Oh my..GDA!

Annyeonghaseyo, Hallyu Wave has officially swept Malaysia! Oh my god, the most prestigious awards ceremony ever in Korea is finally taking place right here in our hot and sunny country. Yes, Golden Disk Awards 2013 will be held at Sepang International Circuit on 15 and 16 January 2013. I swear if I don’t go for this, I’m going to be regretting the whole of 2013.

The day I found out that it was in Malaysia, I almost died. My heart skipped a beat as I was having thoughts of finally seeing my lovable idols live, and yes, in person! Being a fangirl, trust me, this is the happiest news one can receive!

Since I’m so hyped up about this event, I’ll share a picture of my sister who probably looks a little like SNSD’s Yoona. [Since I don’t think I look like any K-Pop stars… boo hoo. ;(] 

Speaking of which, Golden Disk Awards features all artists from rookie groups to the Kings and Queens of the Hallyu Wave. To be honest, I am the ultimate K-Pop fanatic as most of you guys already know and watching these artists performing right before my eyes would be a dream come true. All this while, I have to rely on pictures, videos and fancams uploaded on Youtube to see my idols performance.

Yes, the excitement can be felt but I know it’s never going to be the same as being in the venue itself. With Nuffnang’s contest, I think this marks the end of me being jealous of those fans in the video if I win the tickets for Golden Disk Awards! Not to scare you, but I do watch reruns of these Korean awards show because somehow, I feel as if I’m reliving the experience every time I do.

Who I can’t wait to see?

Thanks to Digi which is the proud co-sponsor for this “Korean Grammy Awards”, I can see blue skies and the sun shining brightly. Finally, I feel as if all hope is not lost and that there was a slight chance I could go! Not only that, Digi’s indeed really generous and they’ll be giving out lots of tickets through the GDA 4 Buddyz photo contest for Digi Easy Prepaid users and Buddyz. It’s pretty simple, all you have to do is tweet, Instagram or email a picture of yourself and your 3 Buddyz! Click here for more information!

Unboxing on Boxing Day.

 Shot by Alex | It’s the end of the year, I tend to get bit more emotional. Bear with me, kay?

So, I’m sitting down and I’m painting my nails. That was something I used to find tremendous joy in doing, so much that it gives me peace and it calms me from my busy schedule. But back then, busy was when I have loads to study on and a pending test or an exam that I’m unprepared for. For those times, doing my nails was my escape.

Now, things are different. What problems I used to have, now seemed so trivial. I think so much more these days, I also doubt myself even more. What if I’m doing it the wrong way, what are people talking about me, do they think I’m awful, am I dumb, why do I keep doing things that makes me so unhappy. Frankly, I’m tired. Tired to the core.

Every working day, it’s the same schedule. Maybe, it is because of the quiet time, that I feel going to work becomes a routine. But come 2013, the dreaded time comes and with all that I’ve been hearing I may need more than courage, willpower to stay together. It doesn’t help that the things I look forward to now, will not be there next year. I’d almost feel like I’ve lost something, something that is seemingly unimportant. And when it’s gone, it’s not so easy to move on, especially when you’ve started getting used to it.

So, yes. I’m tired. My thoughts are fragmented and scattered, just like how my physical state is. My room is in a mess, mom’s been nagging to clean up. My to-do-list is never done, stuff just keeps getting piled on. I look fine, I seem okay, I laugh and smile but truth is I’m crumbling down inside, slowly and surely I will break down. It’s just a matter of time.

The worst part is being consciously aware of what’s happening but yet feeling so helpless about it. To know that you’re drowning, to know that you could swim if you try hard enough, but yet despite that you are still struggling.

Maybe I’m putting too much pressure in starting anew with 2013. The clock’s ticking; it’s less than a week to New Year’s. It’s less than a week to get my shit together and sorted out. From the bottom of my heart, I wish no one has to go through what I feel, to be so helpless.

Happy Boxing Day, even if all that I’ve unboxed are sorrows of my past. It’s a brand new day tomorrow, and think about it, I could start ticking off my to-do-lists tomorrow.

Happy ‘the-world-ends-today’ Day!

Shot with Samsung Note. Edited with Snapseed.

If you’re at GMT +8 zone, it’s technically 21st December 2012. The day that the world is supposed to end, or half the world is supposed to end first. Because the other half would still be 20th December 2012. Now, it really wouldn’t make sense that in some parts, the world ends on 20th and not 21st. It wouldn’t be synchronized then, no?

