Fabulista Comments: Some People Are Just not Models.

In the same way that some people are born not too smart, some people are just not meant to be models. I say this in the most pragmatic, non-judgmental, non-discriminating way. It's just the way things are.

So when I received queries about wannabes not making the grade or not performing as well as they can, I tend to get a bit flabbergasted.

As much as the child can be the pride of your loins, there are some things that no amount of euphoric love showered upon them can change. Height or natural beauty, like stupidity is something that no amount of self-deluding affirmation and love can change, no matter the background. It just IS!

So to the self-deluded prideful loin-owners out there, if you child is born butt ugly, gangly and ungainly, please peel off the clam shells off your eyes and learn to accept your child for what the child is... just as the parents of stupid kids (say Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears?) have. Both you and the child will be that much happier for it.

In the same way that some people are born not too smart, some people are just not meant to be models. I say this in the most pragmatic, non-judgmental, non-discriminating way. It's just the way things are.

So when I received queries about wannabes not making the grade or not performing as well as they can, I tend to get a bit flabbergasted.

As much as the child can be the pride of your loins, there are some things that no amount of euphoric love showered upon them can change. Height or natural beauty, like stupidity is something that no amount of self-deluding affirmation and love can change, no matter the background. It just IS!

So to the self-deluded prideful loin-owners out there, if you child is born butt ugly, gangly and ungainly, please peel off the clam shells off your eyes and learn to accept your child for what the child is... just as the parents of stupid kids (say Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears?) have. Both you and the child will be that much happier for it.

Fabulista Wonders: The True Loss...

As previously mused, the Fabulista is going home to train a new batch of Fashionista from one's village. After all, hasn't it been made known to one and all that unless one had been a graduate this elitist Wannabe Training School (WTS), one never truly is part of it? This was revealed to all by a certain Mr Philip (alumni and now father of current student).

Fabulista is a graduate of a neighbourhood Fashionista Institute and is currently getting one's Master Degree in Fabulousness after a degree in fashion and an honours degree on fashionism. Not too bad for a village idiot, no? But in the world according to Philip, unless one graduated from the elitist instituition, one can NEVER be great. What a wonderful notion. Let the graduates of the school come back and train their future wannabes then. It would be such a wonderful experiment on inbreeding and nepotism. It would be ethical, since all the participants are willing subjects.

Anyway, I digress. What is really the topic today is the occasion of one of my principals finding out about my desire to go home. So Ralph Lauren asked me to his room. However, what I found amusing was his greater concern on his embarassment that he did not know one of his trainer's desire to leave. So despite all the talk about how the insitute thinks highly of me, I am still just a digit and now an embarassing liability. He is emotionally distraught. His loss of face is truer and greater and not that one and indeed many of his (so-claimed) more capable teachers are leaving.

It's also a good thing that Ralph did not ask me to stay. Things might have gotten dirty should I need to reveal the true reason for my departure. Those of you familiar with that elitist WTS would know what I am referring to.

I am going home.

Finally, going home.

ALMA MATER, I AM COMING HOME!

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Village Fashion School Song

Fashion lights my way
As I learn and play from day to day
And to build in me
Obedience to authority in school and country

Village Fashion is our pride
You'll guide us with your burning light
Through our trainers we will be
Productive to fashion-ism

Fashion lights my way
As I learn and play from day to day
And to build in me
Obedience to authority in school and country

- written by J. J. de Souza;
sung by countless success stories before and after the Fabulista.

Fabulista Dismisses: Challenger (it sucks, big time!)

There is something the sunny island set in the sea is good for – SHOPPING.

If there is nothing else one can visit it for, there is at least still their national past time to consider. It's their saving grace if nothing else.

One of the range of products that they seem to be dumping off at dirt cheap prices would be their IT products. One simply loves dropping by that beautiful island just to pick up gadgets (apart from the lovelies at the boutiques).

One is so infatuated with the whole idea of the affordable items one has even signed up as a member of a particular establishment known as Challenger. Unfortunately, I just had a very bad experience with their customer service at their outlet in the IT Mall.

After making a purchase of a mouse that they would not let me try, I realized that it was incompatible with my computer. After a phone call to the shop, I was told that it was possible to get an exchange.

However, after making a trip down to the shop, I was treated to a routine test and promptly dismissed with a, “yes, the mouse is not compatible”. Duh! I know that! Why do you think I'm here, ON A SUNDAY!

“Yes, so can I get an exchange for a compatible one?”

“Sorry, this package has been compromised, I'm afraid it can't be exchanged...”

Actually, they did not say that. Really, they just said, “No. Cannot, because you cut already.”

“So basically, I am stuck with this incompatible mouse which I bought by mistake because you guys would not let me try to begin with.”

“Herh, herh, yah...”

I thanked the guy and promptly walked off and went straight to the shop front.

Again, it was no luck. When I wanted to purchase another mouse, they gave the same party line, “Sorry, you can't try because the mouse is sealed...”

