I've moved on...
...to a different domain. Why, what were you thinking? The truth is, I just woke up one day and decided it's time for a change—a metamorphosis, if you will; or, in layman's terms, if Britney can shave her head, then maybe so can I? Nevertheless, it's been a rather handsome 10 years of talking to you, and thank you for putting up with all my moodswings and terrible dad jokes. Fear not! The hormonal imbalance and jokes are more terrible on CUBICLE, see you there.

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Coat – Zara (similar here). Bag – 3.1 Phillip Lim Pashli. Skirt – ASOS. Shoes – Vintage Salvatore Ferragamo. Glasses – YesStyle. Sweater – YesStyle. Shirt – Zara.

Apart from falling asleep everywhere and routinely waking up in zone 5 thanks to some heavy-duty anti-histamines I’ve been taking lately, not much else is up. I tell ya, those hotdang things apparently knock out a grown man within 15 minutes and yet I find myself fondling my phone at 4am with crusty eyes, scrolling the Instagram feed like all life mattered and eventually falling back asleep after the fiftieth cherry blossom pic. But during the day it’d kick in when I’m a least bit idle and then my eyelids get as heavy than the damn Pashli bag and I’m desperately asking twitter whether there’s anywhere to nap in the West end. (Quo Vadis on Dean Street, thank you Sophie.) I know I eat a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey every other day and I guess in essence that makes me chunkier than a ‘grown man’ but COME ON I CAN’T BE FALLING ASLEEP WHILE QUEUING FOR THE ATM.

Uniqlooks September: One item, three looks – UU Bulky fleece jacket

Look 1: Bulky fleece Jacket – Uniqlo. Purple shirt – Uniqlo. Pants – ASOS White. Shoes – Alexander Wang via Vestiaire Collective. Bag – JHYoo
Look 2: Bulky fleece Jacket – Uniqlo. Silk top – Partimi. Jeans – James Jeans. Shoes – Isabel Marant. Bag – Kurt Geiger . Watch – Casio
Look 3 Bulky fleece Jacket – Uniqlo. Fleece shirt – Mens’ Uniqlo. Skull-lace skirt – Gmarket. Boots-sies – old season Patrizia Pepe. Clutch – Chanel. Belt – JHYoo

As I was piecing together this month’s Uniqlooks I couldn’t help but notice – 2012 is one year gone with haste – can you believe October is at the doorstep with Winter padding towards the lawn? And here I am, still waiting for that summer to happen (It RSVPed, what was THAT about). I’m going to do the usual description of this month’s Uniqlooks hero item I chose (I purchase these items monthly, just to be clear), and say it’s been my second skin. And this time, believe it or not, the arrow is fluttering closer to ZERO/SOMEWHAT TRUE on the Blogger-Exaggeratometer because ever since LFW ended I’ve been working non-stop and also managed to catch something so basically I’ve lived in this purple fluffy thing while either sipping criminal dose of coffee or later, popping antibiotics like they were skittles. In fact, Look #2 is what I’d choose to wear if I had one out for the rest of my life; too bad I’ve also been near-stationary in a chair for a month eating junk so I will soon out-fat those skinny James Jeans and grow exactly into the shape of the purple jacket. I’m in shape. Round is a shape.

Thank you to hubby & Kit for helping with the various photos.

Sea scallop, oyster, seaweed and watercress

Clockwise: Carrot puree with pickled celery and basil; Mushroom broth with buffalo curd and water mint; lemon sole with smoked marrow and roasted bone sauce

Dessert: Macerated strawberries with Butter milk custard and Strawberry meringue

Silk trench coat, Calvin Klein. Trousers, Topman. Grey t-shirt, Gmarket. Bag, JHYoo. Shoes, Topshop.