#mindblown

So, when does the world really ends then? Well, we really wouldn’t know now. If we do, we are probably dead by then. I think it is times like this, with a pending ‘supposed’ apocalypse, that we should take a moment to appreciate what we have; the little things in life. The fact that I’m breathing and alive, with my family close to me, my friends who make me smile when I’m down and for the gorgeous sun rays that fill my mornings.

Back to December, again.

Shot by Alex | Overexposed, it’s been a year.

I stumbled upon this post; Back to December (Alex took that picture of me, too) which I wrote last year when December came. Reading it again, I realised how little has changed. Last year, I was trying to move on and get over that heartbreak. Close to one year later, I have since moved on from that heartbreak. But I find myself now, trying to move on from another disappointment. And, I have yet to come to terms with how things are. The sudden change, I guess it just screws up the whole balance I thought I finally had. But I was wrong.

So here I am again, back in December with a broken heart.

Out & About: December 9, at Publika.

Lunch at Rakuzen. With a cake from Free Mori. Then, coffee and drinks at The Bee. How was your Sunday?

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Spider Roll | Crispy fried soft shelled crab; this was really nice although the roll itself was quite huge in size.

California Roll | Because you can’t go wrong with a Californian roll, we ordered this. It was so-so.

Autumn Roll | I never knew avocado was soft. Yes, I have imagined them to be harder.

Cranky Salmon Roll | I love love salmon. This was really good, maybe I’m bias but seriously, it’s good.

Macchiato | I don’t fancy coffee, but this was a friend’s. He said it was strong, and served in a mini cup.

Raspberry Merry | Raspberry jam, is so awesome. This cake wasn’t sweet, with minimal cream. New favourite, cake. <3

Make Up: Blusher, all that you need.

Yes, really.

Blushers are wonderful; sweeping it along the cheeks can help brighten up the face, almost instantly. That is why I almost never leave the house without putting some blusher on. Because I love them blushers so much, I thought why not create a make up with just blushers of different shade, along with foundation and a clear lip gloss? This feels like I’m doing a make-up challenge where you only use one main products to make up. Haha.

I gave this a try over the weekends and wore it to my friend’s birthday party. For this look, I really did just use blushers after putting on foundation. So, this was how my make up challenge attempt looks like;

Ta-da! I thought the only-blushers-look turned out pretty sweet and nice. As you can see I used blushers for my eyes and even the lips. :D Yeap, the lips too. That is why I said I needed a clear lip gloss, besides the foundation.

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the eyes

This is how the eye make up looks like. So, basically I used two shades of blushers ― a deep reddish orange and a light pink one. (I’ll show you the colours later). Here are the steps to what I did;

1. Apply the darker shade on to my eyelids first, using a eye make up brush.
2. Then, using an angled eye brush, I lightly ‘drew’ an upward tip from the end of my eyes following the angle of my lower lash line. (This is the same technique I used to create the perfect winged liner. Read it here.) 
3. After that, apply the lighter shade all over the eyes. Even over the darker shade. The point is actually to blend both the colours together so they don’t look too much of a contrast.

Just like that you’re done! If you like, you can put on some eyeliner. I didn’t because I was sticking to the only blusher, make up challenge. Haha. Honestly though, this eye make up brighten up my eyes and even without eyeliner, it looks good too.

The two shades of blusher I used.  The deeper shade was actually from my mom’s collection, and the lighter one was the one I use daily.

These are the brushes I used. The middle one is the angled brush and the other two are fluff eye brushes.

 

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the lips

I absolutely loved the colour of my lips! And to think that this came from a blusher.

For the lips, I used the same blusher set from my mom. There are two colours there; the reddish one was what I used for my eyes. I loved the bright pink shade but I don’t have a lipstick in that shade. I thought it’ll be nice to give this colour a try on my lips. :) So, what I did was take a lip brush and get some of the blush on it. Then, mix the colour with some clear lip gloss and you’re good to apply that to your lips.

Make sure your hands are clean before you do this. Haha, As you can see, the clear lip gloss when mixed will become a pink gloss.

 

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It’s amazing really to know that all I needed for this look was blushers of different shade. Can I hash tag #mindblown? :3 

Who knew that there was other interesting ways to wear the blusher, than just on the cheeks? I guess this is what it means for a beauty product to do a double-duty, or in this case a triple duty. Cheeks, eyes and lips!

