Bird Skirt

Been working on some sewing projects lately.  I picked up some fabric in Ikea awhile ago and finally finished making a skirt out of it.  Although I'm taking a pattern-making class with a friend of a friend, we haven't gotten to skirts yet.  I figured, how hard can it be to make a simple A-line skirt?  Well, it's a bit harder than I thought....especially since it was my first time using an invisible zipper.  I have to admit, the skirt doesn't quite fit perfectly, but it's good enough for me!

Next time around, I learned that I need to draw the pattern on a curve for the waist.  See how my skirts looks rather boxy at the waist and gaps a little at the waist?  Curving the waistband will create a more fitted look.  So, now I can tweak my pattern so that it fits better next time.  But, I'm pretty happy with it and will wear it with pride.  Maybe my pattern making teacher will show me how it's correctly done.  Right now, I'm still working on my first piece - a blouse.  She showed me how to create a basic top pattern for my own body and we drafted the pattern for this shirt together.  Right now, it looks suspiciously like grandma's pj's, but I'm hoping that won't be the case when I'm done!

In other completely unrelated news, I went shopping and picked up a pair of shoes for S$9 -that's about US$7.50! Score :-) Maybe I'll wear them with my new skirt.

Day out

I'm finding that I'm really enjoying all the things living in a city/tropical island has to offer.  Usually on Saturdays, we try to go out and find something fun and exciting to do without breaking the bank.  If you have the money, there's lots of shows, restaurants to go to, but my frugal self usually opts for the fun and free activities.

This past weekend, we decided to hit up the Marina Bay area.  If you know, this is where the famous Marina Bay Sands is located (the hotel/casino that looks like three towers with a boat on top).  To get there, we took a train out to the downtown business area.  From there, we walked through City Link Mall, which is basically an underground mall that links the main business area to the Marina Bay area.   

While walking, we stumbled upon these:

Coke was running a promo with a piano.  Too bad the kids Coke hired to man the event hogged the piano and Andy and I couldn't do a BIG performance.  Those kids probably don't even know what BIG is.

We got free cokes!

The Hershey's store had a life size Hershey bar walking around.

We surfaced right by the Esplanade and got some dinner at the gourmet outdoor market that was happening right by the water:

Paella - yum. Made me wish I was in Barcelona again!

Chicken brats - they didn't have any pork...they really like their chicken sausages here...I think it's because of the high population of Muslims here.

Then we cruised around the area catching some of the free entertainment:

This guy was doing his sound check.  Apparently during the performance, he and the giant piano are hoisted 6  meters into the air and he performs up there with the piano acting as a movie screen.  We just watched the practice session and opted to watch this performance instead:

31 Circus Acts in 30 minutes.

He's juggling her with his feet.

Then we walked over to the Marina Bay Sands mall and watched the light show:

They spray a wall of mist and then project video on the water wall.  I felt like I was at Disneyworld.  The performance is complete with music, lights, lasers, and shooting flames.

All in all, a great day out.  Made for a happy me!

Shiok Ahh!

Here in Singapore, occasionally Andy and I order McDelivery from McDonald's.  You order online and 30 minutes later, a guy on motorbike arrives with it at your front door.  As a result, I've been put on McDonald's mailing list.  I occasionally receive emails about the latest promotions and products.  One of the latest ads I have received is this one:

If you were wondering if it's even possible to verbalize that ad, I found out how when I saw this commercial:

Singaporeans use the word Shiok to express happiness or contentment.  You can equate it with the satisfying feeling when you fill a food craving.  So, when describing a particularly good meal, you might hear one say, "It was very shiok!"  It's a Malay word, but has now been adapted into the wonderful language of Singlish.  If you've not heard me mention, Singlish is the unofficial language used here in Singapore.  It's a ghetto English where you use bad grammar, throw in a few Malay words, abbreviate some words that shouldn't be abbreviated, and throw a "lah" at the end of every other sentence.

I'm slowly becoming more accustomed to the language, for the first few months, when speaking with locals, I constantly had to ask them to repeat themselves.  Now, I'm getting better, and I've learned, if I have to ask more than twice, I should just change modes and speak in Chinese - it's just easier.