Fantasia by Escriba

We were really excited when we read about an unusual exhibition called "Fantasia by Escriba" touted as a "magical wonderland like never before".  Willy Wonker's Chocolate factory meets Cirque de Soleil, life size sculptures and giant wedding cakes made entirely out of pastry and chocolates by Christian Escriba and his wife Patricia Schmidt, samples and champagne, what more do I need for a day out, right?

Clowning around before the show

Well, we decided quite quickly to see the Midnight Fantasia because they promised some tantalising "adult only" shows (but it was truly because the price of the tickets were about 1/4 of the usual day show). 

"Step Right In"

Midnight Fantasia started at about 10.30 pm. Patrons were invited to an Ibiza party after. We were  really more keen on the sculptures and performances.

There was the dreamscape that came to Escriba when he was sleeping one night.

A mad scientist waiting to explode a cake in your face but never did of course.

And a make-up artist for the moon.

There was of course the tallest chocolate waterfall standing at 8.5 m and free all you can drink chocolate shots from the fountain.

In the next pavilion was the circus of sculptures made  from all manner of confections. 

Models posing as statue

We had more samplings of chocolate lips and chocolates fries and took home many. 

Escriba looking rather bred at the DJ console

We were nonetheless a little disappointed as they closed off a big part of the exhibition for the Midnight Fantasia. It was the recreation of La Rambla with the famed confectionery, Escriba. We also did not get a close up of all the finer creations by Patricia Schmidt.

O, and the tantalising adult only show? The wriggling and jiggling interested us for about 15 minutes before we decided to call it a night. 

I am glad we went of course. The chocolates were truly delicious and the sculptures were eye-openers. I will highly recommend it for all lovers of sugar craft. 

Good thing Escriba will be opening a shop in Singapore soon. I may finally get to see the exquisite "shoes" they bake. 

Singapore Night Festival - 2014

Spirit of Nature by Wecomeinpeace (France)

I have always love our night festivals. 

Dresses of Memory by Taegon Kim

This year especially was a special one.

Stop and Smell The Roses by SMU

As always the night lights captivated.

Landscape by Landscape by Agathe de Bailliencourt

Basked in love and beauty,

 I felt grateful to be alive...

A special thank you to  Clement Briend

I especially love his Divine Trees

Art Artistry Artisan - Mrs Lee Gek Khim

Peranakan beaded slippers, also known as kasot manek,literally meaning shoe beads, is a type of shoe that dates back to the early twentieth century. It refers to beaded slippers worn by a nyonya to complete her Sarong Kebaya outfit, together with chained brooches (kerosang) and a silver belt (tali pendeng). The slippers are made of Peranakan cut beads (manek potong), which are treasured as these beads are no longer available. Vintage kasot manek are intricate and finely stitched, a testimony to the fine workmanship of yesteryears. The intricacy and fine workmanship of a pair of beaded slipper is also a hallmark of highly accomplished Peranakan women, also known as nyonyas, whose skills in embroidery and beadwork are highly valued.-----Wikipaedia

I don't think I have ever seen my housemate FaiZ as excited as he was 3 weeks ago, at the prospect of hosting a guest. It is after all the legendary, much loved and very respected Mrs Lee Gek Khim, FaiZ's secondary school English teacher. FaiZ attributed his As in Literature, a subject which might well be Greek to him to this remarkable but now retired teacher who has relocated with her family to Australia. To this day, many of her ex-students regarded her as their best teacher ever! In the short time I have known her, I have come to truly enjoy her company. 

Mrs Lee or Khim as I addressed her since I was not her student, is a true blue nonya and to my delight, I found out that she loved beading. This pair of beadwork is for her 9th pair of kasok manet. She brought them to Singapore, hoping to find a cobbler specialising in Peranakan slippers. 

I could not stop admiring her work 

 and even love the back.

Khim made me feel like stitching again and I actually did last night. 

I will miss her sorely when she leaves. 

Rain By CCIllus

Illustrated by 大菠萝

Imagine that we all live in our dollhouses.

Imagine that all our houses were built under an umbrella.

Then

                  one day

                                     it rained.....

I was browsing the web to escape work for 10 minutes and ended up being here for almost 3 hours. I even ended up blogging but I just had to. You see, I fell in love with this work-in-progress animation "Rain". The illustrator  lives in China and calls himself 大菠萝 which literally translates to "Big Pineapple". I have emailed him about this post but I am too impatient to wait for his reply. Maybe you too can understand why I just can't wait to share it with you.

Singapore Iconic Lantern Design Competition 2011

Display of all participating lanterns at Central Mall

This was a competition Cindy and I contemplated participating sometime in July this year. This competition called the "Chinatown Mid Autumn Festival 2011 Singapore Iconic Lantern Design Competition" was as its name suggested, a contest for the best lantern designed to the theme of Singapore Icons.  Several discussions and one preliminary shopping trip (for materials) later, I decided I could not hack it. Too much work, too little time. I also remember feeling absolutely uninspired. 

