Mid Century Modern, Vintage, Wood Furniture, Designer Chair in Singapore Review

So, I have been furniture hunting. Fiance and I started out agreeing that we do not want the modern and contemporary kind of look that feels cold to us. We both love wood, he is more of a retro and vintage guy who loves the curves of things. "Sexy", he would call it. :P As for me, I am more of a traditional person who love warm furniture like wood and fabric. It was a breeze agreeing on what would go into our new house. We both dislike metal and glass so material was readily agreed upon.

Since we have been spending so much time going around searching for our ideal pieces, I thought I'll share where to get some of the mid century, vintage and wood pieces that we've came across.

Furniture pieces that caught our eyes were mainly mid century pieces like the following:

Grant Featherston Contour Lounge Chair

The first piece of furniture that caught my eye even before we got the keys to our place. The sky blue colour is just so cute!

Jeremy Pyles Glass Lights

Ok, so these lights aren't exactly mid century pieces but they do give off the vibe, yah?

So, you get the idea on the pieces that move our hearts. Here's a list of the places we went to and a brief review for each one.

.WOODY WOODY, ALL THINGS WOODY & LOVELY.

1. Journey East

315 Outram Road, #03-02 Tan Boon Liat Building S(169074), 

Tel: 6473 1693

Journey East at Tan Boon Liat Building has a collection of refurbished vintage pieces and also new teak furniture which are more rugged looking. The pricing is reasonable and the pieces are cute. They remind me of my grandparents' homes. An era long bygone, our childhood past.

We got this 1950's teak dining table from Central Java. The legs show Scandinavian influences, probably by the Dutch. 

Pieces here seem to be more from Asia due to the material, teak. I'm not sure whether they have pieces from Europe. Anyway, when there, you can help yourself to the coffee and drink by the counter and speak with the friendly people from Journey East to find out more.

2. Mountain Teak

315 Outram Road, #07-02 Tan Boon Liat Building S(169074), 

Tel: 6244 7176

In the same building, there's another teak shop called Mountain Teak on the 7th floor. As the name suggests, it's mainly teak pieces in there. New pieces, not pre-owned ones. Pricing is also reasonable and there's many simple and classic pieces available.

This is one cool bookshelf that we're drooling at.

3. Originals

896 Dunearn Road, #02-03 Sime Darby Centre S(598472), 

Tel: 6471 9918

We also traveled all the way to the West to take a look at Originals. The wood furniture here has a more modern feel. Many are also in the distressed wood style. Sturdy and good quality pieces but pricing is on the high side for us.

4. Like That One

2, Bukit Batok Street 24, #01-02 Skytech S(659480), 

Tel: 6560 9168

Even further westward was a charming shop called Like That One. You won't miss it as you drive in with its brightly lit signage. A great place to hunt for vintage accessories and small pieces to pull the look together. In addition to wood pieces, they have many interesting mid century industrial furniture too. Pricing may be a tad higher than what we were prepared to fork out but they do have a few snazzy pieces that may tempt you. All pieces are refurbished and pre-loved. By the way, they also serve great coffee. 

It was here that we fell in love with an extravagant piece. Our 1960's Maple Wood Mobile Bar retrieved from the UK. It is now serving a dual function as our console table and mobile bar to make our money's worth. Hehe...

Isn't it a cute, gorgeous piece? It's real cool with secret compartments that made us swooned. The wood grain is oh so pretty. It's my favourite piece at home now!

5. Franc Franc

1 Habourfront Walk, #02-41/42, VivoCity S(098585)

Tel: 6376 8077

And there's the store that many knows about in VivoCity, Franc Franc. It is a Japanese store and I only found out when I decided to buy 2 pieces of Ashwood furniture there. Most pieces are interesting, cute and contemporary. With a burst of colours there, you can easily pick  out something that'll add a splash of brightness to your home. Service is good and pricing is reasonable when they have sale. :P

Most pieces are made of MDF but there are some others that are a few made of solid wood. 

We wanted the TV console in lighter wood and Franc Franc ordered it al the way from Japan for us. Check this place out if you're looking for fun pieces with clean lines.

