I continue to be absolutely inspired by the generosity of Singapore.

It has just been confirmed that the charity event “Doing the Karen Cheng in Singapore” will be hosted by IndoChine Forbidden City bar/club in Clarke Quay.

IndoChine are giving us the space for free, and will also kindly serve soft drinks for free, to all the event participants as their contribution to the charity event. This is fantastic. Thank you so much IndoChine!

But wait, there’s more! Fashion Bar at The Cannery, also in Clarke Quay, is sponsoring the media reception that will happen on Friday, to help raise awareness of this cause. Thank you so much Fashion Bar!

It’s fantastic to be able to have these events in such amazing places. Their reputations have spread all the way to Perth, and I can’t wait to see the venues.

Carrey Hill Productions have been, and still are, working tirelessly behind the scenes to bring all this together at such short notice, and their contribution is also at no cost. Thanks May!

I also want to mention once again, FashionJunkee.com online boutique for their US$1000 donation to the event! I’ll be wearing a FashionJunkee dress on Saturday!

So the official details are:

Sat 5th July 2008, 3 - 5pm
Indochine’s Forbidden City
3A Merchant’s Court, River Valley Road
Clarke Quay

Dress up a bit, or a lot, (I will be!)
Bring your camera
Bring a $10 gift for charity - money will go to help humanitarian work.

We will be taking lots of photos – yours, mine, and a professional photographer will be there to help. And after the event, we can all upload our photos to the Facebook GROUP “Doing The Karen Cheng”.

** Please note, this is a Private Event, which means that you have to be invited, and you must RSVP.

This is an invitation to all karencheng.com.au readers, so you need to RSVP over at the Facebook EVENT “Doing The Karen Cheng in Singapore”.

I hope to see you there!

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Note to self: It’s probably not a good idea to store my muesli and green tea in identical glass jars in my pantry.

What’s more amazing is that I didn’t notice till I tasted it!

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Happiness is,

A spontaneous trip to the river foreshore.

Watching my boys laugh and play for hours.

Chilling out on the sand. Soaking up the warm winter sun.

Then having my boys run up to me and

plant sandy kisses on my cheeks.

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Wow. Only a few days till I go to Singapore, and “Do The Karen Cheng” with readers of this blog to raise money for those in need. I am so excited to let you know that we have already raised US$1000 for this cause.

I have previously talked about FashionJunkee.com, an online fashion boutique, and when they heard about this charity event I was organising, they offered to sponsor a gift to the Singapore Red Cross of – just let me say this again - ONE THOUSAND U. S. DOLLARS!!

The check (and a couple of their latest dresses) are in an express parcel pack as I write this, to meet me at my hotel in Singapore when I arrive there on Wednesday. So, now I know what I’ll be wearing! What will you be you wearing?

I’m also glad to say that we have another sponsor as well. Carrey Hill Events Management in Singapore are very generously organizing the event (at VERY short notice) where we will be “Doing The Karen Cheng”.

I’ll publish the details of this location on Thursday or Friday here on this website, and also on the Facebook group “Doing The Karen Cheng” and the Facebook event “Doing The Karen Cheng in Singapore”.

We’re still confirming all the details. It might be in the Orchard district, or maybe somewhere else.

If you are planning to come, please indicate this with an RSVP at the Facebook “Doing The Karen Cheng in Singapore” event.

Please support and check out FashionJunkee’s latest garments at www.fashionjunkee.com.

EEEK!! So excited!

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In my boutique travels, I was tipped off to visit a new menswear concept store and cafe on Kings Street, called Zekka.

Upon entering, it is hard not to ooh and ahh. With it’s discrete shop signage, a mysterious laneway, wall murals, eclectic mix of furniture, dramatic lighting, amazing architectural shop fittings and art sculptures – this shop is designed to uber perfection.

I managed to have a chat to the owners, Scott and Connor. They were just the loveliest guys - ambitious, fearless, warm, humble and kind.

They had previously been business partners, opening Test Tube, a designer homewares shop in Mount Lawley. After that, they wanted to try something different and not done in Perth before, combing upmarket menswear and a cafe in one space.

I love the way they talked about their business ventures: casual, humble, with understated confidence. As if they were talking about a little project they just happened to find in their garage. But to look around and see what they have created from nothing, I was in awe. You can see more great pictures here.

These guys have created an amazing shopping experience for me. Browsing through designer garments, feeling like I’m walking through an art gallery, gawking at art sculptures and quirky window displays, then sitting down and enjoying a coffee and a gourmet sandwich - it was all very cool.

Zekka stocks a range of upmarket, international designer menswear, shoes and accessories.

Zekka
74 King Street, Perth Wa 6000
Phone: +618 9481 1772
www.zekka.com (still under construction)

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For my upcoming birthday party, I thought it might be cute to compile some baby photos of myself in a photo album.

As I was browsing through my hard drive, I found a couple of nice pics.

Photo above: My brother was 5 years old, I was 3, and my mother was 34. My little sister had not been born yet. Damn, my mum looks so good!