My chubby cheeks and me, being silly. :p

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I hope you enjoyed reading this post and if you tried this look, or even the make up challenge, I would love to see how it looks! :)

Till next time, xoxo

How to: Cheat Sheet for Fabric Caring

This wouldn’t exactly be a cheat sheet, but calling it so makes it more interesting to read about caring for your fabrics (fabrics as in clothes). Like all others, my clothes are really precious to me and each piece is unique, with the different designs and materials used. More often than not, I find myself taking for granted that I have my mother to help me with my washing.

source

Because of that, I am embarrassed  to say that I really have no idea that each clothing has to be cared for differently. :( So, after a few trials and errors, I took the effort to learn how to care for my clothings. Really, what is the point of having all these beautiful, gorgeous clothes only to have them ruined because I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to that?

 

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I started off with lace first because it is by far one of the most delicate fabrics I have in wardrobe. Every time I fall in love with a lace piece, I’d think twice and hard before I get it. Lace clothing are really beautiful, even more after you wear them but they are also very soft and vulnerable. Extra care have to be taken with these lovelies;

• Lace clothing need to be hand washed in cold water and air dried.
• If the clothes have zip or buttons, do zip or button them up to avoid sagging when washing.
• If you need to iron, place a cloth over the lace clothing and iron on that cloth.

Basically, with lace you need to be very gentle with them.

 

After lace, my favourite fabric would be the lightweight, almost see-through chiffon! Clothes, especially dresses look the best when there is movement in them. I love this chiffon dress because of the asymmetrical design and the chiffon, of course. Walking in this is just beautiful and you almost feel like you’re walking the runway. :D But like lace, it another delicate fabric, so here are a few handy tips;

• Chiffon tends to tear easily, so be careful of the accessories you wear. It’s best to go with fabric belts and accessories which won’t snag or tear the chiffon.
• It is very light and it may get burned really easily, so use a cooler temperature or place a cloth over it when ironing.
• It’s best to hand wash but if you want to machine wash, set the settings to ‘soft’ wash and put the it in a laundry bag. (You can get this from Daiso, for RM5 only)

 

There is something about velvet clothes that make me “ahhhh…” especially when I see gorgeous clothes made from velvet. It is not often to find clothes made out of this fabric here, maybe because it can get quite warm when wearing velvet. But I do have a few velvet pieces in my wardrobe. Velvet garments are bit more difficult to care for because the fabric can get ruined and crushed easily.

• The first thing to note is that you cannot iron a velvet garment. If there are creases, you’ll have to use a steamer to smoothen that out. Holding it over the steam of a hot boiling pot of water may help, but be careful.
• It is best to not fold your velvet clothing, because creases will be formed then. If you must fold, put tissue paper in between them.
• Some velvet clothing can be hand washed or even machine wash, but if you’re in doubt it will be better to bring it to the professional dry cleaners.

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I covered on the three most delicate fabrics that I have in my wardrobe. The other fabrics are actually easier to care for like cotton, rayon and what not. Silk is another delicate fabric as well but I think I’ll do that in another post to come. Essentially, it is always best to read the garment care label because that is usually the best way to handle the fabrics. I found a pretty comprehensive guide to understand the labels, because I do get confused often by the symbols!

source

I hope you found this post to be useful and caring for your clothes will be so much easier with the few handy tips in this ‘cheat sheet’. Haha. I would really love to hear comments if I should do more posts like this. :) Or drop me a message if you have any suggestions.

Till next time, xoxo.

Review: Rainbow Lip Sticker! | Temporary Lip Tattoo

If you remember, I blogged about the lip sticker in this post. For that post, the sticker I tried on was in 046, which Jason thought looked like ‘lap cheong’, also known as Chinese sausages. Or even salami, he said. Well, the only thing anyone can say about this lip sticker is rraaaaaaiinnnboooooowww. 

I have always wanted to try to have rainbow lips, so having the lip sticker in this design was just awesome pawsome! But honestly, I hadn’t expected the colours to be so deep. I mean rainbow reminds me of happy cheery stuff, and the colours on this lip sticker are wee bit darker. But hey, it is still in the colour of the rainbow! Compared to the previous lip sticker I mentioned in this post, this one feels a bit dry. That is why you can see the liner on my lips.

oh, hi! *waves*

heh, because I can.

Wearing rainbow on your lips is bound to be a head turner, I mean who wears rainbow and shop in the malls, right? So, wear rainbow lips if you want to walk around with people bending over their backs, just to get a better look at you, the next time you head out. Give me a call when you do, and we’ll hang out. Tee hee.

How to: Winged (eye) Liner

Eyeliners was never really my must have make-up essential items; it was pressed powder back then, when my skin was still smooth and all I needed was powder. I used to think that, that was all I needed. Even when I saw my sister religiously wearing eyeliners whenever she heads out, I still hadn’t seen the wonders of eyeliners, yet. Then, one day I fell in love with the winged, cat eyed eyeliner look that was so in trend. The next day, I got myself a liquid eyeliner; it was the Maybelline HyperSharp Liner.

