Lunar New Year Nostalgia All Around...

Every year just zips by...before we know it its Lunar New Year again ( yes, I say 'Lunar' not 'Chinese' cos its the new year of the Lunar calendar and besides not only the Chinese celebrates but the Japanese and Koreas also observes  the Lunar New Year) which brings back nostalgia, memories and a time for family to gather. I remember as a child it meant visiting relatives that we havent met for a whole year, stuffing our faces with new year cookies and sweets and (oh yeah!) collecting the good old hong pau (red packets) but the older I get, I realize its the gathering of people we hold dear and love, cos we never know when we'll next meet again...
One prominent ritual Lunar New Year reminds me of is how my mom has faithfully observe the 3 day lighting of joss stick (which is a pledge for one's family health, prosperity and happiness) since she was a teenager, my mom is in her 70's, this is what you call preseverence I guess, in a world today that want things done fast and gives up too easily. Remembering as a child I tried to keep her company but always falling asleep, to this last couple of years helping her to guard the joss stick and getting her to go to bed but somehow she has a built in alarm clock and there she is when the joss stick burns out!
I guess to her, her love ones health, happiness truly override her tiredness...so where are you this new year? Remember your love ones, cos work is never ending, we are always busy... but our love ones, they grow up and grow old so quickly...treasure them in our lives while we can.

This year also marks a different turn in my life, starting a all purpose shop with my friends, Lay Har and Ivy. All purpose cos its about us building a dream to reality, a shop that houses what we love...so for our New Year / Lunar New Year window display, I've decided to do something different, a magical fairy and dragonflies..a fairy to make all our wishes come true in the coming year and dragonflies in playing with the words 'dragon' and 'fly', the coming year being of the dragon and we hope to fly high!
So here's hoping everyone a magical fairy-able and dragon-fly-able New Year!

PS: thanks Koon for the beautiful wings!

What I Got For My Birthday?

As I mentioned in my last posting, I was given the privilege by my sister to select whatever I wanted from the Yii-Tou shop.  Not sure if this was a major judgement failure on my sister's part because I could very well set my heart on the most expensive item.  Which actually is pretty affordable anyway with Yii-Tou's modest pricing.  But being the good sibling that I am, I reined in my primal instincts and vowed not go on a rampage.  Items to consider?

This lovely ivory and silver bead necklace would certainly start envious talks among the ladies....

Or how about this beautifully embroidered Chinois inspired tunic - certainly perfect for the upcoming Chinese New Year...

But then again, how about something that I could don on at anytime regardless the occassion - something easy, breezy and beautiful, like this?

Or my sister's own personal favourite potential gift item which she kept asking me to try - these really funky Raja Mongkut (as my sister named them) style pants...

I can see the potential of the pants, but I was too yellow-bellied to ever be that trendy.  The pants could double up as a strapless one piece too for the young and lovely.... Alas, that would seem to completely rule me out.... Yet, if I don't wear this now, when there is still a tiny fragment of youth left, I will probably never wear anything like it ever as I further degenerate in my old age.....

So, without going through the long list of other delicious items I had evaluated, guess which piece I finally selected for my birthday gift?

My First Visit to Yii-Tou....

I missed the opening of Yii-Tou because I was gallivanting around New Zealand.  That was about 2 weeks ago.  There were some horror stories from my sister of the late nights with her partners renovating and putting all the finishing touches in time for the designated "good day and good hour".  They needed all the divine help they can get as they embarked on their new venture.  In a nutshell, Yii-Tou is all about creativity and individuality, a labour of love by the owners who appreciate beauty, craft and design. 

I was curious how the shop looked, and feeling guilty for not having lifted a finger to help.  So after recuperating from trekking around with 10kg pack on my back (ok, maybe I exaggerate a little to get some admiration here...), I finally visited the shop today.  The signage at the ground door entrance looked really elegant and I was totally floored by the hand-crafted wooden logo at the shop door front.  This was designed and made by Kim, one of Yii-Tou's partners.

Yii-Tou logo in hand-crafted wood

Stepping into the shop itself, I was greeted with earthy colours that were pleasing to the eye and muted, soft lights which offered the right amount of brightness, and yet provided a cosy, warm feel to the place.  The layout was spacious and the use of curtains instead of doors to divide up the space created the feeling of accessibility. 

The overall look was spiced up with bright splashes of colour from the beautiful shawls, fabrics and lovely prints cleverly used by Ivy, who showcased her first collection very tastefully.  I've always thought of batik-like prints to be fuddy-duddy, buy Ivy made them look cool and retro.  And best of all, they all looked so comfortable!  Best type of clothing for well-proportioned women like me, ahem!

Of course, there are designs which help accentuate the cut of the body too....

But the finishing touches really showed me the thought and passion that Yii-Tou's partners are putting into their business...

Sequinned dragonflies on the aircon controls

Paper dragonflies

My sister has asked me to select a birthday present for myself from the shop.... I'm sure I'll have a good time choosing :-)