I received the most beautiful book for my birthday from Soraya, the wife of the Dutch ambassador: The Hidden Histories of Flowers by Maddie and Alice Bailey. Besides being a beautiful book to look at, it is filled with exactly the kind of stories I love.

It explores flowers through their origins, Latin names, fairy tales, mythology, symbolism and the relationships different countries and cultures have with them. There are quotes, wonderful illustrations and fascinating little pieces of history throughout. It is the kind of book you can open anywhere and immediately discover something you didn’t know.

And then, of course, I found the dandelion.

The dandelion has been Nala’s logo for the past five or six years. It came to us after a trip I made to Bangkok, and since then this little flower has become very much part of our identity. According to the book, dandelions have been around for some 30 million years, which means, technically, our logo is 30 million years old.

Dandelions have appeared in ancient Egyptian, Roman, Arabic and Anglo-Saxon texts, and have a long history as a medicinal plant, used by cultures across the world to treat all sorts of ailments. But there is even more to this little flower. Its stems and leaves contain a milky latex, and it has also been used to create natural dyes, with yellow coming from the flowers and purple tones from the leaves.

And then there is the question of what a dandelion actually is. Is it an invasive weed, an unwanted intruder that appears where it wasn’t invited? Or is it a beautiful wildflower that simply has an extraordinary ability to grow almost anywhere?

Perhaps that is exactly why I love it so much. The more you discover about the dandelion, the more remarkable it becomes. Resilient, useful, beautiful, ancient and almost impossible to contain. Its seeds travel with the wind, find somewhere new to land and start all over again.

The Hidden Histories of Flowers is beautifully illustrated, full of wonderful stories and a fantastic source of inspiration. I absolutely love it and can highly recommend it, both as a book to keep and as a beautiful gift.

Not forever. We have simply decided to focus all our Singapore energy on one shop, one team and one location. But before we leave, I wanted to say a proper thank you, because our time at TANGS has been such a happy one.

Our relationship started at Boutique Fairs, and from the beginning I absolutely adored the team. We laughed a lot, learned a lot and had such a good time together. TANGS is an incredible location, an inspiring department store and, most importantly, full of wonderful people.

But one of the things that made me love being there was the story of C.K. Tang himself.

He arrived in Singapore in 1923 and started by selling lace and linen door to door. Years later, he made a bold move and opened on Orchard Road, at a time when the area was nowhere near the shopping destination it is today. People thought the location was a terrible idea.

He bet on Orchard Road anyway. And he was right.

But what I love most is that his success was not built on cleverness alone. It was built on honesty. His philosophy was simple: tell the customer the truth, give them value, treat them properly and they will come back.

We can make the prettiest shop in the world, create beautiful patterns and dream up wonderful products, but none of that means very much if the person walking through the door does not feel looked after.

Retail is about people. So for now, we are putting all our focus into Great World. But we leave TANGS with a lot of love, very happy memories and huge affection for the people we met there.

This is not goodbye.

It is simply: see you again soon, TANGS.