New Year Celebration

Ridiculously late post but I don't care because I had too much fun celebrating New Year's with my friends. 

We first started with a Studio Ghibli marathon, lots of insane junk food which probably added 5kg to my petite frame (making look like an additional 10kg), played Cards Against Humanity, drank till we were simply rolling around the floor in laughter and attempting to finish the game before finally collapsing in my friend's spare room for the night. 

Loveliest people I could ever spend New Year's with, from right, Kanoe (who kindly offered her house to party at), Skrei, Jean, me and Judith.

How apt that our first card of the game was about New Year's too! Guess which card won this round?

Played with my friend's adorable Japanese Spitz named, Nyx. We put a necklace from Princess Mononoke on him, as he'll be my friend's "wolf" in her future shoot.

2014 pushed alot of my boundaries, I felt lost and scared and alone many times during the year and was made to deal with many painful decisions. I grew up and many life lessons were dealt to me whether I liked it or not but I felt like 2014 taught me more about life than any other year. 

I left difficult situations and people whether voluntarily or not but thanks to these events, as painful and troubling as they were, I eventually met many people whom I feel truly comfortable with. I can be myself, even sharing disgusting, weird parts of myself with them and they accept it, or even hit back with more weird, random, disgusting things and it feels amazing! I don't bother dressing up or putting on makeup or taking selfies as much as finally, I feel more comfortable in my own skin and being who I am and knowing that I won't be rejected over such trivial things. I hardly wear makeup and dress pretty casually now on most days unless required, as I no longer feel the intense need for a barrier between myself and the world or to fake a confident persona. I feel accepted and loved and more in touch with my self identity than ever before. 

There are many emotional scars that I still have to deal with and to build up my self confidence and self esteem, and even though I know there are still many challenges to be faced, but for once in my life, I feel like I can actually truly face the unknown future and say, "I am not afraid, come at me".

STGCC 2014

Too many backlogged posts, so I'm just gonna write quick summaries for them. So sorry for the delay, I just haven't been  in a mood to write for such a long time.

Anyway, here's a back post on STGCC (Singapore Toys, Games and Comics Convention ) 2014. It's one of my favourite events as it's the only time you can openly be hardcore bout your favourite western comics/animation characters and people actually recognise your character and call out to you in your character's name. I don't get that as much at other events.

Did Black Widow during Day 1, quite a comfortable costume and it was so funny when I said "excuse me" to a guy to try and move past him, he turned around looking like he was gonna say something negative, only to quietly reply "So sorry, Black Widow" and shuffled off.

Did my own intepretation of a Steampunk Harley, but I need to improve it further by adding more details, some of my friends told me it looks more like a Burlesque Harley which I agree. Also met a Joker by coincidence.

As with all events, its always fun to meet new people and I made friends with a Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. They also had a pretty Cat Woman who's missing from the pic.

And what's an event without meeting old friends? Black suits twins with Noshuu that day.

On a personal note, I'm looking out for a new job, and as much as it pains me, I will probably be cutting down on my cosplays as I really wanna save up to travel and stuff. Not to mention, I need the money to get my own apartment in the future too.

Guess real life is calling...

Slowing Down

I wish I could I say I was busy, hence the lack of posts. I really do, but reality doesn't quite come close. I'm working at a vinyl shop now on minimal wage and it has been a fulfilling time to indulge in some free time, get back to what I like and generally take things step by step. I haven't felt peaceful in a long time, but things are rearing its ugly head again. 

Minimal wage means minimal spending and I can't afford luxury and even had to cut down some things I wouldn't have blinked twice on spending on previously. And as much as I had hoped I would get bumped up to a full time post at work, things aren't looking up, so it probably means I need to look for a job that pays much better. Being an adult means having to fork out money on alot more things and I still really wanna go to Japan next year.

I have't felt creative in awhile and even my cosplays are slowing down due to the shortage of funds, so I guess it's just time to get back to real life and start the hamster wheel of working at a regular job once again. 

I'll update soon, heck I've got alot of posts I've been wanting to post up, so just be patient and gimme some time to clear them kays?