This was too much. I stormed back to the customer service and spoke to another staff. At this juncture, there was another customer who was creating a scene because of bad service). Anyway, I explained the situation to the staff, who immediately understood perfectly what I was talking about (was I speaking French previously? Or was it Greek? Or Esperanto?) . He promptly sent out an exchange memo for me and told me that I could go and replace my purchase with any product of my choice.

(At this juncture, I would like to thank Isa bin Mohammed at the service center for his help).

Now, was that so difficult that I had to go in circles before I could get an exchange? I was not asking for a money back, just an exchange. In fact, it might have been possible that I was going to buy something of greater value! Oh well... anyway, I finally exchanged it for a couple of retractable cables.

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Epilogue: With their shoddy service, I decided against purchasing a mouse from them. In the end, I got one of my choice from the Targus reseller instead. It's a lovely model that matches my ACER Aspire ONE.

Fabulista Decides: Life is NOT About Coping

Life at this training school for wannabes is hectic. There is no time for any sort of personal stuff.

Our predecessors survived the ages not because they 'coped' or 'managed to get by” with life but because they had an excess of time and could dream about what might be and what is possible. They had the opportunity to dream BIG.

If we are only coping all the time, we would not have the chance to think about what tomorrow might bring, or even what we might bring to tomorrow. Without time to sit and reflect, we can never rethink the past, immerse in the present and even less so to plan for the future. In other words, if we are kept occupied with the mundane, the routine, the uninspiring, there will be no progress.

Fabulista Revealed: The Intention to Leave.

There are some people that one cannot trust with information. Then, there are some whom one does not entrust information, but through grapevines and hearsays, this lot of people create their own impressions of the world around them. Their own false impressions often cause heartaches, if not catastrophes.

I had mentioned my intention to go back to my hometown's fashion college to teach. Since the plan is at its incubation stage, I decided it best to keep it hush hush. Through the big mouth of some dumb blonde (aren't they always, even if they are brunettes...), one of my supervisors might have some clue about it now...

Darn, I hope everything goes fine...

Fabulista Aspires: To Want ONE.

Desire can be a good thing. It drives you to greater heights.

Fabulista has a new driver to take one into higher, rarer echelons.

Fabulista Gives: To the Human Race

Even the Fabulista needs some form of physical exertion once in a while to maintain one’s svelte and envy-inducing figure. This time round, I have selected a very worthy event for this exercise (pun intended) – THE NIKE+ HUMAN RACE 10K.

While this event is goodies loaded (check out the customized numbered shirt, finishers’ bracelet amongst others – see below*), what is most attractive and thus making it a worthy event (yes, this Fabulista has a soft spot) is that a percentage of the proceeds go to a selection of charities of one’s choice.

There is the World Wildlife Fund, The Lance Armstrong Live Strong™ Foundation and the UN Refugee Angency. One simply picks the organization one wishes to support and voila! Each step that one makes means an organization somewhere benefits monetarily.

You can find out more about the event here. The Fabulista and friends hope to see you at the event too, doing your part for the world, your own kind – after all, giving back to one’s community IS part of being FABULOUS! It is a good thing that one should often be engaged in…

nonetheless, one should only ever indulge in moderation...

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Goodies (aka Race Pack Entitlements) for Runners:

Each participant in the Nike+ Human Race 10K will receive:

- A Nike+ Human Race Tee (material: sphere dri-fit)
- A loaned ChampionChip device
- A Nike+ Human Race 10K Tote Bag
- A Nike waterbottle
- 20% off ipod accessories at iStudio @ Paragon
- 3 day fitness first passes
- Other goodies

Fabulista Realizes: A Readiness for Change.

I take a cab to my Wannabe Training School everyday. For the past couple of years, I’ve always asked the cabbie to “take me to WTS, Hound’s Call Road”. But ever since the new season for fall/winter’08 reopened the school for a new term, I’ve started to ask the cabbie to “take me Chances Lane”.

It was a subconscious change. I wasn’t even aware of the change until I caught myself because the cabbie was asking for more specific directions. That was when I became aware that I refrained from using the acronyms WTS.

My destination is no longer dictated by my place of work. I am so ready for a change…

As If An Angel Passed Through Me.

Like a presence in the night.
Lifts a kiss, a feathered touch.
A moment in this time and space.
Like the fleeting silence in a race.

Like a moon glow on a marbled face.
Lilts a breeze, a gentle wave.
An etude in this hallowed grave.
Like the calling afar from grace.

Caressing delirious fever.
Soothing troubled brow.
Lifting my cold.
Lifting my tired.

(credit - the Fabulista!)

Fabulista: Is the Dark Knight...

Fabulista Misses: The Moonbeach.

I can’t believe the audacity! LV DID NOT call me back when I had specifically made reservations for the Electric Blue Moonbeach Sandals.