6. Restore Living

124 Tanjong Pagar Road S(088533)

Tel: 6222 3105

For small vintage pieces like chairs, stools and coffee table pieces, you may want to check out Restore Living. I find this store more of a place to go if you want to get that 1 interesting piece of chair. They do a lot of refurbishing of old furniture. And the items available here have a pretty local feel to them. It is also a cafe by the way.

7. Commune/Koda

9 Raffles Boulevard #02-51/52 Millenia Walk S(039596)

Tel: 6338 3823

Another great place with contemporary wood pieces is Commune at Millenia Walk. Delivery is prompt and service is good. the delivery guys even have feedback forms for customers to fill in! I find the furniture there easy to match and very likable. Too bad the extendable dining table we wanted in walnut colour was made of veneer. Hence, we settled for the sofa only. 

Of course, there are many more shops that we didn't have the time to visit even though we shortlisted them. Some just weren't suitable.

8. Others & many more...

Mid Century/Vintage

• Room of Woods - Furniture looks good but didn't get a chance to go.
• Lorgan's - Heard that it is pricey so didn't make our way to the other side of the island for it. All new items I heard.
• Second Charm - Looks good too and they carry vintage furniture.
• Hock Siong & Co. - I want to check it out one of these days still. Carries vintage furniture too.

Contemporary Wood

• Ethniccraft - Very helpful and responsive people but somehow didn't get a chance to visit them due to schedule. Need to make appointment before going over.
• We Love Air - Some pieces are nice but out of budget too.
• Grafaunkt - Out of budget and didn't really find anything that caught our eyes.
• Pomelo Home - Beautifully designed contemporary pieces but really way out of our budget.
• Scanteak - Safe, expected pieces, good for basics. They have a range where they worked with a Japanese designer and that's quite cute. 
• Picket & Rail - There's wood pieces and designer inspired pieces too.
• Air Division - Looks nice on website but didn't manage to find time to make it there too.
• Barossa Furnishing - Didn't manage to travel to Woodlands for a visit for teak dining table. Read that the furniture are solid and of good quality. 

For my Grant Featherston chair hunt, we went to quite a few shops. It was a pretty tiring hunt where I was about to give up. Mainly because most of the shops in Singapore use wool or wool blended material for the chairs. Fiance and I definitely do not want to sweat in our lounge chair so we went on and on asking about colours and material. We were insistent in getting a blue lounge chair.

In the end, I resorted to calling the shops and asking about the material and pricing before heading to the store to take a look.

.DESIGNER CHAIRS THAT MAKE US GO OOH-LA-LA.

1. Comfort Furniture

10 Eunos Ave 7, Comfort Design Building, S(409573)

Tel: 6747 4809

Comfort furniture has 2 storeys of furniture and numerous designer inspired pieces. This is the shop where we finally found the right material for our armchair. Sadly though, they didn't have it in the cute sky blue we wanted so we ended up with a darker shade of blue.

We choose the 2nd blue from the bottom. Didn't want our chair to have the faded look so we kept to a brighter blue. I think the chair is slightly smaller than the original design but we're cool with it. It also has the best pricing among all the shops we went to.

The best thing about this place is that the material are more suitable for Singapore's warm and humid weather and they have a wide variety of products to choose from.

2. Lush Lush

73 Upper Paya Lebar Road, Centro Bianco, #03-01, S(534818)

Tel: 6858 5882

Lush Lush had the chair we wanted and many more other designer inspired chairs. But the Grant Featherston chair only comes in the hot wool material. We were willing to buy from here if we couldn't get the piece we wanted in mind. They also have many contemporary and lively art pieces.  

3. Standard of Living

34, Khandahar street, S(198892)

Tel: 6298 2349

Standard of Living may be a small shop but it carries a wide range of fabric. I was shown several plain and print fabrics and had the option to choose from polyester, nylon etc. This may be the ideal shop if you want a upholstery that is unique and not so commonly found.  Their selection is indeed wide.

The journey of home building for me is not over yet. It's exciting to hunt for the ideal furniture. And even more exciting when you discover a gem that is pre-loved. I find myself wondering about its history. Vintage furniture has a mysterious charm to them, don't ya think? 

