Karen Cheng

A Perth Fashion and Lifestyle Blog

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Sugar Blue Burlesque

Sugar Blue Burlesque

An interesting attraction has hit Perth this winter – burlesque shows!

I first heard about Sugar Blue Burlesque through Facebook. Then a few people I knew told me about it, and now the event seems to be spreading by word of mouth like wildfire!

I went to their website and was immediately struck by the incredible photography and the absolutely amazing costumes.

Melanie Bruyer aka A’dora Derriere is from Perth and started Sugar Blue Burlesque with a good friend. She is a professional swing dancer AND costume and lingerie fashion designer, who makes most of the costumes for the troupe.

They do these themed monthly shows, have burlesque dance classes, are available for burlesque hen’s nights, or even corporate events!

Sugar Blue Burlesque

Burlesque originated in the 1840s and is basically a style of theatrical entertainment. Kind of like a variety show, with dancing girls, singing, comedy acts, contortionists and strip tease – all laced with satire, wit, bawdy humour and a big slice of tasteful sexiness.

I got to go to one of Sugar Blue’s shows, themed House of Horror Harlots! It was a lot of silly, outrageous, fun and crowd pleasing antics. The show was a line up of dance acts, singing and humourous skits. It was so popular that all the seats were sold out, and even standing room was limited!

All of the performances had been adapted to a horror theme, and everyone was dancing like a zombie or a vampire! The costumes were really amazing!

Sugar Blue Burlesque

This is me with the hosts for the evening, Fanny and The Beaver. They were such an excellent pair – funny, charming, quick witted and very entertaining throughout the whole night. They really encouraged the audience to participate, and they were completely unmoved by heckling and shouting from the audience, many of whom had come dressed up in theme!

I guess most of all, I fell in love with the costumes and the burlesque style and glamour. I was inspired! Now I can’t wait to play with some burlesque styles and looks the next time I’m putting together an outfit.

NDP08 with the Singapore Students Society

NDP08 with Singapore Students SocietyA week ago I received an email from a reader, who happened to be one of the organisers for the UWA Singapore Students Society.

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!

Soon Lee Fashion Boutique and Haji Lane

During my recent trip to Singapore, I had a list of “MUST SEE” boutiques and fashion designers compiled from dozens of personal recommendations, suggestions and my own online research. But I only had time to do about half of them. Argh!

On the top of my list was Soon Lee, in Haji Lane.

I was given lots of mixed opinions as people described the shopping at Haji Lane. I got the impression that it was VERY DIFFERENT to the high-end, designer-brand, super-shiny boutiques in Singapore’s Orchard District.

One of the results of mass production and globalisation is the rise of the conventional shopping mall. These shopping experiences are predictable, and pretty much the same, whether you’re in Perth, Singapore or London.

Part of my interest and take on fashion, is to showcase different, unique and local shopping experiences – so I was very curious to take a look at Haji Lane for myself.

Oh how I loved it!

Haji Lane, Singapore

Walking down Haji Lane, you would probably think you arrived at the wrong place for a fashion experience. The lane is long and narrow. There is the occasional piece of rubbish lying around, there are rickshaws (yes, a pedal powered taxi with a charming, old, toothless man!) and rubbish bins are parked next to tiny, two-stroke vans and motorcycles.

Old shop houses run the length of the shopping lane – some shops have vines growing up the building, with aged, oriental murals flaking off the walls. Some have uber modern glass walls, with brushed, stainless steel fittings and amazingly designed wall patterns. The place is crammed with absolutely unique shops and cafes.

Haji Lane, Singapore

Singapore is a sophisticated, developed, modern and a truly global city. But nearby in Arab Street, you can literally see, feel, smell and taste that Singapore has been a cross roads of international trade and cultural exchange for centuries.

I loved all the vibrant colours, deep textures, exotic smells, the mix of old and new, the signs of oriental and global influence. It was incredible.

Soon Lee Boutique, Haji Lane, Singapore

At Soon Lee, I was welcomed by its co-owner, Sharon Cher. I adore her blog, www.ishopsoonlee.blogspot.com, so I was keen to meet the woman behind the words. I was very fortunate that she was able to afford some time to chat over coffee!

