Everyday, I pick my son up from school.

When we get home, the first thing I have to do is bark: PLEASE TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF OUTSIDE!

Because, if I forget to remind him, I’ll have sand sprayed all over the house.

I assume all the sand is from the school sandpit. But there’s so much of it! I don’t even know how there can be enough room in there for his feet. There was like ¼ cup of sand in each shoe.

Maybe I need to get him thicker socks.

Years ago I stumbled across a blog who linked to me, Kinky Blue Fairy. I found Joyce Wong, a hot, pixie-faced chick, with attitude, who seemed to party non-stop!

Over the years of popping in and out of her site, I’ve found myself quite entertained and deeply fascinated – for me it’s seeing how the other side lives. Ah, so that’s what real party girls get up to! What a jam packed life! She has so much energy! And I love her outfits!

Joyce’s pet project is Tongue in Chic, a very cool fashion blog based in Malaysia (such a great name!). It’s definitely a regular stop for me when keeping in touch with fashion in the Asia region.

I just love the range of stuff that she and her team covers. Everything from fashion shows, fashion events, bargain hunting, latest trends, sales, designers, fashion ideas, fashion scouting in Hong Kong, Bangkok, China and more.

Tongue in Chic are launching the new version of their site on the 20th August 2008, complete with a rocking launch party! Wish I was there!

I also asked Joyce if she was interested in “Doing The Karen Cheng”, she laughed and said SURE!

So you can see her pics on her Kinky Blue Fairy site, and on the Doing The Karen Cheng Facebook Group. Enjoy!

Years ago I stumbled across a blog who linked to me, Kinky Blue Fairy. I found Joyce Wong, a hot, pixie-faced chick, with attitude, who seemed to party non-stop!

Over the years of popping in and out of her site, I’ve found myself quite entertained and deeply fascinated – for me it’s seeing how the other side lives. Ah, so that’s what real party girls get up to! What a jam packed life! She has so much energy! And I love her outfits!

Joyce’s pet project is Tongue in Chic, a very cool fashion blog based in Malaysia (such a great name!). It’s definitely a regular stop for me when keeping in touch with fashion in the Asia region.

I just love the range of stuff that she and her team covers. Everything from fashion shows, fashion events, bargain hunting, latest trends, sales, designers, fashion ideas, fashion scouting in Hong Kong, Bangkok, China and more.

Tongue in Chic are launching the new version of their site on the 20th August 2008, complete with a rocking launch party! Wish I was there!

I also asked Joyce if she was interested in “Doing The Karen Cheng”, she laughed and said SURE!

So you can see her pics on her Kinky Blue Fairy site, and on the Doing The Karen Cheng Facebook Group. Enjoy!

On the weekend we went to a birthday party picnic at the South Perth Foreshore.

The boys mucked around on the beach, gathering shells and broken rocks, until we gave them a little project -

To build a little path of shells from the shore to the car park. Man, they loved it. It must’ve entertained them for a good hour.

People walking past asked if it was a public art thing. Families and children passing by would join in the fun for a few stones then leave. Many people just stood and watch. It was painfully slow, but they did it!

After leaping around in the afterglow of pride, we had to convince the kids to pick up all the shells and return them to the beach.

I would have loved to have left it there, but I’m sure the lawn mowing men would not be happy with our “art”.

She invited me to a Singapore’s National Day Parade event they were holding at the University of WA tavern - where they were serving up Singaporean food and watching the NDP on the big screen. They had quizzes, games, prizes, drinks and it all just sounded like a lot of fun.

The whole place was decorated in red and white, there were barbeques cooking roti pratas, and pots of simmering chicken curry. I thought it was actually very sweet of them to organise this for the Singaporean students living in Perth.

Anyway, it’s been a while since I’ve set foot in the UWA tavern. I didn’t know anyone, I wasn’t a student, I wasn’t Singaporean and I didn’t even study at UWA! So I must admit that I felt a little awkward as I approached the event.

But as I arrived, a man sitting in the front row caught my eye. My uncle! Born and bred Singaporean, with a glowing list of academic and business achievements (and a medal!), he was there as the guest of honour to give a little speech before the proceedings.

Hehe it was such a completely random, but nice surprise. Great to catch up with him. Then it was lovely to meet Joanna (who invited me) over a cup of buttered corn. Thanks Joanna, it was a fun night!

Only as a parent can you walk out the door with a satellite stuck to your butt.

And 3 rubber sharks in your handbag.

A few years ago I was in a boutique and I tried on a beautiful tan, vintage leather jacket.

It was GORGEOUS and I wanted it so badly! The only problem was: it was $720, and there was no way I could justify spending that much money on it. So I put it out of my mind and decided to forget about it.

