Bows and Hearts and a Whole Heap More.

Being sick and then sicker was not fun.

2010-08-06T21:30:00.004+10:00

Wow...it has been a while again. I have been very sick for about 2 weeks; I am just recovering now. I still have no idea what happened to me. I asked the doctor and all he said was, "Oh...you were very ill."

On a certain Thursday afternoon, I left work early thinking that I have a sore throat (my throat being scratchy and all). The doctor gave me antibiotics (amoxycillin as usual). And I thought that I would be okay again the next day, so much so that I did not even ask for a medical certificate for the next day.

On Thursday night, my throat felt so bad that I had to keep on having lozenges. It was just barely bearable (meaning any more up the pain scale and I would have fainted)! I thought that it would take a while for the medication to take effect so I just rested in bed, going through lozenges by the dozen (not kidding)!!

On Friday night, my body gave up, I think. Why? My throat hurt so much that I could not even swallow my own saliva or any fluids. Everything I try to swallow my own saliva, I felt like someone was running a metallic brush against my throat. To add on to my misery, I developed a chesty cough with lots of phlegm (I know it sounds gross but I am pretty sure almost everyone has phlegm in their life before so...) I had also got a fever at that point. I went through all the tissue boxes in the house.

Come Saturday morning, I was severely dehydrated and probably starving(couldn't feel any hunger pangs due to so much pain in other areas). So, I went to the doctor again. Obviously the medication was not helping AT ALL.

2 minutes into my consultation, the doctor got very worried. He told me to stop my antibiotics as they were 'destroying my immune system' (I was delirious at that time so I can't exactly remember). He then proceeded to give me a 'penicillin' (again, delirious, can't remember properly) shot which was a deep muscle shot. Why did I say 'deep muscle'? Because it was the kind of injection where the doctor had to push the needle in deep into my body. After the injection, I vomitted right away when I stood up. I felt like a pen had been poked into my butt.

The doctor then became even more concerned and ordered a nurse to draw my blood for a blood test. They then put my blood test through as an 'emergency' and told me that the results would be back the next day (on a Sunday...so I guess my illness was pretty serious?). I was too dehydrated so I did not ask much. They forced liquids into me (medicated icy poles..lol. My first time hearing and tasting them). I had to lie down for about half an hour at the clinic before I could stand up to go home. Apparently, they were very worried that I might have glandular fever. That would mean that everyone who had contact with me would need to be tested.

I was sick for another week or so where I could not stop coughing. It was like a constant cough. Silly me tried to go back to work after 3 days...and got home sicker. When I went to the doctor again, they said my chest sounded fine now but my sinuses were still blocked. I asked what happened to me, all they said were, "Oh...you were very sick".

I am all well now but I am really curious as to what happened to me...and why all the 3 doctors would not tell me what happened to me. Were they trying to cover for the first doctor who gave me the wrong medicine?

Bah...who knows. All I know is I do not want to be that sick again.

P/S: On the brighter side, I have obtained Australian Permanent Residency just yesterday!! I am quite happy to get it after 4.5 months, especially I have friends who have been waiting for up to a year. I guess doing my Masters, spending 6 years in Australia and having some industry experience do help to speed my application up! :). Thanks everyone who has given their support when I was jumping through hoops (medical testing, completing paperwork and more paperwork) during my application.

Sleepless in Melbourne

2010-07-18T02:06:00.002+10:00

So, what do you do when your family and closest bestie are always more than 8 hours plane ride away from you?

What do you do when you feel scared, betrayed, heartbroken, cold, lonely and vulnerable with no one by your side at 2am in the morning?

What do you do when you look at your MSN Messenger and realised that you have 272 contacts but can't find one that you can actually talk to? And the same for the 384 friends on Facebook. And 95% of those friends, you actually have met and know in real life?

What do you do when your plans for your life yesterday is no longer valid because the circumstances have changed so drastically today?

What do you do when you feel like crying (and hope that you will feel better after crying like when you were living at home and had family and friends around you) only to realise that crying alone without family and friends doesn't solve any problems nor does it help to make anything better? (Would a tear still be a tear if no one sees the tear?...Lol...I just have to type that because that just pops into my head.)

What do you do if your mother is the type who condones any signs of weaknesses (and you only have cried in front of her once ever since age 8) and your father thinks that you are in year 6 when you were in year 4?*

What do you do when there is a 'proper' solution to your problems but the solution would just hurt for a long long time with no promise of things getting better?

Well, I type out my feelings onto my blog, then put those feelings into a box in the corner of my heart along with all the other boxes accumulated over the years and move on with life.

Because I simply don't know what else to do?

*I love my family but they are just the type to keep their emotions to themselves. We don't hug or kiss or pat each other on the shoulders...ever since I could remember.

I am a dress person.

2010-07-11T16:57:00.002+10:00

So, what kind of a person are you? I am not talking about the moral aspect of your personality...more like...are you a dress person? Or shoes? Or bags? Or makeup. You get the drift.

I have always been a dress person for as long as I can remember. I constantly get distracted by dresses whenever I am out shopping for something else (for example, a coat). I would then come back with 3 new dresses instead of whatever I set out to buy. S would always have to keep reminding me that I am there to get a new coat, not 12910291 new dresses!

Most of the times, I am too lazy to accessorize even though I DO realise that a dress can only look good to a certain extent without the right accessories and makeup. I get turned off by a dress if I have to wear extra layers or accessories to 'pretty' it up. My justification is that the foundation to every good outfit is a good dress (or top + skirt...since I don't wear pants). I was going to say it is just like the foundation to every good painting is a good canvas but then I realised that I know nothing about painting.

I know a lot will beg to differ. I have heard the saying "Don't judge the outfit until you have the right pair of shoes on" so many times. My excuse is that I have extremely flat feet and 99.99% of shoes hurt my feet, even flats. I usually get a pair of very well padded black flats for summer and a pair of comfortable flat black boots for winter. I wear them with almost every outfit until they wear out then I will get a similar pair again. Very boring, I know, but I am sick of limping around in a pair of gorgeous high heels. When I wear a pretty dress, I want to feel good as well. When I was younger, I was willing to compromise on comfort (ie, high heels and very tight dresses). Now that I am older, I just really need an item to be comfortable enough on me before I buy them. Unless, the item is so awesome that I need to have it. That happens once in a blue moon.

That's not to say that I don't get excited by bags, shoes or makeup every now and then. I am just...pretty loyal to dresses. Haha!

These are two of the new dresses I have got over the past 2 weeks or so.

White lace dress. I love this dress so much that I got it in black too.

I just love the lace details on the dress.

I have also been up to my old tricks again by wearing a suppose-to-be-a-nightie dress out as a day dress. Peter Alexander has such pretty nightie that I NEED to wear them out during the day. They are just too pretty to be only seen at night by S and me!

Peter Alexander Nightie worn as a day dress.
I love the big frilly collar!!

I actually wore both of these dresses to work! Haha! One good thing about my workplace is that I don't have to wear suits! As long as I look neat and presentable, my manager is fine with whatever I wear.

I am also excited that Spring is coming soon! More dresses! Yippie!

I should just start a Dress club. Any members? Haha!

Ciao for now!

Your inner child

2010-06-27T20:52:00.003+10:00

I believe that there is always an inner child inside everyone, no matter how old you are. For example, I can never resist the urge to start popping bubble wrap whenever I get my hands on any. Or my constant love of all things pink and ruffly.

In fact, I don't think I have grown up at all on the inside. Just the other day, I saw an advertisement on TV advertising a new "Invisible paint brush" toy for children and I yelled out to S that I absolutely have to get it. The colours are invisible when you dip the brush into the pots of colours but the colours become visible when you actually apply the brush onto paper. How amazing! I wish toys were this innovative when I was young. I was stuck with Polly Pocket and Barbie dolls.

I am still constantly on the lookout for dresses with Peter Pan collars, pieces with ruffly bits, lacy smocks or just cute pink clothing. Sadly to say, I haven't seen much pink dresses in Melbourne lately. There have been a lot of reds, grays, blacks and purples in the stores this Winter but no pink. In fact, I don't recall seeing much pink at all for the past few years. To all retailers, please bring back a childhood collection!!!

Polka dots is also one of my favourite patterns. Here I am, wearing a double breasted polka dot dress just back from work.

Polka dot double breasted dress.

I really hope to see stores selling clothes that are really cute, affordable and frilly yet professional enough to wear to work. I know Alannah Hill does really cute and frilly pieces but their prices are on the high end. Buying something from them is like an investment to me now rather than a pleasure buy.

Cute, frilly, affordable, romantic yet professional.
An extremely hard criteria to fulfill but I can hope, can't I?

What is your least favourite month?

2010-06-22T19:43:00.003+10:00

I have been away for nearly 2 months now!

I have just been so busy with work and my father and cousin visiting me from overseas!

I think I will make my blog more of a personal/lifestyle blog rather than about my fashion and makeup hauls. However, I love fashion and makeup so I guess those topics will still remain a huge part of this blog.

My least favourite month of the year is June. In June, winter arrives in Melbourne. Even though it does not snow in Melbourne, there are gusts of wind that rattles your bones when you walk in the open, even with 2 layers of tights, boots and a thick coat. Probably even more so for me as I grew up in sunny Malaysia/Singapore.

I miss being able to wear pyjamas-masquerading-as-a-dress as it's simply far too cold nowadays.

Peter Alexander pyjamas worn as a normal day dress which I got on sale for AUD$15!!! RRP$60!!
Monash University graduation bear.

I also like June the least because it's the end of financial year in Australia. That translates to HELL for accounting/finance personnel. It's starting to get chaotic at work trying to clean up this year's accounts instead of letting them sneaking over to first of July.

And also, June means the crazy end of financial year (they actually have a name for it - EOFY) sales in Australia. I can't decide if I love the sale or hate it yet. The markdowns are unbelievable but so are the crowds. You cannot find parking, you cannot find your size, you need to queue up for 20minutes to try one 1 dress, someone stepped on my toe...la la la la la. I have actually been avoiding the shops as the above reasons simply destroy my shopping libido, if that makes sense.

Oh well. I still can't believe that I spent 18 years of my life studying just so I can face hell every June (trying frantically to clean up company's accounts) and to wear the dress below. And the dress isn't even that nice.

The dress I spent 18 years studying to get. Not even that nice.

Oh, don't I love being an adult in June.

Anzac Day

2010-04-26T15:59:00.002+10:00

It's a public holiday in Aussieland today- ANZAC Day. It's a day to commemorate the military actions undertaken by the Australian and NZ troops during the first world war. There was an ANZAC Day parade in the city yesterday. I am just glad to get the occasional day off work. And then cry at the piling workload tomorrow. Haha!

I finally paid a visit to South Wharf DFO (Direct Factory Outlets) last week and it was pretty good! I got 3 Peter Alexander pieces for only AUD$81! Usually one nightie from Peter Alexander already costs $80 but I got 3 (2 dresses and 1 cardigan) for that price!

Peter Alexander nightie which I am wearing as a dress. I love the tulle layers.

I love it how there is a clingy lining underneath the tulle layers so even when it is windy (and it is in Melbourne!), only the tulle layers fly up!

Peter Alexander Peach chiffon layered dress. This is my first peach dress!

I love twirling around in it!

I went for a skincare/cosmetics fix yesterday and spent more than I thought in 2 hours! It always happen!!! You only get a few things and somehow, they add up to a lot! Grrr!!

The Face Shop Oil-free Cleansing Oil. Ironic huh?

This works really well. I have tried out other brands of cleansing oil before but this is by far the best I have tried. It does not leave my skin oily after washing it off with water. The oil-free cleansing oil is really light...not really dense like all of the others that I have tried. It takes off all traces of makeup, including my waterproof mascara.

Benefit Brows Zing in Medium.

I like it how it comes with the 2 brushes and the tweezers!

This thickens AND lengthens my lashes!!!

When I see the Eiffel Tower pair, I couldn't resist!

I am currently hooked on Glee!! It's such an awesome show...I feel like standing up and singing along to them! And I can't even sing!

My inner Mariah (however tiny that inner soul is) is roaring to come out whenever I hear Lea Michele singing. For some weird reason, I see myself in pink jammies, pink scarf, glittery hair clips and a pink phony-microphone (:P) jumping up and down on my bed!

I think I might try that out tonight since I did not get a chance to do that when I was young!

Ciao!

Autumn in Melbourne

2010-04-16T22:44:00.002+10:00

It has started getting colder here in Melbourne. Last week was all sunny and then all of a sudden, I found myself shivering at work. I started wearing my new Forever New winter coat a bit earlier than expected. I was expecting to start wearing a coat only in June!!!

These days, I have actually been wearing double layers of 200 denier tights to work and my new coat. I have no idea how I am going to survive when actual winter hits. 3 layers of tights?

I bought this Forever New coat because it's sensible. And it fits me well. Or that's what I like to think. I am very fussy about coats for some weird reason. 4 years ago, I decided that I need a reliable coat for winter. And then, 3 years later (which was last year), I finally bought one.

I need a coat to be sensible for everyday wear, to go well with almost every item in my wardrobe, warm and at least mildly fashionable.

So I got a black one with a ruffled collar this year.

My new Forever New black ruffled collar coat.

Love the ruffled collar and the sewn in belt.

Love the back as well. Simple and cute.

Bah, other than coats, I still hate the cold.

Another thing I love about the cold is how my makeup will last throughout the day. My eyeliner always smudge in summer. My foundation always seem to melt halfway through the day. And any hint of blush on my cheeks in summer always make me seem hot and flustered instead of glowing.

So I took advantage of the cold weather and put on 4 fake lashes for Cecilia's 18th birthday last week. 2 upper and 2 lower. I could actually see the fake lashes the whole time! Like tiny black strands in front of me.

Looked natural. But I had about 1 pound of makeup on. And 4 fake eyelashes.

I am going to catch up on the blog entries that I have missed reading while working hard at being an adult for the past 2 weeks.

I want to be a kid forever.