It did get me some time to get used to drawing a balanced eyeliner for both my eyes, especially since I immediately started off with liquid liner. Once I’m able to draw a balanced one, I went on to try the winged eyeliner! After many trial and errors, I finally managed to do a perfect winged eyeliner. My version is a somewhat casual with less drama compared to those we see on celebrities since those are actually longer.

I did a pictorial, because it is so much easier to have a picture by picture guide. I will also eleborate in details for each step, highlighting which steps were crucial. They are actually only 4 steps and with practice you can draw it under 5 minutes.

From the pictorial, I know it seems too easy but truth is, it is that easy once you get a hang of it. Since I was trying to make the pictorial as concise as possible, I’ll be elaborating more on each step.

The most important step of the four would be the first one, because that would be the line that helps to guide the winged liner. Think as though you’re using the eyeliner to extend the line of your lower lash line. There is a simple technique/trick called the tape trick or using a cellophane tape.

So, what you’d basically do is get a cello tape and stick it slanted/angled according to your lower lash line. To avoid the cello tape to be too sticky, lightly pat the tape on the back of your hand before sticking them to your eyes. The tape only merely acts as a guideline, so once you’ve drawn the line, it’s best to peel it off.

Moving on, the hardest step, in my opinion would then be the second one, where you have to draw the outline from the centre of the eye. I actually have a tip to make this step easier. For those who have double eye-lids, you can use the fold of your eyelid as the guideline to how thick you have to draw the eyeliner. For those who don’t have. you can decide on the thickness of your eyeliner according to how you would prefer it to be.

The third step basically involve filling in the outline that you have drawn earlier. Do this step carefully because you have to make sure it stays within the outline you have drawn. For the fourth step, it is just extending the line. If you’re not used to drawing your liner using liquid, best that you try to draw short lines instead of one slick line.

Ta-da, you’re done! Four simple steps to have that perfect winged eyeliner! I’ll show you a picture of my eyeliner; I had actually lined my waterline as well.

I know it is a bit dramatic, because I kind of got carried away while drawing the eyeliner which actually happens pretty often. I am usually afraid of lining my lower lash line because the eyeliner would usually smudge, but the new K-Palette eyeliner I am using (which I will review soon!) almost doesn’t smudge! :D

I’ll end the post with a shot of my face, wearing the eyeliner. I do hope you found the tutorial very useful and good luck with drawing the winged eyeliner!

xoxo

because, it doesn't matter.

So, I am sitting down and I’m just thinking. Have you ever sat in front of the computer, so many thoughts running through your mind, so quickly like flashes? And just as you were about to grasp them, they would vanish into thin air, replaced with new thoughts. It’s overwhelming, that I can tell you. Most times, it will get so frustrating but sometimes you have to stop fighting it and give in to them...

More wishful thinking, I wish I could read minds. I wish I would know what is what, even if it’s only for a day. I really wish so. Among these wishes, I wondered. I wonder why unicorns don’t exist. I wonder why you did what you did. I wonder why I love candies but hate chocolate.

Then, there are the questions that beg to be asked. But then, do I really want to know the answers? Wouldn’t it be better to leave things as it and give it the benefit of doubt? I ask too much, think too much so it’s time I stop doing what I used to do. Not until I’m sure it’s really okay to do so.

Trend: Oxblood, Fall Fashion 2012

I have taken a sudden interest in runway trends, just recently. I have been into fashion for quite some time; like all other, my passion for fashion started with a fondness of dressing up, looking good. But then, it never occurred to me what was in trend back then, I wore what looks good and what I like. Most of the times, it doesn’t really matter whether others like it or not. (Still doesn’t, I’m the one wearing the clothes after all) Of course, now it’s different because I am reading more about fashion and these would usually cover runway trends, especially since runway shows are pretty big deal.

Confession: One of my dreams would be to attend a fancy exclusive fashion show, *fingers crossed* front row seats!

[Source]

And so, here I am talking about the runway trend for Fall/Autumn 2012. The reason why I’d post about this “Oxblood” trend was because I had actually gotten myself a piece of clothing in Oxblood, even before I knew it was trending. I meant, what a coincidence, plus I really loved this piece very much that it deserve a post on it. If you don’t know by now, Oxblood is actually a colour. It’s a deep burgundy colour, very rich. It’s strong and it’s a bold colour. Not the eye catching bold, but just bold.

