If you’ve been observant, you would have noticed that I’ve been wearing a new necklace alot lately. I call it the Bing necklace and it was generously customised and made for me by Valerie from My Little Bow.

They are an online fashion store and have all kinds of customised name accessories, like necklaces, rings, bracelets, bangles, earrings and keychains.

I’ve wanted a Bing necklace from the first time I had watched Sex And The City and discovered that the main character, Carrie had a Carrie necklace. I want! I want! I want!

It took a long time before I finally have one because I’ve never liked the name necklaces I saw in the stores or online. Either the fonts were ugly. Or the workmanship was bad. Or it was so chunky, it would look like it wore me on my small frame instead of the other way round.

When Valerie sent me an email with a list of fonts, icons and additional accessories to choose from, I was super impressed. There were at least 20 fonts to choose from. And almost 60 icons that I could add on to my name, like a little clover leaf, or a heart, or a princess crown, or a butterfly, etc. For a small additional fee, I could also add delicate diamantes and have my necklace in white or yellow gold plating.

I decided to go simple and delicate, and just have my name on the necklace. My Little Bow prepared the artwork and let me vet the design before they went ahead to make the necklace. I love this customisation and the personal touch.

I love love love this necklace. It goes with everything I wear. From casual to formal. Even with my black dress, it looked delicate and classy. Thank you, My Little Bow!

The folks at My Little Bow are super nice and they are going to make one customised name necklace for me to give away too! One lucky reader will win a customised name necklace* in his/her name of choice, just like my Bing necklace! All you have to do is to LIKE this post (if you have a Facebook account) and leave a comment here to let me know what your favourite fashion accessory is.

This giveaway will close on Tuesday 3 April 2012 at 11:59pm UTC+8. The winner will be selected with a Random Number Generator.

Good luck!

* Note on giveaway prize -
The customised name necklace will include a standard name necklace up to 8 letters in the font of choice, in 925 silver and sent by normal mail for Singapore addresses. Additional items like extra letters, icons, diamantes, upgrade to white/yellow gold plating, delivery by registered mail or delivery to international addresses will require a top up.
 

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UPDATE on Wednesday, 4 April 2012

Here are the results of The Bing Necklace Giveaway..

There were a total of 136 entries, after removing all duplicate entries. And the winner is … *drumroll*… Comment #126!

Comment #126 -

Susan Lee – My favourite accessory has to be my earrings which I wear everyday. It was my 21st birthday present and has been wearing it ever since.

Congratulations, Susan! I hope you will like your own customised name necklace. And hope it goes well with your favourite earrings!

Big thanks to everyone who supports this blog and who took part in the giveaway.
 

Continued from Arts On Main : 12 Decades Art Hotel Part 1..

Here are some more interesting rooms that I saw.

Room #1966-1976. This room explored the history of a building called the Carlton Centre in Joburg.

Back in the decade of 1966-1976, the Carlton Centre was one of the very few places in the city where inter-racial socialising was permitted. The layout of the room represents the Carlton Centre’s 360 degree viewing deck over Joburg.

It was a lovely black and white room.

Weird part was, although the rooms were elegant, the external view wasn’t always so interesting.

I noticed fittings all over the building in their raw condition.

Step into another room.. Room #1896-1906 to be exact.. and be wowed again.

There was lots of Asian influence in the design to illustrate the significance of the Asian labourers in that era.

I loved the old fashioned windows.

Last room that I saw – Room #1886-1896.

This one was pure arty farty. I loved the stark white.

The design of this room reflected on the need to have both historic and modern relevance in order to create a bright future for the country.

I want to go back there and check out the rest of the rooms!
 

It didn’t take me very long to discover that South Africa is a country that’s very rich in art and culture. The local work is extremely creative and vibrant and I’ve been loving it.

A friend took me to this area called Arts on Main.

Arts on Main is a hub for Johannesburg’s creative community. It’s on the east side of Joburg city and the area is called the Maboneng Precinct.

I had the privilege to check out one of the hotels in the neighbourhood, called the 12 Decades Art Hotel. It’s literally the most interesting hotel I’ve ever been to.

The hotel seemed simple when I entered it. It wasn’t W Hotel, Ritz Carlton or anything like that. I felt like I was walking into a art gallery!

Go up to the room floors and you’ll see raw finishings. Very arty farty? Or very plain? =)

This is a very unique hotel because the rooms in this hotel are designed by some of South Africa’s most famous artists or designers and the individual rooms trace the history of Johannesburg from 1886-2006.

Each designer would interpret a decade and in his/her design for the room, the most prominent features of the particular decade in Joburg’s history would be illustrated.

The first one that I stepped into was Room #1946-1956.

This era 1946-1956 was one of the most disorderly periods in Joburg. The designer brought some humour in his design, focusing on love and hate for the city.

