(: summer vacations :)
These are the girls without their summer vacations... They are career blythes...
Caprice and Constance posing at 1QRC
Why should I let the toad work
Squat on my life?....
But I know, all too well, that's the stuff
That dreams are made on: ..... (Toads, Philip Larkin)
Give me your arm, old toad... (Toads revisited, Philip Larkin)
banker's suits from sugarmag and blythehautecouture
interview with constance
A rainy evening, Caprice and Constance invited Leopoldine to their pyjama party, while i went to the opera (finally given up, sorry)...
Pyjama party (or slumber party) is held and considered much fun among children, for a sleepover, inviting guests to stay overnight at one's house. Kids are delighted to dress themselves in fancy pyjamas, stay up late, and talk and play until they fall asleep. Invited children often bring along their own pillows and other bedtime paraphernalia (teddy bear, doll...). They may play pillow fight, build blanket forts, or play board games, mastermind, monopoly..., and of coz also video games and watch movies. Some other ideas are playing tarot, playing the piano or other instruments together., or baking cakes together.. (these photo story activites will be continued next time...)
Leopoldine brought her teddy bear, SD sized rune cinderella doll and her royal pink pillow!
On Caprice and Constance, pyjamas from Dollsville, on Leopoldine, nighty night
A last minute change of plan, instead of home cookery, the twin sisters spent a day at disney hotel
caprice is wearing a white angel dress (sugarmag) and constance a white lolita outfit (cct)
caprice : where are you, dear?
constance : run faster ahead!
caprice, caprice, hold on tight. Down we went... there you feel free...
on caprice, white dress in extravagant girlie pattern and red organza underskirt; on constance, blue striped cake patterned dress with pink organza skirt (both from blythism)
The Constances are wearing candy pink baby doll lolita outfits (cct)
Stanza is wearing a pure white ruffled lolita dress and bonnet (cct)
The sisters walked by the lake and talked about Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley...
"I dare say you will find him very agreeable." said Caprice
"Heaven forbid!—That would be the greatest misfortune of all!—To find a man agreeable whom one is determined to hate!—Do not wish me such an evil." retorted Constance
"And never allow yourself to be blinded by prejudice..." Caprice remarked wittily.
... by all my sense and sensibility, that Bingley is by no means a brillant match for me, thought Caprice
Darcy: "she is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me..."
Constance: "you mean to frighten me, Mr. Darcy?"
(1895 Charles E. Brock illustrations for Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice)
Caprice was wearing a monotone lolita outfit from galaxy, ex-brand, extravaganza and momolita white boots, and Constance a black gingham and frills lolita outfit from blythehautecouture and straped white shoes from azone. Backdrop - Inspiration Lake, hk disneyland resort
Caprice is a member of sogetsu ikebana society, she comes to demonstrate at the flower show.
She brings along petite stanza who is left to play around in the big flower world...
beds of carnations, sweet wiilliams, anemones and hyacinths...
lavenders in a 'windflowers' mood
Japanese courtyard and bonsai
large arrangements
the sogetsu arrangements Caprice was demonstrating
some of carpice's this year's favorite european and bowl arrangements
Hong Kong Flower Show 2006, Victoria Park
Caprice wore a white strawberry ruffled dress (blythehautecouture), white baby lolita bonnet (cct), white boots (momolita preta)
petite stanza wore a pink floral baby lolita outfit (cct)
a connoisseur of chocolates... and whose cookery has cordon bleu standard, stanza is preparing today a sachertorte
she uses belgian chocolate as ingredient, see the huge godiva cupboard, with signature of Godiva's master chocolatier Jean-Claude Sibret
then she starts to make a fondue à la suisse
little stanza cheering at the gourmet chocolate meal, they are going to invite their Milk sisters
Sisters caprice arrive... it's going to be a cosy afternoon
after the sweeties and chats, stanza presents a box of home made chocolates to her sister caprice and keeps one for herself. that's the photo of their amicable sharing...
close up...