ICDS 2014

I almost didn't attend International Cosplay Day Singapore (ICDS) but when I heard that the amazing Kamui Cosplay was gonna be a guest and teach a workshop on armour/prop making, there was no way I was gonna miss it!!

Pic with the amazing Kamui herself. I learnt quite abit about Worbla and foam for prop making from her workshop 

Bought all 3 of her books as a gift for the bf, she even autographed them!! I also got a poster autographed by her, I'm thinking bout redecorating my room and framing the poster and Vampybitme's signed poster to display on my wall.

For a small event, there were many amazing cosplayers who turned up, including this incredible Iron Giant cosplay!!

Look at that thing!!

The incredible man behind it named Orvis. He laughed when I asked if I could take a pic of him saying that it was the first time all day that anyone asked to take a pic of the man behind the robot.

Unfortunately, after the event, I woke up the next morning to find my cosplay appearing in the local paper.

It wasn't so much as me appearing in the paper that irked me, it was the complete lack of respect of the writer and photographer, who chose to take this sneak picture of me while I was busy posing for a photo with Rescend instead of respectfully asking for a picture. This is especially annoying when a local law was fairly recently passed regarding requesting permission to post identifiable information of anyone. The fact that the local newspaper didn't give two hoots about it is especially infuriating. I wrote to them to explain the matter but failed to get a reply, so I'm considering taken other actions elsewhere.

It's not that I'm trying to act like a big shot or something, I'm just concerned that these reporters think they can get away with such behaviour especially with the local cosplay community, simply because we're the "weirdos" or something. 

Anyway, to avoid turning this post into a major ranting session (which is pretty much halfway there), I'll end this post now... till next time!

Being Touristy

Globe-trotting gyaru, Kayo, was back in town for a week or so a few months back. it was fun being a tour guide and showing her around town like before, though it was more of a shopping/ sight seeing trip this time, unlike the food driven trip last time. 

Started the day with brunch a la Singapore style:

Half boiled eggs mixed with dark soy sauce and white pepper, Kaya (coconut jam) and butter toast with strong coffee

It was amusing to hear Kayo comparing the eggs to Japan's onsen eggs, and she loved the strong coffee.

After that, we headed to Haji Lane, as she had read up about it online.

Tourist shot! My face looks really weird here

Steph's tattoo artist, Kevin, helped to take this picture after we popped by his store to cool off due to the intense heat.

My outfit consisted of:

Inner shirt: Uniqlo

Lace Nightie: Taobao

Shorts: Lowry's Farm

Stockings: taobao

Denim Jacket: Calvin Klein

Badge: taobao

Shoes: Random shop in Holland Village

Hair clips: Sasa

Final shot before Steph had to leave for the day

It was fun catching up with Kayo again and hopefully, I'll get a chance to head to Japan and she'll be my tour guide the next time we meet.

Back Again

Image from the movie: The Place Promised In Our Early Days

Sorry for dropping off the face of the Earth for a few months. I'm not sure if anyone is gonna actually read my blog anymore but meh, whatever. 

Anyway, if anyone's actually curious bout what happened to me, I got the job at the PR agency I wanted a few posts back. Started out the first month fine and optimistic bout everything, but after awhile, things started grating on me. The colleagues were cold, I couldn't connect with anyone, the bosses were just existing to throw us work and disappear without any real direction. I was lost, confused and started hating anything and everything related to my job. 

So basic thing is, I switched jobs. My friend offered an opportunity to work at a vinyl store and I grabbed it. The money's tight because I'm on a part-timer's payroll, but the colleagues and boss are exceedingly nice and warm and caring, and I have flexibility in my schedule to do the things I want. I dunno how long this can keep up, but for now, I'm happier then I've been in a long long time. 

I know I can't remain this way forever, and I do have concerns bout how I will be able to last financially in the future with more financial responsibilities. However, in 2 years, this is the first real sense of peace I've had. 

I'm learning alot of things at work bout the turntables and vinyls, more than I ever thought I'd ever learn about them. I'm hoping dearly that I may get an opportunity to earn full time employment, so I need to work hard and prove my worth. 

