Natural History Museum, London

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Natural History Museum 4 London, Kevin Dominic Cordeiro Photography

Natural History Museum, London
Photo for CMC © Kevin D. Cordeiro 2009

If London’s Natural History Museum is on your list of places of interest to visit, then set aside the better part of a day to do this – preferably on a full stomach too – because you could easily spend hours touring not only its exhibition wings, but its surrounding compounds on the outside of this Gibbs and Canning building.

London Natural History Museum, Kevin Dominic Cordeiro Photography

One of three large museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London, along with the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Victorian architecture of this museum is strikingly majestic in contrast to its neighbours.

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The London Eye

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The London Eye 1, Kevin Dominic Cordeiro Photography

The London Eye
Photo for CMC © Kevin D. Cordeiro 2009

Tourism has gone global, and it seems that almost every major city in the world – from Berlin to Beijing, Singapore to Melbourne – has its own gigantic ferris wheel as part of its tourist attractions. There are plans for one to be built in Gothenburg, but as Swedish consensus go, the idea is popular with the politicians but not with the majority of the population.

When I read what Sir Richard Rogers (winner of the 2007 Pritzker Architecture Prize) said about the Eye:

The Eye has done for London what the Eiffel Tower did for Paris, which is to give it a symbol and to let people climb above the city and look back down on it. Not just specialists or rich people, but everybody. That’s the beauty of it: it is public and accessible, and it is in a great position at the heart of London.

I was sceptical and had several questions – what type of symbol was it for the British peope? Was it considered an architectural eyesore on the Southern Bank of the River Thames? And was it indeed in a “great position at the heart of London”? Since there isn’t much to view by the Thames, especially at low tide.

The Merlin Entertainments London Eye, the Millennium Wheel, Kevin Dominic Cordeiro Photography

The London Eye has been around since 2000 (Singapore opened its Flyer in 2008) and having observed its workings for some time, I think it possesses one of the prettier designs for this type of city attractions. It’s thin, thread-like spokes look impossibly delicate from afar.

And I think I could agree after all, that it does offer people a different perspective of London. The view of the city, from atop the wheel, is quite spectacular!

That many think it a phenomena is also confirmed by the number of visitors The Eye gets in a year. Being one of London’s top tourist attractions, and having won more than 75 awards since it’s opening in 2000.

Above all, it took a team of hundreds of people from 5 different countries, to make this project a reality. So, more than serving its purpose of letting people look down into the city, the structure symbolizes the reality of the global organization of workforces and what can be accomplished in today’s interconnected world.

Favourite pieces of jewellery from W.A. Bolin, Stockholm

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Golden topaz and diamond pendant, W.A. Bolin, Stockholm, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

A large golden ametrine and diamond pendant.
All pictures are from W.A. Bolin, Stockholm, who are having their Autumn/Winter quality auction on Sunday 15 November 2009. Visit their website for more details on the auction, or to place a bid.

Adding to the festive end of year feeling, the Autumn/Winter quality auctions are about to take place in Sweden. Viewing for W.A. Bolin in Stockholm began already today, with a show of some of the most beautiful pieces of jewellery to brighten the short lived days. Most surprising this season was that I fell in love with jewellery that were mostly French made!

The above is no. 1132 from their auction catalogue. A large golden purple ametrine (ca. 30 carats) and diamond pendant with diamonds weighing ca. 1.2 carats.
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London Red

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London guards

London Guards
Photo for CMC © Kevin D. Cordeiro 2009

I was about seventeen the first time I visited London, and even then, the one distinguishing colour that, from then on, brought associations for me about the city was red.

It seemed a distinct, just a hint, darker shade of fire engine red that echoed throughout the city, whether on the uniforms of the Guards, or at bus-stops, the Underground, restaurants and pubs…

London double decker bus, Kevin Dominic Cordeiro Photography

London pub and restaurant, Kevin Dominic Cordeiro Photography

London sign Blackfriars Bridge, Kevin Dominic Cordeiro photography

London, Portobellow Road, Kevin Dominic Cordeiro Photography

Big Ben London by night, Kevin Dominic Cordeiro Photography

By night.

A vibrant red that for me, has become the heartbeat of the city, a reminder of the day gone by and a reassurance for the day to come, of knowing that the city though quieter by night, is only in temporary slumber.