Sigh!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T16:30:00.002+10:00

Hello everyone! Happy Easter! How have you been spending your Easter? There's a 4 days long weekend (Friday to Monday) in Australia for employees and a week to two break for students! I will rather not reveal the gastronomic sins (however delightful!!) that S and I have been engaging in throughout the weekend! His mom actually bought us presents for Easter!!! We both got huge Lindt eggs...then little ones...then a book for me...then slippers for him! It's like Christmas for us!

I haven't eaten so much since Christmas...:( *Looks down in shame and guilt*.

I have also got to do something that I have been wanting to do for a while now.

About 9 months ago, I got permanent hair extensions (by individual braids) when I went back to Singapore. I have been having hair extensions for about 2 years now. Everytime I went back to visit my parents, I would get new hair extensions.

Some of you may recall the following picture. This was the day when I got my extensions done in July last year.

My hair extensions and I in July 09.

In January, it started looking a bit unruly and messy since you can't really comb it or give it a style cut properly.

As of last week, I was sporting a pretty just-out-of-bed hair look. I tried my very hardest to pretend that I was feeling sexy with my tousled hair but inside, I was screaming for a cut!

Me with Krissy and Cecilia. My let's-pretend-my-messy-hair-is-on-purpose hair as of last week.

So I took the chance this long weekend to go get a style cut and a colour. My black roots were all showing!!! I was terrified that hairdressers would be closed for the Easter. It turned out that ALL the hairdressers in Chinatown were open throughout the Easter holidays. Basically, the entire city was dead other than Chinatown which was bursting with erm...busyness?

I dread getting a haircut and colour because I hate spending 4 hours in a chair, in front of a full length mirror with strange stuff in my head (foils and white cream), being scruntised by the hairstylist and the colourist. Also, the shame of travelling to the city to get a haircut in very very messy and unruly hair.

Anyway, I am happy that the ordeal is over.

My new hairstyle and colour.

I wanted to go lighter but the colourist mentioned that I would need to bleach my hair if I want to go to a level 7 (currently a level 6 in the photo). Also, he did show the very slightest disapproval that anything lighter is too light for me. It was a Korean hair salon and I do notice from Korean dramas that most female stars do not go too light (not as light as Japanese female celebrities where they go crazy with their platinum blond or fire engine red). Perhaps the disapproval? No idea.

Anyway, I am pretty happy with the results. I can go to work faster now. No more trying to tame my messy hair extensions.

Not for a while, at least. I will be tempted to get them again after a while, I guess.

Ciao for now.

My virgin TransDesign haul and my movie nights

2010-03-27T19:48:00.009+11:00

Hiya, how has everyone been? I have disappeared for quite a while. I have been working for almost a month now! It's an old cliche but time really does fly! I remember a few months ago, I was just ranting about how I couldn't find a job despite 6 years at uni and 2 years of full time and part time work experience.

The job market seems to be a little bit better now but we are still on the the road to recovery after the financial crisis. I mentioned this in the 'Unemployed' thread on VF before, but I will say it again here anyway. One of my friends has recently got a new job. She has 2 to 3 years of relevant experience before and is way into her CA/CPA (professional accounting qualification). Two years ago, she would expect to start on a salary of 55k to 60k. Nowadays, a lot of firms are offering 40k to 45k, which was the starting salary for a graduate two years ago. Hopefully, the recovering economy will mean a salary boost! Then I can buy more things!! Hehe!

I have just received a package from TransDesign after 10 working days. I have ordered some OPI and China Glaze nail polishes!

From L to R: OPI Teal the Cows Come Home, OPI Designer Series Glow, OPI Dim Sum Plum, CG Holo DV8, CG Anklets of Amethysts, CG Peachy Keen, CG Metallic Muse, CG Lemon Fizz, CG C-C-Courage

I haven't finished trying all of them yet but I was really excited when they came! Here are some pictures of the ones I have tried:

OPI Teal The Cows Come Home

I have been wanting this for a while now. It's a little tad more greenish in real life. I love it so much!

OPI Dim Sum Plum

This looks really great in bright daylight. When I was taking the train the other day, the colour looks so lovely against the pole in the train I was on. The poles were like a shrek-like green and the two colours just look so pleasing together! Speaking of which, I can't wait for the Shrek collection to be out for OPI!

OPI Mad As A Hatter on top of CG Metallic Muse

The metallic shade is really hard to work with. In one word, it is messy. But the results are quite rewarding. In real life, it's like a lighter shimmery shade. It took me a while to get it right. The metallic polish dries really fast so if you paint too slow, it will create unevenness. So what I did was swipe a big blob of colour onto the brush, drop the blob onto the nails and then push out the polish evenly instead of trying to build up the colour. At first, I tried to build up the colour (as I do with the other polishes) by painting a little on...then waiting for it to dry...then adding more to the nail. BIG FREAKING MISTAKE. I had to remove the polish and tried again.

I can't wait to try all the other colours!

I have been to the cinemas twice this week!

She's out of my league.

Image credit: Google

This seems like a movie with a cookie cutter rom com (romantic comedy) script that I wasn't really expecting much out of it. My first thought was actually..."Ooo nice Herve Leger dress!". LOL!

But to my BIG surprise, it turned out better than I thought. There were a lot of hilarious scenes which made me laughed out loud. Some of the scenes were so embarrassing for the main character that I actually cringed and covered my eyes because I couldn't bare to see the shame/embarrassment that actually befall on him.

I know the previous sentence sounds like an oxymoron since hilarious scenes are supposed to make one laugh...so I probably didn't need to add the "made me laughed out loud" bit at the end. BUT, I have to! I am not someone who laugh easily. I have a very...weird sense of humour. I didn't laugh once when I watched "Click" (Comedy by Adam Sandler). I found the humour to be too...expected. The humour in this flick is definitely NOT 'expected'.

How to train your dragon in 3D.
Image credit: Google

I just came home from watching this an hour ago. It's too cute!!! All the dragons look so different from the traditional 'green scaled, big fangs' dragons. One of them actually looked like a rhino head with a bee body!

I am meeting up with 2 of the girls I met from blogging tomorrow and I can't wait! It's so great to make friends from blogging!

And I can't wait for Easter! 4 days weekend! Saying that, I have already told my manager that I might go back to the office to work despite the 4 days off! Why?!?!?! If I don't, I will probably fall back on my work and I will probably have to stay until 7pm for the next 2 weeks after Easter. Sometimes, I am not sure if I want public holidays or not.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Ciao for now!

I miss my life!

2010-03-16T20:26:00.002+11:00

I have been away from the blogging world or any other world other than work world as a matter of fact FOR SO VERY LONG!

For the past 2.5 weeks, I have been waking up at 7am and getting home at 7pm! After cooking, laundry, shower, whatever stupid annoying errands I have to run, it's bed time!

I miss the days where I would get a full 5 hours in front of my PC doing things until I get so bored! Haha!

I DID NOT go back to the city to get the top and the skirt that I failed to get during the terrible Melbourne hail because I have had NO energy to do anything other than to sleep after work and all those other errands. Somedays, I don't even eat dinner. I just sleep. Grr!

Anyway, S finally got me my V day present after like donkey years.

He got me a red silk Portmans dress which I wore to work. This is like, the second red dress in my wardrobe so I am quite happy. This is because I usually find red dresses too loud to wear as I am usually a big fan of the romantic pastel colours.

Tired me after work. Oily face, eye bags and smudgy eyeliner. LOL! The face of work life.

Close up of the dress - I love the sweetheart neckline!

Close up of the print.

My only complaint is that it's made of silk. I am a scrooge when it comes to dry cleaning costs. I grew up in a family where everything is handwashed. We have no washing machine. Mum is a bit obsessive about cleanliness. She believes that washing machines are no match for humans when it comes to making dirty clothes clean again.

So I am really disgusted by how high dry cleaning costs are (even though I worked in a dry cleaning shop for about a year or so) and cannot justify paying AUD$15 to get a dress dry cleaned. So I usually hand wash it. A lot more work...but that's the sacrifice I have to make for being a scrooge. Haha!

I picked up 2 skirts on the way as well.

I picked up this cute skirt for only AUD$20! And I wore this entire outfit without the necklace to work today!

Portmans Black Elastic Band Skirt with a Zip

I have been eyeing this black skirt for a while now. I like it that I can pair it with anything. So I waited for it to go on sale!

Cheeky Face

It's becoming colder soon here in Melbourne so I thought I will have a summery outfit to celebrate the end of warm weather. I haven't done that Asian peace sign a lot nowadays. When I was 15, I used to do it in every photo!

I hope I can spend some time this weekend checking out all my favourite blogs again to see what everyone has been up to!

I miss you guys!!!

Now back to sleep...and work again. Sigh.

Caught in Melbourne's terrible hail & why friendship transcends borders (OPI nail polish)

2010-03-07T02:33:00.003+11:00

Melbourne's Rare Hail

I was caught in a rare hail in Melbourne today. I was shopping and in the change room, ready to go out to purchase 1 top and 1 skirt when I was told to evacuate so I didn't get to buy the 2 pieces of clothing!!! I could hear really loud noises in the change room but I just assumed that there was a big storm. I didn't expect hail! The roof of the shopping mall had leaked and the whole shopping mall was flooded!!!

I was then stranded for 2 hours in the city because no trains were running from the nearest train station near me...every cab which drove by me refused to take passengers...and basically there was up-to-my-knee (and at the worst point, up-to-my-waist) flooding for about an hour or so. I had to walk in the rain for an hour or so to reach another train station. It was so chaotic everywhere! There were huge blocks of ice on the road...and I was in a short skirt, slippers and my LV Speedy 30. Sigh!

Maybe it was a message from above telling me NOT to buy the top and the skirt!! Lol!

The ice balls falling from the sky were almost the size of golf balls! A lot of people slipped on them on the sideways and fell! Especially kids! I was struggling not to step on them.
Photo Credits: NineMSN

I was actually walking without an umbrella, in a short skirt, in slippers on THIS very street during the storm. No one offered to share their umbrella with me :(!! Lol!
Photo Credit: NineMSN

I didn't cry or panic...probably because I have been in worse situations before. All that time, I was just thinking, thank god I have been through situations (storms and trapped alone on the streets) like this a lot when I was in high school. As I used to study in Singapore and was living in Malaysia, I had to cross the causeway (the bridge connecting the 2 countries) everyday for primary and high school. Since that was the only bridge connecting those 2 countries at that time, all the land vehicles (including buses, motorcycles, trucks and cars) used that bridge. I was constantly stuck on the bridge due to 2 to 4 hours traffic jams. So even in storms or such, I always used to walk across the 1.4km or so causeway. Getting drenched was a small price to pay for getting home fast.

So many kids were crying and some teens were freaking out.

I was just upset that I couldn't continue shopping and that there was NO weather warning beforehand! It was all sunny when I went out too!

Why friendship transcends borders

Because Jacky remembered reading in on of my blog post that there's something I want and to cheer me up during my depressing 2.5 months of soul destroying job seeking, she bought that something and mailed it to me all the way from Singapore. And added 2 other goodies with it.

From L to R: Seche Dry Fast Top Coat, OPI Mad As A Hatter, Seche Base Coat

OPI Mad As A Hatter.
I trimmed my nails! My old nails were getting a tad yellow from all the nail polish overload.

OPI Mad As A Hatter. Look at the pretty glitters!

Jacky works at a beauty emporium so she has lots of beauty info for me! Usually glitters are quite a chore to remove...but with Seche Base Coat...all the glitters stick to the base coat and when I tried to remove this nail polish, the entire layer of polish came off...like a fake nail without harming my own nails! Genius!

The Seche top fast dry coat really works! It dries my nail polish really fast...good for impatient people like me!

Thanks, J!

P/S: Now....they mentioned on TV that there's going to be a storm tomorrow too. But I really want that top and skirt that I missed buying today. So, should I go into the city tomorrow again to try to buy them? Clothes or safety? Haha...that's hard!!!

Busy Bee

2010-03-02T23:31:00.002+11:00

I just realised that I haven't updated in a week or so!! I have just been busy lately since I went to Canberra (the capital of Australia...which many mistakenly think is Sydney) to get some paperwork done for my residency application and also, today is the first day of work for me!

Canberra, Capital of Australia

Canberra was okay.....it was just hard for S and I to get around since we didn't hire a car. We saw a lot of buses around but can't seem to figure where to catch a bus because most of the bus stops had the sign, "Bus stop closed", up. We spent almost AUD$100 on cab fares for 1 day.

Anyway, this is what I wore for my first day of work today:

Outfit for first day of work

Haha...you can tell that my body is still adjusting to the 8.30 till 5.30 work life because of my eye bags! Last week I was still enjoying my week off and was sleeping from 6am till 3pm!

I need more work clothes!!! I have been out searching for work appropriate clothes for about 4 times now and I haven't found anything I like! Grrr....need to shop more this weekend...since it's all for work!!! Heehee!

Yawn...going to bed now!

Ciao!

The battle of the spoon and the tweezers and other short stories

2010-02-23T18:42:00.002+11:00

The Battle of the Spoon and the Tweezers

Battle between the spoon and the tweezers - Who will win?

Many many moons ago, Princess H decided that her Prince Charming must be fuss AND fuzz free. Prince S was already relatively fuss free so Princess H decided that she would make him fuzz free since he was unwilling to do it himself.

Prince S had a very low threshold of pain so Princess H had to start small. She decided to start from the eyebrows. With her tweezers in hand, she crept towards Prince S, who was very engrossed in defeating monsters and dragons (some PC game). But alas, her spy skills were almost non-existent! She was very quickly discovered by Prince S...who had to grab the nearest weapon to him! A spoon!

Prince S grabbed the nearest weapon - a spoon!

An exciting and life threatening battle ensued!! Who will be the victor?

Eventually, Princess H VERY NEARLY died. From laughter! She surrendered in the end. She decided that a prince who could make her laugh and be happy is more important than a fuzz free prince.

And so, they live happily ever after. For a while until Princess H is able to successfully ambush Prince S.