She is one smart woman. Passionate, intelligent, brave, stylish, driven – exactly the kind of person that makes fashion exciting!

She explained the short fashion history of Haji Lane, and the even shorter background of Soon Lee. Soon Lee means “plain sailing” – a wonderfully calming reference, and indeed, both the boutique and Haji Lane is a long way from the rushed pace of Orchard Road’s towering, multilevel shopping centres.

soonlee01Soon Lee Boutique, Haji Lane, Singapore

Her shop is wonderful. Eclectic, busy, over-flowing with delicious bits and pieces and designed goodies – clothes, jewellery, accessories, hats, belts, sun glasses, homewares.

Soon Lee
56 Haji Lane, Level 2, Singapore.
Open everyday from 2pm-8pm.
Phone: (65)6297-0198

You get the feeling that Haji Lane oozes a new kind of quiet, creative confidence in Singapore, still fresh and exciting.

I can’t wait to go back and have a whole afternoon or evening to drift from one boutique to another – which are all within steps of one another. Haji Lane is worth visiting just to experience Arab Street and its surrounds too, and the price of everything seem very affordable.

Most boutiques in Haji Lane only open their doors from around 2.00pm, and are still open till around 9 -10 pm. I’ve been told that the best time to visit is 4pm on a weekday.

Get there by:

Taxi – I had to explain to our taxi driver that Haji Lane is parallel to Arab Street, between North Bridge Road and Beach Road, then he had no problem. I used this google map.

Or take the MRT East-West line train to Bugis station and walk for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Doing The Karen Cheng – Singapore Red Cross Charity Event

Doing The Karen Cheng in Singapore - Charity Event

The “DTKC Super-babes” are looking damn fine! I am wearing a dress from our major sponsor, online boutique FashionJunkee.com.

12 days ago I had this crazy idea to take something that was a bit silly, and turn it into something significant.

In a matter of days, the Doing The Karen Cheng Singapore Red Cross Charity Event caused a huge wave of momentum and excitement. We had multiple sponsors, interviews with 3 major newspapers, I was invited to chat on radio, magazine and newspapers wanted to cover the event, heaps of people wanted to help and participate! I was truly overwhelmed by all the support.

The event was a success. We had over a hundred of people turn up, and we raised approximately $2000 in 2 hours! Woohoo!

Doing The Karen Cheng in Singapore - Charity Event

I was thrilled to see so many girls and guys dressed up to the max and joining in the fun! I’m so glad everyone stayed for drinks, mingled, chatted, and took more photos! I chatted with heaps of people and would have loved to talk MORE, but I was slowly losing my voice over the course of the event.

All my photos and professional photos are at the Doing The Karen Cheng Facebook Group.

Please remember to upload your own photos, feel free to browse them all, and please help me tag people.

Doing The Karen Cheng in Singapore - Charity Event

The wonderful FashionJunkee.com donates US$1000 to the Singapore Red Cross.

Doing The Karen Cheng in Singapore - Charity Event

Photographers working their magic at the gorgeous venue IndoChine – The Forbidden City.

Doing The Karen Cheng in Singapore - Charity Event

The very charming and very popular Malaysian blogger Kenny Sia turned up and was more than happy to be the centre of attention.

Doing The Karen Cheng in Singapore - Charity Event

A big thanks to May (centre) from Carrey Hill Events Management – she looked into every detail, she fixed every problem, she took care of everything, she was so organised, enthusiastic, reliable and creative! She was incredible! And she did it all for charity! Thanks so much May, her crew and Carrey Hill.

We had a professional photographer take some photos for the event, the award-winning Ivan Loh (left) of Pigs Can Fly. He was amazing too – fantastic to work with, full of great ideas, amazing results, lovely personality, professional but fun, hard working, very determined to get that perfect shot, and he even dropped off the CD the next morning! Thanks Ivan, you’re too kind.

Of course, I need to thank the kind folk from The Singapore Red Cross, who were incredibly supportive! Thanks Kelly!
Romadas Arts kindly donated their printing services and materials for the event. They made up some great posters and an amazing banner, all for free! And Nuffnang Blog Advertising Community kindly donated colour printing services to all of the participants!