Festive! Silk shoes with bows

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Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, silk shoes with bows, Chanel no. 19, Chanel Macau lipstick, Chanel nailpolish

For a night out this season…iridescent eyeshadow in various vibrant shades, Chanel No. 19, Chanel Aqualumiére lipstick, no. 42, Macao, Chanel nail polish in blush pink, a pair of light gold shoes in silk.
Photo for CMC © Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson 2009

The local shops in Sweden are already decking out in Christmas gear, much to the delight of the early Christmas shoppers! And all these festive shop window displays, whether it’s interior design shops suggesting a state-of-art Christmas tree, a traditional Swedish julbock made of straw and wrapped in red ribbons, or a clothing store suggesting an outfit to a fantastic New Year’s Eve party, heightens the season’s anticipation.

Silk satin gold shoes with bows

When it comes to what to wear, I think decorative shoes have certainly made their mark this season, with consumers becoming acquainted with eccentric designs from Marc Jacobs to bold chunky heels from Prada and bejewelled heels from Prada’s sister Miu Miu.

Bows affixed to shoes, thanks for designers such as Dolce & Gabbana, Lanvin and Vivien Westwood (hearts on shoes actually), whether front, sides or back, have also made it to the runways, adding to the revelry of dressing for this upcoming Christmas and New Year’s, that are just about 6 to 8 weeks away.

So in this season of parties, I’m already looking forward to a display of exotic looking shoes, casually tossed at entrances, with designs that are as individual as the wearers themselves!

Gothenburg’s Chocolate and Délicatesse Festival, 2009

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Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, Chocolate Fair 2009, Gothenburg, Sweden

At the chocolate fair, with some of the best nougat in hand.
Photo for CMC © Jan-Erik Nilsson, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson 2009

If there was anything that could make me get out of bed early on a rainy Saturday morning, this would be it – Gothenburg’s Chocolate and Délicatesse Festival 2009!

It was not just the thought of free chocolate samples at this event that spurred me into action on this soggy morning, but of living and breathing the life and sharing the space of chocolate connoisseurs, even for a few hours, made my day.

Upon arrival at the Göteborgs City Museum, where the event was held, I realized that Swedes loved their chocolates. Almost half of the city of Gothenburg thought the same as I – to get in first – where not even wind and rain would keep them away from this divine manna. The queue to the entrance ran almost 200m, right past Tyska Kyrkan, the German Church that stood beside this museum, touching the tip of Gustaf Adolfs Torg along Norra Hamngatan.

Göteborgs choklad och delikatess festival 2009

The crowd.

The event hall that spanned one and a half floors of the museum, seemed stiflingly inadequate and compact for this event. Cold and near freezing outdoors, the crowd turned warm very quickly when indoors. Still, having grown up tropical, I was surprised to see some people literally turning to ice-cream eating to keep cool, the queue to the lone ice-cream vendor rivaling the queues of the more attractive chocolate stalls.

Baileys truffle, Gothenburg chocolate and delicatess festival 2009

Truffles in all forms imaginable. Anyone for a Bailey’s?
at Jeanna Kanold who together with her four daughters are Flickorna Kanold (The Kanold Girls)

The most spectacular view at the event was the vast exhibit of chocolate truffles. The stalls had bite-sized morsels so colourful, the candied sight simply took your breath away! I found myself standing in front of Kanolds for example, just absorbing the artistry of work, and whatever fillings of the truffle seemed secondary; after all, truffles have been around since 1895 (created by M. Dufour in France) and are more or less made with a ganache center coated in chocolate or cocoa powder that is usually spherical, conical, square or curved shape. But soon, the taste test came along and the perspective is shifted when you begin to decide which of these precious heaven-filled small packages you’d like to bring home, the ones with cream, caramel, nuts, berries, nougat, fudge, toffee, mint, liquor etc. The choice to make was mind-boggling!
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Quizás Grand Cru: single variety cocoa beans from the Venezuelan amazon

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Quizás Grand Cru Indigena Amazonia Venezuela, 72% caco Beschle chocolatier, Swiss handmade

Quizás Grand Cru, Swiss Beschle chocolate made from cocoa beans grown in the indigenous regions of the Venezuelan amazon. It contains only 3 ingredients – cocoa mass (72%), cocoa butter and cane sugar.
Photo for CMC © Jan-Erik Nilsson, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson 2009

The Gothenburg Chocolate and Delikatess Festival 2009 held recently gave us the opportunity to sample literally hundreds of varieties of chocolates and truffles. We came home with some of our favourites, like this bar of Quizás Grand Cru. This chocolate bar is the result of a Swiss German joint venture of the famous chocolatiers Basel Beschle, and the project developers / Latin America specialists Pascal Wirth and Niklaus Blumer.

Quizás Grand Cru, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, Swiss Chocolate with single region cocoa beans

Quizás No 2 (72%) Premier Cru Single Origin / Ocumare de la costa Venezuela.

