Yay or nay?

"Lanvin mirror necklaces"

So to buy or not to buy? $300 for a necklace that says Lanvin in graffiti. Buy online or wait till Lanvin re-opens?

image: http://www.selectism.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/lanvin-spring-2010-necklace.jpg

Blood Donation.

"The Reservoir in front of the Hilton"

"The Long Boat (as in as long as a bus long) Ride"

"Campsite On Day 2"

"Batang Ai Dam"

"The Beaten Path (before the slopes when I had to stop using my camera to save my life)"

Mosquitoes and Leeches...

The Bornean Jungle is not to be underestimated. It is slippery and steep. However, the most amazing facts are that the immense beauty of the forest and the indigenous Iban who has very agile bodies.

Nights in the rainforest is not mean feat. Despite, the alluring fireflies by night, the ever annoying mosquitoes and those frightening fire ants can certainly make one lose a good night's rest. The fire ants grow to twice the size of an average human's thumbnail. However, the strangely pale looking jungle fare had a magnetic effect on us. Cooked over firewood, our meals were prepared in the jungle. Bamboo shoots were certainly the best! Yes, I have had bamboo shoots before (being the Chinese that I am), but the difference is the sweetness of freshly gathered bamboo. Palm shoots was something new. The bitterness of the core did put me off a little. Then there was Midin or Jungle Fern, I have had it once in my Udon when I was in Japan but the stir-fried ferns had a different taste and texture when cooked this way. It was slightly gooey, the kind of goo one gets from eating Lady's Fingers/Okra.

One thing is for sure, the Iban and Bedayu guides sure did save my life a couple of times along the tricky trail. Thorny leaves and termite infested branches aren't exactly the thing you'd want to grab.

The leeches were one of the biggest fear the group had. However, after a few of our group mates fell victims to the painless menace, we weren't very much concerned with the leeches. Actually, the Tiger Leech was still quite fearsome to us because it stings when it sucks your life force and it likes going for very specific areas of one's body (warm and damp locations).

We found heaven when we came out of the wilderness into the luxurious Hilton Hotel. The glass of juice served to us at the entrance was enough to make me call Hilton a hotel of my choice when I travel in the future. (Stayed at the Hilton Mauritius once and I had the exact same sentiments as I do now)

Sarawak.

I am very very very drained right now. I touched down a couple of hours ago after spending 6 days in Sarawak, Malaysia. I trekked for 2 days from camp to camp and visited long houses of the indigenous Iban. I shall reveal the pictures and mention more about the trail once I get the strength to edit the images.

Shoyu Ramen

Different parts of Japan is famous of different kinds of ramen.

Hokkaido Region: Miso Ramen

Kyushu Region: Tonkotsu Ramen

Tokyo City: Shoyu Ramen

and I have no idea where shio (salt) ramen is famous in.

So, I tried Shoyu Ramen at Sapporo Ramen Miharu today. It was nice, however, I prefered the miso-tonkotsu ramen I had the other time... Anyway, I found out the secrets to making the flavoured TAMAGO they add into ramens.

Prepare the sauce. Mix shoyu, sake and mirin together and microwave the sauce for 30 seconds.

Boil eggs for 4 minutes.

Remove the eggs after 4 minutes and dunk them into ice cold water. Crack eggs in the bowl and peel the shells in the water.

Put eggs with sauce into a bag and leave it overnight in a fridge.

Rah rah rah rah ramen!

Gallery Hotel, Level 1, Sapporo Ramen Miharu

Tucked away in a corner of Singapore and in a corner of a hotel is a quaint little ramen house. During my trip to Japan, the tour guide told us that we could find relatively 'cheap' (considering this is Japanese cuisine and that the ingredients are all imported from JAPAN!) authentic Japanese ramen in the restaurant.

So I went there along with 13 others (the Japan trip convoy) to try out what is said to be one of the best ramen in Singapore. I had a steaming bowl of Miso-Tonkotsu ramen. The funny thing is that Miso ramen is famous in the Hokkaido region (all the way up North) and Tonkotsu ramen is famous in the Kyushu region (all the way down South), so combine the 2 and you get quite an interesting tasting broth. I tasted sesame oil (I could even see the seeds) in the broth along with salty miso paste. The noodles were rather tangy and springy so to speak and there was this milky feeling that you get whilst slurping the noodles down with the broth. The smell of the broth was just oishii and the spring onions tasted fresh. I liked the fact that they used the lower stem of the spring onion more as compared to the upper portion where the leaves are because the lower stem gives this crunchy texture and it gives the soup a nice fragrant smell to it. Nothing much can be said about the Tamago/egg because it wasn't runny in the centre like it is supposed to be. Overall a good bowl of ramen and I'd recommend it to those seeking for something better than the cliched ramen chain, Ajisen.

Sandalous.

"Lanvin Macrame' Embroidered Scandals"

Enough shoes, I think it is time to try on scandals. Lanvin has done it again. Another season with something to lust for. Though I was a little skeptical with next season's wear when I first saw it, I notice tiny details that stood out and make Lanvin the creative house that it is known to be. Those interested can check out the range of Lanvin products on Luisaviaroma.com or just wait for Lanvin at Hilton to open. By the way, Balenciaga has a new location at the Hilton.

image:https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8kR3Y9wCFiWYfPNvOVA1h-QpY8KVzEWxx4D8g8vG4BwZ7HLZA6hYUDxCNN8Muj7M8-L5tr7ScjjTuX8gDa-wn9tVfZq9ChsKLn3_hNEaPQus7qhuwiOJwUEZB3fmRo4NUFRUGRKMaGYfE/s1600-h/Picture+9.png

Hello!

Okay, ever since my return from Japan. I have crazy over Japanese food and the Japanese culture. MUJI is like wonderland for me now and I am always on the prowl for Japanese Designer labels.

In fact, I bought 2 pieces from Comme Des Garcon. What is CDG? Well, it is french for 'like boys' and the pieces are designed by Rei Kawakubo (the sensei of Junya Watanabe, a popular rather Japanese designer in Europe according to Vogue).

The Comme Des Garcon label has so many diffusion labels that labeling them would be a daunting albeit necessary task, so I'd just name a few.

Comme Des Garcon (the Japanese pronounces Garcon, Gar-soh-n, as Gar-roo-soh-n)

the mainline

PLAY CDG and BLACK CDG.

(I bought the long sleeved striped tee and the tee with a gigantic heart, the only difference is that my heart had blue eyes!)

PLAY (the famed heart) is a more accessible range. The clothes are less loud (imagine boys in skirts, yeah that is the mainline) and kinder on the wallet. It's funny how in Japan, one cannot try on the tees at the shop but one can try on other apparels. While I was in the CDG in Shinsaibashi, Osaka, there was a cube whereby PLAY was 'housed' in. I could not enter the cube and only the workers get to enter the cube. CDG is truly a quirky little brand.

BLACK is the cheapest range. It is a Guerilla shop. As the name suggests, it exists outside the mainline and is only temporal. CDG has this habit of setting up Guerilla shops that last for a couple of months to 1 year and then it closes down. BLACK will only exist for as long as this recession exists. It therefore aims to help people spend to save the economy. What an idea Rei!

image: http://thisislavie.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/comme-des-garcons-play-1.jpg