The story of the peanut butter steak

Culinary class is one of the required classes for Princess H on her way to become a fully pledged housewife (a very important and respected job in Prince S' make believe world of silly men who can't cook). However, Princess H is simply not satisfied just by following recipes. To her, cooking is an art. She can become a good cook simply by adhering to recipes very strictly but she believes that an excellent cook needs to do more than her.

So she used peanut butter as a base sauce to cook steaks one night. With other spices like cummin, soy, garlic, honey and butter, of course.

Peanut butter steak with 4 cheese pasta

Prince S enjoyed it very much and gobbled everything down in 5minutes before turning his attention to fighting dragons and monsters on his computer again.

End of the day

After a life threatening battle and dinner, Princess H decided to treat herself by playing with her nail polishes. After all, when she starts full time work next week, she will not have time to do decorative nail art.

I had to correct the nails as some of them had dark shadows falling on them.
The clear coat over the flowers take a while to dry. The bubbles are gone when the polish dried.

-The End-

Ciao!

Time line of my job hunt + FOTD

2010-02-19T20:56:00.004+11:00

I got a job offer!!!! Finally!!! After 2 to 2.5 months of searching and probably about 200 resumes later!!!

I went for 3 interviews the past 2 weeks and had to cancel a scheduled interview for next Monday because I have decided to accept this job that I was offered yesterday. I will write out a time line of my job seeking process since it's easier to read in point form:

Mid Dec to End of January

Sent out lots of resumes everyday. Applied for everything from sales assistant roles to IT roles.
Got 2 interviews.

1) A junior accounting role that I REALLY wanted. After 1.5 months of testing and 2 interviews later, I ended up in tears (which I blogged about here).

2) A receptionist role which was pretty well paid (better than most graduate roles). I didn't get it. Wasn't upset as I was expecting the outcome anyway.

This period is the most stressful since I wasn't getting much call backs at all. I was getting at least 2 to 10 rejection emails everyday. That should give you a rough idea of how many jobs I was applying for everyday since only about 30% of the jobs that I had applied for will get back to me with a rejection letter.

First 2 weeks of February

I got 4 interviews - 2 of them in a day over the first 2 weeks. I guess what a voguette was saying on the VF's unemployment thread was true - more opportunities after the entire holiday season even though none of them are graduate accountant roles.

1) An admin and account assistant job which I was offered and happy about! It's about 10mins by public transport away from my house. It's a growing and well known company so I am really happy about that - means career progression opportunity.

2) Medical receptionist in a swanky building - very high pay per hour but both Mom and S feel that there are no career progression. Haven't heard back from them yet.

3) Receptionist role in a big company with many offices in Australia. They said that they would get back to me this week to see if I got into the next round of interviews. I was disheartened that there would be testing and 2 rounds of interview for a receptionist role but I guess they wanted someone who would take on that role as a career.

4) Admin and IT support. I had to cancel this job interview today. The director was so nice about it and even congratulated me on my job offer. I was feeling guilty about it all day and wondered if I should just go for the interview. But then I didn't want to waste both of our time so I called up to cancel and apologize for any trouble.

- End of boring job seeking stuff -

- Start of "COME TO MAMA - CUE, OPI, SHOPPING, FACIALS, MAKEUP!"

Okay okay, not all at once. But there is a possibility now.

A simple FOTD

At the start of the day.

After a couple of hours. Held up pretty well.

My whole face.

I like this look quite a bit. It's colourful but not over the top and subtle enough for the day.

P/S: Anyone know of any good facial places that do extractions and then a mask or two after the entire painful process? I used to go to Boxhill but it's so far away for me now! Melbourne CBD and inner north/west areas would be great!!

And, thanks for everyone's support during my job seeking process. I don't have much friends in Melbourne and blogging has certainly made me some really nice friends, including some that I am dying to meet again in real life!

Thanks so much, kind souls!

Ciao!

Forgive me for I have sinned - fashionably

2010-02-13T03:15:00.002+11:00

I walked into Bardot the other day and spent 1.5hours in there. Sadly, I broke my shopping ban again. I was feeling really down and rejected so I wanted something to cheer me up. I was thinking that I have been at my current part time for nearly 2 months but I haven't been able to spend any of the money that I have earned. So I was like, screw it, I need something pretty.

I was only going to get 1 skirt and 1 top but the sales assistant informed me that I will be able to get a Bardot membership card which offers 10% for the rest of my life if I spent over $200. So I did. I got 10% off so I got $20 off. Needless to say, I went straight home after 1 shop. Because I can't afford to spend anymore. Lol!

I have been seeing a lot of strong shoulders and exposed zips in the trends nowadays (probably brought on by Balmain). I was a bit skeptical as to how tops with strong shoulders will look on me since I already have broad shoulders but they turned out pretty okay. Both of the tops I have bought from Bardot have puffed shoulders.

1) Bardot Floral Puff Shoulders Top

I got this at 50% off for....$20!! I am pretty happy with it. It's really comfortable to wear. In fact, I am wearing it right now.

Bardot Floral Puff Shoulders Top for AUD$20!!

2) Lace top with puff shoulders + Velvet Polka Dot Bow Back Skirt

I have previously tried on something similar at Cue but didn't buy it as I thought it looked a bit blah. It seems like lace lattice tops are coming back into fashion again. I can't believe I threw away a lace lattice top about 2 years ago.

I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE this skirt! It's made of polyester which feels like thick silk with big black VELVET polka dots throughout. It also has a big bow at the back which I can wear in front as well.

Bardot Lace Lattice Top + Bardot Velvet Polka Dot Bow Back skirt + Wittner Triple Bow Nude Heels
Can you see how much I love bows? Spot the number of bows on me!!

Close up!

The polka dots are made of velvet!!

Back of the skirt! It can be worn front as well.

Back of outfit! The lace top has an exposed zip which I love!!!

I got this pair of Wittner heels a while back but never got the chance to wear it. YET!!

3) Necklace to make up the $200 needed to get membership card.

I discover that for some reason, the colourful floral puffed shoulders top looks better in photos while the black/cream outfit actually looks A LOT better in REAL LIFE.

S thinks it's because the floral top is so colourful.

I am very happy with the skirt! I love bow back skirts!

Job Hunting Update: Nothing yet...grrr! My current job was supposed to end yesterday but my boss has given 2 extra days next week. After that, I will be truly jobless. :(

My Sasa Haul

2010-02-06T18:41:00.002+11:00

The lovely ladies from the Vogue Forum's Introvert thread had a meet today but I wasn't able to make it. I was planning to go and blogged about the event but S just had toe surgery yesterday. His movements are very restricted so I thought I better stay at home to look after him. Sharon is here to help as well and she has been an enormous help. I have been very tired and stressed out from work (which ends next week) and job searching lately so I am so happy that she's here to help out with looking after S and random household chores.

So I thought I will blog about my first online order with Sasa. The products arrived about 2 weeks ago. When I was living in Singapore/Malaysia, Sasa was like Priceline in Australia, readily available every corner. Now, I have to resort to online ordering!! When will they get Sasa in Melbourne? Grrr...

Anyway, onto the items I got.

1) Dr Jart Silver Label BB Cream

Dr Jart Silver Label BB Cream

BB Cream (Blemish Balm/Base) has been very popular in Asia for quite a few years now. I can probably write a long essay on its uses and ingredients but I can't be bothered. That's what Google is for. In short, it's like a tinted cream which heals, moisturizes and rejuvenates your skin while you have it on. It's like skincare + makeup. Supposedly, plastic surgeons used to prescribe a strong concentration of an active ingredient in the BB creams commercialised (think Dr Jart, Missha, Skin79, FaceShop..lalala...even Maybelline Japan has a BB Cream now) nowadays to plastic surgery patients for the covering up of bruises and healing.

I have tried out Missha Gold BB Cream a year ago and it made me broke out so I was put off BB Cream for a while. I got the Missha BB Cream because there are Missha outlets in Melbourne.

I was interested to try out some BB Creams again and after reading reviews, I decided to get the Dr Jart's one. This silver label one is for whitening. I just want an even complexion.

Picture speaks louder than words...so here you go:

A blob of Dr Jart's Silver Label BB Cream

My bare face.

My face with Dr Jart's Silver Label BB Cream

Pardon my eyebags and bad hair. This is what months of job searching do to you. It sucks away your soul. LOL!

I am not sure if you can tell the difference but I can see it. My skin is more even with the BB Cream on. It also looks very natural like you have no makeup on at all.

Here is a better comparison:

Comparison: Bare Face and with BB Cream

The main thing I like is it's healing my face as well. Supposedly, after months of use, your skin will be more even toned and softer. I notice that my skin has been softer even after I wash the BB Cream off.

Cons? Can't get it in Australia. Also, there is only 1 shade. So if you have lovely olive or dark skin, it will probably make you look washed out.

2) Lifecella Mask

I have tried out some LifeCella Masks when I was living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I bought a pack from Sasa and they were marvellous.

LifeCella Gel Mask

It's a gel mask. That means no more messy dripping liquid on your face when you try to put the mask on. Just apply and take off later. No liquid, no washing. That's the best part about it.

Differences before and after using the mask.

My face felt soft and moisturized after using it. I like it. It's a tad pricey for my liking. It comes in a pack of 5. So that means that I can only use it 5 times. It's about AUD$18 per pack. It's not much compared to brands like Clinique or Shisedo but a tube of mask from Clinique usually lasts me for 6 months.

3) Tsubaki Shampoo and Conditioners

This brand of shampoo and conditioner was very sought after when it was first released in Asia. It comes in a normal range and a damaged hair range.

Tsubaki Damaged Hair shampoo and conditioner.

It's a tad too moisturizing, if that makes any sense? With my normal shampoo, after a hair wash, my hair feels soft and fluffy. I feel okay washing my hair every other day.

BUT...with this one, after a day of not washing my hair, my hair felt oily. It feels great after you washed it though...like each strand of hair is heavier and silkier? Maybe silicon built up?

Anyway, I was happy that I only got sample sizes. Too nourishing in my case...and I have very dry, damaged dyed hair!!!

*Thumbs Down for me*

4) Clinique Hydrating Eye Gel

Clinique Hydrating Eye Gel. Yes, yes, that's my Optus phone bill in the background.

I haven't seen any effects yet? I was using Clinique's All About Eyes and All About Eyes Rich before and they were too oily for me. I was getting those tiny little white seeds around my eyes.

This one is not as oily...but I can't see any effects yet. Perhaps, I will see some in a few months' time.

I love beauty products, especially masks. Let's hope that I can get a full time job soon so that I can sustain my love for fashion, makeup and beauty!!!

Ciao!

My first Forever 21 order from their site.

2010-01-30T22:38:00.003+11:00

I went in a group order with some lovely voguettes a couple of weeks ago and finally received my Forever 21's order just a few days ago. To be honest, I was surprised at the quality! For such cheap prices, I did not expect such good quality. I am a fan!!

I got 3 items since it was my first order. I was being a bit wary because according to their size charts, I can't fit into even their L size. But I had the same problem in the past before...sizing charts always say that I am an Australian size 18/20 but I always managed to fit into their size 12 or 14 (vanity sizing?). The prices are too good to be missed...especially since I have other voguettes to split the postage with!

1) Hat headband.

I got this hat headband just for the fun of it since I love headbands and don't have something like this. It's a bit over-the-top but so very fun to put it on. I like to pretend that I am a performer when I put it on. Lol!

Forever 21 hat headband. So fun to put on!

I wonder how long I can keep doing this until I get too old.

Sparkly sparkly.

2) Lace skirt.

This skirt looks a lot longer on the Forever 21's website. It's actually quite short in real life. But the first day I wore it, I have received about 4 compliments so it must be really nice. I really like it though. Just wish it's just an inch longer.

Tried it on with a red top.

Be in awe of my marvellous drawing skills!

Look, my bf's so talented at photography! LOL! We make such a fine couple - awesome drawing then awesome photography. Lol...I have been really tired and depressed lately and hence the eyebags.

Love the lace details!

3) Tweed jacket.

This tweed jacket was the object of my anger during my breakdown as mentioned in the previous post. I ripped out the lovely lining in a fit of anger. It would be so lovely if it actually fits me properly. It looks so good on the hanger.

Lovely jacket. Does NOT fit properly. I wish it would cover more of my chest.

Looking so lovely on the hanger. I probably need an XL or XXL but the largest is an L. BUT...if there is an XL or XXL, everywhere else will be too loose for me, especially the sleeves.

Thanks everyone for your lovely and kind comments for the last post. They were very helpful and I felt a lot better reading your comments. I guess there's nothing I can do other than to keep looking for a job. The process does eat at me though...I feel like I am dying a little everyday inside and I have stopped hoping. Maybe that's why adults are more cynical of this world than teens or kids.

P/S: The awesome Nicky is having a giveaway!! Do join!

And also, do you think my photos are too big? Should I make them smaller? Feedback please!!

Broken down.

2010-01-28T19:36:00.003+11:00

I just had a massive break down. I couldn't stop crying for 2 hours. I just kept sobbing and sobbing. I think it's a combination of all the stress lately.

I went to the doctor in the morning. I had to go through an expensive medical check up for my permanent residency application. At the initial testing, it was revealed that they found traces of blood in my urine. So the doctor at the immigration health checkup place told me that I had to go to a local GP and got tested again. He said he could not come to a conclusion for my medical check up unless I got that done. So I went again that day late afternoon. So I forked out another 200bucks to get tested again. Same results. They drew blood from me again and found that my kidneys are functioning normally. The local GP thinks I am okay(it's normal for females to get blood in their urine every now and then) but the doctor at the immigration health checkup place may want me to go to a specialist. That will probably cost me like 1000bucks. Now, all I can do is wait. It's not that big a deal but I stress out easily. So that's one.