Quizás produce more such chocolate bars made of rare, single bean varieties and single area cocoas, including their Quizás No. 1 (74%) Premier Cru Criollo Porcellana, Criollo Zulia Venezuela and their Quizás No. 2 (72%) Premier Cru Single Origin, Ocumare de la costa Venezuela.

With the world of chocolatiers dreaming up ever more fantasmic chocolate confections in all varieties of flavours mixed into the cocoa (think fruits, nuts, nougat to liquor), it was an about turn to realize that these chocolate bars, when striped down to their bare essentials – single beans from a single region, with only the 3 ingredients of cocoa mass, cocoa butter and cane sugar – could jolt your tastebuds into realizing what gourmet chocolate really is.

Wool basic in grey

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Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, tailored wool pencil dress in brown-grey

In a tailored wool pencil dress with a broad open collar, reminescent of Dior of the mid-1900s. Accessories are a fur hat from Canada, a Chanel 2.55 flap bag, a gold and diamond bear brooch, a gold bracelet, Karen Millen stilettos and Chanel No. 19.
Photo for CMC © Jan-Erik Nilsson 2009

It was just about two to three generations ago in Singapore, when my grandmother was in her twenties, that women tended to sew their own clothes. How beautiful your outfit eventually became, depended much upon your sewing skills.

Many of my grandmother’s friends would not only sew their own traditional outfits such as cheongsams and kebayas, but made their own accessories too, from floral hair pins to beaded shoes. Those who did not acquire tailoring skills of their own usually had their dresses or outfits made by relatives and friends who could. As things were at the time of pre-WWII, it was much more economical to know how to make your own clothes than to purchase them in the shops.

Eventually social values shifted in Singapore as in the rest of the world and women no longer needed to sew for themselves. Still, I grew up with my mother making a lot of my day dresses, both sewn and crocheted, and come an important event such as wedding dinners for example, we often visited a seamstress with a dress idea roughly sketched on paper.

Today tailored dresses, a once inexpensive and natural phenomena, is becoming a luxury. Still, when the opportunity arises, I find absolute delight in choosing textiles for a new skirt or dress, and drawing a design of an outfit that I miss in my wardrobe.

This pencil dress is one of two new arrivals from the seamstress. It makes for good, basic officewear for the cooler autumn and winter months that is just ahead of us. The material is wool and the dress, whose long and lean cutting is vintage inspired, has been designed so that it would keep the core of the body warm, with three quarter sleeves (so I can accessorize with bracelets / bangles), skirt to the calves, kick pleat to the back instead of an open slit and fully lined on the inside. Added to the outfit is a fabric buckle belt, made in the same material as the dress.

Wool basic in herringbone

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Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, tailored wool pencil dress in charcoal grey, boatneck, Roberto Cavalli shoes

In a tailored wool pencil dress in charcoal grey, with Roberto Cavalli black patent shoes, vintage Trifari silvertone earrings and Cartier white gold ring.
Photo for CMC © Jan-Erik Nilsson 2009

Here’s the second tailored wool pencil dress, but in herringbone dark grey. Same features as the wool dress in stone grey, with three-quarter sleeves, calf-length pencil skirt and lined on the inside. This dress however, features a simple boatneck and a tie waist belt made in the same fabric as the dress.

Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, officewear, custom-made wool pencil dress in charcoal grey, boatneck

As mentioned above, I do love tailoring outfits when given the chance because a lot of what I get out of it is the process of creation, to see a rough sketch of an outfit turn not only real, but into something you can wear! I admit my fair share of disasters when it comes to tailored clothing, mostly because of the wrong choice of material. A lack of understanding of the properties of a fabric for example can cost the brilliancy of its design. But when everything goes right and the result is as you desired, then the feeling in this process is nothing short of a small success.

On the other hand, I could tell about one of my greatest tailoring disasters…

When visiting China you are often pounced upon by persistent tailors, wanting to create whole new outfits for you or at least shirts for your husband. A few years ago we actually gave in to one of these offers. I fell in love with some very dazzling silk fabrics and chose to have a traditional Shanghai style cheongsam made. The measurements were taken and on the very last day of our stay, a last fitting was made with me standing up and the tailor nipping, tucking, pinching and putting in needles all along the sides, from top to bottom. I must say I can’t complain about the attention or quality of workmanship, but that I should have tried to move some in the dress too, didn’t occur to me at the time.

Back home and after unpacking, I tried on the dress again and realized that the fitting was indeed “perfect”. It sat as if painted on me and I know now what shrink wrapping not only looks like, but feels like when wearing. I swear, if I had eaten an egg, that would have made me look pregnant. After a few years of the dress sitting in the wardrobe, I silently sold it off to one of those two-dimensional Asian model friends of mine who could actually wear it.