Lastly, I want to thank the gorgeous girls who came a bit earlier to the event to help with photos, and became the “DTKC Super-babes”. You guys looked amazing!! Thanks to Hui Wen, Mel, Jacqueline, Sheena, Michelle, Karen, Nicole, Norshahira, Tricia, and Kelly. There’s an excellent pic of us in today’s MY PAPER (8 July 2008). Please let me know if I have forgotten someone!

Also thanks to the Fashionation girls, Dottie and Stephie, and also Sharon from Soon Lee at Haji Lane, for all their excellent advice. And, I have to mention my cousin Calvin Cheng, who made some very important conections for us so this could all happen.

Doing The Karen Cheng in Singapore - Charity Event

Near the end of the event, I was requested to “Do The Karen Cheng” with a dog with a blog. I thought it was such a funny and cute idea. So we moved the mirror, brought the whole party outside and took some very cool photos of Kingsley the blogging dog.

Birthday Drinks at the Fashion Bar

Birthday Drinks at the Fashion Bar

I am extremely grateful to the Fashion Bar – an uber cool and very gorgeous bar in Clarke Quay. They hosted and sponsored my 30th Birthday Drinks while I was in Singapore.

We started very early compared to the Fashion Bar’s usual crowd. The lush interior design was amazing and gave the event such an opulent, romantic, sexy, girly atmosphere! I loved it!

Birthday Drinks at the Fashion BarWe met Randy the manager, who was absolutely lovely! He made everything run smoothly and gave us 8 bottles of wine.

I had invited people who I knew only from blogging or by email, so it was very exciting to meet so many of them face to face!

It was a very mixed crowd – some old friends, some family, some media people, some fashion designers, some bloggers, and some readers. It was great, and I heard so many funny and interesting stories, and it was wonderful to see people who didn’t know each other, making new connections.

Birthday Drinks at the Fashion Bar

Me, Stephie and Dottie (girls from Fashionation) and Ben from Miyagi.sg.

Birthday Drinks at the Fashion Bar

Michelle and Pam (the girls from Style Damsel) with Andrew and myself.

After five hours in the Fashion Bar, and after two hard days of reviewing Singaporean fashion designers and being interviewed by Singapore’s media, I was ready for bed.

My voice was so sore, and very husky. Plus I had to get my beauty sleep for the Red Cross Fundraiser on Saturday afternoon!

More photos over at Flickr.

Scuba Diving With Sharks

Diving with Sharks

I went diving with sharks as part of my birthday “festival”. It was such an incredible experience!

Leading up to the event, lots of people asked me – Are you scared? How do you feel?

The truth was, I wasn’t scared at all. I knew lots of people who have dived in the aquarium before, I know that the sharks are well fed, I know that the aquarium has an excellent safety track record with no incidents, and I know that the aquarium has many divers going into the tank each day and all the sea creatures are used to seeing divers.

So I was feeling very confident, chilled and quite relaxed about the whole thing. In fact I was wondering when I would actually feel THRILLED or SCARED.

As we geared up, I started to feel excited. I was finally doing something that I have wanted to do in such a long time! This was the moment!

We got into the tank, and we swam around. It was very cool! When I used to go diving, very rarely would I see so many large creatures in one place and one time. There were turtles, sting rays, huge cod fish, and of course 20 or so sharks. The biggest shark was 3.5m.

All the sea creatures swam near the surface, and you didn’t want to bump into any of them. So the biggest rule for the tank dive was: stay at the bottom. We were loaded with extra weights to keep ourselves down, and we practically scrambled and crawled along the bottom.

Diving with Sharks

We followed an underwater path along the aquarium tunnel and during the course, we were required to swim OVER the tunnel one by one. Which meant we had to be near the surface for a few seconds, by ourselves. But of course, the dive master would tell us the exact moment to do it.

At this point, I was ever so-slightly nervous. It was like crossing a road. Look left. Look right. Look out for oncoming sharks! I was the first person over. I had so much extra weight added to my dive gear, that it was a real struggle to swim over the curve of the tunnel, but I made it.

I sat on a rock by myself, catching my breath, waiting for the rest of the group. Then I saw this HUGE shark coming towards me. It was just swimming closer and closer in my direction.

At first I was thinking… OK. I’ll just duck a bit lower.