I'm still uncertain about what the future may bring as things haven't gone as I had planned years ago. But, I'm just glad I'm still here trying to feel my way around and learning more about myself along the way.

I have a great backlog of posts, so I'll slowly update them even if I'm just typing into a blog that no one bothers to read anymore. 

Baked Kit Kats

Ever since I started my diet, I haven't really eaten much sweets except for the occasional treat. But I couldn't resist when I chanced upon a shop selling the Japanese baked kit kats. 

The packaging, clearly showing the kit kats are meant to be baked

The cute individually wrapped kit kats. At 64 kcal each, its a treat I can live with once in awhile.

Though it's much smaller then I expected. It's only half the length of my second finger and I don't exactly have long fingers mind you.

Nice and toasty in my toaster oven. Supposedly the kit kats work only in toaster ovens, not the larger convectional ovens as the heat is too intense.

The kit kats melted down and got stuck to the aluminium foil so I had to slowly peel them off. The packaging says to toast it for about 3 minutes, but it didn't get the caramelised effect I wanted, so I left it for an additional 3 minutes. 

End result!! It was warm and had the lovely caramelised sugar taste of creme brulee, which probably explains the pudding flavour. The inner wafer was still crisp but there was a slight amount of melted gooey-ness from the white chocolate. Super addictve, I'm glad it takes time to slowly toast them otherwise I'd probably finish the entire bag in a single seating.

In other news, I got the job I wanted! I just finished my first week there and the company is really ultra small, like less then 10 people. Good news is, its an express route to learning new things, bad news, I'll probably be doing ALOT of things and might have some late nights. I'm trying to tell myself to just be strong and learn everything I can even if it means working late.

The sucky thing is, I just feel bit unwanted by the colleagues there. They're mega tight together to the point where they have each other on Facebook and Instagram and stuff, so I feel super awkward and out of place right now. I don't even have a chance to enter their conversations because everything is so personal and it sucks when they keep harping bout missing their ex-colleague, the one I replaced. 

The bf says I'm thinking too much and some friends are telling me to just give it time. I guess I just need to steel myself and tell myself to make things work as it's getting really tiring for me and bad for my career to keep jumping jobs. It's do or die now. I need to make it wok whether I like it or not.

Hair Do, Pigging Out and Popping Pills

Nothing much has been happening to me lately besides waking up, surfing the net, catching up with friends, packing up my room and finding a new job. So pardon the lack of posts though i really ought to get a move on review posts since I did get a few new items lately. I might also do a gets post, since I did make some big ticket purchases from last year till now but we'll see how it goes.

I did get a new haircut, hair dye and perm done fairly recently back at Kizuki+LIM. I'm too deeply in love with the ambience of the salon and the skilled hands of my cheerful hairstylist. 

Dyed my hair back to a darker to brown to reduce damage and also because my hair was starting to become multi-coloured once again. I also did a slight body perm, not enough to give me curls like before but enough to create a slight bounce and airy feel to my hair without trying. I must say that the strawberry tea that they serve is really soothing in a nice floral way, something about the place always makes me feel relaxed and drowsy much to my hairstylists's amusement.

I was also holed up at home partly because I came down with a bad case of flu. I was given a battery-load of medicines to take but at least it's nearly over, I just have alittle cough now, and the medicine has helped to calm my eczema down, which is a pretty good bonus. Though for the first 2 days, I was so drugged up I couldn't even make out what I was watching on the tv.

To cheer me up after my illness, the bf brought me out for a lovely brunch at a cafe called Tea Dot. I had yummy scrambled eggs on buttered toast and a grilled portobello mushroom, while the bf satisfied his meat craving with some bangers & mash. Shared a lemon meringue tart and had some bitter tea which helped soothe the throat. I also pigged out on a seriously awesome burger and truffle fries with some friends before I had my hair session, I could use a bag full of those amazing truffle fries now but I'll be patient and wait till my throat gets better first.

On the job front, I've been taking it slow and easy instead of making my past mistakes of whoring myself out and readily accepting any job that came my way. I've scaled back and applied for jobs in industries I feel that I have an interest in and as much as it pains me, I've decided to try entry-level jobs with the PR industry, which means a pay cut but also streamlining my job scope and role and responsibilities so that I needn't run around like a headless chicken wondering what the hell I'm doing. 