Let me just go collect a few more scrap metal bits to sell so I can once again afford to take some more shots inside Roganic to show you. Or, just book and go, actually. I don’t think I’m confident enough to explain what the dishes are anyway, that’s usually Sophie‘s job and I’m the pizza-belly photographer that nods fiercely pretending to know what a hake is. (‘Yes, this hake is so delicious, can one grow it in the garden?‘) The funny thing is, I didn’t near expect Roganic to be this good despite all the gushing, although when I arrived at the address the low-key grey-pistachio exterior with frosted windows did throw me off a bit. When I plan to spend £60+ for a lunch I expect at least a carpet of some variant of red, and servants, bowing. But then again yours truly is cheap-azz that cry over a £6 burger. I went for the 6 course option, only because it’s a no-choice tasting menu which means the 3 course option would’ve been like having glorified finger food for lunch and the 10 course option would’ve been having LOTS AND LOTS of finger food for lunch. If you’re a foodie feel free to leave that dijon mustard-smear in my comment box now. Said glorified finger-food was beautifully presented on surfaces with contrasting or complimenting textures, and served with the most adequate tempo; every course had such harmony within itself – by the time we were on dessert my palate had been active like an LED dance floor. The only time I’ve had that kind of party in my mouth was when I first tried peanut butter and Oreos after watching Parent Trap in 1998…. YUM. Before the company put two and two together and forever ruined adolescent excitement of of food-experimentation, that is.

Jacket – Paul & Joe, Trousers & Clutch – ASOS, Bag – On loan from Mulberry, Shoes – Zara, Shirt – Gmarket

Being a blogger at LFW this season:

1. A girl attending to the ‘blogger queue’ types in Park & Q dot com and tells me in the most matter-of-fact tone that my blog doesn’t exist. After a flurry of failed ‘cube’ jokes the blog finally loads on the laptop and she scrubs her touchpad down the first page, skimming through posts that took 5 hours to put together. Then she nods, says ‘Yeah… I like it‘ and asks for my statistics. I get a Blogger Pass.

2. The security man at the BFC tent thumbs my pass and frowns. ‘Yes, you may run in and get a few,’ he says, ‘but the Vitamin Water bottles aren’t just for anybody, you know’. Later I present my ticket for a show, sponsored by Vitamin Water – he waves me in nonchalantly.

3. My ticket request is denied, the PR doesn’t seem to remember telling me how much they liked my 6-hour-design post of their previous season catwalk. I then receive a mass mail with a standing e-ticket the day before the show.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to experience wonderful design so up-close, and be a part of the ‘magical’ scene, but if this is the kind of attitude I should be expecting every season I’d rather be home sharing an amazing cafe I found the other day or five ways to wear the pair of heels that I otherwise would’ve shredded my foot in doing strangers favours of free publicity.

Thank you Kit for helping with the photos. (Here’s a video by Style it Light TV with the outfit!)

Jacket – Gmarket, Shirt – Uniqlo, Pants – +J Uniqlo, Bag – Courtesy of JHYoo, Shoes – Zara, Bracelets – Kelly Melu + COS + Gold Hearted + H&M

Ice coffee, Summer rolls and Beef Pho at Viet Grill, 58 Kingsland Road; Thank you Kit for the outfit shots.

This is why I can’t let go of this blog, because that last post was apparently an equivalent to sobbing into a tub of ice-cream (somewhat), and so many kind readers came and asked what’s wrong and told me everything will be okay. Well, I mean, some did wander off into the bedroom and complimented on the curtains, but then again I can’t blame them, holding a tub of icecream does not necessarily mean I’m brooding. I guess one can simply like icecream. I disgress, I just wanted to thank you for the comments and emails of encouragement – I know it’s a simple matter of finding a bad trait in the blog and trying hard to turn it off, but I cherish the interaction. I mean, I will probably break something if someone asks again about my camera equipment, but you know what I mean.

Also wanted to welcome Jen back to London. The gang (Jen, Kit, myself) got together and discussed the usual blogging affairs, politics and a certain delinquent over Pho and ice coffee at Viet Grill on Kingsland Road.

This is also first instalment of Uniqlooks for June. There’s a grool contest going on – enter and win a trip to a Uniqlo flagship store in New York, London, Paris, Shanghai or Tokyo!