Anyway, I hope my feedback has helped and do share more in the comment box below.

My Best Poker Session Ever: Marriage Proposal From My Love!

Bf proposed last night! And in the way I absolutely love love love, which is original and filled with surprises!

It was meant to be a regular poker session and I felt so lucky to have pocket Queens in the first round. The 1st three cards on the table were Queen, X & Jack.  As it went on, 3 players went all in with bf being 1 of them. *Woo hoo* The pot was getting big enough and gave me an adrenalin rush!

When it was my turn to make a call, I hesitated before going all in. I really didn't want to lose all our chips in the first hand even though the odds were in my favour. And so the showdown began... with 2 pocket Queens from me and 2 pocket Jacks from bf and 1 other player that was significant. Hehe....

My heart was pumping when the 4th card opened and it showed a Jack. "That's fine", I thought, "at least the money is going back into bf's pockets" and I still stand a minute chance. With poker, there's always this element or luck, no?

The trash talk went on and when the last card opened, I was stunned for a while. It was a Queen and I've won! But.... why was my winning card so dirty with all those scribbling?? Huh???

It was a split second before I caught the word "MARRY" and I beamed away. What a way to propose! A climax on top of a climax! Bf is so cool!!! :D

He went down on his knees, took out the custom made ring and gave me the flowers. Of course I said yes. Yes, yes, yes and a million times yes!

The Lovely Bouquet of White Roses

It was a moment of blur and flurry. His thoughtfulness and effort makes me beam from ear to ear. The thoughts that went into the ring design, the flowers he got me, the way he orchestrated the whole poker session with friends.... Yes, I'm truly touched. 

❤ Thank you baby! I really do feel so so lucky to have met you and have you in my life. ❤

The ring is designed with an infinity love symbol on the side. BF insisted on having this on the ring and he used my tattoo drawings months ago as the reference.

Infinity Love Design On Side Of Ring

I was still contemplating getting the tattoo yesterday when I eventually feel up for it someday. Now, I'll wear it on my engagement ring instead. How meaningful! 

I have not told bf this before. He was my inspiration for the infinity love design and I felt so strongly for him at one point, I almost added one more tattoo to my body. But my rational mind got the better of me. Tats really aren't cool when I am older. Haha...

It wasn't the easiest allowing myself to fall in love with him, to bare my soul and just let the feelings flow. I had hoped that our relationship will go on forever but I was hesitant. I wasn't sure he felt the same way then and whether he wanted the same things in life as me.

Yes, this isn't the end of our journey and I know it'll get better because we both want it so.

Last Pic For The Lovely Night

❤ Baby, you're the best bet in my life. Muacks! ❤

DUSK Jewelry, My Love

Know what's one of my loves? It's a range of handmade semi-precious gemstone collection designed by me. It's called DUSK Jewelry.

I decided to call this range DUSK because of the beautiful stone colours that we work with. Combined with the gold wire and chains. it reminds me of the wondrous colours of sunset. The myriad hues that descends the sky at dusk. 

Rutilated Quartz Necklaces

DUSK Jewelry is available online too.

One of My Favourite DUSK Earrings with Pearl & Rutilated Quartz

Matchy Eyeshadow with My Blue Dusk Earrings

One of My Favourite DUSK Necklaces

Soothing Mix of Colours

Quartz Ring Designed by Myself

Here's the blog and facebook page. It'll make my day if I see a new like for DUSK on facebook if you appreciate this collection too. =)

Putting On My Dancing Shoes

It has been a long, long time since I last posted an entry here.

So, it's the new year. And it's a new year with new goals and more challenges. One of my goals this year is getting down to learning Dance. I've always enjoy dance and I think I may just start with Jazz.

I can't wait! =)

Best Website To Learn Korean - **Talk To Me In Korean**

I discover an online gem recently: www.TalkToMeInKorean.com

This website is not like the usual language website. It's more interactive, engaging and interesting to listen to the lessons. Best of all, the lessons are free! 

I really love how easy it is to navigate and how well laid out the pages are. And the graphics and pictures are so nice!! It's cute and makes me want to surf the site.

