We head down to Orchard...

Friends of Fad is back again.. This time prowling Orchard Road in search of interesting individuals..

We first spotted a group of dancers outside Lido... Very fascinated by their dance, we not only took a video of the dance but also took the opportunity to interview one of the dancers!



The Very Cheeky: Boy

Boy introduced himself before I could even say hi... (and yes, its his name - Boy)

He is in fact a professional dancer and he tells us that he loves dancing as he is still young and should be doing it before he grows old.

What would be the perfect dance group?

It would be a group with the same sense of dancing, music and rythem. More importantly, a dance group should be like a family.. like us...

Why are you dancing on the streets today?

We are dancing for Playlab which is an initiative started by Tangs.
(Check out the 20% off that we picked up from Boy and his group of dancers)

The Hot Teacher: Noraini

As we walked aimlessly through Orchard and finally finding ourselves at Orchard MRT, we noticed this pretty girl waiting for someone. TheFadpeople plucked up some courage and decided to ask her a few qns...

Noraini, 27 is a Primary school teacher (I couldnt tell at all...) teaching somewhere in the north (thats all she would tell us...)

Is teaching the career you wanted to be in?

I was studying Engineering in Poly but when i graduated, being the only girl in the family, my mom felt that teaching is a better career choice.

How long have u been teaching? and will u move on to other careers?

I been teaching for 4 years. This year I am teaching Maths and Science. But I am always on the lookout for a better opportunity.

TheFadboy wonders why his Primary Sch Teachers were not as hot...

How would you describe a perfect day out with friends?

I would prefer a chillout session or even clubbing with my friends...

If you still have not gotten enough of the Fad friends, we will be back again next week! Catch us on Sundays (or mondays if we happen to be lazy!) Remember, if u see us on the streets, come and say hi!

This post... theFadboy.. Cheers!

Friends of Fad

This is a new feature, but it's here to stay. Every week, the Fad people would bring the spotlight to the streets and showcase some interesting individuals. Some weeks we might have a theme; other times, we might just go with our gut-feelings. Nonetheless, this new initiative can be considered a movement and it will be dedicated to FRIENDSHIP and INDIVIDUALITY.





The FIRST people to be featured in the history of Fad are actually two friends, both from Republic Poly. Hey there, Ying Jing and Seok Hui!



We also met two of the Fad boy's friends, Ethan and Desmond, with their friend, Cecilia. They were on their way to dinner when we stopped them for a chat.



Both Ethan and Desmond are 25 years old. They are currently working in Credit Suisse, IB ops.

Is this the job you want?
Ethan: No, I wish to branch into corp finance some day.
Desmond: I want to start my own business!

An idea day out is....
Desmond: At the beach, with beer.
Ethan: SAME! (Now now, Ethan, think of something else, or Desmond might protest.)

A place to share with our readers is...
Ethan: SMU! It's a cool place, with many parts along the underground area that one can explore. And it's a quiet place for reflection.
Desmond: Holland V and One Rochester are good chill-out places.


That's all for our first post. If you ever catch us in town, with a camera, don't shy away! Come up and say hi, we'd love to talk to you!

See how friendly the Fad boy is...



Hasta la vista, baby!

- the Fad girl

the rainbow connection!

this is way overdued, but i figured, better late than never.


so well, joanna the host actually sent the invitation via the most primitive way, and not to follow trends given the popularity of facebook or even emails. it's been a long time i receive invitations via post, and boy, i miss it!


"look at this! i did it myself"
joanna is very proud of the "artwork" she had done, but she only pasted it over the wall!

since this is a rainbow-themed party, what other colour would fit us better than royal purple?

say hi to the purplites!

before we get too carried off with camwhoring ourselves, let's take a peek into jo's room!

signages from paris, aussie and hk! staying true to her shoewhore nature, we see many, many SHOES.

of course, as civil people, who can ever attend a housewarming party without a gift?

like what jo said, "you know you're predictable when 2 groups gave you the same thing".

please share your homes with us!