When have you ever seen a hotel window look like that?

The headboard of the bed had the skyline of Joburg carved on it. Even the bed light was in a beautiful shape of a building, blending in with the headboard nicely.

The bedsheet was a gigantic T-shirt. Read the text in the speech box! It said alot about the social environment of that era.

Arty farty carpet.

And a beautiful wall light.

I loved this room!

Next was Room #1936-1946.

This room was designed to look like a theatre. With a gorgeous chandelier light and elevated bed which you got on by climbing some small stair steps. Like going on stage.

The room was lush, dark and mysterious. It was inspired by a theatre movement in that era that was curbed by the laws of the apartheid system.

The next room was Room #1906-1916.

I literally entered a GOLD room. Like everything was gold. Even the wood was pine wood.

This room symbolised the era of the Gold Rush in Joburg. Everything was painted gold. And there was a huge shelf of pretty little gold objects. To view.. not to take. Haha..

I think the towkays will like this room.

More interesting rooms coming up..
 

One of the funnest things to do in South Africa is shopping for African jewellery. Well, more like accessories than jewellery.

You can get them everywhere.. in gift shops, in malls, in make-shift stands along the streets, in street side stalls..

I love the beads, wood, copper and silver.. so pretty!

They are mostly inexpensive and unique in designs. I take a looong time in making a choice and the hubby isn’t always excited about the waiting. Haha..
 

The W Hong Kong hotel is probably my favourite place to stay in Hong Kong.

Well, not that I’ve stayed in many hotels and can do a fair comparison. But the W has definitely impressed me time and time again.

As soon as you step in, it smells wonderful and a bunch of good looking young men will come forward to help with our luggage. I discovered that W calls their staff “Talents”, not executive, officer or manager… just “Talents”. And talented they certainly are.. it seems that if you want to work in a W hotel, you would have to be young, good looking, educated and English speaking. It’s a wonderful place to feast (eyes only) on cute boys. Haha!

Their motto is placed on the front desk.. Whatever, Whenever. Love that!

Decor all over the hotel is arty farty. This hotel is for the young and fun.. that’s me! Wahaha!

Up in room, the view is spectacular.

I’ve blogged about the room before – see W (August 2009). The bed is ultra comfy. With 400 thread count sheets and extra fluffy pillows, I fall into deep sleep every time I sink into this bed.

And the toilet is chic and comes with its own TV in front of the tub, and the nicest Bliss toiletries. If you’ve never tried Bliss products before, check them out at Sephora. Their lemon+sage body butter is to die for. I use it as a hand cream too.

I’m not affiliated with W. I just had a great stay.. as always.

Check out the Sunday Champagne Brunch we had last time – see Gone to Heaven (August 2009).

Hong Kong rocks!
 

Make a guess.. where do you think this hotel is?

Here’s the hotel lobby.

The suite lounge.

Bed with open toilet.

Rain shower. Duo his-and-hers sinks.

And finally, luxurious toiletries. YUM…

Yeap, this was the hotel we stayed at when we arrived in Johannesburg. I wasn’t expecting slums.. but I wasn’t expecting the city to have this kind of fancy! NICE…

This was the Crowne Plaza at Rosebank, Johannesburg. And it’s a business travellers’ hotel. Which means stable internet access, good coffee and impressive gym.

What a nice way to be introduced to the city.
 

Spotted.

An amazing ceiling lamp in a hotel. Made with scrap pieces of plastic, hooked together at the corners.

The effect was amazing. It was instant art!
 

I shot this of myself tonight.

A very rare moment where I was actually wearing pearls. *grin*

I am so NOT a pearls kind of gal. My personality isn’t gentle, dainty or sweet enough for them. I usually put them on, and then would change my mind and remove them just as I was about to leave the house.

The only other time I’ve ever worn pearls was at our wedding. It was a moment where I wanted to LOOK dainty. Fooled the hubby, alright. Hah!

So yeah, it was a special occasion today. The hubby was presented a looooong service award by his company and I wanted to look.. err.. older more mature for the event. I couldn’t possibly look “geen-na” (kiddy) as the wifey at the party right? Hee!

But in reality, I didn’t have to bother. The Kiwis are quite unlike the Asians. They don’t care what you wear. Really.

Some people came decked in their finest. Some came in simple casual clothes. And some came in leather jackets. It didn’t matter.

The Kiwis constantly amaze me. I always feel like we can learn something from them every time we get together. I really like the way they are so comfortable with themselves. At a Kiwi party, I never have to “talk shop”. They don’t talk market talk. They don’t whine about work. They don’t brag about their achievements. They don’t talk down to each other. It’s actually nice being out on an evening like this.

Why is it that with Asians, we always have to wear our finest watches and talk about the markets and politics when we get together?