Taya Starling

Sweet sweet Singapore.  I spent my fair share of time sitting in coffeeshops reading books while I lived in Singapore.  Now when I return as a tourist it’s the last thing I find the time to do, but I do make a point of visiting some of my favorite haunts.  One of my top 3 breakfast spots in Singapore is Wild Honey.

Wild Honey has two locations now- the original at the Mandarin Gallery which is a small but cozy location and then this big bright new one at Scotts

 Here’s a shot of the communal or big party table in the corner- the rest of the restaurant opens up to the left with plenty of seating.  But back to the important stuff… Not only do they have delicious drinks between their coffee and juice menu but the food is… Oh… MY… GOD, i’ll have what she’s having good… seriously…

The Boulevard St. Michel: Savoury French toast with double baked cheese & spinach soufflé, parmesan crumbed poached egg, slowroasted tomatoes, grilled back bacon & spicy tomato chutney.

 The Brittany: Panettone French toast with fresh baby bananas, salted caramel mascarpone, toffee’d hazelnuts & salted caramel sauce.

 The English: The full works. Scrambled eggs, back bacon, Cumberland pork sausage, sautéed mushrooms, Dad’s baked beans, breakfast potatoes, grilled vine ripened tomato & signature brioche.

 The European: Wild Honey’s version of eggs Benedict with two perfectly poached eggs, sautéed mushrooms, imported Italian prosciutto and home made Hollandaise sauce on signature brioche.

I mean if you’re still not convinced then I just don’t think we can ever be friends.

Shall I continue on with the food or are you salivating all over your keyboard yet? Maybe we should take a break.  Of course there was plenty more to my last week in Singapore than just eating (although eating came in at a close second place)- fashion of course was a huge part of why I was even in Singapore to begin with with Fashion Weeks 2013 (FW2013) presented by the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands and organized by FIDE Fashion Weeks being the precise reason why I was spending 2 delicious weeks back in my old stomping grounds.

 Utt & I were back together again to host Fashion Week with a whole slew of extraordinarily talented designers from all over Asia and all the way from France.  Plus (if you read my last post) host the inaugural annual meeting of the Asian Couture Federation.  *head over heels in love with my dress by Asava by the way, it fit like a glove I never want to take off.

Here we are with the founding President, Dr Frank Cintamani, the Vice President Emily Wang, & two esteemed members from Thailand.

 By the way can we please take a moment to talk about how incredibly hot Emily Wang is? I mean c’mon give the rest of us a chance! Can i still call myself a girl purely to not compete with her womanliness? After all, on top of all this hotness she has two adorable sons too.  Yeah, suck on that for a while.

 Fun little Photo Booth moment in the NY corner at Fashion Week (;

 My favorite night at FW2013 had to be French Couture night purely because I got to wear three gorgeous outfits from each of our presenting designers that night starting with this beautiful number by Alexis Mabille… i felt like a shining marigold tulip- and check out Utt’s sheer Alexis Mabille shirt (; the ladies loved that one.

 Next up I got to wear this beautiful gown by On Aura Tout Vu- but wait, the beauty is in the detail- remember when I told you about the stunning beetle wings on my ISSUE dress last post? Well here they are again

 And that’s just the start, just check out the back of this dress…

 Just look at those shimmering wings… these iridescent beetle wings showed up on a large portion of their designs in this collections- i really need to show you this structured piece before I post a full entry on their show:

 This STUNNING piece is detailed with hundreds of beetle wings.  Oh what I would give to wear that one day… maybe to the mall? Lunch at the food court perhaps? (;

Anyway, back to my fashion adventure… Fashion Week is something I look forward to all year- the excitement, the energy, the debut of so many beautiful pieces, the dazzling crowd… and of course the ridiculous shenanigans that happen back stage. Here are a few gems that I don’t want to explain

 Here’s Utt and I effectively photobombing a moment between Julien Fournie and Yumi Katsura haha Don’t ask me what we’re doing, I have no idea….

 This brings me to my final outfit on French Couture night- this skin tight don’t even dream of eating a big meal before slipping into it creation by none other than Julien Fournie who never fails to take sexy to a new level.

 I do love me some Julien Fournie.

After such an eventful night, we couldn’t help but leave the venue STARVING… And where does one go late at night to dine in Singapore? Well one of my favorite places is Newton’s Circus- a local outdoor food court type joint serving all kinds of local goodies:

Chicken wings

Stir fried white radish

Stir fried black radish

Spicy stir fried morning glory

Yummy fried oysters

Satay

BBQ’d stingray

And when you go be sure to look out for Aunty Marge- she’ll be sure to take good care of you (;

The next day the girls came to support me as I held it down solo at Women’s Ready to Wear night at FW2013.  Sarah & Barbara looking gorgeous in their little dresses and i absolutely LOVED my Lover jumpsuit thanks to the Salon by Surrender at the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.  In fact I loved this jumpsuit so much I bought it the next day instead of returning it (;

Oh! And did I mention that at the end of Ari Dein’s presentation of silky delicate luxurious pjs, there was a full on delicious selection of cotton candy, champagne, chocolate dipped strawberries, and sugared popcorn… YUM YUM, now THAT’S the way to end a fashion show.

 Gotta love having my girls with me at Fashion Week (; Triple the trouble, triple the fun.

 Utt & his girls grabbing a drink after a long day

But the next morning we were up and running to get lunch at Mozza’s – one of my favorite places in LA that can now also be found at the Marina Bay Sands mall (reservations definitely recommended). Ready to hear your stomach growl?

 Don’t be fooled, these pictures were taken very quickly before each plate was licked clean.

 This is the oh so talented Romero Jennings from MAC Cosmetics who flew in to head the MAC family in Singapore and help develop the various looks for each designer.  He is not only one of the most talented make up artists I’ve ever worked with, he’s also incredibly down to earth, passionate, and kind.  I was completely taken by him and his wonderful stories and passion for travel.  It always makes me so happy to meet people who truly love what they do for a living.

 Huge thanks to my MAC family in Singapore who worked with me each day on all my different looks (: Everyone is simply amazing.

This was our final night of Asia’s first full fashion season at Fashion Week 2013 after an incredible 2 weeks- all the hard work Frank and his team put in and after the parade of couture sauntering up and down the runway day after day.. almost too good to be true, a bittersweet ending in every sense

Utt & I took a moment to pay tribute to the man with the master plan- Dr. Frank Cintamani

 More back stage shenanigans haha Pretty sure i killed it at the limbo competition

Nobody messes with Kelly backstage. Nobody.

 Remember how I mentioned that Emily has two adorable sons? Well here they are- aren’t they cuties? They came almost every other night to support their mom (:

 One of my favorite shots from the night, backstage with Utt going over our lines.

 With the talented Frederick Lee of Singapore before his show on closing night- stay tuned for posts on each designer who presented while Utt and I hosted Fashion Week!

Oh and another big thank you to the Salon by Surrender for letting me borrow another gorgeous lace piece by Aussie brand Lover- i loved this one so much i went back and purchased it too (;  Ladies and Gents you can head into Surrender to find some goodies for yourselves- i seriously loved so many things in the shop I couldn’t stay for long for fear of going bankrupt.

 And just like that FW2013 is a wrap! Huge huge thank yous all around to the incredible and hard-working team at Fide Fashion Weeks for all that they did to make the magic happen yet again- and for allowing us to have so much fun in the process!

Each trip back to Singapore gets sweeter and sweeter thanks to the wonderful people I’m able to work and connect with- and of course the bonus of all that yummy food! Keep an eye out for my next post where I tell you where to shop and eat like a local in Singapore lah.