Then I also had a final stage interview today. I went through online testing, phone interview, interview with the recruitment agency and then today, I got to meet the client. The client was really nice and such. He told me that he likes me but in all honesty, he's looking for someone with experience. So, I am UNDERqualified. For a receptionist position that I went to an interview for 2 weeks ago, they said I am OVERqualified. I think I got really depressed after that. I thought I will have a good chance because I got through to the last stage and that they don't mind giving a fresh graduate a chance. I know I have the skills, the initiative and the diligence. Why won't someone just give me a chance? I even told them at the recruitment agency interview stage that I don't mind receiving minimum wage for a grad position. Because, I am really keen to learn. So, that's two.
(Update: The recruitment agency just put up the same advertisement again a few hours after my interview for this particular job that I got to the last stage today. This time, they took out the part where they said that they will accept a fresh grad. They also added that experience is required. Probably means I was their choice but turned me down because the client really wants someone with experience. I got so close. I feel like saying just give me a year or even 6 months and I will prove that I'm worth the effort. If not, you can fire me after that. But I guess that doesn't work in the real world. I think I am going to have a big freaking sob again before work tomorrow.)

After that, I went to the city to meet some lovely voguettes who were in a Forever21 group order with me. When I got home, everything fits fine except for this tweed jacket that I have been really looking forward to. It doesn't cover my boobs. I can get it on and such but it just doesn't cover my boobs. So, that's three.

Then, someone knocked on the door. I could hear it all the way in the bathroom. But S was playing PC games and that's all he has been doing for the past few weeks or so. He had headphones on and couldn't hear shit. I had to run out in undies to see who it was. It was my neighbour who had held a parcel for me. It was my Sasa order from HK. I was running around frantically trying to find pants while S was just laughing and playing on the computer totally oblivious to his entire surrounding.

I snapped after that. I pulled out the Forever21 tweed jacket and cut out the lining. Because I thought that without the lining, the jacket will stretch more to cover my chest. Then I had a fight with S. And cried non-stop for 2 hours.

I am more calm now.

But why does life has to be so hard. I am going to stop job hunting so hard for a while. I used to spend 2 hours or so everyday for the past 2 months applying for jobs. Every freaking day. 2 freaking months.

I need a break. I am thinking after my current work ends in Mid Feb, I really feel like flying back to Malaysia/Singapore for a while, be by myself, relax. But with my permanent residency application underway, I don't think I can.

I have my Forever21 and Sasa orders to blog about. Probably next few days when I am feeling better.

Happy Australia Day!

2010-01-26T23:19:00.004+11:00

Hello Aussie readers, happy Australia Day! I set my alarm clock to 8.30am this morning in the hopes of doing something for Australia Day but I woke up at 2pm instead. Haha! S was working today so I was hoping to wake up early, get ready, go out to do something Australian and be back before he came home. Waking up at 2pm when he got home at around 1.55pm meant that my plan was a big failure!

So, what's so incredibly important that I wanted to wake up at 8.30am on a day off? Well...

I wanted to go all out this year to celebrate Australia Day since I am applying to become a resident.

AND.....

What's a better way to celebrate Australia Day by BUYING AUSSIE PRODUCTS? CUE WAS HAVING 30% OFF TODAY AND I SLEPT IN!!!! OMG!!! *Sob*

Oh well...there's always next time. I hope. *Fingers crossed*

We went to the nearby park to feed ducks instead. 85% of the bread packs at the Coles near us were already gone. We had to feed the ducks linseed bread. A very healthy meal for the duckies!

The park.

Our destination. Only a few ducks. They all came later.

It was very windy and the sunlight was in my eyes. I was squinting a lot!

There you go duckies!

S' turn to feed them.

More and more ducks. And some pigeons and seagulls.

They started to stalk us!!

Hungry duck.

Happy Australia Day! Sans makeup. Too lazy with makeup these days. Only going to see the ducks and I'm sure I look pretty to them since I have bread anyway.

S likes to take unglam shots of me. He thinks it's funny.

Going home now!

On a side note, Sharon told us that one of her facebook friends, an aboriginal girl, left a nasty message on her wall post after Sharon posted "Happy Australia Day!". The aboriginal girl was upset because Australia Day is also known as invasion day or may be viewed as a celebration of the destruction of the indigenous culture by the British many donkey years ago.

I am no master on that topic but I do hope that one day, all different cultures will be able to celebrate Australia Day peacefully and happily and view it as a day to celebrate the multiculturalism in Australia instead of seeing it as an end to a culture.

I always view the world with rose tinted glasses and wish for peace and happiness. But I guess that's the only way to be happy. To hope.

Ciao!

Disheartened - sad and whiny post

2010-01-21T16:41:00.006+11:00

Too disheartened to blog or read blogs nowadays. But I think I should share some of my worries as well in the hopes that they will become smaller.

1) Job hunting yields no results.

I have been job hunting like a mad woman since Mid-Dec. I have probably sent out about 150 or more resumes and no job yet. I have slowed down in the past week because I have got so disheartened. 6 years of tertiary education, 3 degrees, 2 years of customer service and accounts processing experience while studying, half a page of awards since high school all seem to count for nothing. I have even applied for retail jobs and I haven't even got any news about those. I don't get Centrelink (Aussie welfare system) because I am not a resident (I am in the process of applying to become one) so if I don't get a job by mid-Feb (that's when my current X'mas Casual job ends)...I will probably have to swallow my pride and call my parents for financial help.

2) Medical exam for immigration today yields some bad news.

They found some blood in my urine so I have to pay $120 extra to retake the test. My period is not due for another 10 days so I have no idea why I have blood. According to the doctor, it's quite common for women to get blood in their urine. Even so, the original doctor said he can't come to a conclusion for my medical exam until they find out why I have blood in my urine. Oh god why! It seems like all the obstacles are against me. One hurdle after another. I know it will probably just be like 2 weeks of extra waiting but I get stressed out easily.

3) Lemmings.

When you are low on money, the lemmings' list gets longer. I am OKAY with money now but when my job ends in Mid Feb, I will be in trouble. I walked into CUE today and wanted everything but walked out with nothing.

I also want this but am trying not to get drawn in to put an OPI order through until I get a job
*I do NOT need this, dammit!*:

OPI's Alice in Wonderland collection: Mad as a Hatter
Photo Credit: Google Images
NOT MY NAILS.

I also succumbed to temptation and ordered something from Sasa last week.

I ordered Dr Jart's BB Cream. I used to use Missha's Gold BB Cream but they made me break out. I have read reviews about Dr Jart's BB Cream and it seems pretty good for combination skin.

Dr Jart's BB Cream. In the mail.
Photo Credit: Sasa
In the mail.

I can't wait for it to arrive! I feel really bare going out just with moisturizer sometimes. Hopefully this BB Cream won't break me out.

I also got this in the order because after working in an air-con office, I find my skin to be so very dry, including my eye area.

Clinique's Moisture Surge Eye Gel
Photo Credit: Sasa
In the mail.

I used to use All About Eyes but it proved to be too rich for my eyes, causing me to have mini bumps around my eyes. Hopefully this will be better. I will post photos and reviews when I get them.

Maybe tomorrow when I wake up, everything will be miraculously better. Right now, not waking up doesn't seem that bad either when compared to my current circumstances.

My Cue skirts! Be prepared for onslaught of pics.

2010-01-16T23:19:00.005+11:00

I mentioned in one of my posts earlier that I bought 2 Cue skirts at 50% off. about a week ago. Those were the skirts that made me broke my shopping ban! They were too irresistible. I wore one out today and I felt very 'floaty' (you will know why later). When I have a proper job, I want to buy heaps of Cue clothes. I never used to like their clothes but lately, some of their pieces are very girly but suitable for work wear/day wear too!

Here they are:

The first one - I have been wanting their first version of this since forever. But I could never justified the hefty price tag (for a student) until I found this season's version at 50% off! I paired it with my only white shirt from Review. I love that shirt as well because it's a birthday present from S and also because of its unique collar and sleeves. You can't see the sleeves clearly but it's like a semi "X" shape at the side.

Cue Ruffle Skirt with Review white shirt. Love the collar and sleeves of shirt.

Cue skirt at home. Don't mind the weird smile. I don't smile well in Outfit shots.

It has an exposed zipper on the first layer. Only for erm...'funky' purposes.

Back of skirt

I did what I have always wanted to do with ruffle skirts - SPIN!!!

Okay, spun too much. Nearly fell down.

The second skirt. I think it makes me look skinnier but it's not as much fun to wear as the first one. Still gorgeous nonetheless. At first I was thinking of wearing it for work in the future but on second thought, it might be too short for work.

Cue Skirt. Pardon weird face expression again.

Close up. Love the patterns.

Side view. It has a flower like thing on the side.

I get so happy after doing this post. I just love my clothes so much. I am such a dork. LOL!

P/S: Excuse for very bare face. :P

Kreativ Blogger Award

2010-01-13T16:43:00.003+11:00

I have been nominated by the lovely aelie for a Kreativ Blogger Award!

Thank you so much babe!

And I need to reveal 7 random facts about myself. So here it goes.

1) I haven't had my natural hair colour since I was 16.

2) I have permanent hair extensions on since 2 years ago. I get them done whenever I go back to Singapore. They are really cheap like AUD$200 for an entire head of real human hair. I use the plaits/braids method. That means I can still run a comb through my hair and the hair lasts about 6 months. I feel lost without them. (My current ones are almost coming off and I am not going back anytime soon!! I know how to do the braid/plait method but I can't do it on myself. Either need hair extensions buddies to help one another to do it or I will need to train my bf to!)

3) I have been living on my own since I was 16. Last 1.5 years with S.

4) I abhor mint. If someone eats mint, I cannot be near them. If I smell them, I get nauseous. It took me years to train myself to be able to use minty toothpaste. I think I gave up trying to find non-minty toothpaste. I used kids' strawberry toothpaste until I was like, 13.

5) My looks have changed. Like a lot. And I haven't received any plastic or cosmetic surgery at all.

Here...I will let you guys take a look at this photo from 7 years ago.

Me from 7 years ago. Go on. Have a laugh. I was so nerdy!

I can assure you even without makeup, I don't look like this anymore.

Me a month ago without makeup.

I can still see a hint of resemblance but my lips, nose, cheekbones and chin have actually changed shape. Maybe it's because I have GAINED like 13kgs? But my chin actually looks sharper now. Bah...no idea. I am just glad I am not that girl anymore.

6) I don't have much hair on my legs or arms. You can actually count the number of hairs I have on them. Hence, I never have to use a shaver/epilator/waxing on my legs or arms. However, recently, I have began to notice the 15 or so hairs more and have resorted to plucking them out with a tweezer. The more I look at them, the more I want them out.

7) The middle finger of my right hand is a tad disfigured due to a childhood accident. A chunk of flesh actually fell out of that finger and the nail is a tad slanted now. You can still see the scar. It's noticable but not scary. That's why I never do NOTD using the right hand. Haha! (Also because I am right handed, easier to hold camera, nail polish looks better painted on left hand using right hand.)

Okay, so that's all.

I am now passing this award onto Krissy who is a really lovely girl!

Ciao!!!

Job Update: 2 interviews and no jobs yet. :(. I am going to cry soon when my current job ends in Mid Feb.

NOTD, FOTD and photo tag!

2010-01-10T14:05:00.006+11:00

Sadly, after 14 days, I broke out of my shopping ban! I bought 2 skirts at Cue (at 50% off) and 2 nail polishes! Oh well...might as well since I was getting so depressed at home not being able to shop. Luckily, my sweet bf paid for half of it as a present. Heehee! Now I am looking for a purple button up shirt! I tried one on at Cue and I really loved it but they ran out of my sizes. Grr!! I then proceeded to Portmans, Review, Myers and Jacqui-E but failed to find any purple button up shirt! I think I will check Target next. I will post the photos of my Cue skirts later - both designs are wonderful!

Anyway, I was interested in getting a Minty Green nail polish after seeing it on Chanel's runway about a month or two ago.

Chanel's Minty Green nail polish.
Photo Credit: Google

I thought that the colour looks quite refreshing! However, I don't really want to spend heaps on a nail polish so I got something similar from The Face Shop instead for $4!

Nail polishes I got from The Face Shop.

My version of the Minty Green nail polish with flash!

Without flash!

I think the colour's quite wearable and really 'pops' out! Love it! It's more green in real life than the photos.

Next, face of the day...

FOTD. Sorry for messy hair. Just out of shower.

Close up, without flash. Need to work on my blending. Lol!

Close up with flash!

Whole eye close up.

I have been photo tagged by Krissy, Lorien, Heather and Teacup Grunge for two different photo tags but I am only going to do one. I hope they don't mind!

I am supposed to go into a random picture photo and post the 10th photo in it. But since my old HDD crashed and all my photos are gone...I turned on my camera instead and went to the 10th photo.

Here it is...

Sister's first bowling trip at about 5.

She looked all happy and such but believe me, she was a terror that day. She talked me into bringing her to bowling against the wishes of my parents. Then when she reached there, they struggled to find shoes small enough to fit her. After that, she got distracted by the gum ball machine after she bowled 3 times. So, I kept on having to run here and there trying to get her to come back to bowl when it's her turn. In the end, her score was like 21 or something. And my parents were like..."I told you not to bring her...such a waste of money." Grr...stingy Asian parents. They didn't understand that it was more of an experience rather than her actually scoring any points.

She's not so little anymore now. She's the tallest in her grade and is up to the ears of my bestie, Jacky, who is 24. Little terror is only 8 so that's really really tall. She's about 148cm, I believe. And Jacky is about 155cm or so? I was only 142cm when I was 8 so little terror is a tad taller. Oh well...bf keeps telling me that every generation is a bit taller due to evolution but little terror is actually in the same generation as us! She's my sister...not my niece or something.

Anyway, I am using chopsticks to curl my hair now. Will post photos if it works. And yeah, will post photos later of my lovely Cue skirts.

Ciao for now.

NOTD and F21 dress from Nicky!

2010-01-06T14:01:00.000+11:00

I did this shooting star French manicure for an interview which I think I have managed to mess up. (more about that later)

French tips with a shooting star

Originally, I only did a French manicure considering that I had an interview and everything. But then I wanted to add something fun but not too 'hectic' to it.