When I was browsing at the boutique, I just happened to see it. Unfortunately, it was scratched beyond repair. Now they are trying to find another one for me – in the Asia Pacific region. I am not sure if they can, but I hope they do.

I have also made reservations for their new Spring/Summer’09 tote in white calf leather.

I am just so disappointed with the whole affair. I hope they are sincere and responsible about handling reservations and requests.

Fabulista Lessons: No Rain; No Rainbows

"Rainbows are optical and meteorological phenomena that cause a spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the Sun shines onto droplets of moisture in the Earth's atmosphere. They take the form of a multicoloured arc, with red on the outer part of the arch and violet on the inner section of the arch. More rarely, a secondary rainbow is seen, which is a second, fainter arc, outside the primary arc, with colours in the opposite order, that is, with violet on the outside and red on the inside."

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There was a time, as a child, when five-o’clock in the evening was a magical time. It was a time when the sun has just given up its seemingly relentless hold in the searing sky. The air begins to cool and the humidity dips just that much to allow kids to venture out of doors to play. Oh yes, homework is done and the bewitching hour to play has arrived.

With the cooling air comes a natural risk – the possibility of precipitation looms as the air cools the moisture in the air. The chances of evening rain is always high in tropical climes. But even without the rain, we are already wet with the excitement of venturing out of doors, running out of the house, down the stairs and into the wild, free embrace of the open fields.

It was on one of those days, when the sky threatened to release its hold of the heavy waters that grandma made dinner. As I rushed to ask her for permission to play in the grassy fields outdoors, there was a flash. The inevitable thunder rolled and I saw my chances to play washed away by the sudden and torrential downpour.

Grandma gave me a consoling smile. It was understood that going out of doors would be impossible; even if the rain should stop right there and then, the ground would still be wet after the licks from the sky. The rain from the sky basically translated to sulks on my face.

After a short while, grandma finished clearing up the kitchen as the downpour graduated into a drizzle. She gently took my hand and led me out into the porch with her trademark woven fan. I was elated as I secretly hoped that she’d bring me out of the boredom that is the four walls of the house.

At the porch, we sat together by the steps. She raised her fan to the sky and gestured silently that I should look. There it was the seven-coloured arc that swept across the evening sky. It set itself apart from the golden wash, granted by the now setting sun, on the crown of the trees. My breath was taken away, flung far away from my tiny lungs, skywards to the wondrously intense colours of the rainbow hanging in the heavens.

“Just because you can’t play does not make the rain a bad thing,” she explained sagely, “because it also means that the plants and trees get fed by heaven.” Yes, and I realized, so does the birds that rest in the trees and the frogs in the pond get a shower. They too, are celebrating and singing their songs of thanks and gratitude, with their chirps and croaks.

“And in response to their songs,” grandma smiled, “is a colourful respond – the seven coloured rainbow in the sky.”

Grandma always has an answer for everything. She is ever so wise. I learnt a few years later after, that rainbows are caused by the internal refraction of light, in the suspended water droplets. But I never forgot the lesson of the “colourful respond” in the sky.

Things don’t always go our way. Situations don’t always work to our advantage. But the world does not revolve around us – there is always someone to benefit from any circumstances. And if we want, we can always choose to “see the rainbow” in the situation.

There won’t be rainbows if there is no rain. We won’t know happiness if we never had tears.

Fabulista Anticipates: Louis Vuitton S/S'09.

The preview of Louis Vuitton Men's S/S'09 collection was held last month (26th June) in Paris. It was a beautiful affair created by the masterful hands of Marc Jacobs with music accompaniments by Charlie Chaplin from the movie City Lights.

The highlight of the show, which featured icy shades of white, gray and black with a sprinkling of salmon, was stolen by the beautiful leather totes and weekenders in shades of off-white, taupe and black. The carriers were truly a sight to behold and, in a long time, bags truly to die for.

Another runway item poised to be the next IT thing would have to be the roman-inspired sandals with straps that criss-crossed and stops just below the calf muscles to make a truly sexy statement.

Fabulista Reflects: Morphine for the Pain.

There are many emotions that run when one thinks of the times before; when one reminisces. There are so many things that had happened, real or imagined; necessary or accidental. Born of us and to us then, they have since become the synergy and the foundation, the building, the essence and the psyches of the new (and hopefully better) US.

Who amongst us can deny how our experience then shaped and influenced who we are and the decisions we make now. Indeed, who even, can deny the instant flashback at the whiff of propellants effusing from spray mounts or the lingering scent of markers and papers. Does one not go into a dizzy spell each time one steps into an art supplies store?

We are who we are for our past. We are addicted to the memories that have since become us, drawing strength from it, like a junkie from heroin. We have been fortunate and fate has indeed smiled on us when our paths crossed for those almost-definitive life moments of our individuals’ lives.

Thanks again for the memories, thanks again for the pain, thanks again for the morphine that makes it all go down so well…