The lessons are clear and easy to follow through. With the workbook exercise, you can monitor how well you've learnt after each audio lesson. The teachers welcome questions and feedback too.

I'm so happy my fellow forumers introduced this website to me and I just want to share with everyone out there who is learning Korean. Take a look for yourself! And if you're happy with what you can gain from them, do donate. I think they truly deserve it!

감사합니다 to the awesome people at TalkToMeInKorean.com! =)

Too Cool For School Skincare & Make Up from Korea; Love it love it love it!!

When I discovered Too Cool For School in Myeongdong, I fell in love with it almost instantly.

It's a make up and skincare brand that carries a range of funky and experimentation products. Looking good should be fun like this!

I simply love it! The packaging is fun and the make up is really good to use. It's has an art school concept and the products are comfortably priced if you want to buy them as gifts too.

The red Art Class Lip Crayon on the bottom left of the picture is a red lip gloss that glides easily on my lips and the colour come out strong too. You can take a look at the other shade here. It's the best red "lipstick" I've found so far. Because it's a gloss, it's real easy to apply unlike the usual red lipstick; you won't need to worry about lining your lips etc.

The Rolly Doll is a handy perfume roll that smells oh-la-la~~

Well, you gotta check it out yourself if you're heading to Myeondong. The shop is numbered 23 on the map above. It's cute and it's cool...

Peppa Pig Sticker Book

Have I ever mentioned how darn cute I think Peppa Pig is? Check out their site here.

It's simply snorty cute!!

Tasty Snack From Korea

I was back in Seoul just 2 weeks ago and my friend simply love Dr You's snacks. I must say the prawn crackers is really not bad. If you are going to Seoul, do give it a try. It is easily available from Family Mart, 7 Eleven or other major supermarkets.

It goes well with beer and make a good snack on the road.

And of course I bought my favourite Korean Black Raspberry Wine from the DFS inside Incheon Airport again.

Instead of the above, I bought the cheaper alternative from another DFS shop. It comes packed in 200ml x 5 bottles, making it easier to drink or to give away as a small gift.

Moreover, if you buy 2 boxes, you can get a 5% discount from the 22USD/box. For 3 boxes and above, it'll be a 10% discount. 

But... I prefer the bottle I bought from my April 2011 trip. The wine doesn't taste so acidic and has a fuller body. For about $30 more, I think it's definitely more worth its price! It's a perfect family drink that even old folks like! ;)

Good Food Finds in Tokyo, Japan

This trip to Tokyo, I discovered a few restaurants and eateries that I really love.  

AMEYOKO / UENO

One unexpected discovery was found in Ameyoko Market.

We were so tired from whole day of shopping that we just stumbled into a Yakitori restaurant that is situated nearer the Ueno end of the market.

In there, I tasted the best Yakitori I had in Japan so far. The Shitake Mushroom is a must try!! It was simply so juicy and succulent!

The rest of the items we tried in that restaurant tasted really yummilicious too. We ended up eating more than we should even though we were to have a Robatayaki dinner in 2 hour's time.

The Sasami no Ume on the top left of the picture above is really good too. This cozy eatery is run by 2 old ladies and it felt quite quaint to see ladies bosses only in a Yakitori restaurant. 

My Favourite Yakitori Store In Japan

One side of the entrance to the shop looks like this. It's beige in colour; plain and easy to miss. If you pass by it, do step in and try their superb cooking.

We had about 6 sticks of Yakitori and 1 big bottle of beer. All these added up to only 1310JPY. This is definitely one Yakitori restaurant that I am coming back.

SHIMBASHI

And of course, there's my all time favourite Robatayaki store in Shimbashi. I've dedicated one whole post to it here. 

Musashi

HARAJUKU

We also had the best sweet crepe in Harajuku. It was from a store located right at one end of Takeshita Dori; on the other end from the JR Harajuku Station. 

Maybe it has got to do with the weather. The crepe skin was crisp throughout and it was slightly sugared. It left such a deep impression 0n us (and I am one girl who lacks the sweet tooth) that we went about searching for a nice crepe throughout our stay in Tokyo. 