However, today I was shopping… and I think I have fallen in love again.

This one is just as gorgeous. Looks and feels just as yummy. Plus it’s much more affordable… but argh! Do I really need it? I can’t decide! Argh! I can’t believe I’m posting about this! I’m such a girl!

(You can tell how much I want it by that strange smirk on my face.)

(Pic at the Doing the Karen Cheng facebook group.)

I might set new goals, revisit on-going ones, check up on how I’m doing in various areas in my life. I’m not strict about it. It’s just nice to create a space for my thoughts.

I decided to skip my reflections for July. It was the month I turned 30, and really, I had one goal – to turn 30 and celebrate it by doing something significant.

I can’t exactly pinpoint a beginning, but I think I have always been plagued by a “wanting to achieve something”.

A wanting to be special. A desire do something significant. A yearning to stand out of the crowd in a special way. A hunger to be someone amazing and inspirational. To live an admirable life and make a difference.

I have always looked up to amazing women. Female scientists, politicians, designers, humanitarians, artists, writers, public figures. Women who have conquered illness, climbed mountains, helped build hospitals for dying children, inspired millions. I would read about their lives and be filled with utter amazement and awe.

And who am I? Absolutely nobody. Just plain old Karen. Living in Perth.

Until I realised that my life is how I choose to live it.

I can sit back and envy others, or I can try to make a difference.

I can focus on my inadequacies and insecurities, or I can work to be significant in my very own special way.

So, I choose to live as well as I can.

Here I am. I am 30, and it is a new beginning.

I might set new goals, revisit on-going ones, check up on how I’m doing in various areas in my life. I’m not strict about it. It’s just nice to create a space for my thoughts.

I decided to skip my reflections for July. It was the month I turned 30, and really, I had one goal – to turn 30 and celebrate it by doing something significant.

I can’t exactly pinpoint a beginning, but I think I have always been plagued by a “wanting to achieve something”.

A wanting to be special. A desire do something significant. A yearning to stand out of the crowd in a special way. A hunger to be someone amazing and inspirational. To live an admirable life and make a difference.

I have always looked up to amazing women. Female scientists, politicians, designers, humanitarians, artists, writers, public figures. Women who have conquered death, climbed mountains, helped build hospitals for dying children, inspired millions. I would read about their lives and be filled with utter amazement and awe.

And who am I? Absolutely nobody. Just plain old Karen. Living in Perth.

Until I realised that my life is how I choose live it.

I can choose to make a difference. Or I can choose to sit back envy others.

I can choose to be significant in my very own way. Or I can focus on my inadequacies and insecurities.

I choose to live!

Here’s me hoping that everyone has a wonderful August!

I stumbled across the Spring 2008 collection of Vicente Villarin, by fashion designer Joanne Cordero Reyes.

I just love the way her pieces have an artful form about them, full of texture, depth and subtlety. Gorgeous stuff.

Today the boys made mud soup, mud cakes and mud salad. They used wooden trains to set up a chain store distribution mechanism to sell their muddy goods to the ants. It was very amusing.

This is another of my favourite, healthy and very lazy meals.

Use any sort of vegetables. Egg plant, tomatoes, capsicum, red onions, pumpkin, sweet potato, baby carrots, beetroot, turnips. Add fresh herbs from the garden.

Drizzle lots of olive oil, salt, pepper.

Into a 180C oven for 1.5 hours.

Serving ideas: Toss with pasta. Serve with rice. Or pita bread. Or a bunch of fresh green salad.

Sean: MUM! Look over there! It’s Bob the Builder on a spray bottle! Can you believe that?! BOB THE BUILDER! ON A SPRAY BOTTLE! That’s so cool!

Me: Oh hey! Yeah that’s pretty cool. What do you think the spray is for?

He suddenly stood very still. His eyes opened wide and they darted around nervously. He started to speak in a very deep and very serious voice.

Sean: It’s a spray for killing Bob the Builder. If you see Bob the Builder, you spray it on him and he dies.

Me: Like a cockroach?

Sean: Yeah. Just like a cockroach.

Me: So… um, shall we buy some Bob the Builder spray?

Sean: Better not. I like Bob the Builder.

Me: Ok. Me too.

So of course, I had to work out WHAT TO WEAR!

The biggest problem was the weather. Although the Festival actually begins in September (Spring), we are still having really wet, cold weather right now.

I was going to be doing a bit of walking in the rain between the train station and the gallery. So the outfit had to go well with a warm jacket, walkable shoes, and a bulky camera bag.