I have been lucky to receive a F21 dress from Nicky as she decided that the dress was too short and poofy. Nicky had taken off the tulle layer off the dress but it's still a bit poofy. I can't imagine how poofy it had been. And yes, it's a little short; it barely covers my bum. I have to be careful if I wear it out in summer without any stockings.

This is the original picture on the F21 site:

Photo Credit: Forever21

This is me in the dress with a few accessories added:

Forever21 dress gifted by Nicky

I paired it with a belt because without the belt, the dress made my torso looked a bit wide.

I am really happy with the dress since I was unable to get anything off F21 Tres Paris' range (which I absolutely adore! I want everything from that range). Most of the items I want are already sold out.

Thank you Nicky!!!

Regarding how I think I messed up my interview. When I gave my referees' numbers to the interviewer, the first one she tried to call did not work. I have told my ex-boss that I will be using him as a referee just 2 weeks ago when I started my job-hunting. He was okay with it. Now his mobile is not accepting any incoming calls and the shop front seems to be still closed for the holidays! He is an important referee because I have worked for him for a year and that's the most relevant experience I have for the current job I am applying for. I have been calling the shop and his mobile every few hours since yesterday and the results are the same: mobile not accepting incoming calls and shop is closed. The worst thing is that there is not even a message on the shop's phone informing people that the shop is closed! I am pretty sure that the shop is closed because the year that I left that job, my ex-boss mentioned that they might be closing for 2 weeks over the X'mas/New Year holidays.

The other referee that I have given to the interviewer is for my current job. That one will definitely work.

I have sent the interviewer an email informing her that I will continue to try to contact my ex-boss but I believe that he is currently on holidays and the shop is currently still closed for the holidays.

I feel so stupid. I should have called my ex-boss the day before I went for the interview. I have sent out quite a lot of applications and only 1 reply and somehow, I have managed to mess it up. Not many employers are willing to take on non-residents. I get one who seems willing to and I messed it up. I haven't received an email back from the interviewer yet. I have searched online and some sites mentioned that giving a referee that does not work may eventually cause me the job. I know I should not stress out since I have done all I can within my power.

I am just very angry with myself.

Happy New Year - Snippets of my life

2009-12-31T17:09:00.001+11:00

Ever since my old HDD went dead, I lost 99.9% of all my photos taken over the last 3 to 4 years. Luckily, I had photos stored on my camera from 1 to 1.5 years ago. I have decided to share some of the more special photos to remind myself that by the same time next year, I will probably have another photo collection about my daily life that's just as interesting.

Being an older sister

I do my best to be an older sister so that I can give my little sister the quintessential experience of being the younger one. Whenever I go back overseas, that is.

I, constantly try to get her into trouble with my mother. *Giggles*

Malaysia, some years ago in Dad's car.

She was not supposed to eat any ice cream due to some toothache, cough or some illness. I took a photo of her eating it when my mom was not around. And...showed it to mom later. Photographic evidence is quite hard to dispute against. I think my little sister got a lecture. :P

She, constantly grumbled whenever I get attention of any sort from my parents.

Graduation for Bachelors. Melbourne, Victoria.

Sis' Kindergarten Graduation photo.

She screamed out that she did not know why everyone was so proud of my graduation last year in September. Especially when she had a KINDERGARTEN graduation photo too. She was upset that my graduation photo was bigger than hers on the wall at home. And framed specially.

Being his partner in everything

We celebrated our birthdays, went to our first ball together and very nearly threw up together in a van while on the winding Great Ocean Road.

He baked my birthday cake last year and this year.

My birthday cake last year.

My Birthday Cake last year baked by S. He got his colleague who is a trained pastry chef to do the drawings though.

Birthday cake last year.

Some things will never change though. Like S's poor photography skills.

Birthday cake THIS year!

My double tier Birthday Cake this year made entirely by S. No pastry chef around hence the wriggly drawings. His understanding of me improves though. He knows I REALLY like profiteroles now.

Once upon a time. My first birthday with S.

He got puffy lips from Thai curry. Haha! But he loves it so much.

Many moons ago, our first ball together.

He's such a guy. Did not care to dress up. He thinks track pants are the best pants ever invented. Suitable for ANY occasions.

Some trips taken

Some place along Great Ocean Road, Victoria.

Nearly died being nauseous in the van getting to this place. The road is so winding!

Great Ocean Road. Victoria's version of the London Bridge. LOL!

Yarra Valley.

Yarra Valley, Fried Hair!

S came with me back to Singapore/Malaysia last July during the swine flu scare. We had so much attention bestowed upon us as we were coming from the swine flu capital of Australia!

Chinatown, Singapore

Chinatown in Singapore. The buildings behind us are actually preserved from the World War II period.

Chinatown, Singapore.

Malaysia last year, home.

She actually likes him more than me. Why? Because he did not yell at her. Played DS with her. And could swing her around.

The best friend, J.

We only get to meet maybe once a year. If we are lucky, twice. If not, sometimes, 2 to 3 years. We are VERY different from our style (she's into the sexy look, loves to show her cleavage. I am into the cute, sweet look. DO NOT want to show cleavage. *shy*) to our taste in men (Basically, I do not like all the men she liked or all the guys she thinks are cute. Lol!) She's currently working in the beauty industry. And me hoping to join the accounting industry. Nobody, from my bf to my mom, understands how we can get along.

Great Ocean Road.

Bourke Street, a month ago when she visited again. Both on flats.

She makes me feel REALLLLLLY tall. Maybe that's why I get along with her. LOL!

Sharon

I am so glad that she's not a nightmare like a lot of bf's moms can be. She's like a friend. We can talk about anything. Yes, even sex. *giggles*

S's cousin's 21st. Sharon having fun.

That's not how she looks like normally, of course. Lol.

Lastly, I wish everyone a Happy New Year. I am not going to make any New Year resolutions because I can NEVER keep them. I just wish for the best in my life next year. I hope to get a good full time job. I hope my PR application gets approved. I hope that everyone will enjoy good health and has heaps of fun in the new year!

Paragon, Singapore

Happy New Year!

Waist training?

2009-12-29T17:02:00.001+11:00

I am thinking about getting an underbust corset for waist training since the cincher I got from BNT does not work at all. Not even a little.

I have been reading about waist training and it seems like a lifelong commitment. I want to reduce around 2 to 4 inches off my natural waist. Some websites mentioned that having a waist training corset on helps to curb my appetite as well because the corset helps to shrink the tummy?

That or exercise? Maybe I should just be more active then all my fatty bits will go away. Arg. I hate exercise.

Why so blue?

2009-12-29T15:36:00.000+11:00

---Whining post alert---

I know it's annoying to hear me whine but with my best friend in Singapore and my only close friend in Melbourne currently sitting beside me engrossed in WOW (World of Warcraft), I just need an outlet.

I haven't gone anywhere at all during the past few days of holidays. Reason? Shopping ban! I have to take this shopping ban quite seriously because I may be in default of my rent if I do not.

Why so strict, you may ask, since my previous shopping bans usually last all of 5 minutes. Well, I will have to tell you a bit about myself then to explain this once in a blue moon (such a cliche phrase I know but I don't get to use it that much so just let me use it) phenomena.

I have just graduated from my Masters in November. My mother has decided to stop helping me out with rent and expenses. Before raving on how lucky I am to be given allowances and such by my parents, I have to tell you that I am an international student in Melbourne so that means that I do not get any Centrelink payments and such. I am also only allowed to work 20 hours per week which I did sometimes during my semester to augment my pool of shopping funds. It was all fine before until now. I already knew this day would arrive so I had managed to secure a summer vacation job until February. I misinterpreted the contract and thought that I would be working full time hours for 2 months. But it turns out that hours range from 20 hours to 38 hours per week. That means that I may not have enough money to even pay my rent in January and February. S is going to help but with reduced hours at work, it will be very hard on both of us.

I have been actively seeking another job for when my contract ends in February but it's not a good time of the year since many jobs will not be advertised until beginning of next year.

-----Migration mumbo-jumbo (may skip if you are not having a great day) --------

Also, I am applying for my permanent residency (which costs like around AUD$6000 in total *incomprehensible swearing*). This means that a lot of employers will be afraid to even touch me in fear of breaching immigration laws.

Well, I have a student visa at the moment which allows me to work full time when I don't have to attend uni and this expires in March. After that, I will get a bridging visa which will allow me to work full time as well. The bridging visa will be valid for until I receive a verdict on my permanent residency application.

I am unable to apply for graduate positions until I get my permanent residency. The application for PR takes anywhere from 1 year to 3 years, depending on how high you are on the 'priority list' set by the Australian government. Lucky for me, I can receive priority processing because my nominated occupation is on the list and I have achieved 7.0 or more in my IELTS test. That will take at least 1 year as well.

However, I have been informed that there will be more changes (read: stricter laws) in the new year and no one is sure if those changes will apply retrospectively to applications. So, for example, if they decide that due to the new laws, they do not need accountants anymore and decide to apply this rule retrospectively to all previous applications, then I will probably be deported. And the strikes being taken by Auspost at this time of the year means that one of my application forms to get my CPAA assessment (assessment of my nominated position by an accounting body) is taking wayyy too long to reach CPAA or just lost in the mail. Great.

-----End of mumbo jumbo------

Anyway, I feel really blue because if all these 6 years of tertiary education in Melbourne seems to count for nothing. A lot of employers still look upon me as if I cannot string together a proper sentence in English. Many of my past employers were VERY surprised that I have been in Melbourne for so long and that I can actually speak comprehensible English during interviews. I am not allowed to apply for most banking jobs. Not sure why? Are they afraid that I might run away with the nation's banking secrets?

I am not even asking for much. All I am hoping for is a full time job which pays around $2k per month during the 1 year or so of waiting for my PR application to be assessed. . If I can't get a job after February, my mother may ask me to return home for like a few months (because expenses back home are cheaper). If I don't have a boyfriend who I care very deeply for here, I wouldn't mind just going back and being a pampered princess (no work, no household chores, only job will probably be to draw and colour with 8 years old sis).

I am hoping that I will get a job in the new year. I have good referees and have worked at a few places in Melbourne. So my biggest barrier is probably my residency status.

If all else fails, I will have to work at one of those cash in hand jobs paying me 8 bucks per hour or something. I have worked in a dodgy asian restaurant paying 8 bucks an hour, 10 hours a day before and I really don't want to go back there.

What will be more depressing is if I do not get my PR application approved after all these waiting. I get stressed out thinking about this sometimes. Like what will I do if that happens? I have grown so accustomed to life in Melbourne and my bf is here. I am having a health check next month and I am quite worried about that too. I am considered overweight by the weight charts. What if they consider that a health risk? I have been around this size my entire life. And a month of vigorous exercise will not enable me to lose like 15kg (to reach the 'healthy weight range' published).

Very blue at the moment. I don't even dare to go window shopping because the feeling of seeing something that you want but are unable to get in front of you is just too much for me to bear!

May the New Year be better for everyone.

Simple X'mas For Me!

2009-12-25T21:45:00.000+11:00

I had a simple X'mas this year - just my bf,his mum and me. And I really liked it. I remember when I was still living in Malaysia/Singapore with my parents, Chinese New Year there was just as big as X'mas here. And I remember hating having to meet all my relatives and greet them one by one, some of them I didn't even know exist. Basically I hate the whole, "Wow...look how much you have grown/Wow...are you getting married yet?/Wow...do you have a bf yet?" bullshit. I am not comfortable telling my relatives things about my life because everything goes back to my mother who is a firm believer of "Keep your mouth shut, don't embarrass me or I will yell at you until you cry at home for embarrassing me.".

Anyway, I will show you guys my presents first. (On a side note, we opened our presents on X'mas eve because we got too excited. We were like.."We can just open one each..." then "Maybe two..." then "Screw it...let's open the lot!!!".)

Presents for all the 3 of us on my bed!

I got....

I got a dress from Sharon

Rose Bag from Stephen. Very small and dainty.

I laughed so hard when I saw this! From Stephen. I like him but I am not THAT into him! Those were my exact words.

Headphones (From Stephen), bra straps(From Sharon) and a book(From Sharon)!

Summer bathrobe from Sharon!

PJs from Sharon.

Opened Wii Sports Resort from Sharon to us. I helped her buy it though...hahaha!

Lovely Sharon cooked all the food today!!!

Baked Chicken with Mushrooms! Seriously...so GOOD!

Baked Veggies!

Sharon's trifle! This is like an XXXXL size! Stephen requested this size. It's bigger than my head by like 1.5times!

Yummy Yummy!

*Bites*

We pigged out so much today. Stephen(again!!! Because he likes it so much) and Sharon are going to watch Avatar tomorrow. I am undecided as to whether I should brave the crowds or just go into the cinemas with them. I guess I shall decide tomorrow. I am guessing I will give up and just go into the cinemas with them.

I hope everyone had has an awesome X'mas and an even better Boxing tomorrow!

Ciao!

NOTD & photos left from dead HDD

2009-12-22T16:38:00.000+11:00

Again, I spent like hours on my nails at 2am last night because I do not have work today. I was half watching Nip/Tuck and half painting my nails with a paintbrush! After 2 hours, here are the results:

Anyway, those are the only photos left from my old HDD which died because of a corrupted file.

Mango Sorbet 'carved' by bored boyfriend. Sweet!

Stephen insisted on buying these. He wanted the 'Chopper' (That's the reindeer in the pink hat) pair because that character is from his favourite anime. But then he wouldn't buy a pair unless I bought one too. So I got the Hello Kitty one. His love for this pair of home slippers lasted all of 5 minutes.

That's all for my boring day off work. I will have to actually start cleaning the apartment for X'mas now. Talk about being last minute.

Ciao!

My photos are gone cries

2009-12-21T21:33:00.000+11:00

My HDD went kaputz last night. All my photos are gone!!! I usually have 2 HDDs and always store my photos/documents on the HDD that does not have Windows operating stuff (I am not that tech-savvy so pardon my funny words. I have my own words for things. All things that I cannot decide on a name for are called 'thingies', for example.). BUT for some weird reason, all my photos (LIKE 3 years worth of photos) are gone on the HDD that is NOT damaged.