-tfc-

love actually? no, books actually

as thefadpeople were walking along the quaint street of shophouses along telok ayer street at post-lunch hour, guess what actually caught our eyes?

after captivating us with its window display and its name (we initially thought it came from love actually!), we simply couldnt resist taking a peek inside!

but before we got into the shop, we found lil' pony receiving us!

how can anyone resist such an icon of our childhood?

as though that was not fascinating enough, barely within a few steps into the bookstore, we were instantly treated to a visual feast!

being kaypo by nature, we did our homework to find out more about this cutesy little book store. simply couldnt suppress our curiosity for the sublime mystic of the shop, thefadboy and i simply went ahead and talked to the big brains behind this ingenious concept, karen and kenny!

where did the name books actually came from?
we started off holding bookfairs at nus and people always ask us what we're selling. it was very frustrating to explain when we are obviously selling books! hence, we decided to come up with a name that explains adequately- books actually.


we did our research on ba, and found that many customers have suggested that a seating area would be lovely. Any comment to that?
we are not exactly going to have a seating area. But we are shifting location this coming march to ann siang hill, where it will be on the groundfloor and it has a small courtyard.

we actually dropped by ba last week. and we really must say, coming inside, simply taking in all this beautiful vintage collectibles really wowed us! the cameras, the typewriters (who actually uses them now?), that blue piano. man, it's so difficult not to fall in love with this shop. how did you lay your hands on them?
most of them are our personal collection for about 7 years, most of them are karen's.





so karen, which is your most prized possession here?
(thinking very hard) i love everything here, but well... it would have to be the valentine typewriter. (pointing to the red typewriter)


ha, i (thefadboy) noticed that too! but isn't everything here for sale?
nah, we only sell some of them. so yeah, the valentine typewriter is not for sale. (sheepish grin)


mm.. so how long has BA been around?
we started off as an entity on 2004, but the store only came at november 2005.


what's the biggest thing that has happened to you since then?
we often get write-ups from blogs, the straits times and even wallpaper - which has a full-page spread on april 2007. we didn't expect publicity.


ever thought of going into the mass market?
definitely not! we started off with literature as our core. We are thinking of developing other sections - philosophy, films, children classics.


how did other people get to hear about books actually?
word-of-mouth. from blogs, or people who just happen to see our window display (like the FAD People!)

a day in books actually would be...
sweatshop. We did everything ourselves - the publishing, handstitch notebooks, etc. everything you see here, other than the books, we did it ourselves. Even the sketchbooks - every page is made of different colour. as you can see, we have no hired help, everything is man by ourselves. Just ask our regulars, they know we work very hard!

what are you waiting for? quick make your way down and check out this lovely store! and even if you're not that big fan of vintage or books, make your way there to avoid the lunch crowd, you might fall in love with the notebooks there!after all, who can ever resist beautiful things, actually?

Books Actually
125A Telok Ayer Street
Singapore 068594
contact number: +65 6221 1170

- tfc-

Simple home design ideas

With Chinese New Year round the bend, many of ya might be looking for a home revamp. Here are some ideas to inspire you.

I personally love this "lining the back of the cupboard" idea bc it can be extended to many other items such as the inside of drawers, cans or jars that could do with an additional layering - basically anything that needs a sprucing up or be given a new look to. Plus, pretty papers are cheaper than a whole new shelf or wardrobe, right? I get my papier from the bigger store of PRINTS, located at Raffles City.

Other possible ideas include lining with cloth - those nice Amy Butler's fabrics are to-die-for, imo.

Jewelleries are a girl's best friend. I could not have agreed more. If I had not bought a ten bucks rack from IKEA that looks like Tree of Life meets Snowflakes Magnified pattern, I would have adopted this idea. Once again styrofoam boards are easily available (and affordable) from bookstores like Popular, you can determine the sort of fabric design to suit your room or house.

Idea could be extended to creating a message board for pinning up postcards or photos or simply just pieces of reminders.


This swing slash chained bridge structure is rather whimsical, though not as executable. If I could have my way, I would place a faux fireplace below the mirror - for storage purpose, while the top of the fireplace can double as a decorative space for placing trinkets or photo frames.

- the Fad girl

K-INK-y

Gangster, Cult, Violence, Rebels.

Getting a tattoo used to be such a stigma until MIAMI INK came along and turn the trend around. Now anyone can get inked and at the same time get a chance to recount their sob stories. Ah! The beauty of reality TV, no?



Three seasons have come and gone. We're all familiar with Ami and Chris Núñez, who co-owned the shop. My favourites however are Garver (the quiet Maestro) and the adorable, ever-endearing Darren Bass. Not forgetting the sidekick apprentice, Funnyman - Yoji (Do not confuse with Funny cartoon character, Yogi Bear.) And the ephemeral appearance of Kat von D.



Fans of channel 16 ought to have known of the fall out between Ami and Kat (is it real or staged?) that prompted the latter to set up her own LA INK. Currently running its third episode in Singapore, we wanna know who's rooting for which camp. Me? I find myself waiting for LA INK to air every week...