Win's entry- Singapore Merlion

I had however coaxed my brother into submitting a design and he did with this 3D replica of the Singapore Lion Head icon. The fact that it was an exact replica caused him to lose points on creativity, I suspect, but he got top marks, in my book, for execution. This was not a cheap lantern. Just the paper and printing alone cost S$250.00. He had wanted to make it collapsible but due to the lack of time and resource for experiments, he gave the idea up. Although he did not win any prizes, his was one of the top 10 entries. 

1st prize entry- Vanda Miss Joaquim by Ivy Yeo

The 1st and 2nd prize went to MarG's mum and niece respectively. The local media dubbed them "the grandmother-granddaughter pair" .  Auntie Ivy's lantern was made entirely with recyclable material and powered with rechargeable batteries. This is what one of the judges said about the lantern: 

"There're a lot of great lanterns around but Mdm Yeo's lantern really stood out," said Mr Mitsuru Iguchi, managing director of SANYO Energy (S) Corp and one of the five judges. "Orchids are indeed very representative of Singapore. We are impressed that all the materials used are recyclable as it meets the contest criteria, given Singapore's limited resources." 

2nd prize- Kriestel's Satay 

Some of you may remember Kriestel She taught me how to make the tiniest origami crane mobile for my Maharajah's Emporium almost 2 years ago. I am really proud of her. She made the satay (skewered meat) with foam board and I thought they looked just like the real thing. 

My personal favourite

This piece stood out for me. I regarded it as a work of art for the ingenious use of material and the skill involve in its execution. The dragon was made  almost entirely from aluminium cans but I can see why it was probably more suited as an installation rather than lantern.  This piece had no bulbs and could not therefore be lighted. It also did not really fulfill the Singapore-Icon criteria. I believe however that it came in 3rd.

The orchid motif painted on the lantern in the peranakan style was down by the maker himself.

The "what-in-the-world..... ?" pieces

FaiZ liked this piece although when I asked him, he was also at a loss what Singapore icon it was supposed to represent. This piece reminded me of how Win had said I should weave a basket when I told him I did not know what to make. He laughingly assured me that my mini baskets were testament to my weaving skills. 

This piece would have made quite a funky lamp.

I believe this piece was to assimilate a burning joss coil

.

Changi Airport Control Tower, one of the icons Cindy and I thought we could explore or incorporate.

An easy way to showcase Singapore Malay Costumes.  

 A very patriotic ketupat.

 Cone-y

What in the world.....

The Could-Have-Would-Have-Never-Was Lantern by me

No matter what my views are of these entries, I applaud each and everyone of the participants for doing what I could not.  One thing I am sure, everyone of those lanterns will bring someone some really special memories.

Like the lantern Win made with my mum's granny panty when he was a young adult. 

That, I vote, is my all time No.1 lantern for the laughter and joy it brought.

HAPPY MOONCAKE & LANTERN FESTIVAL(tomorrow), EVERYONE!

Art Running Routes- I Light Marina Bay

 Lumenocity Singapore by Sasha Crocker and Andrew Daly (Australia)

Some of you may already know that I run regularly. On Sunday mornings, I run with a group of very dear and wonderful friends who often look for interesting routes so that we are motivated to wake up at 6am , sometimes, 5 , just to run.

Positive Attracts by Edwin Cheong (Singapore)

It has become almost a habit now that even when I run on my own, I look for places of interest (once I even diverted and shopped for 6 hours instead). Monday night, we hit jackpot when we ran to see the outdoor light installations by international  artists along Marina Bay. I took my camera along and even though we ran for 2 over hours, it felt shorter because it was wonderful.

 ( / ) by Angela Chong

This is one of my favourite installations. I love the title which is a symbol for the backside. The description says "This installation  is a functional sculpture which illuminates at night while allowing the public to use it as a sitting area." Cher Kuan, if you are reading this, I took the last pic to prove that I took the photographs . Yes, it is with the same camera that you own. Eat your heart out!

Human Tiles by Ocubo, Nuno Maya (Portugal) & Carole Purnelle (Belgium)

Another of my favourite, the pattern on the wall changes depending on who is standing in front of the projector. 

Singapore-Flora by Warren Langley (Australia)

Giant can also be beautiful which is why I have decided that I will make this post here featuring non-mini things for the first time. 

The Living! Project by Kenny Eng, Allan Lim & Sun Yu Li (Singapore)

 Details of The Living! Project which is made with plastic cups and 

plastic bottles. The public is encouraged to add to the installation with their own plastic cups.

Last but not least, the changing colours of The Whirlpool by Martin Klaasen, Shane Richardson & Pascal Petitejeab (Australia & Singapore)

Thanks to my running mates, I have found so much more beauty in my country.

OOOPS! Nearly forgot this one:

Energy Saving Lights by Fai (Ipoh, Malaysia)