But it just kept coming closer! I shrunk back and back and back, until I was almost curled up like a freaked out turtle. Eeek! It was SO CLOSE TO ME. I swear I could have reached out and touched its head. I was absolutely petrified for a grand total of 3 seconds.

Phew. After that, it was all a walk in the park. I found a shark’s tooth, which was mine to keep! Then we had a hot shower and a cup of tea.

It was an amazing experience!

The Adventures of Scuba Diver Karen

Karen Goes Scuba Diving!

We went scuba diving on the weekend!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my husband has organised for us to dive with sharks this month. The problem was, I haven’t dived in 6 years, so we decided to have a practice dive at the Rockingham Wreck Trail.

It’s a famously easy and shallow dive for beginners. You basically park your car opposite the main café strip. Get into your gear. Walk down the beach. Get into the water. Swim a bit, and behold, there’s a sunken boat wreck and a few small aircraft wrecks sitting in 12m of water. The wrecks are connected by rope, so you just follow the path.

Rockingham Wreck Trail

OK it sounds pretty glamorous and exciting, but the truth is, the Wreck Trail Dive is actually quite an un-glamorous dive. The beach access is very easy, and the water is always very still. But the terrain is sand, with no natural reef, so there are no caves, no big fish or sting rays, and the visibility is poor (you can only see 2 to 5m ahead of you). People usually go there to practice scuba diving, or to try out new equipment, and there are often lots of dive courses on the weekends.

The wrecks themselves are pretty interesting, especially if you haven’t seen a sunken boat with stuff growing all over it. They are literally covered with sponges and other weird and wonderful things, there are tiny little creatures hanging around, schools of fish, crabs, eels and seahorses! I am always amazed by the huge diversity of colours and textures in the detail of marine life.

Seahorses (Photo by Kieran J Lee)

We saw a couple of seahorses hiding in the growth. As usual, they were just floating around in this spaced out kind of way. I didn’t have an underwater camera, but this photo was taken at the same Wreck Trail, by my fellow club member Kieran Lee from the Underwater Dive Club. Thanks Kieran!

Overall, it was a success. Nothing went wrong. I can still remember how to use my gear! I CAN SCUBA DIVE!

After the dive, we got out of our gear, walked across the road, sat in a café and had a cup of tea. Awesome.

Dance Classes

Disco Lights

This evening my husband and I went to do some Latin dance classes.

It was the Introductory Salsa and Merengue Dance Class for Complete Beginners. It was held upstairs, above a popular bar. There were heaps of people and the “scene” seemed pretty cool. It was a pay-as-you-go format, so you weren’t locked into any long term commitments!

But the truth is, we’re not exactly complete beginners. We used to dance regularly in 2000. Then we tried to pick it up again in 2003.

That was 5 years ago! We’ve pretty much forgotten everything, so we feel we need to start from the beginning. After the Introductory Class, they held a series of Beginner and Intermediate classes. But we just stayed to watch.

It was soooo much fun! We got the rhythm and steps really quickly, and I found that I was focusing more on my technique and my poise. You gotta look good on the dance floor! There’s nothing worse than a cardboard dancer! Ah, it was all good fun.

It was such an excellent evening doing something fun with the husband.

Activities for Kids in Perth – Landsdale Farm School

Sean Feeding AnimalsDuring the school holidays we went to the Landsdale Farm School with some friends.

It’s a cute, little farm originally developed for school aged children with disabilities. Now it’s open for all to enjoy the plants, animals and features of a farm environment.

I found it wonderfully open and relaxed. It isn’t a “full-on” child educational experience, like the zoo or aquarium. Plus entry is only $3 per person.

You just wander around and explore all the corners of the farm. Let the kids run around and enjoy themselves. Turn up to a few feeding sessions. Pick sunflowers in the herb gardens. Have a pony ride. Eat a packed (or bought) lunch under the trees. Let the kids play in the playground.

Pony Ride

Look that’s us on a pony cart! At first I refused to have a pony ride with the kids. I saw how that pony was walking! I’d get sea sick! I’m the Sea Sick Puking Queen! I’ll be throwing up all over the place! After a pony ride! I’ll make children cry!

But the Pony Woman talked me into it. She assured me that she’d go slow.

Overall, it was such a fantastic, simple and easy morning.