everything. I cover one portion then another portion of the room, acting almost like a metal detector. The exterior and the interior. Then, I look at the collaterals. Do they contribute to the identity of the hotel? And I perform all this with a camera in hand. T is usually relegated to the corner of the room, away from the camera lens. His helpless cries of “can I sit down now?!” are often heard but ignored. I mean, this is what we are talking about when we say ‘holistic experience’, right?

I think 8-suite BB hotel, A Cowboy’s Dream, certainly accomplished that. With each of the suites unique and custom-made, you know the amount of thought and care that went into them. And it shows! It’s old western, awfully charming, cozy, rustic but also luxurious-- a little piece of haven in Nevada.

Awesome work by Ginger Tharp, the innkeeper, her design team and Kuro Interactive Creative Agency.

[images: Graphic Exchange, Kuro Interactive]

[Fashion Friday #13] - Lady Petrova

Hey lovelies, I hope you were looking forward to Fashion Friday. I was! It satisfies my need to swoon over beautiful clothes. When I prowl the cyberworld for lovely fashion related stuff to post here, it’s the next closest thing to actual shopping for me :). Other than keeping my fashion withdrawal symptoms at bay, I find myself being exposed to what’s out there in the rest of the world (other than the retail chain clones we have here). I’m constantly reminded to not just be in clean basic pieces (“It’s classic” was my excuse). Like art, it’s about individuality, it’s about self-expression. Perhaps many years down the road, I may look at old photos of myself and cringe and my choice of clothings. But hey, at least I had fun! And that, lovelies, is what life should be about.

For today's post, I wanted to share with you an Australian label that had me at first glance-- Lady Petrova. Very fun, very girly! Man, I’m quite bought over by the fanciful stockings!

A little Blair Waldorf? Cute!

What will you be up to this weekend? T and I are going to this outdoor music festival tonight—Timbre’s Rock & Roots. He simply can’t wait to catch The Gipsy Kings! I hope yours will be fun-filled and enjoyable too. See you next week!

[images: Lady Petrova]

Good Food and Sweet Endings

Thank you for your sweet comments on my blogiversary post! They sure put a smile to my lips.

I tweeted last week that I was enjoying a wonderful meal at Margarita’s. Here are the photos. Ahem, they are once again taken by the terrible camera on my iPhone (but otherwise great phone).

The cool weather that night made al fresco a good choice. On all other ocassions, we Singaporean dive for the cool respite of air-conditioned rooms. The indoor seats by the windows are the hottest properties because they are closest to actually being outdoor.

Of course, a drink to start us off. You know, set the tone.


Not the healthiest but oh-so-yummy!

We hit the very very crowded Ben & Jerry’s to give it all a sweet ending. You bet running was my agenda for the next morning!

Lampshades and Hats - Melinda Love

I’ve been looking for a lamp for my bedside table and have spotted many nice ones out there. But alas, my responses have been “nah, too big”. You see, we have a tiny tiny bedroom and I’m happy to have found a bedtime table that sits just nicely between the bed and windows. So, I can’t have a gorgeous but huge lamp presiding over us in the room, can I?

I spotted Melinda Love online and am liking their collection of lamps. Don’t you find that choosing a lampshade is like choosing a hat? You pick one, put it on the base, stand back and check out the look. And when you get bored of the one in your house, you can get a new lampshade and voila, new look!

My favourite’s the little red polka dot one in the last image. Isn’t it cute?

[images: Melinda Love]

A Year in Blogging

I still remember it: Let There be Blog. It was a little like penning your first words in a brand new journal. You almost gasp as the ink touches the paper. Then the first letters form on a pristine clear page. With that, I began this blog with only the thought that I wanted to pursue something creative and my somewhat elusive dream with it.

But I neglected it, as I would because of work, everyday concerns, lack of time… There were always other things more important, more real. Nobody’s going to be reading it anyway, I told myself.

3 months from those first words, I had a creative calling again and signed up for Holly’s course of which the requirement was to have an active blog. So I dusted and resurrected my so-called blog. In the next couple of weeks, Cookie Cutter officially took shape as I gained a more concrete idea of what I wanted it to be. Little thrills I had along the way encouraged and urged me on, not to mention the friends I made from the course. It helps to know there is a supportive creative community out there who understands the path I’m on. Not that long after, I took a step I never knew I could. I leapt. I quit my day job. It was based on nothing more than faith. I can still feel the excitement as well as fear when I penned this post.

So, I was liberated! But I’m not going to lie to you that food miraculously appeared on my plate, I continued shopping to my heart’s content etc. No, I had rocked the boat. But for once, I felt that the future’s going to be whatever I make it to be. I had to make my days count despite not seeing tangible results often. Despite contact questions like “what do you do everyday?”, “are you intending to get a proper job?”, I had to trudge on with my blogging, with my creative projects. When pressed for time, it was a struggle between these. I had to forgo some dreams in exchange for this one.

Along the way, I also discovered what is my voice. So I stop myself when I’m over-thinking the content. I attempted a few weekly columns and sometimes adopted a different writing style. I had fun and love it the most on those days when upon stringing the first sentence, I felt like the rest simply flowed out from me. I also want to let you know, lovelies, that your comments and emails mean so much! It gets me going and tells me I’m not talking to myself over here everyday.

As I mark this one year blogiversary, I celebrate what Cookie Cutter has become, the friends made here, the sweet people who have added Cookie Cutter to their blogrolls, and of course, YOU, my readers! Thank you for hanging out here! Say hi if you haven’t ever and for those who often, I look forward to even more interactions. I’m striving to make this blog what’s it’s meant to be—style and design. The future’s still a blur but I’ll just keep my eyes peeled on the part that’s clear—the dream.

Cookie Cutter is one!

[images: Small Business Trends, Amanda K Flickr]