Ballet flats

I was just reading another great post from the Bargain Queen and saw that she had me linked under 'Fashion'. Shock, horror, I realised that my blogging addiction had veered dramatically from the path of shoes to boring things like Halloween and rugby!

I had to slap myself silly and repeat "I am a Shoe Diva, I am a Shoe Diva" and quickly go and take photos of my shoe collection.

Today, we are talking ballet pumps or flats. Comfortable, practical and oh-so-cute with skinny jeans or leggings. It is timely that I write this because this particular pair come from my favourite shoe shop in Singapore, X:odus. And tomorrow, Fungus and I are off to Singapore for sevens rugby, shopping and oh yes, shoes from X:odus!

Soft, suede slippers......



.....but look closely and you will see why these are a favourite!



Stay tuned for new X:odus acquisitions next week. What more could a Shoe Diva ask for?

Hallo-what?

Growing up in New Zealand doesn't prepare you for the big business of holidays. In one sense, we are much like the British. We celebrate Christmas, New Year, Easter, and Guy Fawkes in an almost conservative fashion. You don't see flashing reindeer or Jack-o-Lantern displays on the front lawns, complete with laser light shows and professional decorators. Why spend fortunes on a Christmas or Halloween display when the money could go towards tickets to the next All Blacks game? We Kiwi's are a simple people.

In the Philippines, Halloween is the harbinger of the Christmas season. Together with All Souls Day and All Saints Day, Halloween is observed all over the country. Fungus and I joke that Halloween displays and hordes of children trick or treating is a commercial American innovation. We were told that the influence of American culture was most evident here during the holiday season and that our village becomes a virtual Halloween Disneyland at this time of the year.

So today, in honour of holidays, I am going to present to you the best and worst of Halloween displays in our immediate neighbourhood. Prepare yourselves - these people either have too much money or way too much time on their hands.



Spot the real zombie in the above picture! Next comes a spider display which this family have had up for a month now.....




A couple of interesting individuals:











We have figured out that if you have some sort of Halloween display at the front of your house, you are open to children trick or treating on Halloween. That's fine. But come on, make an effort..........



Because monkeys are scary.



Apparently, in the Philippines, American Indians have a lot to do with Halloween........



There will be no trick or treating at our house. Not just because Fungus ate all the treats last night but because our Halloween display moves, growls and likes to consume small children. Like any good "all black", she's protecting our investment at Eden Park.



P.S. The R.I.P is for Australia and our next Tri-nations win......ha, ha, ha.....

Rugby Chicks

I haven't found the time to blog in ages - it is almost like an obsession some weeks and gets pushed to the back-burner at other times. Suffice to say, I am back in action.

One of the things which occupies alot of my time here in Manila is womens touch rugby. I play for an awesome club called the Manila Nomads. Not only do we train twice a week and play on weekends but the club is also involved in raising the profile of touch rugby in the Philippines. A couple of weeks ago we helped with rugby clinics for MAAP and the Philippine Police Cadets - that was an experience. The women had buzz cuts like the men!

Two weeks ago saw our team, the Nomads Bullettes (the blokes are the Nomads Bulls) on our first tour to Cebu. For those unfamiliar with Cebu, it is an island in the Philippines. Cebu is more than 200 km long and just 40 km across at its widest point, at the centre of the Visayas. It is locked between Negros, Leyte and Bohol. It is the main island of Cebu province and the location of the capital, Cebu City. On a short 55 minute flight from Manila, it is a great getaway.

We were playing in a triangular tournament with the Cebu Pink Dragons and the University of the Philippines Green Hornets. It was the first tour for the Hornets and the first tournament for the Pink Dragons - great for womens touch rugby!

Like all good rugby tours, ours did involve a fair amount of drinking, tour costumes and fines. As the fine master, it was my privilege to fine the girls 20 or 50 pesos for a variety of on-tour offenses. For 50 pesos you were not allowed to:

1. Complain about a fine
2. Argue or try to reason with the fine master (yes, moi)
3. Bitch about the tour itinerary
4. Bitch fullstop!!
5. Gossip in public (but alot went on in the privacy of rooms)
6. Fail to wear assigned team costumes
7. Bring more than one gym sized bag on tour
8. Refuse to drink team shots
9. Be late on any occasion
10.Use your cellphone in front of team mates

For 20 pesos you were not allowed to:

1. Drink with your right hand
2. Finger point - lips or legs only
3. Utter the following words:
Your name or anyone else's on the team (we all had outrageous nick names for the tour)
Your husband or boyfriend's name
Your children's name
The word 'Cebu'
The word 'beer'
The word 'wine'
4. Swearing in restaurants in bars

By the end of the tour, I had fines collected to a total of about 5000 pesos! Once we were all drinking, tour mates were just handing me 100 pesos and saying "Put it on my tab". Great fun.

The following photos are in no way indicative of our rugby playing prowess nor our sense of fashion or style:











So, did we win the tournament in between all the drinking, eating and drunken debauchery? Too right we did!





It was a great first tour of the year for us all. And like all great rugby tours the drinks kept flowing. We all made new friends..........