So this is what I put together. I’m wearing a black, vintage, velvet blazer. Silk green dress (love the cut-out hem). Knee-high fishnet stockings worn as socks. Black pumps. Simple pearl earrings. I got a few compliments on my outfit, which completely made my day!

I went alone, but to my surprise, I knew heaps of people! I spent lots of time talking and giving out my business card. I had a lovely time alternating between being a media person (taking photos) and being a VIP guest (eating cupcakes and chatting). There were festival sponsors, local celebrities, government types, fashion designers, and lots of people from the fashion and arts industry.

There was a mini fashion show on the gallery’s spiral staircase, featuring leggy models wearing some of the West Australian designers in the festival.

I was quite fascinated by the amount of media that turned up. The gallery was bursting with photographers, film crews, journalists and reporters, so they were quite a spectacle all by themselves! Ok, I admit, partly I was fascinated because I was checking out everyone’s camera gear!

But the highlight of the event was definitely the announcement of The WA Collections 1 and 2. It was quite exciting to see which designers are going to be showcased this year. And they are:

For Collection 1 (Established Designers) – Ae’lkemi, Antipodium, Aurelio Costarella, Megan Salmon, Empire Rose, Joveeba, Liz Davenport, Morrison, One Fell Swoop, Ruth Tarvydas, Story By Tang, Su, United Constructions, Wheels & Dollbaby, Panache, 33 Poets.

For Collections 2 (Emerging Designers) – Adam Wore Short Pants, Alister Yiap, Ashe, Bim Kenesis, Carly Hunter, Gospel, Love in Tokyo, Of Cabbages and Kings, S2, Stand International.

I recently did a review of Alister Yiap’s eye-catching work and since I have become a fan of his, I was so happy to see his name in this list!

I can hardly wait to see what these designers put up on the runways in only five weeks time!

The schedule of free and ticketed events is now available at the Perth Fashion Festival’s website.

I met up with some Indonesian Australian friends to revisit a few favourite hang outs from our uni days – in particular the restaurants and cafe strip along Albany Highway in East Victoria Park. This part of town has heaps of authentic Asian, Turkish and Lebanese restaurants and cafes.

I love this area, because most places to eat are the cheap and cheerful kind. They are crowded, a bit daggy, unpretentious, full of colourful international characters, and the food is affordable and just excellent.

This evening we ate some awesome home style Indonesian food at:

Batavia Corner
912 Albany Highway,
East Victoria Park

We shared Indonesian fried chicken, beef rendang, soto ayam (chicken soup), fried duck, lots of dumplings, and ate it in true Indonesian style – with no knives on the table. Ah, I was so hungry forgot to photograph the food.

Then we headed over to:

Makan 2 Cafe
357 Albany Hwy
Victoria Park

Which is a Malaysian restaurant and cafe that is still very popular with students. We had Malaysian style coffee and teas – although I had to skip the teh tarek (Malaysian tea) or I wouldn’t be able to sleep!

And of course, I spied a big mirror in and I couldn’t resist a snap. More pics at the Doing The Karen Cheng Facebook Group.

This is my mother’s super-crunchy, super-fluffy waffle recipe.

It’s a little bothersome having to separate the eggs and all, but it makes all the difference between rubbery waffles and AWESOME WAFFLES.

Waffle Recipe
Makes 16

1 egg separated
¼ cup castor sugar (or try none at all)
1 cup of milk
½ cup of water
1 ½ cups of self raising flour
pinch of salt
60g butter or margarine (melted)

1. Beat egg white (with half of the sugar), till stiff. Keep aside.
2. Beat egg yolk (with remaining half of sugar) until creamy.
3. Then beat in milk and water. Then add sifted dry ingredients.
4. Mix in melted butter.
5. Fold in egg white.
6. Place batter into your waffle maker (amount will depend on your waffle maker).
7. Eat hot! With butter. Bananas. Yogurt. Honey. Fresh berries. Strawberry jam. Whipped cream.

(Note: 16 waffles are not enough for 4 hungry adults! So double everything to make 32 waffles!)

Heaps of people have asked me what kind of waffle maker I have. My waffle maker is really old, and you can’t get that model anymore.

But if you’re going to go out and buy one, make sure you buy a deep pan one. Similar to these models at Amazon: Black and Decker, Presto, Proctor (sorry, I don’t know if they are as awesome as their reviews saw they are).

A few weeks ago, I was in Singapore and by complete co-incidence, so was the incredibly popular Malaysian blogger, Kenny Sia.

We finally had the chance to meet up! Unfortunately, our individual schedules were pretty full and we only managed to chat for a few minutes. I would have loved to catch up over coffee – but it was not to be. Nevertheless, I was not disappointed. He is exactly like I imagined him from his blog!