(this pix from godiva.com)
on TF6, chef's outfit (sugarmag January member gift), on milk and petite TF6, pink floral baby loiita dress (cct), on petite milk, pink ruffled lolita dress (cct). The Kitchen and utensils (rement), zebra couches (rougepower), tablecloth (carré d'hermès, racontes-moi le cheval)
Today is the 15th day of lunar new year month, Yuen Siu meaning Night of the First Moon.
Women in ancient China were strictly confined to their houses except on the fifteenth day of the Chinese New Year when they would dress up and go out to enjoy the lights and riddle games. Today, people in Hong Kong consider this day, Valentine's Day. Traditional families eat sweet dumplings and light lanterns on this day.
my first attempts to shoot at night... (and shaky by the strong wind)
in complete darkness...
stanza wore a layered dress with peacock blue furry cape.
Shaukeiwan is one of the oldest village settlements. Probably best known for its fishing fleet, quarrying was an important local industry in the early British era, and attracted many Hakka migrants, many of whose descendants still live in Shaukeiwan. Located at the eastern approaches to Victoria Harbour, the area was also a strategic military installation and an extensive complex of barracks and gun batteries were built on the hillsides and cliffs overlooking the Lyemun Straits.
stanza turned to the several tourist spots in the area
the tam kung temple off the typhoon shelter
the area nearby is one of Hong Kong Island’s last remaining squatter settlements at Ah Kung Ngam, centred around the tiny Yuk Wong Temple.
the Shaukeiwan Main Street East groups together local cafe selling fish ball noodles, there is also the famous tin hau temple
i tried the fish ball noodles. hating the smell of fish, i found it too 'freshly made' to me...
at the end of the street is the furthest eastern terminus of the island's tramway, the opposite end is western.
the colourful advertisements add charm of its own to each tram
tempting to board on a tram but we did not have the luxurious time to ride the tram back to central...
stanza went to promenade at the dockyard at shaukeiwan waterfront, she was terrified by the guarding dogs that she finished the journey short...
the third lunar new year day was not a good time for getting together and by tradition one should not be talkative and be mindful of one's words...
stanza enjoying the charm of spring
on stanza, spring cotton padded coat and jeans (sugarmag), brown boots (obitsu)
on the second day of the lunar new year, stanza made an excursion to guangzhou, south of china, the Shangxiajiu-Dishipu pedestrian area was crowded with tourists and guangzhou residents. the whole area are full of old brand names of shops and restaurants. Enjoying a cup of tea with some good food is part of guangzhou life which is quite the mentality of hong kong people in their leisure...
residents of gz heading the street with colourful wind propellers held high up in the air, hoping to go with the flow of the wind of fortune
almost a cliché of images of contempory china, mcDonald against old brand named guangzhou teahouses and restaurants...
An old teahouse Taotao Ju (at 20#, Dishipu Jie) greeting kung hei fat choy
The teahouse,established in 1880,is one of the teahouses with the most typical Cantonese features.The three Chinese characters ""(Tao Tao Ju,roughly "house of happines s")are in kang Youwei's handwriting :a famous scholar from Guangzhou who attempted to bring about reforms during the late Qing Dynasty
an old cinema in beautiful architecture
renowned Guangzhou Restaurant (2#, South Wenchang Lu) is considered to be the best in town for Cantonese cuisine (all fully booked!!)
the streets composed of blocks of shophouses in old architecture and stain glass windows
Lianxiang Lou (at 67#, Dishipu Jie), the hongkong old restaurant of the same name in western central is probably a branch of this gz old restaurant
the lobby selling new year coconut rice puddings and other pastries
stanza among the egg rolls
folk street hawking of preserved olives 雞公欖
stanza jerked at the loud trumpet
The second new year day is much associated with eating, another family reunion feast to celebrate the commencement of the year (literally 'opening' the curtain of the year)...
on stanza, pink japanese patterned cotton padded coat and jeans (sugarmag)
it's been ages not having been to a creamy meal. my cousin and i went to share a chocolate treat at haagan daz, with stanza, who happened to dress in an allure of chocolate colour
spacious mezzadine area for a nice chat
stanza wating patiently, in her laid back luxury - chocolate tone cartoon coat with jeans, dark choco boots and croco hermès kelly
warm chocolate soft cake, cold coffee ice cream and freezing temperature outside - we feel like the chocolate fondue too...