..........even if it was with four bottles of beer!



Yeah, that's my room mate - on ya Aussie chick!

Even our pilot on the way home got into the spirit of things and wore our team medal home. Well basically, he had no choice. What else do you do when your last flight of the night is full of drunk rugby chicks?

Two years and counting.....

It is hard to believe that two years ago, 16 October 2004, Grooving Fungus and I got hitched!

We celebrated our two years in style, having dinner at the very same restaurant where we had our first date. Being back in the Philippines helped I guess since we have returned to the country where we first met. L'Incontro was the restaurant, a fabulous little Italian that hasn't changed a bit. Papa Gino, the proprietor, still remembered us and despite having a full house, made sure we had our own table and plied us with house specialties and free grappa all night.

Sweetest of all - the arrival of these over the weekend:





Fungus went the wine and dine, flowers route while I decided to go creative. For those of you who might not know this, cotton is the traditional gift for a second year anniversary with china being the non-traditional choice. All of the gifts for Fungus were 100% cotton, including a cotton card and cotton clues for all his cotton gifts.

Yes, he got the gist of it.

Happy anniversary to us! Thanks to Mum and Dad, Sandra & Gooseman, Andy, Sarah & Nathan, and Calven for remembering us - we love you long time.

Best Songs in the World

Puan Besar inspired me - she recently posted about Q's top ten songs and then her own (which make a lot more sense me thinks). And although I can see the musical merits of Nirvana, my world of music centres mainly around hip hop and r'n'b (no Fungus, Muddy Waters will not count in this case). Some may think this sad at the age of 32 but I really don't care. If you have never delved into the realm of rap or hip hop music, listen to everything on this list and you'll be hooked.....

Award Tour - A Tribe Called Quest
Nuff' Respect - Big Daddy Kane
Still Not A Player - Big Pun
Breathe - Blu Cantrell
Big Pimpin' - Jay Z
Signs - Snoop
Dirt Off Your Shoulder - Jay Z
Right Thurr - Chingy
Hits from the Bong - Cypress Hill
Rebirth of Slick (Cool like Dat) - Digable Planets
Forget About Dre - Doctor Dre (feat. Eminem)
Jamboree - Naughty by Nature
Push 'Em Up - Eddie Kane & DeVille
Guilty Conscience - Eminem (feat. Dre)
Gin'n'Juice - Snoop Doggy Dogg
Straight Outta Compton - NWA
Pretty Girl Bullshit - Mario Winans (feat. Lil'Kim)
Juice (Know the Ledge) - Eric. B & Rakim
Live It Up - John Legend
Gone - Kanye West
I'll Be There For You - Method Man (feat. Mary J. Blige)
Business - Eminem


You may notice that 2Pac isn't even mentioned - blasphemy! That is because he is so cool he gets his own section:

Hit'Em Up
All About U
Can U Get Away
Old School
Ambitionz az a Ridaz
Can't C Me
Heartz of Men
Keep Ya Head Up
Life Goes On
Me & my Girlfriend

Also, add in ANYTHING by Mary J. Blige and you'll be sorted. "Share My World" is by far the best album though - you will love every single song on that album.

Black & white

I have lived in South East Asia for nine years. I have adapted, evolved and moulded my fashion style to suit the constant feeling of sweat trickling down my back. So, you would think when I was faced with the dilemma of a beach wedding in early 2005 I would know EXACTLY what to wear. Think again.

Armed with a big wad of cash, I went shopping for a "wedding outfit". This is what I ended up buying:



No dress. No skirt and top. No amazing black and white linen trouser combo. No, I bought shoes.

It wasn't my fault, honest. They lured me into Kenneth Cole. The shoe was in the front window, lit up with this groovy back detailing in black and white which I LOVED instantly and screamed "Buy me! Buy me! You don't need me but I am so pretty!":



I ended up wearing a chocolate brown Mariella Rosarti dress to the wedding and gold hand made shoes from Ruby Sky.

To date, I have never worn the black and white shoes.

Typhoon Survival 101

What do you do when you survive 260 kmph winds, torrential rain, no running water or electricity and afterwards you emerge to be faced with scenes like this?





Survival Tip #1: Drive two hours south and catch a banca across to a tropical island.



Survival Tip #2: Drink a heinous amount of shots summed up as a "Shark Attack".



Survival Tip #3: Dance around and sing really loudly to songs like 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and 'ParkLife'.




Survival Tip #4: Sing some more but only with really great friends around you who won't mention it the next day.




Survival Tip #5: Go island hopping with a hang over, swim with lots of sandy children and eat authentic Italian pizza on some remote island in the Philippines.




Survival Tip #6: Do not allow blood alcohol levels to drop to 'Sober'.




Survival Tip #7: Sing karaoke really badly in a dodgy old club.



Survival Tip #8: Try to avoid really sweaty Englishmen [please note: my friend in this photo with Grooving Fungus is still my friend and does not hold it against me that I married this man]



Thank you for attending Typhoon Survival 101 - I sincerely hope you gained some invaluable knowledge from this lesson.