Pause

Pause (Oxford Dictionaries Online): interrupt action or speech briefly , a temporary stop in action or speech

Pause (Merriam Webster Online): a break in a verse; temporary inaction especially as caused by uncertainty

Pause (Foodsmiths @thewordfood): Cool new coffee place at Bukit Merah (also both definitions from Oxford and Merriam-Webster, in relation to my writing on this site)

So Singapore is building up a cool little coffee culture (not to the extent of Melbourne of course), and we are beginning to have quite a few little indie coffee joints popping up at the most random of places. Amongst others, Papa Pahleta at Bt Timah Road, Forty Hands at Tiong Bahru, and the newest find we picked up this weekend, Pause, at Jalan Kilang.

Pause is housed in a very cool townhouse-like building in the midst of a whole bunch of commercial warehouses. It shares the 4000-odd square feet space, known as Dominic Khoo 28 Fevrier, with not just Dominic Khoo’s photo gallery, but also Kelvin Seah, a bespoke tailor, and Ed. Et. Al., a bespoke shoe maker run by Edwin Neo.

At the counter, where you order your wonderful coffee, a little handout reads “Let’s Pause, for a little special something”. And that’s true. We paused, and took in the special little gallery cum retail space, cum cafe, and were sold.

The coffee at Pause is great (although perhaps not the greatest). The effort the barista took, however, in painstakingly putting together a bunny (squeal go the foodsmiths) motif on the foam, was worth the visit.

We didn’t get to try any food on our little afternoon sojourn, but the owner (or manager – sorry didn’t get his name this afternoon), said that they do do food items, just not today. Ah well. But no matter, because we’ll be back!

For people who don’t drink coffee, there are a number of iced teas available (and they even sell aged ginger tea, which apparently helps a windy tummy, if you get the, ahem, drift).

And for those who just want to see a little interesting something, head down to Dominic Khoo 28 Fevrier (yes it’s a mouthful), just to see the chairs (from flexible love) and partitions (from molo design), which are totally made of recycled cardboard. The pictures below give you a sense of the place, and we’re sure you’ll be sold once you visit it. So Pause, and take in a little special something.

Dominic Khoo’s 28th Février

Add: 5 Jalan Kilang,

Tel: +65 63664642

Mon – Sun:9:00 am-10:00 pm

Spring Summer

Spring Summer by foodsmithone featuring a leather crossbody bag

Some of the current items I am lusting after- so incredibly beautiful and summery. This is the best time for writing, and the best time to feel free.

Street style blogs

One secret habit I have is poring through fashion magazines and editorials during lazy weekends (when I am not at work, or in the salons while waiting for the hairstylist to trim my hair). It’s a guilty habit I have, because I can be quite obsessive about buying all the different periodicals on the news stand. After some time, you realise that the editorials feature the same events in the Singapore circuit, but you do get the odd occasional interesting piece. As a remedy, I’ve turned to looking at street style blogs to see what people are wearing.

 

Photo Credit: The Sartorialist

Impossibly chic, and beautifully radiant – these street style bloggers have become the new reference points for style & fashion. While in the past they were relegated to their virtual domains, now street style bloggers are revered for their keen eye, and for their commentary. I have to say though that my favourite ones are still The Sartorialist and Jak & Jil. Both have a fabulous eye for colours that cuts across age, race, nationality. The Sartorialist features men’s fashion quite often, and genteel gentlemen in their dapper suits, but his photos always capture a certain radiance in his subject, or a certain sadness.

Photo Credit: Jak & Jil

Jak & Jil has beautiful close-ups of accessories, and inside shots of the runaway shows.

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The street style blogs capture so much beauty and sadness on the streets- real lives in the making.

Now isn’t that far much more interesting than fashion editorials in the magazines?

Deluxe: How Luxury lost its Luster – Dana Thomas

I was browsing at the Art Section in Books Kinokuniya, like I always do on Saturday, when I chanced on the aforementioned book. The comparison to Fast Food Nation (allegedly responsible for turning away Fast Food Fanatics into Freedom Fighters) made me have some initial doubts, but after googling the excellent reviews(the plus points of having an iPhone + internet on the go), I decided to get it and proceeded to breeze through it for the next 72 hours or so.

Deluxe- How Luxury lost its Luster is less a critique of a billion dollar industry, than an expose of the luxury industry. Thomas’s eye for detail and meticulous painstakingly elaborate research leads her to uncover industry secrets such as the manufacturing of luxury handbags, to sweat factories in China, to the secrets in the counterfeiting trade and anti counterfeiting vice squads to takeover bids mounted (successfully and unsuccessfully) to a luxury emporium right in the heart of Brazil.Rather than make you question the origins of the handbag (though admittedly, the reformed may come away with such a view), the book is remarkably even-handed in its approach.

I have always been innately fascinated with luxury marketing and brand positioning so this book confirmed some of my most basic beliefs of how luxury brands are able to brand themselves apart from the mass market brands in the most subtle of ways. Ironically, the central premise of Thomas’s book is that the luxury industry is in a time of upheaval and the ‘ democratization’ of luxury (as Thomas puts it) to cater to the middle market has led to a consequent drop in quality and workmanship of its products, originally intended for the truly luxe. The potent unanswered question posed at the end when Thomas asks- what happens when the market becomes saturated, what happens when the niche clients decide no longer to patronise their brands, is a compelling one.

But, for those of us who appreciate the luxury (and by luxury, I don’t just mean expensive), the prospect of a luxe-less society seems light years away.