Singapore and Hong Kong Trip

Well we got back on Tuesday morning after having 8 nights away from home. We spent 5 nights in Singapore and 3 in Hong Kong. It was nice and hot over there and now we are back to the cold.

Anyway while in Singapore I had plans to go bead/gem shopping. I had a nice list of places to visit but unfortunately left the list at home. So I went to the drawer in the hotel room and looked through the Yellow Pages( I have some good ideas occassionally) and jotted down a few addresses to check out. So here is my list of shops that I was able to get BUSI cards for, arranged by loation within Singapore. They are all easy to get to via the MRT or take a taxi(cheap as!).

A note on Addresses: eg #03-39... the first part(#03) means third floor and the second part(after the hyphon 39) is the shop number Building number and street comes first and then the above. B means basement.

Chinatown:

These are only a couple that I visited I had a few more addresses but ran out of time to go to them.

For gem stones:


YL Jewellery - Mr Choi
1 Park Road, People's Park Complex
#03-40A
Ph +65 6220 6206


Mason Jewellery Manufacturing and Trading
1 Park Road, Peoples Park Complex
#03-K75
Ph +65 6538 1126

Swarovski and general beads and findings:

Mix and Match Merchandise
101 Upper Cross Street
#02-69 Peoples Park Centre
Ph +65 6532 0181


Hearten Beads House
101 Upper Cross Street
#B1-72 Peoples Park Centre
Ph +65 6226 3440


Peoples Park Complex and Peoples Park Centre are two different buildings.

Tools:

Kwong Seng Hardware
28 Mosque Street
Ph+ 65 6533 6951
This small looking shop has a good range of jewellers tools at great prices!



My purchases from Kwong Seng Hardware: ring mandrel, small anvil and wire gauge, this cost me SGD$59(about A$47).

There are another couple of tool shops in the area if you check the phone book.



Orchard Road and around:
Orchard Road is one of the main shopping strips in Singapore with block after block of shopping malls.

Two shops on Bencoolen Street which is close to Orchard Road:

Bead Hub
91 Bencoolen Street
#01-17 Sunshine Plaza
Ph +65 6223 3662
Website www.beadhub.com

EGems
91 Bencoolen Street
#01-10 Sunshine Plaza
Ph +65 9730 3789



Blue Chalcedony from Sancy and Peridot(3.5carats) and Citrine from EGems. SGD$185 for this lot!

Lucky Plaza has an amazing number of small jewellers shops that have ready made jewellery, unset gemstones and semi precious bead strands.


Sancy Jewellery
304 Orchard Road
#B1-102 Lucky Plaza
Ph +65 6734 6832

Gems & Gold Jewellery
304 Orchard Road
#B1-62 Lucky Plaza
Ph +65 6738 4018


Jen'sJewellery
304 Orchard Road
#B1-158/157 Lucky Plaza
Ph +65 6235 7551



Eng Tai Jewellery Trading Co
304 Orchard Road
#B1-86/83 Lucky Plaza
Ph +65 7327831



Diamond House
545 Orchard Road
#01-16 Far East Shopping Centre
Ph +65 6235 2395





Scotts Road off Orchard



Swan Jewelry Pte Ltd
14 Scotts road
#03-117 Far East Plaza
Ph+65 6734 5159



Sollani Jewellers Pte Ltd
14 Scotts Road
#03-109 Far East Plaza
Ph +65 6235 1292
Web www.sollanijewellers.com



Goldie Jewellery
14 Scotts Road
#03-68 Far East Plaza
Ph +65 6734 2725



Traders Gems Pte Ltd
1 Sotts Road
#03-09 Shaw Centre
Ph +65 6235 1789

For more addresses on Singapore bead shops visit Battra's web site/blog. Here is the link: http://www.battra.org/category/beads/singapore-beads-stores/

This was the list I forgot to take with me, I will not forget it next time!!!

This is it for part one of my holiday report
Catch you soon.

Ciao for now!!!