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My 5yo son has been going to gymnastics classes.

At first I made the terrible mistake of paying for the whole term, before I introduced the idea to him. So we rocked up on the first day of term, he cried and never wanted to return.

It took him 4 weeks to get the hang of it. Now he loves it. He absolutely, completely and utterly loves it.

I’m not actually sure what kind of things he learns there, because my husband takes him to the class and stays to watch.

I get the impression they do somersaults, cartwheels, hand stands, and back-flips… BECAUSE.

EVERY TIME we are on a soft surface – grass, carpet, or a rug. My son will place his head on the floor and do some crazy acrobatic trick. It gives me a heart-attack. He is constantly leaping, flipping, tumbling and rolling around.

You know how acrobats can move and control their bodies in slow motion, moving their muscles and limbs like in a graceful performance?

Well my son will do something similar in order to perform a perfect “hand stand” – but then he’ll tip over and land with a WUMPH, flat on his back.

I grimace and smile. Then I give him a weak thumbs up from across the playground. He deserves that much for his enthusiasm.

It’s amazing what little kids can learn - so quickly and with no fear! It’s quite inspiring, in a way.

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Things have gotten very busy in our little house this last week.

I have been charging around at a zillion miles per hour organising the details of my trip to Singapore - interviews with designers and boutiques, meeting friends, organising birthday drinks, managing a charity event, emailing people, calling people, picking the kids up from school and classes, helping them with homework, cooking dinner, washing clothes.

My brain is full of ideas, plan, strategies, schedules. My thoughts are swirling with reminders and to-dos. Time is getting tighter. And I can just feel something inside me looking for that moment of rest. That quiet place.

My 5yo son grew some sunflowers for a school project. A few weeks later, he brought them home and out of obligation, I planted them in a garden bed next to our car. Just so we would remember to water them everyday.

It’s been lovely seeing them grow. Bit by bit each day. New leaves. A little taller. A little greener. Buds. They are like our little friends swaying in the wind, nodding at us, and waving farewell.

In the midst of our daily hustle and bustle, our flurry of daily activities, rushing here and there, we see LIFE. As it is. Steady and continuous. Ongoing and faithful. Unaffected by us.

I found my moment.

A baby sunflower. It was all I needed.

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I‘m going to be in Singapore next weekend, and it’s so cool that I have so many readers in Singapore!

I’d LOVE to meet up and chat with each one of them, especially the ones who have emailed me over the years, but I simply have not had the time to reply to.

Time is so short, and there are so many people. I REALLY want to DO SOMETHING with everyone!

So here is my crazy idea.

A few weeks ago, I got an email from one of my readers who is an aid worker posted to Myanmar (Burma) to help deal with the cyclone disaster there. I won’t mention their name, because it might put them in a difficult position somehow, but a BIG “Hello!” to you.

I saw the devastation on TV, but to then sit down at my computer, find a message from someone who reads my blog, whose job is to literally help these people, well, it made the suffering seem very real and close.

I have to admit, with my kids safe and snug in bed, I realized what a privileged, happy, lucky, secure life I, and all of us who live in developed countries have.

Since then, of course, there has been earthquakes and floods in China, typhoons in the Philippines, not to mention the Boxing Day Tsunami victims, who are still in need. It’s all been on my mind.

And I wanted to do something to help.

So, while I am in Singapore, and it’s my birthday, I am going to raise some money for the Singapore Red Cross. I know they will do good things with it! And I am asking you all to help me!

How does this work?

At 4pm on Saturday the 5th July, I will be dressed up and “Doing The Karen Cheng” in a big mirror somewhere in Singapore, in a public place. A shopping centre, function centre, or hotel lobby. Somewhere central, and easy to get to.

If you’re not familiar with what “Doing The Karen Cheng” is, please read my post about it here, and then head on over to the Doing The Karen Cheng Facebook Group craziness!

I’ll be “Doing The Karen Cheng” with anyone who wants to have some fun, while helping some very needy people. Instead of us spending $10 on coffee and cake, we will each put the $10 in the Red Cross collection box that will be there!

But wait, I need more help!

I haven’t even been in Singapore for six years, and I have no idea where I could find such a big mirror!

So if you are familiar with Singapore, can you suggest where you think a suitable mirror/place might be and I’ll get in contact with the owner to organise permission.

Ideally the mirror would need to be HUGE! In a big open space, outside a shopping centre or hotel, or inside a shopping mall.

We need to know:

> the name of the shop, or hotel, or whatever
> in what shopping centre or street
> in what district
> how long it takes to walk there from public transport

If you have a suggestion (please!) for a place, please email me directly on karen[AT]karencheng.com.au

Facebook Event

Please RSVP to this event on the Facebook EVENT “Doing The Karen Cheng in Singapore”.

By rsvp’ing, we can know approximately how many people are coming, and also, I’ll let everyone know the EXACT place of this event. I will also announce the location and any other updates on both Facebook and my site.

I can’t wait to meet everyone! Invite your friends!

Hope to see you all there next Sat!

xxx

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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.

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!

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