Now as if the US ink series is not enough, do you know there's LONDON INK as well? Yeah! Yet another spin-off from Miami Ink, this UK reality show features Louis Molloy (David Beckham's tattooist - remember that controversial angel?), as he manages a tattoo studio in Britain with three others.



Miami Ink has leaked and smeared into a testosterone-pumped, monotonous repetition, with each episode always showing some hot beach babe/hunk wanting to get inked for some obscure, forgettable reasons. Also funny is how we never see Yoji advance (or do anything) in the studio or never heard anyone complain that "No! I HATE this tattoo"...

Sometimes we might be treated to weird characters wanting their five minutes of fame (like a vampire-wannabe or some gypsy "artist") or budding singers-from-a-band getting free PR by coming in for tattoos. Fake to the max, no one bothers to conceal it. Miami Ink is without current day media-farce, you say? But whatever it is, after three seasons of more or less the same boring stuff, we gotta warn ya, Miami Ink is running out of steam. Come on.. Even an octopus has more ink!

LA Ink is thus a refreshing spin-off. Note, I said spin-off, which implies the lack of creativity and individuality. However, it does have certain special flavors of its own. Girly - check out that hot pink studio with a photo booth!



...(and naturally more bitchy), so far it felt like a more complete reality show as we get to peer into the artistes' lives as well as those usual fame-hungry commoners. LA Ink's selling point I reckon, is the occasional celeb-peeks, inevitable cat-fights and perhaps all the hype Kat von D is stirring with viewers wondering, "Damn! Did she go under the knife?"



All we can hope now is for the already-lagging-behind Singapore Discovery Travel and Living Channel to realise the Ink series won't be complete without its British counterpart hence, we could only pick our fave when they decide to air London Ink here as well. After all, we could all use a lil' Brit accent, no?

But for now, if you can't get enough of all the goss and tabloids, check out the on-going, frequently-updated REALITY INK!

And in case you don't have an INKLING what we've just talked about, LA ink airs every Wednesday at 10pm (and repeats on Sunday, 12mn). Get Inked.

- the Fad girl

i want that chair!

ever needed a chair that saves space when not in use, but can easily stretch for almost unlimited capacity?

check this out!

flexible love chair


it's brilliant how the taiwanese made use of the simple mechanism of the spring! remember those tiny spring that we played when we were younger, which comes together with BATA shoes? its something so simple, yet taken for granted by many of us.


im not too sure about the durability - it looks quite prone to disintegration and also how comfortable it is. but i still think it deserves a mention for its design brilliance and environmental-friendliness. :)

thanks to gerald for sharing!

for more information, check out its website.

-tfc-

will you take us home?

if you're a big fan of ikea and diy, ikeahacker can offer you inspirations on how you can customize those mass-produced ikea accessories or furnishings and make it your own! just to list some of my favourites:

sabrina's bedroom vanity

make-up is made easy now even if your room is as dim-lit as mine! wouldnt it be great to have such a dressing table?

another favourite:
how to revamp that captain's bed?

before


after

in all honesty, i actually like it even before the revamp! even though it looks rather messy, i thought it's more of an organized mess.

on another note, with so many housewarming parties to look forward to in 2008 and people revamping their rooms, (recall thefadgirl's room?)


wouldnt it be great to share your lil corner with us? be a gracious host and send us a picto of any nice spot at your house, or anywhere, to team.fad@gmail.com!

-tfc

Singapore Fringe Festival 2008

True to the promise of striving to be a cosmopolitan city of culture and arts, we're seeing the spurting of festivals everywhere in Singapore, all year round. It was not long ago that the Fad people featured the Singapore Design Festival. (Absolutely fantastic, in my opinion.) And now, Singapore will soon be treated to the Fringe Festival 2008:

An annual festival of theatre, performance art, film, dance, visual arts, mixed media, music and forum created and presented by Singaporean and international artists.

Theme this year: ARTS&HISTORY.
From: 16 to 27 January

The organisers are being very PR-savvy by making the coverage job a breeze for media. On the main website of Singapore Fringe Festival, we find an all-rounded assortment of useful info, from event details to logo downloads to blog address (not updated since, but it will soon be, as the festival kicks off, I believe.) and even a Facebook discussion group.

One down-site to all these - pun intended, is the less-user-friendly navigation due to the flash application (pardon my tech-geek side emerging). Nevertheless, if you're an ardent supporter of performance art et al, or you're always on the lookout for something new to do/see/experience in Singapore, be sure to give the website a look-see and make it to the festival! I, for one, am quite taken with "The Complaints Choir Project".

- the Fad girl

Home Design Ideas

With a little creativity, you can turn simple materials into spectacular ornaments and tools. Betcha never thought of that...