Kenny writes about his adventures of being a regular, down-to-earth, 20-something Asian guy, feeling and living life to the full. From political satire, to random toilet humour, to extraordinary life experiences – his topics always put a smile on my face.

I love the fact that, although I am not Malaysian and I often do not understand some of the lingo or current affairs of Malaysia… nonetheless, he’ll just get straight to the point, and make me double over with laughter. Or, I might find myself peering a little closer at his photo-documentary-style account of some astonishing adventure.

His posts are superbly crafted. Whether he’s aiming for pure entertainment value, random hysterics, controversy, a cute little story, or a moment of thought – he seems to do it with a very natural and unique style, a very Kenny Sia style. He’s a very clever blogger, and he deserves the astonishing and loyal readership he has.

Although I don’t really know him on a personal level, I see him as a very real human, not “one of the world’s most popular bloggers”.

I know he has lived in Perth, my home town, and studied at the same university I did. I know his sister, and his nephew and nieces. I know about his father’s sickness and passing.

Kenny is tuned into all that life has to offer, and shows it to the world in his own, unique way. He’s brave enough to show us his heart, and to poke fun of his own celebrity.

So here are a few of my favourite Kenny Sia posts:

Three Years – where he writes a very touching letter to his late father.

Twenty Four – where he makes an enjoyable lists of things he has done at the age of 24. And you can’t help but be inspired to make a similar list.

The Making Of Mister Potato’s ‘Fish’ – the weird and wonderful life of being a blog celebrity. Hilarious strangeness.

Underwater Photography – a simple but charming commentary of scuba diving, which made me chuckle.

Kuala Lumpur International Marathon 2006 – where he has a crazy idea and pursues it. He admits he is overweight, yet enters and FINISHES a 42km marathon, with a very entertaining commentary.

I am actually looking forward to the time Kenny has kids. I am sure that his take on fatherhood and that amazing adventure of parenting will surely be the most entertaining yet!

Cheers Kenny!

I must admit that I’ve never been crazy over the Gladiator or Fierce Shoe. I take my hat off to the girls who can wear them though, because they can look pretty cool with some outfits.

Call me old fashioned, but I don’t know if I can handle my feet being edgy, fierce and confrontational. I like my feet to be elegant and sexy.

So I’m loving these strappy, gladiator-inspired shoes from ASOS!

My husband was battling cancer and underwent his first round of chemotherapy. It was an aggressive form of cancer, resistant to chemo, and there was no guarantee of success. We had a 2 year old kid, and we just got news that we were expecting another baby.

Every July that comes and goes, I sit and make myself remember it all.

I remember the bleakness. I remember driving through rain, towards the hospital, walking through a car park littered with leaves. I remember the smell of the corridors. The sounds of the machines and medicines. I remember having no joy in my spirit.

I remember trying to live - one day at the time. Having to concentrate on just getting through that single day. It was too painful to think about the future, or life. I would crumble at the thought of how the little things would never be the same - a family picnic in the park, a trip to the beach, a cup of tea at a cafe.

I remember thinking that I might lose my best friend. That my children might not remember who their father was. That I would be sitting in our house, with every single object around me, reminding me of the man I love. That I might forget his face.

I remember the sheer focus and mental discipline that was needed to stop myself from going mad. The thousands of terrible and depressing thoughts, raining relentlessly in my head, images I couldn’t stop, clouding my view, gripping, choking, dragging me down to that deep, dark place.

I remember faith. Holding on to this really huge floating thing that kept my head above the water. I wasn’t exactly sure what to do with it, nor why I was doing it at the time, but it was big, much bigger than me, and it worked.

I remember the helplessness. I remember I couldn’t do a single thing to change anything. Nothing. Just hopelessness. Emptiness. And heart-wrenching sadness.

Then I snap out of it. I sit back from my reverie,

And I think, Oh my God, how did I escape that one?

Did it really happen? Is this real? Am I REALLY sitting here with my husband and two sons running around outside, throwing leaves at each other in the garden? With everyone smiling and laughing and happy as can be? How did I come to this? What on earth did I do to deserve it?

I’ve come to realise that the words “fate” and “destiny” are meaningless to me.

Whereas I discover one of life’s sweetest words - grace. It heals all that is broken inside me, and makes me want to change my life. To live the best I can. With purpose. With significance. With gratitude. With happiness.

My 3yo has a rather interesting way of interpreting the English language.

He calls spaghetti – Mister Getty.

Important is Port Tenant.

Comfortable is actually a Comfy Table.

Dessert is Berserk.

And Pistachios are Moustachios.

And sometimes, just for fun, I like to make him say them all in one sentence.