Sadly, we gain some weight in the process and yet, we didn't find anything that came close to this one. :|

SHINJUKU (West Shinjuku)

We also went back to the same restaurants at Nishi-Shinjuku to have my dry Udon, finally. The last trip, bf added soup unknowingly so we both had the dried ones this time and it was really tasty! We found it much better than the soupy ones.

And of course, we went back to the fresh seafood store by the road at night. The Oyster Sashimi BF had was huge! And the Scallop Sashimi was so fresh and tasty.

Here's a short video that captured the vibrancy of the place. And that's what we love about it; The fresh seafood that they serve up accordingly to the catch of the day and the energy there. 

They even have an English speaking staff that can assist in ordering food.

To find out how to get to these 2 restaurants, you can view my previous post here.

This trip, we also found the elusive Yakitori Alley in Shinjuku also known as Shinjuku Yakitori Yokocho or Piss Alley. I believe there's quite few of these Yakitori Yokocho in Tokyo, besides this one in Shinjuku.

Click here and here for pictures taken by other people.

 Green Signs Mark The Entrance Of The Yakitori Alleys

We did come across this place the last trip but didn't venture in. It's not as hard to find as some may say. Just take the West Exit from JR Shinjuku and walk past Uniqlo. Right after Uniqlo, turn right and walk down a little and turn left into one of the 2 alleys that run along the JR line in Shinjuku.

I've marked it out with a red circle on the map above. From across the road of the big cross junction, you'll see the bright green signage, indicating the entrance to the 2 Shinjuku Yakitori Alleys.

Having read that some of these eateries cater only to regular and discourage tourists by having a cover charge of sort to sit down, we looked out for a friendly invitation before entering the store.

The one we went to was run by Chinese, so we didn't get the authentic feel. But it was way easier to choose our food.

Yakitori Alley is indeed an interesting place to visit after work hours. It is run down, dingy, squeezy and hidden in some small alleys. Yet, this is where many Japanese working man come to unwind after a day of hard work.

For the price, it may not be worth to eat there but it's definitely interesting to go there at least once to experience Piss Alley for yourself!

SHINJUKU (South Shinjuku)

Another place that I enjoyed was Exceisior Cafe which looks like just another coffee house at Shinjuku. 

What I really like about this cafe is the big round table on the 2nd floor. It makes one feel less lonely when enjoying a cuppa alone.

Big Round Table Behind

TSUKIJI MARKET

On the last day, we were still crazily eating away before leaving Tokyo.

We made our way early in the morning to Tsukiji Market and bought some fried Fugu when we spotted this store.

Fried Fugu @ Tsukiji Market

The pieces were rather bony and didn't contain much meat but the batter was really fragrant and it kick started our morning hungry for more food.

Sashimi Breakfast in Tokyo

It is a must to do a Sashimi/Sushi breakfast at Tsukiji so I just went along with it even though the thought wasn't particularly appetizing to me that morning.

We simply ordered a dish without knowing exactly what it was. We only knew it comes with some Tuna Sushi.

Horse Sashimi

But this turned out to be the best sushi bf ever had. On 1 side of the plate is the raw meat sushi and one the other side, the same meat comes slightly cooked. It was very well done with only the top layer cooked and the freshness of the raw meat still well intact at the bottom.

I was kind of shocked when I ate a sushi that tasted like raw red meat. Before bf could ask the chef what meat it was, I gulped it down for fear of confirming that it was raw red meat that I just swallowed. And it was indeed raw horse meat! =O

SHIBUYA
Our last meal in Tokyo was also a fantastic one. It was fantastically mouth-watering and fattening!

The Omelette Rice tasted really creamy because of the cheese and sauce. And it left a lasting impression of our last meal in Tokyo.

I also tried Tokyo Banana for the first time and found it to be overrated. It is nice but there's a lot of other nicer food in Tokyo that's worth a try! I think I simply lack the sweet tooth.

In case you want to know, there's a store inside the JR Shinjuku Station near the South Exit that sells Tokyo Banana. Or you can simply purchase it tax free inside Narita Airport.

I really enjoyed eating in Tokyo this trip! Yumz!