Stephen has managed to buy me a new HDD and got it working within an hour or two but that still doesn't solve my problem of 'MISSING PHOTOS'. All 3 years of memories.

I can still download MY OWN photos off my camera. But there are some that other people have sent to me. Serve me right not to save copies on the internet.

I have tried simply retrieving just the photos from the damaged HDD but it seems that the HDD cannot even function. Some files on it have been corrupted. The very files that 'boot' the HDD up.

Sob. All my photos on my "Things I would love to get (or some other name, I can't even remember!!!)"!!!! All my uni assignments (No idea why I still want them since I have already graduated BUT...still memories)!!!

There's this photo that I miss at the moment. I am asking the original sender if he still has it. He's a very dear friend of mine. He held my hand (not literally!) through my toughest period in Melbourne. That's when I was abused(not physically directly but imagine someone who makes you cry 4 times a week and threatens you) by my ex-bf. He arranged his plushies (he's a collector) to spell out my name on the floor to cheer me up when I was really really down. That might not seem that special but my friend was actually injured in an accident and I don't think any form of bending (or reaching too low or high) is easy on him. I am happy to have a friend like him despite not being able to see him much (like once a year...).

I hope I get that picture back.

P/S: I wore my waist cincher today and I still have rolls on my tummy!!!Obviously, the cincher I bought is NOT tight enough. Looking for a tighter one! Have checked Rago and eBay as per previous post's comments but haven't seen much. Maybe after x'mas. Non-flabby torso please, Santa!!!

Avatar movie and Shopping!! No spoilers!!!

2009-12-19T00:57:00.000+11:00

Stephen and I went to watch 'Avatar' today. It was a very anticipated movie and being the budding animator, he absolutely had to watch it. Both of us had a day off today so we agreed on going to watch the movie today. I was actually going to back out of the plan because I had a very stressful conversation with my mother last night. I think I am not going to call her for a while. I think that's the best thing to do for now. Anyway, Stephen saw how upset I was and dragged me out to make me feel better. And I did.

Anyway, in short, Avatar is a really awesome movie. I am usually a very tough to please person when it comes to movie. The last movie I thought was semi decent was "Death Race". "Hitch" is another one of the movies I think is good. We watched it in 3D and the effects were really good. Prior to watching Avatar, I have read reviews that mentioned that the graphics are good but the storyline is bad. Maybe it is just me, I like the simple storyline. I wish that the ending is longer though so I can find out what happened to the main characters after...everything.

I tried the Portuguese Chicken Paella at Nando's. It was sooooo yummy. Half way through the movie, I actually whispered to Stephen, "Can we go get more?" LOL! I am such a glutton. But of course we didn't. I wish they have a seafood one though. Omg...the thought of that just makes me salivate. I love seafood. Badly.

Yummy Nando's Portuguese Chicken Paella

In one of my previous posts (I can't remember which one and can't be bothered to go look for it), I mentioned that I failed to get my hands on this particular Diva rose ring because they only had one left in a size small. I went to another Diva store today and found it in a size medium! I only have 1 ring (from my KK) and seldom have any interest in rings but this one really caught my eye. I am a bit late on the rose ring bandwagon (after Chanel released theirs a few year ago, everyone had a inspired version) but better late than never.

Buy me!

Okay, I will!

So much for my intended shopping ban. Geez! For the next item, Stephen bought it for me so it doesn't count! Haha!

I also bought my first bandage skirt from Decjuba. I have been wanting to buy one for a while now. I like that it's versatile and that I can walk and bend up and down in it without exposing myself. I also like it that I can wear it out without fear of the weather being windy. I have given up on flowy cotton skirts ever since I came to Melbourne. I had more than a couple of wardrobe malfunction with those flowy skirts even in summer. I originally saw this skirt for $80 about 2 months ago. I really liked it but could not bear to part with $80 for a plain bandage skirt. I have gone to Dotti, Sportsgirl and all the other chain stores but I like the Decjuba one the most. So I waited for a sale. ANDDDDD they have a sale today! There was only Size M left though...lucky it fits.

Simple bandage skirt. Perfect for windy Summer!

I know I am fat but I like how the skirt lifts things up.

I need to accept that I will never look like this!
Herve Leger skirt
Photo Credit: Google!

Geez...how nice does the model look! I have no idea how she is so skinny yet so curvy! Even if I diet to my bones, I will never be able to have such a perky butt like hers. Photoshop, hopefully perhaps? It's quite sad for me to think that the model looks like that normally without photoshop. Why? Because I will NEVER be able to attain that shape no matter what.

Oh! I also bought a waist clincher from Bras N Things. My waist line has got out of control these few years. It used to be pretty firm when I was a teenager but comes 22, it started to get FLABBY. Omg...it's so hard to wear tight tees nowadays. So I bought this waist clincher from BNT. Turns out that they only produce waist cinchers from a size 10! The size 10 is still really loose on me for some weird reason. Even the SAs were puzzled and asked me what size I am normally. They said that a size 10 should be fitting and had no idea why it was so loose. I could like, still insert an entire hand into the cincher while having it on. Anyway, I bought it because I seriously need one and have been looking for one for a while.

Bye bye flabby tummy!

Anyone knows an affordable (AUD$30 to AUD$50) and really really tight waist cincher that I can wear everyday?

Blogging about shopping and shopping in general makes me happy and makes me forget about the awful conversation I had with my mum. :)

Ciao!

Big thanks to my secret santa, brookeey, from VF!

2009-12-15T21:47:00.000+11:00

Today is my first day at work. Having only slept 4 hours last night (due to normal irregular sleeping hours of 7am till 3pm), I am really really tired at the moment. BUT, I really want to post this! To thank my KK, brookeey, from Vogue Forum for making me soooo happy.

My parcel from my KK came in the mail today!!!

What is it? OMG!!!

OMG!!! Bows, bows and more bows! I have died and gone to heaven!!!

Thank you brookeey! For the lovely flower ring! My short and stumpy fingers can't do it justice!

I love it!!! It's very feminine and classy!!!

BEFORE!

Thank you for the flower earrings too! Sorry I have no makeup on here! I just came home from work and was soooooo tired! But I am soooooo happy with my gifts!!!

brookeey suggested that I would look good in curly hair with the big bow clip that she has given me! So off I went to try to curl my hair! It didn't turn out very well because I was rushing to get it done so I can take a picture. And I ended up only taking a pic of myself with one of the black bow headbands instead of the big bow clip! LOL!

Then I realised, I might as well go to town and put on makeup! And so I did. I was so happy that I put on SO MUCH makeup. I would never go out like this in real life though. I am a bit self-conscious and am scared that people will stare if I go out wearing so much makeup.

30mins later!! Sorry I couldn't get the bow headband in the picture!

Scary Hopey!

I really love the bow headband! The black goes really well against my hair in real life. Crappy photography skills doesn't show that!

Big kiss to brookeey! Sorry...I tend to get a tad overemotional when I am really happy!!!

I ensure you I have so much makeup on that when Stephen saw me, he went "Wow, so out there!". Haha!

Okay, you will probably never see a pic like this for quite a while. I usually delete all my silly pictures and only post the generic "smile, no teeth" ones. Maybe I will decide to take it down later after my happiness subside and common sense takes over.

Once again, thanks brookeey. This is my second 'real' X'mas in my entire life. And this is my first X'mas where someone other than my bf, his mum or my very bestest friend has given me anything. Thanks. :)

P/S: I might as well post this look on Specktra because I always used to only post my boring 2-toned eyeshadow looks.

Last day of freedom!

2009-12-14T18:16:00.000+11:00

I start my summer job tomorrow!!! Today's my last day of freedom! I am going to miss going to bed at ANY time but I certainly welcome the income so I can pay my rent which is due soon. X'mas shopping has taken a lot out of my wallet. Haha.

Joke of My Day:

I have been meaning to try out Hungry Jack's Angry Angus for a while now since I love Macca's Mighty Angus Burger so much. So I went to search for the nearest Hungry Jack's near me. Maybe it is because of all the fashion websites and image searches I go to, I ended up typing "HungryJackets.com.au" and got so frustrated trying to refresh the page (because there is NO hungryjackets.com.au). That is, until my bf kindly pointed out the wrong URL. :P

-End-

I am very easily amused and that cracked me up. Probably because I thought that the Hungry Jack's website was down and was hitting the Refresh button vigourously for like 10 minutes. Pictures of food:

Hungry Jack's Angry Angus. Great taste, crappy mobile photo.

Stephen's friend, Stephen and I went to try out this Indian fusion restaurant on High Street. The prices are pretty okay (Around $12 each for dinner) but we found the taste pretty average.

Indian chicken curry with Biryani rice.

Stephen's Indian style Spaghetti Bolognaise with orange peels.

I tried wrapping my bf's presents before he came home from work today but my attempt was sort of a massive failure. He came home right after I finished wrapping everything but I didn't have time to hide everything. So I threw a towel over it and that was when he walked in. My hopeless aiming meant that I only managed to cover 1 corner of the mess on the floor. Lol. Well, at least the presents are wrapped!

Wrapping the presents in wonky shapes so he won't be able to guess what they are.

How is everyone's X'mas presents wrapping coming along?

*Hums X'mas tunes*

A day in the city: Hanaichi, cute pug, Review & Peter Alexander.

2009-12-11T21:34:00.000+11:00

Yes, I have come to the conclusion that X'mas is evil!!!! WHY? Because I tend to eat twice as much and buy twice as much! Then comes the crash after X'mas and New Years - empty wallet and too-full tummy! But like all evil things (for example, chocolate), the feeling right before the crash is SO DAMN GOOD! I am going to this event called Carols by Candlelight tomorrow and I am terribly excited! I haven't been to an event like this before! Before that, I am meeting a lovely Voguette in the city to sell her one of my dresses. Busy busy day! Oh, Stephen wants to go to Hanaichi again tomorrow (we went yesterday, review below!).

I went to the city (same area no less) two days in a row because of three things: the urge to try out Hanaichi (as previously mentioned here), the email Review sent me (60% off selected stock and 30% off all full priced items) and this Peter Alexander dress that I have to show Stephen (read: I want it but I want more persuasion to get it. LOL).

Off to Hanaichi we go! Stephen was actually sick and stayed home from work for 2 days. But at the sound of Hanaichi, his favourite takeaway when he was studying in Brisbane, he put on his shoes and demanded to go, even with the occasional tummy pains! He's like me in this way. When there's a sale and I am sick, I will demand to make it even if I have to crawl all the way there. But usually, I would make it to toilet to put on makeup before bursting out in tears about how unfair the world is (because I missed out on a sale!!! Yes, I am a drama queen sometimes!!!). Lol!

According to Stephen, the Hanaichi in Brisbane was always realllllly crowded and they would serve him even before he ordered! They knew that 95% of the people who went in there wanted Japanese Chicken Curry on rice so they had prepared heaps of them beforehand. So when you walked up to the counter, their hands would automatically be on a bowl of Japanese Chicken Curry first before considering that you might want other dishes. And, it used to cost like $2+ per bowl. Perfect price for uni students!

Hanaichi Japanese Chicken Curry

View from our table at Hanaichi. Rainy at QVB in Melbourne.

In Melbourne, however, the price per bowl is $6.50 for a regular bowl (as pictured above) and $8 for a large bowl. Both of us couldn't finish the regular bowl so it should be enough for most people. It was pretty nice! The main difference is the chicken pieces. At a lot of takeaway places, they use those hard-to-break-apart chicken schnitzel pieces. At Hanaichi, the chicken pieces were very soft and easy to chew apart. This was Stephen's favourite part (aka Lazyman who is too lazy to chew for too long).

We went to Peter Alexander next. I love that store so much!!! I always have to leave with something every time I visit recently! I love his most current collection (Circus theme) and his past collection (Nautical theme)! It's like having a 2nd childhood for me. I never used to have such beautiful PJs even as a kid! My little sister who is 8 only has Teletubbies one. Maybe one day, I will go home and wear all my PA PJs and make her jealous. Yes, I am an evil older sister who likes to taunt her younger sister. I mean, who else is going to do the job? I need to teach her that PA PJs are wonderful!!! LOL! At 8, she's already addicted to perfumes and lipglosses. She also has her own makeup bag (filled with GWPs lipgloss from my Mom and Me)! She went through my makeup bag when I visited last July and looked at EVERY single item.

Tried this on but didn't get it.

I really like this playsuit but considering that I haven't worn my floral playsuit from PA yet, I think I should give it a pass for now. FOR NOW. It's so cute though! That's a Medium...I think if I do get it, I will get it in a Large. It looks pretty fitting and is really tight at the bust.

I GOT THIS INSTEAD!!!!!

Purchase of the day: Peter Alexander PJs.

How could I resist? Lace, Bow and spotty TUTU skirt!!!

I have a fascination with Tutu skirts and I just couldn't resist this one!! When you walk, the Tutu skirt actually bounces up and down...so cute! This is too cute (and too expensive) to be worn JUST as PJs!

In my bathtub again because Stephen was too busy playing games to help me take pics! I feel like a ballerina!

Poor attempt to make the PJ into a daywear! Too cute to wear as JUST PJ!

I think the PJ dress would look good under a leather jacket or a blazer. Unfortunately, I don't have those yet. Ridiculous, I know. Those are like essentials huh! LOL! I find it hard to get a blazer because I have broad shoulders and a big bust...usually they don't button over my bust and the bigger size is too big everywhere else. As for leather jacket, I like the look and feel but hate the maintenance. This is a VERY POOR attempt so don't laugh at me! That's the only decent jacket I could find in my wardrobe to be worn over the dress. The jacket is from Honey & Beau. And I had folded it up slightly so that the pink could be seen.

Review skirt

This is all I got from the Review sale. I got it for $71 down from $180! Quite a good bargain!

Bad combination but that was the top I had on that day so I just put the skirt on.

