Yayoi Kusama

I chanced upon an exhibition of hers whilst I was in Sydney. My God she sets my heart on fire! Coincidentally we share a birthday- she would give dear old Yoko Ono a run for her money and is quite possibly the coolest Octogenarian alive.

Her installations had such a visceral impact on me, I found myself being transported to a third dimension made up of garish, bubblegum dreamscapes that are inherently poetic and pure in origin. The inspiration for all her work came from a dried up river bed close to her familial home.  

She claimed to have had obsessive thoughts and compulsive tendencies as a child brought on by the physical and emotional abuse she experienced at the hand of her mother. She began to see the world as pixelated and kaleidoscopic perhaps as a way to detach herself from a reality that was oppressive and cruel.  

It's Ma Party...

Gathered my nearest and dearest for some frolicsome high-jinks in aid of my birthday. That clock keeps on ticking, I cannot believe I am officially in my thirties, I swear I was only 21 yesterday.

We dined at Sake No Hana, followed by dance offs at Mahiki. I love you friends, thank you for making my night so special. 

Pics courtesy of Shaniqwa Jarvis.

Singapore Sling

I am in Singapore. The atmosphere today is balmy and dense enough to cradle the delicate scent of last night's tropical shower and dewy Frangipani. The cicadas deliver their nightly recitals diligently and peacocks cackle and coo at one another as if sharing a private joke. There are hundreds here at Sentosa Island, roaming freely, peacocks, peahens and a cavalry of chicks, these birds breed like rabbits. Nico and I have marveled at them daily. 

I am still trying to place her, Singapore that is, she is a familiar stranger, perhaps a hearkening back to my childhood spent in Hong Kong, her somewhat older and brassier cousin.

Singapore city is reminiscent of the metropolis dreamt up in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, it is the portal to the South East, a cultural hotpot: brothy, pungent and steaming with deliciousness. The Chinese dominate in terms of population but there is a profound and palpable respect between all the different nationalities in this city. The old and new worlds harmonize with one another. Raffles Hotel, resplendent in its late Victorian architecture still holds its own amongst the fierce and glacial sky scrapers that surround it.

If the food maketh the place then I have found my gastronomic Mecca, the fish head curry at Banana Leaf Apolo in Little India, is sublime, surprisingly fleshy albeit frightening to behold! xx

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Land of OZ

My voyage Down Under is well under way and I have not been disappointed. The cities I have visited so far have been been fascinating and make me question, why oh why I reside in the city of London? Sydney has to be the closest thing to Utopia on this planet. Considering how tender of age a city it is, it exudes an old world glamour that sits so comfortably next to the phallic high rises and boasts two of the most globally  iconic man made structures. How can you not be floored when you gaze upon the Sydney Harbour Bridge or the inimitable Opera House? Have also chanced upon an amazing salvage emporium: DOUG UP ON BOURKE STREET, 901 a Bourke St, Waterloo 2017.

Am yet to cuddle a koala or scale the bridge but I shall keep you posted.