Google will show you just how huge the Oxblood trend is for Fall/Autumn 2012, the wonders of Internet these days. So many inspirations of pretty items! And, here is how I wore the Oxblood trend. When I was scouting for unique pieces to sell on Et Cetera, I saw this amazing faux leather skirt. I knew I had to have it, so I brought it in for Et Cetera and got myself one in the Oxblood colour (there is black too). I didn’t know that it was Oxblood, I saw that as a deeper maroon.

Look #1

Look #2

So, will you be wearing this fall’s hottest colour, oxblood? ;)

Note: The photos are shot using my phone, so you’ll have to excuse the quality.

Today’s Blonde Moment.

Are you sure you're not blonde? #ThingsIGetAlot

I had one such ‘blonde’ moment today, a first in many weeks (but then again, the past few weeks have been dull and colourless). This happened when I was talking to A, my best friend. He was telling me about how he wanted to start blogging again, after so long. He had given me his blog address before but me, being the blur forgetful person I am, I had somewhat forgotten about it. But I did remember it was something with the words ‘skies’ and ‘blue’. I’ll let you read on;

Like I said earlier, I remember it was ‘skies’ and ‘blue’ and A told me it was in Wordpress. So, easy peasy I went to Google the three keywords I had and to my convenience, skiesblue.wordpress.com came up. Clicked on it, scrolled down and I saw pictures that I had no idea why A would ever post! It’s not porn, but it was this…..

Em, yea. And more and more of pictures of this guy…. Obviously, something weird was going on and I had to ask A!

And that was what A told me!!! I mean, wtf, at that point I scrolled through two pages and it was that many pictures of that dude I just believe what A said. I mean who would joke about this kind of stuff, right? Obviously, he did and thinks it was funny enough to troll me. HMMPH.

It turns out that his blog was skiesblueS.wordpress.com. I missed out by one ‘S’ and that made all the difference. Meh. Anyway, A beat me to blogging about this, so if you want you can read what he wrote; meme style! Link here; http://skiesblues.wordpress.com/2012/11/06/skiesblue-4life/.

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I thought I’ll post a little more about how I’m doing and feeling lately, since I haven’t been updating much. Well, I, (hmmm) haven’t been the best I wished I could be. In fact, some days were pretty horrible. “There are good days, and there are bad days. And then, there are days that you feel so awful that you wished a sink hole would just swallow you in.”

Then, there are those days that you just want to drop everything and just leave. Run. Let time heal everything, while you disappear.

It’s really hard to deal with this, when suddenly all that I thought to be wasn’t what it was. I thought I was stronger, I told myself I could get through this. But frankly, I don’t have a clue. All I know is that despite everything, I keep looking back to the what had already happened. Sometimes really, (I don’t know if anybody will ever be able to feel how I feel or at least relate), when everything is lost, you find yourself missing and longing for it/them. You want to turn back the clock, you want to do things differently, you want to change. But you cannot. I cannot. And, it just hurts to be so helpless.

People change, but memories don’t.

21 days, the bro said.

If I told you I missed you, what would you do?

I miss my best friend(s). I know best, means having one only but I have so many friends that they are all my best ones. I really do miss them so much, and I’m really thankful for those who stuck on with me despite how insufferable, stupidly annoying and dumb I could be at times. Thank you so much, and I want you to know, that, it means the world to me. 

Crystie’s 20th, The Apartment

About a few Sundays back, I spent an afternoon with my friends from work and then, in the late afternoon I was busy preparing for Crys’s birthday and with coordinating her ‘surprise’ birthday dinner as well. It was meant as a surprise but because I didn’t plan it properly, :x she did knew about it but played along with us. Haha. Here are some pictures of what went down during the dinner;

Once again, happy birthday Crys! I love you in ways that nobody can understand, even yourself. <3

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Before I end my post, this is what I had from The Apartment. I have never been here before so I did Google up on what’s good there. But there wasn’t anything that was really good (from the reviews I read online) so I ended up deciding on what seems fine from the menu, and I picked the Duck Confit.

Shot with Galaxy Note, under low light condition.

I picked this because I have never tried this anywhere before and I quite like it, the cranberries sauce was sweet, just nice and complemented the tender and slightly crispy duck. I don’t know if this was what a Duck Confit was supposed to taste like but I like it enough, anyway.

Meet Eaton Mess, a sinful delish dessert made from baked marshmallow topped with cream, tonnes of strawberries and sweet strawberries sauce. This is so delicious, it’ll make you go “screw that diet, I’ll eat this and worry about the calories later”.

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That’s all from me this time, have a great working week ahead. Uh, that goes out to me as well.