It's a waisted skirt. I am not sure what top to wear it with yet. Anyone has any styling ideas at all?

After buying those two items, I decided that my wallet could not take it anymore. It would probably go into 'wallet-attack' if I had continue to stress it anymore.

Our last stop before going home was BUBBLETEA! Cheap, tasty and FULL OF SUGAR. Absolutely sinful! At the counter, we saw this cute little pug! It looked so clueless and young! The owner had it in a tiny bag. The cutest thing about it was that it was soooo tiny. The bag it was in was smaller than my speedy 30 ! So I approached the owner (who was very cute herself) to take a picture of the pug and had a chat with her about the pug.

You can't tell how small the pug was in the photo because its owner was very tiny as well. She was at most, a size 4 to 6. Perfect dog for her! She mentioned that she got the pug from the breeder for $900. In the pet stores, it would cost $2700! Omg...that's so expensive! Stephen said that it must be a pure breed!

Outfit of the day:

Headband: Diva
Top: FCUK
Belt: Overseas Shop
Skirt: Review

Face of the day:

Having fun with my MAC holiday palette from Magic, Mirth and Mischief!

I am enjoying my days off before I have to start working full time next Tuesday! My week has been very happy. Part of it is due to the kind and lovely comments and PMs I have received from Voguettes(mostly) and also my readers(but let's not forget). This X'mas, I do not feel as lonely as all my previous X'mases in Australia. All your comments and PMs have really warmed me up. Thanks Voguettes and readers!!!

I hope you are having fun with your X'mas shopping too!!!

P/S: Let you in on a secret. I have bought some of my bf's presents but have hidden it in my wardrobe, the one place he never dares to venture into! (Because of the mess...haha)

No more tears + FOTD + Outfit OTD.

2009-12-09T19:41:00.000+11:00

Firstly, I would like to thank all the supportive comments for the last post. I said in a PM to Miss_Emm from VF, the reason why I was able to speak about all those incidents is probably because I do not hold it against my mother anymore. It's a case of 'Forgiven but not Forgotten'. In the past, I had always thought that showing my weak side is a sign of failure (as taught by my mother) but recently, I feel that life is made up of both sunshine and tears. In order to embrace the sunshine in my life, I will have to embrace the tears too. Maybe one day, when I am feeling more ready, I will be able to recount the horrible events of jerkhead-ex. One of his memorable quotes to me was, "Hun, you should be really happy, you know? You know you are lucky? I am a pretty decent guy. Some guys hit their gfs; I don't." I never knew that not being abused by your bf is a privilege; I have always thought that it's a RIGHT? Anyway, onto happier things for now.

I managed to meet up with one of my friends, Jean, today. She went back to Singapore to work after her graduation from Monash. She's back in Melbourne now. I am glad because that means I have 1 more friend! She's getting married soon though in early 2011. She will be joining the ranks of 'adults' and doing even more 'adult things' than me like BUYING A HOUSE, contemplating a PRENUPTIAL and of course, the question of 'maybe baby?'! Very big congrates to her!

My very Asian teeth on display! For some reason, a lot of Asian girls I have seen on Asian mags like Vivi or Popteen have teeth like that! Why didn't my parents get me braces when I was like 3?

Bad photography is contagious!You can tell from my blurry photos!!! Jean was supposed to take a pic of us and the xmas tree. BIG FAIL!

I got very curious about the amount of cupcake shops opening in the CBD area recently. I have tasted some of the shops and frankly, the cupcakes don't taste that nice as all. The cupcake itself is usually very dry. But they sure are fun to look at.

You guys look cute. But are you tasty too? Is it too much to ask for cute and tasty in a cupcake nowadays?

Getting into the xmas spirit!

While walking around QVB, I came across Hanaichi. My bf has always spoken very very highly of Hanaichi. It is a place to get 'The most fabulous Japanese curry' according to my bf. And also, 'The White Castle of Japanese curry'. If you guys didn't watch this movie, then you probably don't know what I am talking about. Basically, it just means the el dorado of Japanese curry. Or in geek speak, THE BEST JAPANESE CURRY EVAHHH! He used to have it everyday in Brisbane when he was studying there. And that was the main thing he missed when he came back to Melbourne (not his Dad, unfortunately). So I was pretty surprised to see that Hanaichi has a branch at QVB!

Wherefore art thou Japanese curry?

Everyone, behold the greatness of INFLATION! Stephen told me 3 years ago, in Brisbane, 1 bowl of Japanese curry at Hanaichi was $2! Now, it is......

Yes, that's right! $6.50 for a small bowl and $8 for a large bowl! What a wonderful society we live in! More than 300% increase in price over 3 years! If only our salaries increase by that rate too!

Okay, outfit of the day...

I had a weird expression on so I had to protect my dignity there!
Dress: Chloe
Belt: Review
Bag: LV
Newly purchased headband: Friends of Couture

I took this picture after I have come home! Yay...if you noticed, no more standing in bathtub! Stephen was home so he could help me take a pic! I bought this headband while I was out. My only purchase for the day. I have been very good! Even though I nearly lost all restraint when I stepped into Peter Alexander. Luckily, Jean was there to constantly remind me that Robert Pattinson might be anywhere (even nearby!!!) and I needed to maintain my graces. Just in case. LOL!

Face of the day....

Note Ketchup bottle! Yes, I love ketchup. I have it with lotsa things!

I could not decide which pic is better so I just put two up instead. If only I can do that between Team Edward and Team Jacob. But no, I will remain loyal to Team Edward. LOL!

I think I am better at taking close up pictures of my makeup now. I have discovered the best stop to stand around my apartment. In front of the living room blinds when the sun is up! Best lighting I can get in my apartment.

I am quite happy today because I got to see Jean again. Hopefully that means I never have to sleep in my car at Maccas carpark again (long story. Another time). And also hopefully that means I can have someone to call when I am crying at 4am in the morning and nowhere to go.

And also everyone is really supportive. I thought I will receive some negative comments telling me to grow up or something. I was prepared for that but everyone's really sweet. Thanks so much dears!

Ciao. :)

I am who I am.

2009-12-08T04:30:00.000+11:00

This is not a fashion/beauty related post. It's a very private post of my thoughts. It is more of a "Oh crap, why the hell did I wake up at 3.30am. Now my sleeping hours are messed up." type of post. I hate waking up earlier than the expected time because being awake at the wee hours make me think. This brings up all my repressed memories.

I share a love-hate relationship with my mother. I very much doubt she knows that. She knew I used to write in my diaries that I disliked her when I was young. So she said to me, "One day, you will thank me for all these." Up till now, that day has not arrived Perhaps, I thank her for about 30% of the things she did. But because of the way I am brought up, I tend to focus mainly on the negative things. Mummy dearest said to always be prepared for the worst situations. I had that drummed into me ever since I was young.

I should be thankful for her making me learn the alphabet when I was 3. I could recite A to Z when I was just 3. When other kids were playing in the sandbox, I was at home learning A, B, C. But all I remember was her telling me I could have an ice-cream when I finished learning the entire alphabet. And then 1 day later, of her saying, "No, you cannot have an ice-cream because you are asthmatic! I didn't know you could learn the entire thing!" That is one of the very few memories I have of myself when I was 3.

I should be thankful for her training me to be so independent. Her idea of teaching me to be independent in life started when I was 6. I went to school in Singapore while I was living in Malaysia. So basically, I had to cross the borders everyday. I used to joke that I travelled overseas everyday. On my first day in primary school, she gave me a bag, a water bottle and my passport. She then put me on a school bus and said bye at 5am in the morning. I had no freaking idea what was going on. I cried my way to primary school. I think I lost a sock and my water bottle. I had no idea what a passport was at that time. By some miracle or perhaps God took pity on me that day, I arrived at school and came home unharmed. And no, no proud parents taking photos of me in my uniform on my first day of school.

I travelled to Australia with a friend for my tertiary education 6 years ago. I had to look for my own housing and such. When I lost my friend, she told me to man up and that I was only here for studies and I did not need friends. Making friends was an extra curricular activity. When I broke up with jerkhead ex of 4.5 years, I had nowhere to live and like 5 acquaintances in Melbourne. I spent one night in my car at Maccas parking lot because I had no one to call and nowhere to go. She said man up, stop crying and acting so weak. She said she did not understand why I was so weak and why I DID NOT HAVE ANY FRIENDS.

So much so much more to write about. Basically, my self-esteem is shot and I am still learning to love myself. Still learning to accept that not being a size 6 is okay and not the death penalty. Still learning to accept that wanting to nest and cook is not a bad thing. And that not wanting to be the strong career woman is not always the worst thing ever.

In mummyland, everything is black and white. Being homosexual is wrong, according to her. When I was 16, I argued with her about the 'correctness' of asian girls dating African-American guys. She was so upset and some of her very hurtful words were, "Are you dating a black guy?" and gave me a very very heart breaking glare. No, Mom. I just thought that you were very racist.

I have always been kind of introverted. Whenever my mother's friends visited, I would always stay in my room because I dislike social interaction with strangers. I do not like the usual, "Oh, look how much you have grown." talk. So mommy dearest came into my room and asked me, "Is there a reason why you don't want to come out to greet my friends? Are you scared that they will say that you are fat?" I burst into tears right away. I was in, no way, fat. I was 15 and a size 10. Just because I am not size 6/8 like most Asian girls my age in that neighbourhood and my class did not give you the right to shoot my self-esteem to pieces, Mom.

And you wonder why I rather stay in Aust all alone and not go home to be a pampered princess (laundry done, meals taken care of, no rent etc). Yes, I do get scared when I get into an accident and no one was there to help me. Yes, I do get stressed out when Telstra disconnected my homeline for nearly 2 months and I had no internet for communication and work. And yes, I still do get vulnerable and lonely at nights. And yes, my mother has never hugged me before. Even as a kid. My bf noticed that our family is very emotionless when he visited last July. No hugs, no kisses and such. And I know, I have to save up for this thing called a mortgage. And when people bully me, I have no Mom to protect me. I have to be brave and then come home to cry at night.

But Mom, I think I see a glimpse of happiness here. I am starting to learn to love myself. That being a size 12/14 is not a crime. That my bf and his mom love me for who I am. They don't constantly try to change me. I am glad that you have mellowed and treat little sis so much better. At least she gets hugs and kisses now. I know you are so much nicer now that you are older. I don't hate you or anything but it is kind of hard to forgive and still forget. It's even harder for me when you think you haven't done anything wrong. I am not a saint. I will never be able to forgive and forget. Not for something of this level anyway.

One of my goals in life is to perhaps shake your control off me. And to learn to love myself again. At 23, I still have a lot of battles to fight. But hopefully all of these will make me stronger.

P/S: Okay, 5 hours after waking up, I feel bad about writing this about my Mom. Because she does still do nice things like giving me money to buy nice dresses. She understands that girls like to have nice things. And that she pushed me so hard because she knows I like nice things. And she calls every birthday to say "Happy Birthday". And the reason why she's the way she is is because of her hard upbringing as well. She never used to have anything as a kid. As in, she grew up in a village and literally had to starve for days because her family was too poor to provide any sort of food at all. They only had meat on New Years everyday.

I just don't like it when she says she's the best mom on Earth and she has not seen another mom better than her. That's when I start to get upset.

What I made for dinner today!

2009-12-06T21:46:00.000+11:00

It's my first time making this and I nearly broke down while making this because it was so much more work than expected!! But I am happy that it turned out okay. Next time, I will learn from my mistakes and make it better!!!

Pumpkin, ricotta and mushroom cannelloni! Which somehow became like a bake instead because we put too much chicken stock!

Planning to add some roast chicken to the remaining of it tomorrow!

The Unattainables

2009-12-06T16:48:00.001+11:00

You know I am such a shopping addict, I actually have a picture folder called "Pretty things I want" on my computer? Those are things that I am unable to get - i.e, too expensive or just too impossible. You will get what I mean by 'too impossible' when you see pictures later. Somehow, by downloading those pictures and putting them in my folder, I feel like I 'own' a tiny portion of those beauties at some level and that seems to pacify my shopping addictions a little. Hey, I will get whatever I can!

I usually divide my wish list into attainable and unattainable. Let's take a look at the non-attainable. People always want things they can't get and I am no exception. Plus it's more fun to look at things you can't get. What's the fun in looking at things you can just whip out your wallet and pay for? Then those things would not be in this particular folder of mine at all. Instead, they will be in the "My Purchases" folder.

The Unattainables

1) Robert Pattinson

Photo Credits: Wire Images

*Giggles* I am so immature!!! Sorry, moving on...

2)Her Figure

Credits: Victoria Secret

This is what I meant by impossible to get. I actually named the picture, "Her figure.jpg". I believe that is Marisa Miller. I have a love-hate relationship with Victoria's Secret Angels. Love because they are so gorgeous and have the most amazing figures and faces! Hate, also because of that.

3)Karen Zambos Vintage Couture Phoebe Dress

Photo Credit: Shopbop

It has been sold out everywhere for about 2 to 3 years now. I saw this dress online about 2 to 3 years ago and was so in love with it. At that time, I could not afford the hefty price tag and hence downloaded the picture to retain a memory of its awesomeness.

4) AKA New York Lace Up Dress

Photo Credit: Shopbop

Same story as No. 2 Unattainable. Hefty price tag, couldn't afford it. But since then, I have got a substitute for it. I got this:

Photo Credit: Zodee

It's a dress by this brand called 2Chillis and I got it from Zodee! It was more affordable than the AKA New York dress so I got this instead. That satisfied my lemming for a while.

5) Miu Miu Tea Cup Heels

Photo Credit: I can't remember. I got it from Google!

Well, same story. I don't have the moolah for it! It sure sucks being a student sometimes. Haha.

6) TT Collection High Waisted Ruffle Skirt

Photo Credit: Google (My very best friend)

I am in love with this high waisted ruffle skirt. You can still get it on TT Collection's website at the moment, I believe. But I don't particularly want to shell out USD$225 (exclusive of postage) for a skirt. Cue does pretty similar skirts like this. The prices are a tad cheaper (Around AUD$180 to AUD$225 depending on style) but I still can't justify spending that much on a skirt on my student's allowance.