stanza about to devour... with us
stanza at a stall of auspicious wind propellers - wheels of fortune
a kind seller, probably an undergraduate student, demonstrating his miniature lion dance, stanza of coz his happy audience
air inflated golden puppy is a bestseller for the year of the dog
stanza bought a pack of cards, satirising the political scene and public personnages, designed and made by polytechnics students. this is their second year in a row to publish these cards
i want to get a bottle of heated vitasoy... (...no hands la, see how big your tree of peach blossom this year, just for your glamour !...)
today is the 25th day of the last month of the lunar year, that is winding up to completion on the 29th this year (very often 30th), it's time to shop for new year flowers. stanza went to the victoria park chinese new year flower market...
new year flowers, potted plants and trees are supposed to bring good fortune. Kumquat trees, narcissus and peonies bring prosperity.
Peach blossoms give one glamour to enhance relationships, attract friendship and romance (see what stanza bought...)
...while tangerine plants with leaves intact help ensure long-lasting relationships and “fruitful” marriages. these are mandarines
tangerines trained to grow in shape
this stall from liaoning province of china sells specialty auspicious new year plants, like this 'buddha hands"
stanza handing out her blythe hand...
sea of chrysanthemums
flower bliss^^
stanza is an orchid lover, she's giving a lesson at the greenhouse~
"largest family in the plant kingdom, orchids are the floral aristocrats of the flowering plant world...of the family orchidaceae, there are more than 800 described genera and over 25 000 known species discovered. orchids are perennial herbs... they are mainly divided into 2 categories: the terrestrial (living on the ground) and the epiphytic (living on trees or rocks)..."
first the doritaenopsis, or dori, a category of the moth orchids, phalaenopsis, or phal
walking under an array of phals and ferns
phal bliss
white phals, probably phalaenopsis amabilis?
in the shade of phals
i adore this white cymbidium
flaming cymbiidium
the mysterious paphiopedilum, the slippers orchids (of the same category is the equally mysterious phragmipedium,which i do not find here)
ivies and ferns are friends of the orchids in the greenhouse
by a misty pond: "other categories include cattleya, vanda, dendrobium, oncidium, epidendrum... i'm showing you my own collection next time!"
::greenhouse, hk botanical garden::
on stanza, white chiffon dress (sugarmag) and white rabbit fur hood (dollydolly) and white boots (obitsu)
stanza visits the magnolia garden...
that turns out to be an everyday wonderland!
pursued by a rabbit!
an indecent rabbit isn't he?
what a delightful day! lousy rabbits, thought that you and i of the same species? lol - i am BLYTHEEEEEE
villain rabbits they are
the cats are friendlier i find
on a magnolia tree, now barren under the wintry sun
acc to the sign, this should be mauve magnolia (mulan magnolia)~ longing for spring, new year is round the corner!
i've chosen for stanza today an old white chiffon dress (sugarmag) and white rabbit fur hood (from dollydolly - the button suddenly worn out during the shots! thus stanza appearing untidy); white boots (fr japan at sugarmag)
with the close of the curtains of the christmas season, are the footsteps of spring imminent...
stanza rabbit in front of the display of a fashion house's printemps collection
constanze wore an ecru rabbit cape and layered dress by sugarmag
constanze recites some stanza of Appollinaire.. . suddenly comes a moment of languishing melancholy over the hearth-heated wintry air
les sapins en bonnets pointus
se longues robes revêtus
comme des astrologues
... se savent prédestinés
à briller plus que des planètes
à briller doucement changés
en étoiles et enneigés
aux Noëls bienheureuses
fêtes des sapins ensongés
aux longues branches langoureuses
- les sapins, Guillaume Apollinaire
we call constanze in her familiar form, stanza, like a stanza in a poem
:: the left pix is also my december homework for the TF6 class, topic warm xmas::
on constanze, ecru rabbit outift (sugarmag); ecru-beige fluffy boots (sugarmag)
the birth of little constance
family pix, petite constance, constanze, petite caprice, caprice
caprice (milk) constance (tf6) are twin sisters
