Books and people

Singapore is so boring! S’what I always say, still. My biggest gripe is that it’s small and since I’ve grown up here, I’ve come to accept everything as ‘just the way it is.’ It’s not like New York where it’s bustling 24/7 (the subway doesn’t shut at 11:30pm like it does here in Singapore) or London where there’s so much to see and do, and if there isn’t, you get your friends together and enjoy each other’s’ company over a home cooked meal and (a) bottle(s) of wine.

But Singapore is slowly moving up the scale in terms of interestingness and the number of interesting people there are in it and for that I’m really thankful. And one of my highlights of the week was Saturday where I got to make a ribbon/tape bound book and watch the film How to Make a Book with Steidl. And meeting a new student who’s a martial arts practicing, armour making, chain mail constructing, and book making man.

So the book I made.

We used ribbon for a decorative effect but Notabilia (the amazing woman who teaches book making) says that Moleskines are made the same way except that tape is used instead of ribbon coz they’re then leather covered. The signatures are kettle stitched and then secured to the cover by tying a bow on the other side. It’s gorgeous and the one I made will be used as a photo album and I know exactly what photos I’m going to stick inside.

My previous work: a Coptic bound book and a Japanese stab bound book.

All the girls from the class (Pooja, Emily and Mia) had tickets to see How to Make a Book with Steidl later on in the evening so we met for dinner at the Blackbird Cafe on Handy Road.

I ordered the open Wagyu steak sandwich was perfectly… alright. No deviation from the menu. But we had such a laugh because firstly, we found out that some items on their menu are pre-made, such as their summer squash sandwich, which was a sad, cling-wrapped little thing which looked soggy and squashed. The most appalling was the chicken sandwich (for the vegetarians, minus the chicken to be replaced with some other vegetable). While the menu said roma tomatoes, avocado and brie, what was delivered to the table was local tomatoes, processed cheese slices and no avocado, much less the chicken substitute. We sent the plates back but not before telling them exactly what we wanted in those sandwiches. And they still didn’t get it 100% right on the next attempt. They had the ingredients so I don’t know why the chef was in a strop, refusing to make the sandwiches the way they were detailed in the menus.

It was hilarious. But the company was great and I had a fab evening. Thanks ladies!

The film, I found interesting but not very well put together. It was missing a cohesive narrative or idea that should have served to tie the story bites together. Click to view the trailer.