7) Shakuhachi Tu Tu Dress

Photo Credit: Shakuhachi

I actually tried this dress on at David Jones and was prepared to pay the $250 (or so? I can't remember) for it. But I could not get the zipper past my boobs!!! I did finally get the zipper up and let's just say that my boobs were being pushed at such ridiculous angles that 90% of it were out of the dress. I remember being quite upset. First at the label for making one of my favourite dresses for small chested girls. Then at myself for having a bigger than average bust.

That's about it for NOW. I do not want to go through the entire list in the 'Pretty Shoes I want" or the "Pretty bags I want" folders.

P/S: I am attempting to make pumpkin, ricotta and mushroom cannelloni for tonight! Hope it will turn out well.

Mini haul

2009-12-05T00:22:00.000+11:00

Sharon brought us to visit the doctor today. I was prescribed penicillin for my cough and Stephen had to get an x-ray and a specialist referral at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. The specialist referral letter will take up to 1 month to arrive!!! I guess Australia really needs more healthcare professionals. Maybe I should have gone for the med course interview that I was offered with Monash 6 years ago before I entered university. Haha...I don't think I ever regret not turning up for the interview. I don't really like the idea of being in scrubs or lab coats for the major part of my career. I love dresses too much. That was the main reason I didn't want to get a medical degree. And also because I do not want to leave out the option to have a lot of kids. I think I will probably have around 2 kids but I just want the option to be able to have a large family. If I did start studying towards a medical degree, I feel that I will not have time for my kids in the future. Not that I will have much with my current selected career path already.

Anyway, I had a mini haul today.

I got a gentle facial scrub from The Body Shop. I was actually looking to get a body scrub as I noticed serious skin flaking about 3 days ago after a shower. This scrub that the sales assistant tried to recommend me was nice and all but I felt like it didn't really do much. It did leave me my skin clean and smooth but a lot of other cheaper body scrubs do that as well. The one she recommended was $50. That's quite a bit for a body scrub despite it being able to last for 6 months. Sharon thought it was a bit excessive and told me just to get the gloves. She said that simply the gloves with shower gel will be able to do what the body scrub did. I guess there's no harm in trying this method out first before succumbing to the expensive body scrub. I couldn't resist and bought a facial scrub as well.

I got 3 nail polishes. I have started painting my nails again after exams. During the semester, I get swamped with school work and housework so I never have the time to paint my nails, especially when I usually take like 2 to 3 hours just to do my nails. I am slow...I know...but I get very upset if my nail polish applications aren't precise or the way I want them to look.
The colours I got are called CJ (Purple), UltraViolet (Pinkish Purple) and Gunmetal (Silvery grey). I like the name Gunmetal! Sharon said it would look quite dramatic if I wear a little black dress. I can't wait to try them out.

Oh, the mini brush is for nail art! I couldn't find a smaller brush at Riot so I got that instead. Sharon said that I can trim it so that it's more suitable for nail art.

Oh, I passed everything and have completed my Masters degree. 6 years of tertiary education!!! Finally come to an end. I do miss it though. For some sad reason, I like studying. That's why I went on to do a Masters after a double degree. I must be crazy eh? Haha.

I am starting my summer job soon and there's still so much to do for my PR application.

Arg, I hate being an adult.

P/S: Lemming for a tweed jacket after seeing lovely TPFers in it. And fake lower eyelashes. Blah. Why do I have so many lemmings?

Ciao!

'9' Movie Preview + boy hit by train at Glenbervie Station!

2009-12-03T23:44:00.001+11:00

Today Stephen and I were headed out to the preview screening of the animated movie, '9', when we realised that there was a huge crowd at the train station near our house. Upon getting closer, we realised that there were 5 police cars and a helicopter flying around above us. Stephen mentioned that that was a news helicopter so something must had happened. After asking around, we discovered that a boy was hit by a train at the station. Anyway, the full story can be found here.

In the end, we had to drive to the city because trains were delayed and cancelled. On the way back to our apartment, Stephen suddenly collasped in the middle of the sidewalk and started groaning in pain. His entire face became really pale, especially his lips. It turned out that his knee joint had popped out! He said it had happened a few times before...every year or so ever since a skiing accident in high school. He had to lie down on the sidewalk for about 15minutes before he could walk again. A very nice lady was concerned and stopped to see if we needed any help. After getting Stephen into our car (so he can sit down. Our apartment is on the 2nd floor and he couldn't walk up a flight of stairs at that point), I called Sharon right away. Sharon will be coming tomorrow to bring both of us to the doctor. She even joked that it's like a hospital here, with both of us sick and injured.

Surprisingly, '9' turned out to be better than I expected. It was a bit dark (themes about death) but the story line and animation was very unique! It was hard to decide if I like it or not but I think I do. Stephen admitted that it was a very unique film as well and his old classmates from his animation degree would like it.

Outfit of the day:

Dress: Portmans (From previous posts)
Belt: Review

Makeup of the day:

We ate at Ying Thai on Lygon Street today and this is what we ate:

Sweet and sour fish fillets

Chicken Green Curry

Honestly, something has been changed to the green curry. It's so watery nowadays. I remember 2 years ago, it was so thick and delicious!

The best part of the meal was the coconut rice! It was very different from the other coconut rice served at other Thai restaurants. It was very fragrant and sweet! I could actually eat the rice by itself!

Hopefully the boy from the train accident will get better soon! It is a painful lesson so let's hope that he will learn something out of it.

Ciao

First Contagious Network screening!

2009-12-03T00:28:00.000+11:00

Today, I attended my first Contagious Network screening! It was for a movie called 'Away We Go'. I haven't seen much advertising for it in cinemas and wasn't expecting much of it. However, it turned out to be quite funny and heartwarming! The trailer is here: Away We Go Trailer. The trailer doesn't really show much...like by watching the trailer, I didn't expect the movie to be funny at all! I just thought it's some artsy film.

Anyway, we were 30mins late because of signal failure at North Melbourne station and because we have never been to Cinema Nova before. It was really bad! Normally it takes us only 20mins or so to get to the city...but today it took us like 55minutes! Stephen said that maybe it's the handover of the trains from Connex to Metro that's causing all these problems. I hope Metro will be able to start (I don't expect them to solve a long term problem in just a few years but I do hope to see them START at least) addressing some of the problems that caused Connex to lose the contract (Like the really bad delays and numerous cancellations when the weather gets really hot.).

I got to meet a lovely voguette from VF!

I wore my new Bardot peplum skirt today:

My main complaint is that it's too short. It looks okay when I am standing still but when I start walking, it starts riding up to a ridiculous length! Let's just say that it rode up so much that I risk flashing my underwear! I had to keep pulling it down all the time. Stephen said that it's not too short and I am just being self-conscious because there are heaps of other girls who wear shorter things than me in the city all the time! I replied by saying that it is because I do not have nice, slim legs. If I do, I would not mind wearing ultra short shorts or skirts to show them off as well. I need to maintain my modesty too! I am not sure what to do now...because I checked the hem of the skirt, there's not much to be taken down at all. Oh well, I will just wear them with black stockings, I guess.

This is my makeup for the day! I only got to take a picture of my face after I got home so I look a tad tired. Also, I am still sick and having a mild cough. That's the reason for my uneven skintone!

I used my new palette from MAC from their Magic, Mirth and Mischief collection released for the 2009 holiday! It's the 6 Mystic Cool Eye Shadow palette!

Photo Credits: MAC Cosmetics (I assume? Even though I got the image from Google Images)

I love Deep Secret (The dark blue/indigo shade upper right side)! It has this shimmer to it that you can't see from the photo!

I tried to take a close up photo of my face but as it's the end of the day, the colours didn't come out as well. Next time, I will remember to get ready 30minutes earlier so that I can have time to take photos before going out!

There's a '9' movie screening tomorrow at the same place again! More excited about this movie!!!

Ciao~

P/S: Does anyone know why the photos I upload to blogger always turn out way blurry than the original? For example, if you click on the photo itself to view it, you get to see the clear, original photo again. But once embedded in the blog post, the photo becomes blurry?

The start of X'mas shopping

2009-12-01T18:53:00.000+11:00

I went to Highpoint for for X'mas shopping today since I am like 65% recovered. I have a busy schedule for the rest of the week and next week so I was really hoping to start on my X'mas shopping. And most importantly (!!!), I need to get some casual clothes for my summer job which is starting in exactly 2 weeks. It's funny how I don't have much casual clothes. I think I only have one t-shirt for sleeping and I absolutely detest jeans. I try not to wear them whenever I can.

I went with the hope of securing a pair of knee length black pants but didn't end up seeing any. However, I only spent around 2 and a half hours at Highpoint and half of that was on X'mas shopping. I didn't get to go to Sussan like I planned because Stephen was getting too tired. I remember them having great knee length black pants. I did go into Cotton On, Jeans West and Glassons but didn't see anything I like at all. They only have like those ripped knee length denim or really short denim.

I think it is because I am seriously not into the very casual look like tee and jeans. A lot of girls look great in a simple tee and skinny jeans but I just feel really weird in that. In the end, I bought a 'simple' dress from Portmans. The inverted commas are there because the dress will still be considered dressy by many but I feel that it's 'simple' enough to wear to work because it has a stretchy bottom. That means that I can bend up and down easily without the risk of flashing anyone at work. And it was 50% off.

Then I did what I normally do. I bought something I really like and didn't really need. A peplum skirt!!!! I have always wanted a peplum skirt. I have seen them on celebrities and on ASOS but haven't seen any in Melbourne that I like. I tried on one at Bardot and really like it so I got it.

I am planning to wear it tomorrow so I will post pictures of how it looks like as part of an outfit! There was some drama trying on this skirt. I couldn't see the zip and zipped the skirt onto the chiffon Cooper St top I had on. I panicked and asked the sales assistant for help! She had to kneel on the floor to get my top out as she didn't want to damage my top. Luckily, she could get the zip down with only a very very small mark on the top. Then I found out what the problem was. The skirt I tried on was too big; there was too much room and my top was flowy at the end. So I tried on a smaller size and viola, the problem was solved!

I finally bought my KK from VF a present after shopping around for a while. This is what I got her.

I will post it off next week. Hopefully she likes it. :)

Oh, my outfit for the day!

Cardigan: Friends of Couture
Top: Cooper Street
Leather Belt: Review
Skirt: French Connection
Stockings: Sportsgirl

I realised I am really bad at taking photos of myself. I read quite a bit of other fashion blogs and their photos always come out so clear and nice! My photos are always so blurry and dark. Haha! It's because my hands are shaky and I am actually standing in the bathtub! My other mirrors are all either slanted or not full-length. Maybe one day I will discover a better way to take photos.

I really like the skirt because it's very pleated and puffs out slightly.

I am excited about wearing my new Bardot peplum skirt tomorrow. Hopefully I feel better soon. I kept coughing like mad after I got back and kept panting.

XOXO
BowsNHearts

Little black dresses

2009-12-01T06:32:00.000+11:00

I realised recently while looking through my photos that I am a big fan of structured black and white dressing. I hardly wear colourful things and really like classic chanelesque black and white dresses, tops and little accessories.

Cases:

Stopped to take a photo with a cute dog in the city.

Having dinner with friends. You can't see the dress properly but it's this dress below.

And recently, I bought this little black dress with fringy shoulders from Sportsgirl.

Again, you can't see it very well but it's this dress:Photo credit: Sportsgirl

I wasn't very sure about the sportsgirl dress but Jacky insisted that I got it. So I did. It's a tad short and very fitting. I am a bit conscious about it when I am walking or sitting down. Maybe it's because I haven't worn anything short without stockings for a long time (Autumn and Winter).

A Victoria Beckham peplum dress caught my eyes when I saw this photo of Blake Lively on CocoPerez a while back.

I doubt that I can afford this dress even IF (Big if) I can find it. I am such a sucker for structured dresses. I do love flowy and drapey pieces but I don't have the figure to carry off the look that a lot of girls look fab in.

I know it's pretty bad to copy a designer's piece but I have tried to get this dress tailor made on Etsy and still couldn't afford the asking price of US$200! Oh, the woes of being a student.

And then I saw Megan Fox in this dress:

Photo Credit: MeganFoxBuzz

How hot does she look? But then, Megan Fox would look good even in a potato sack.

Some ASOS LBDs that I am coveting:

Photos credit: ASOS

They are at a much more affordable price. The lacey LBD is 55 pounds and the studded one is 35 pounds. However, as I am trying to restrict my spending (Went overboard when Jacky was here from Singapore for 10 days), I am going to give them a go. Besides, I try not to order online whenever I can no matter how drool-worthy some dresses can get. Why? Because I am so into the structured look, I want everything to be fitted. Without being able to try those dresses on, I am afraid that the gorgeous looking dresses may not look as good on me.

BUT shoes, I am more willing to buy. Especially these if I have the cash. It would go with both the ASOS dresses.

Christian Louboutins

That, if I ever get the moolah, I will splurge on them.

Ciao for now.

First Post!

2009-11-30T04:32:00.000+11:00

This is my first blog post! I have thought about setting up a blog seriously for a while. I have started blogs in the past but ended up closing them down as I either became too lazy to update or ran out of content.

I am still recovering from a cold. I am still having a quite persistent cough. My cold always last around a week or so. It has been 5 days and hopefully I can recover soon. I have Christmas shopping I want to do and 2 movies to go to.

After my exams, I have been basically sleeping at whatever time I please. I have that privilege until the 15th as that's when I start my summer vacation job. So at 3am, I have this sudden urge to do my nails. So I did! I could never find time to do my nails during my study semester as I am quite slow when it comes to painting my nails, especially when I do my right hand (Since I am right handed).

So here it is.
Now, I am back to enjoying my back-episodes-marathon of Boston Legal and then playing Sims 3 World Adventures! I should enjoy a student's life while I can.