Barbie World

These are two of my favourite Barbie dolls: The Marilyn Monroe Barbie and....
The Juicy Couture Barbie girls (below). Makes me wish I was ten again!

On March 16th, 2009, Canada's first lifestyle Barbie store made its debut on Queen St. I've never outgrown this pint-sized fashion icon and I can't wait to browse through the shop for a Barbie-infused sartorial fix!

Giambattista Valli Pre-Fall 2009 Collection

I want this....

And this.....

This berry number below would go really well with my LV Alma Epi bag in Cassis.

Warning: The following images may cause heart palpitations. These beautiful creations could only come from one extraordinary designer known as Giambattista Valli. How does he do it? Sigh.

I dream of Tanzania

In the coldest of winters, my mind seeks respite in far off places in search of new adventures......

I visited a Flight Centre a couple of weeks ago and spoke to a travel agent about the best places to do safaris. He recommended Tanzania. Where else could you experience guaranteed sightings of the "Big 5", namely elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo and the rhinoceros? So I looked into this option more closely and discovered other wonderful bonuses: Game drives in the Serengeti, observing the famous wildebeest migration along the Ngorongoro Crater and paying homage to Olduvai Gorge, known to the intellectual world as "The Cradle of Mankind". I became convinced that this was going to be my next destination. Stay tuned as I begin preparations for an East African safari adventure!

Toronto Fashion Week

It's that time of year again and I am especially excited about this year's Fashion Week because my friend Sunny Fong may be in it! I can't really confirm anything yet, but I am sure he is one of the top 3 contenders for winning Project Runway Canada (Season 2). He's been kicking ass at every competition. My favourite still is the stunning blue mini-dress with a starburst detail that he had designed for Elisha Cuthbert for episode 2. I can't get it out of my head.

Playing Catch Up

January felt like a blur. After all the christmas stuff came my wedding reception. We held it at The Academy of Spherical Arts on probably one of the worst days of winter. I wore a blue cheong-sam (Traditional Chinese Dress) that I had custom-made in Thailand about 5 years ago. I had to hold my breath just to fit into it. Still waiting for photos from my wedding photographer though!

About 100 people attended and hopefully had a blast. We had four pool tables set up for games, a projector screen to show our Tahiti wedding ceremony, which we later converted into a game screen for people to play Rock Band!

Apparently the food was great, but I wouldn't know. Never got a chance to really sit down and eat!

Pics to come soon.....I hope.

EcoSUAVE 2009

I also cut my hair (if you've noticed).

I was just glad to get out of my winter clothes and slip into something more comfortable, like these fab harem pants in jet that I purchased from Zara.

Live jazz courtesy of Ben D'Cunha (shown here on the right) and Irene Torres (not shown).

A good friend of mine had invited me to an event that supports a really good cause: Saving the Environment. It was the best time to come out of winter hibernation and enjoy some live jazz music and try out some great fare and beverages from local farmers who practice sustainability and green production. I must confess that I've never really gone out of my way to eat organically grown food myself, but I really enjoyed all the munchies and samplers. Plus it was a great way to get together with a few friends and have a fun evening out, which is rare considering how much snow we've been getting lately.

The night was fantastic except that it was super crowded I almost passed out. I had to duck out a bit earlier than planned and a few of us decided to walk up the The Keg Mansion for some pub fare. Oh well.

Happy New Year!

That's me!

A hawkbill turtle that was totally friendly and fearless. That's my hand, trying to pet its shell.

This is known as "Crown-of-Thorns". It's sting is quite poisonous and if you happen to be stung, seek immediate medical attention. The toxin is a necrotizing enzyme that eats away at the surrounding tissue. Worse case scenario, you either develop paralysis and will require surgery to remove bits of the sting that may be lodged under the tissue.

There were two lemon sharks circling the area we were in. I was a bit nervous at first because I was the tiniest diver in the group, and therefore, the easiest target. But these sharks showed no interest in us at all. The biggest one of the two was about 8 feet. Big suckers.

This is a black-tipped, reef shark. Completely harmless, never been known to attack humans.

One of my girlfriends who travel with me on a regular basis, finally sent me her photos of dives in Tahiti. We swam with reef sharks, hawksbill and green turtles, as well as lemon sharks. Vis was about 80 to 100 feet and the scenery was absolutely mind-boggling.