No Wolves on the Way to Grandma's

Had a quick trip up to my Nan's to visit her and Dad and to drop birthday presents for Mum and my Aunt. Stopped in at the fabulous LAKES FOLLY Vineyard for a taste and to pick up our box of vino. We had a bottle of the Cabernets with dinner last night and it was fantastic!!!

Ended up making a bracelet for my Aunt and put the pendant with the bracelet for my Mum as they matched really well. So made my Aunt a Euro 4 in 1 three row bracelet in Sterling and Gold Fill with a Bali toggle. Here it is:



Had coffee with Nan and Aunty Pam and heard all about Aunty Pam and Uncle Hunter's trip to Vietnam. Then went to Sue's for a few hours chatted, got to see some of the pottery pieces she is working on. Teapots of all different shapes a fanastic looking boat, a violin and some helms inspired by ancient warriors complete with "damage" from weapons. These were all in the drying stages and I can't wait to see them fired.

Also got to meet her Pugs, Don and Mrs Bourke. They were so cute!!

Mrs Bourke:


Don (on Right) and Mrs Bourke:


On the way home stopped in at Binnorie Dairy and tried some of their fresh cheeses, yummy.Bought a bottle of Labna which is a cheese made from yoghurt.

Anyway have to get ready for work. Ciao for now and hope you have a happy, and safe Easter with family and friends. Don't eat to much Chocolate!!!
Catch you later!

Busy Making Presents

Well have been busy getting some presents ready for Mum and Sue(my Aunt) for their birthdays next month. Still have to find the right clasp for Mum's bracelet and I think I might embellish the bail on Sue's pendant with a bit of wire weaving and maybe a pearl or something. I'll see what happens when the muse hits me(hopefully not with a baseball bat!!LOL)


This particular chain maille weave is called Parallel Helm. I have made these in Sterling silver and GF so they have a nice two tone look.

Not much else has been happening. Settling in at the new job and enjoying it very much.

That is it for today and hopefully Mum and my Aunt don't have a look here before their birthdays!!
Ciao for now, catch you soon!!

Last Day, First Day Plus a New Pendant

Well my last day at RSGC was on Monday. Bit sad to go as they were a great bunch of people to work with. It was nice to work in a place that has some real history behind it. Any way here are some photos I took of some of the people I worked with. I do have a few more but they are on my mobile and I have to work out how to load them onto my computer.

Amy, Alanna, Roxanne, Me and Arianne


Patricia, Nam, Amy, Alanna, Roxanne and Arianne


Loryn and Viet


Gary, Leanne, Tony and Me


Belinda, Ryan, Me, Gary, Loryn, Charlie and Leeanne


First day at the new job at Canterbury Hurlstone Park RSL yesterday was good. Had a short day (9am to 2pm) met most of the guys and gals in the kitchen. Today I start in the Fernhill Bistro which will be interesting part a la carte and part ready cooked in bain marie.

And lastly here is a pendant that I finally finished last week, I did it in stops and starts over two weeks. From a tutorial from Remy at http://www.studioheath.com/tutorials.php. I really learnt a lot while making this and look forward to making another one. Here it is:

Little Miss Stormy: Sterling Silver and Labradorite cabochon......


Thanks for having a look!

Catch you soon, ciao for now!

Resigned And Other Stuff

Well yesterday I officially resigned from my current job to start a new one in two weeks. I will be taking a step up the cheffing ladder to a chef de partie position. New work place is a lot closer to home (10 minutes away) and will save a lot of travel time and I will generally be home by 930pm, YIPPEEE!

On to other news.

Made a gorgeous GF Byzantine chain bracelet as an order for Rosalind at work. This is the same as Mum's that I made for Christmas and forgot to take a photo of.....so here is the photo(still can't take a good photo of jewellery LOL)......


Work has started on the front of our house with cracks in the mortar being refilled and the corbel being straightened out. We will also be having some pretty lace work put on and some steel bars(brick stitching) placed in the wall to help it not to crack anymore. Will take some photos of the work as it goes along.

