Door to door sales people. Don't even try.

Now that I no longer live in a secure building and I'm in house in the burbs, I have one extra headache to deal with- besides fussy old neighbours and their protests to council against the renovations to our home messing with the "character" of their street, AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!

At around 4-7pm everyday, there will be a variety of door knockers (from salesmen, charities who want a donation, school raffles, neighbourhood petitions) who usually interrupt either when I'm breastfeeding or making dinner or on the shitter. Usually I'm pretty polite and quickly turn away salesmen- but one particular cocky little shit got my goat one day.

This is how it went, more or less:

Salesman: Hello how are you- I'm ABC from XYZ and wow- what are you cooking for dinner? Smells SPICY!
(So he sees I'm somewhat asian in appearance and so automatically the guesses are that I'm cooking some asian dish, right? This is one of my pet hates about sales pitches- get familiar and try to identify with me, eh? EH?)
Me: I'm making Spaghetti Bolognaise. Not very spicy is it. What is it that you want?

Salesman: XYZ are having a special limited offer for DEF plus JKL for X weeks only. This is only available to the residents of GHI.
Me: No, sorry we already have DEF. That's enough for us.

Salesman: Whaaat? You don't want JKL? Come oooon, you're asians! You can QWERTY your ASDFGs! You guys would love it!!!!!
(I think steam is escaping from my ears at this point. Oh just because we're asian we all have to love ASDFG????)
Me:......*Slams door in his face*

I'm a mix of asian but I am asian in appearance. I hate to be stereotyped.
Just like urban Australians would hate people who thought that they were all like Crocodile Dundee or Steve Irwin. Right? Get it?

Rich Moms are Bad Moms: Vogue Italia’s “Vagaries of Fashion”

Rich Moms are Bad Moms: Vogue Italia’s “Vagaries of Fashion”

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Food: details and Kano's Customer satisfaction model

Been going out for meals quite a fair bit lately. I found myself unable to resist grabbing my camera and taking a picture of a dish that I want to remember.
Sometimes I think asian people in Sydney like certain asian restaraunts here only because they WANT to like it, not because it's actually good.

Presenting the Kano customer satisfaction model:


source: http://www.gembapantarei.com/2007/07/top_10_improvement_tools_named_after_lean_sensei.html

A great tool for quantifying customer needs.
Like a good little consultant, I did a mini survey and used the Kano model to plot out what I thought were order winners that keeps customers like me going back to the same places and ordering the same items.


At a Chinatown eatery that is a Singaporean and Malaysian institution: The trio of sauces that go with hainanese chicken rice.
Detail: These three MUST be together.


At a Thai family dinner: Crab and glass noodle salad.
Detail: Parts of crab flesh are pierced with spring onion leaves. (don't ask how they did this. If you knew you'd spit it out....)


A popular Japanese haunt in the north shore: Sashimi.
Detail: Good, heavy rustic earthen crockery. (So good that it chips off in dishwashers. Ooops)


At a famous Malaysian eatery on the outskirts of Sydney: Nasi Lemak (steamed coconut rice with side dishes of deep fried peanuts and anchovies, boiled egg, sambal and rendang/curry.
Detail: Curry leaves deep fried together with peanuts and ikan bilis (anchovies).

Factory Girl

I recorded Factory Girl on Foxtel IQ and finally watched it.

The synopsis:
"FACTORY GIRL imaginatively unfolds the comet-like rise and fall of 60s “It Girl” Edie Sedgwick, the blazing superstar who came to define both the glamour and the tragedy of our celebrity-obsessed culture. Sedgwick appeared to be the quintessential American princess, with her blue blood, her trust fund and her Harvard education, not to mention her ethereal beauty and vivacious charisma. But she was also a lost and fragile little girl; and when she met up with counter-culture anti-hero Andy Warhol, everything changed. Suddenly, Edie found herself at the center of a Pop Art universe bursting with sex, drugs, style and rock ‘n’ roll -- and a mad rush for fame and fabulousness that was destined to spin out of control."

"Arriving into the chaos of mid-60s New York, Edie (Sienna Miller) is taken under the wing of the famously deadpan artist Andy Warhol (Guy Pearce) who sees in her untamed vulnerability the makings of an irresistible muse. Warhol invites Edie into the wild world of The Factory, a former downtown hat factory he has transformed into a bohemian paradise. Here, a rag-tag mix of musicians, poets, artists, actors and misfits gather to create avant-garde movies during the day and throw glam parties all night long. Edie quickly ascends to become the star of Warhol’s movies, an idol at The Factory and a media darling. She is on top of the world when she falls in love with a larger-than-life rock star (Hayden Christensen). But when Edie becomes caught between Warhol’s world of sexy surfaces and her new love, she winds up rejected by both – and once again, set adrift in the modern world."


It's the ultimate story about a fag hag gone wrong.

An anonymous email

I received yet another anonymous suggestion as to what my identity is.
I have had a few emails like this one in the last few years I've had this bloggie.

But this one suggestion was something I took some offence to.

"Anonymous" suggested I was a daughter of a politician from the "old guard" who fell from glory in a very spectacular way. Now, I actually know the daughters and sons (use the term loosely because there has been an adoption here and there). And this particular daughter that I purportedly am, is exceptionally talented, smart AND she is a great writer. She is also a pretty little thang for her age. She is still single, too.

So why do I take offence?

Maybe it's her useless siblings close to their 40's who still live at home, leech and sponge off whatever's left of their old man's fortune. Maybe it's all the wealth they enjoy in, courtesy of their old man's illegally acquired millions and corrupted ways, so as a result, NONE of them are "exceptional earners" (as Britney Spears put it so well in "Piece of Me", haha).

Well. That's why I take offence: I chose to live here, NOT in Malaysia where I can gain so much from using my Dad's name. I make my own legit money.

And I (ahem) married into money.
*sheepish*
*runs off*

Ladies (and bubs) luncheon

Yummy mummies of the lower north shore (TM).........
hoping to make it into a reality TV show really soon.




We're the ones with bugaboos and Phil n Teds parked next to our table.....
We're dressed in Jigsaw or Veronika Maine.
We're the ones who take turns popping out a boob (or two) to feed our hungry babies.....
We're the ones with a noisy (but well dressed) toddler or two in tow......


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