Snapshot: Cloud

I float where it is calm

The sun has left us behind

And I can nap peacefully.

Don’t go, please.

Never a Daul Day

Daul Kim was one of the coolest persons I have ever ‘known’. I say known in that I never met her in person. Many others never had that privilege too. However, she had such a free spirit and strong sense of identity that I’m hardly surprised at the amount of tributes rippling through the fashion and blog world over news of her passing. Perhaps the fact that I’m writing a semi-eulogy-ish post about Daul is a testament to the impact she had on the world.

Daul grew up in Singapore and started modelling at 13. I think I was battling acne and trying not to fail classes at that age. As a model, she walked for the likes of Chanel, fronted campaigns for Uniqlo and graced some of the most gorgeous spreads I’ve seen in a while. I loved how Daul was so unique that magazines never felt the need to cast her in typically Asian spreads. Instead, she worked it as Amy Winehouse and showed different sides of herself - androgynous alien or otherwise – daring to go beyond the stereotypes of the West. In videos of her online, one got a sense that Daul was one of the few who understood the great pantomime and satire  of fashion.

In her blog, Daulmonster was one of a kind and yet, relatable. I loved her candid shots (which beat many a professional spread in terms of creativity), posts on her guinea pig and love for Margiela/Galliano and trashy seventies people. She wrote about loneliness and wanting to run away from life; about having so much shit to finish for projects. Without sounding whiny or cheesy, Daul sometimes said things I wanted to say about existence. That she had the ability to ponder transience, was something I admired. Oh and Daul loved trance music.

Perhaps the closest I got to this wonderful person was her sister. We went to the same university,  met at SSA gatherings and talked about the difficulty of finding jobs close to our boyfriends. I appreciated this friendship and if sisters were any indication of each other, Daul must have been a sweet soul.

I pray that my friend and her family will seek solace in God, for Daul had a life well lived.

You do know…

that I’m still trying to figure out how we ended up falling in love.

In that forsaken town, the crowded, dirty streets of cities foreign to us, that dorm, this Christmas break, that big, black chair you sit on, now.

& it still hurts every time I hear your voice because my heart jumps 3 ribs too high,

I feel crazy too, realizing that I’m talking to a screen

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Snapshot: Pole Plants, Singing and Limonata

I’ve decided to classify the random posts about my life into a theme, “Snapshot”, because I’m too lazy/ADD to ever do a proper Project 365. So here it goes:

1) Pole Plants – I was walking up Orchard Road on Sunday to Tanglin Mall for brunch, when I noticed these colorful ‘poles’ lining the sidewalk. I went closer to one and realized that some smart person from the agency that does public flora and fauna came up with the most awesome idea ever – putting plants on a pole, sideways! From a rudimentary physics perspective, it totally makes sense. Plants have to grow upwards to get sunlight and gravity pulls in the opposite direction, so you get WIDE, blossoming plants. I’m sure this doesn’t make much sense but I just had this Weird Science moment standing right there on the pavement, imagining some cartoon crayon drawing arrows around this cool structure.

2) Singing – Every Sunday, I sing sing sing in Church. I joined the choir about a month ago and this Sunday, it’ll be my first time singing with the Worship team (4 people singing contemporary music with microphones in front of the congregation). I’m excited and scared because there’s a mic, so people can hear my croak and sing off key, and contemporary music isn’t traditionally my forte. But hey, God gave me the ability to hold a tune and I’m loving every minute I get to praise Him.

3) I’m high on San Pallegrino Limonata soda from my neighborhood supermarket. Duuuuude.

Food Art

Before we gobbled everything down…

There was a starter. I can’t remember what it was. It looks like a piece of meat, methinks.

Seared, prime steak.

The piece of unagi you will ever eat. And smell.

Bursting the with yummy goodness.