Well that is it for today catch you soon!! Ciao!!

BIG Month of dining out

Well we have had a great month so far. We have tried a few new restaurants and went to Opera in the Domain on Saturday night.
First cab off the rank was Tabou restaurant on Crown Street in Surry Hills. Fantastic food and service. Tried pigs trotters stuffed with quail, YUMMY. Rene had duck terrine. Mains I had duck breast and Rene had boudin noir. I tried the boudin but not my cup of tea, it was nice very fluffy rather than firm.
Next to try was Doyles at Watson's Bay. We had heard a few bad reports aboutDoyles but we have been wanting to go for a long time and that night we wanted somewhere with water views so that decided us. Seafood platter for two ($98) cheap as, with a nice bottle of Louis Roderer champagne. Big surprise was that not only did I eat the seafood I do like(prawns, lobsters, calamari) but I also ate the very fresh fish and the crabs. Still not keen on smoked salmon but ate it anyway(prefer gravlax). Great night, great service and great food and the champagne wasn't too shabby either(actually it was fantastic and a reasonable price).
Then we went to one of our favourites Wood and Stone in Surry Hills just for some nice gourmet pizzas and a bottle of the sparkly stuff.
Australia day saw us trek into the city. We saw lots of lovely vintage cars at the NRMA motor fest in Macquarie Street. Walked down to the rocks couldn't get a table at another of our favouries The Waterfront, so we kept walking and ended up at Nick's Seafood at King Street Wharf. Food was good but a tad on the high priced side for what you got. Wine was an okay price but it was one of our favourites(Tyrell's Vat 1 semillon if you must know), service was a bit so so, decor and ambience made you feel like you were in an up market fish and chip shop. Glasses were a bit of a let down. If you are going to have a $65 bottle of wine you really want some good glassware to dink it from, not something that looks and feels like it comes from Ikea.
Saturday night we saw Turandot under the clouds in the Domain. Wonderful night with our picnic and a bottle of wine. We had wanted to see Turandot last year before we left for our holiday but unfortunately they were booked out but we finally got to see it on the weekend. Tried Dutch Poffertjes which are like a little pancake, you select a topping(played it safe and had maple syrup) and cream or icecream, YUMMY. It was a bit chilly during the evening so Rene poked a hole in one of the garbage bags and put it on like a poncho, I just sat there and braved the chill. Next year we will make sure to throw jackets in just in case.
Last night we trekked over to Manly. First time we have actually driven over there. We had a lovely dinner at White Water restaurant on the beach front. This has to have been one of the best value meals we have had in a while.2 entrees, 2 mains, dessert to share and a bottle of wine $150(and that includes Sunday surcharge). Everythign about this restaurant was fantastic, food, ambience, service etc. We will definitely be going back again!!
Anyway that's enough for now.
Ciao, and catch you soon!!!

Sunny Saturday in Sydney

Well here we are again. It is looking and feeling a bit more like summer today. Not a cloud in the sky, just blue and more blue.

Thought I would post some photos of jewellery I have made over the past few months.

Let's start with things I have made Mum.......

Rutilated quartz, Sterling and Bali Silver...


Rhodolite Garnets, GF wire and a little bit of 18K chain...


Nan......
Antique brass and amethyst coloured czech crystal...



And other bits and pieces for me and for other people...

Pearl's Garden, Serpentine, Quartz crystal drops Bali silver and sterling silver...


Sodalite and Black nickel chain and findings, with a few vintage clear crystals...


Lisa's...
Cinnabar beads and black nickel, one of the first sets I made...


Then Lisa had a friend who wanted the same style but blue stones. This one I called Mermaid warrioress..Black nickel, Blue Chalcedony, Blue Calcite and Vintage clear crystals...



My first go at stringing, onyx beads with a glass starfish...


Any way I think that is enough for today. Now I have to get ready to do my real job that finances my hobby. Have a great weekend!!

Ciao till next time.
Viktoria