I've got a second interview with a PR agency tomorrow and I'm really crossing my fingers and hoping things will work out this time. So let's just see how things go.

Quick Meetup & Dinner

Had a short but lovely dinner meeting with my bestie from another mother, Steph the Magnificent!

Didn't do much other then having dinner at a cafe she hadn't tried and some window shopping, but nonetheless it was fun.

Camwhore pic of the day! This is also my most recent photo after I did a hair dyeing session and quick trim last week, my hair is now a dark brown.

Blurry outfit pic, but it'll have to do as I didn't take any other pic of my outfit

Cropped top: Boy London

Inner dress: M.O.S.

Stockings: Can't remember

Ankle Boots: Online

Spiked hairband: Online

Bowtie choker: JRunway

Winged backpack: Glad News

We ate at this Parisian eatery called PAUL. I've tried their pastries and sandwiches numerous times and dined in once before with the bf. Honestly, I think their pastries and sandwiches to go are better then their dining in options. Their service is also bit slow and lacking.

Had an open-faced beef sandwich, it had a fancy French name, but I've forgotten what it was. I hate raw onions so it was immediately scooted off to the edge of the plate. The salad had a nice vinaigrette  dressing and was pretty fresh. The sandwich itself was overwhelmed by the cheese, I hardly tasted any beef though the crusty bread was good.

Had Strawberry Millefeuille for dessert and was highly disappointed by it. Steph said my picture made it look so much better then how it looked like in real life. it was served shoved towards one edge of the plate though it did look pretty. The pastry layers were quite hard and not at all crisp, light and buttery. The choux cream was too sweet, overwhelming the strawberries and pastry. At least the strawberries weren't too sour.

I'm craving for some decent pastries right now after the disappointment of the dinner. But at least I did manage to have alittle catch up session with Steph. 

Now it's back to cleaning and clearing my pig sty of a room.

Compiled Update

Hey guys, sorry bout the lack of updates, just alot has been  going on for me mentally and emotionally. With me being unemployed and free at the moment, I took it as a much needed break/ holiday for the first week or so, but after that, doubts started plaguing me and my self worth and esteem has kinda plummeted especially when some negative things were said to me by my ex-boss. 

I've been trying to keep myself busy to stave off the negative thoughts so I've been catching up with friends and stuff. Here's a lightning post on what's been happening in my life lately:

Attended Mini's 21st birthday party. Here she is cosplaying as her favourite character Kotetsu (from the anime, Tiger & Bunny) and posing with her cake made in his comic likeness. I attended dressed as Crista Lenz/ Historia Reiss from the series Shingeki no Kyojin/ Attack on Titan but didn't really take a pic.

Also attended Skippy's birthday and had a blast drinking beer, getting stupid and playing truth or dare while almost everyone was half wasted. The silly antics we did were really fun.

Shirt: Emoda

Skirt: Bought in KL

Thigh high socks: Cosmode

Choker: Taobao

Went to the premiere of The Wind Rises and a few of us in the group decided to dress up as Studio Ghibli characters. I did another wardrobe/ ghetto cosplay of Kiki with a blue dress I dug out from my wardrobe this time.

Dress from Nichii

The movie was really nice, and really evoked alot of emotions. Definitely a fitting end to Hayao Miyazaki's amazing career.

Watched an Indie film with my mom called, Size Does Matters. It's quite a cute show.

Dress: Jouetie

Jewelled hairband: Osewaya

Stockings: Taobao

Accompanied Steph when she got another tattoo, this time of her other cat on the other thigh. Felt like dressing up abit that day though I did mostly window shopping on my own.

Dress: Topshop

Inner blue shirt with white polka dots: Uniqlo

Belt: Taobao

Beret: Accessorize

Round framed spectacles: Taobao

Badge: Katie

The final product! Now she has both her beloved cats' portraits on her.

A friend of mine wanted to explore cafes, so we went to a pie specialty cafe called, Windowsill in the Woods. It's really popular among the local hipster crowd but their pies are definitely worth it. Threw a jumble of clothes on and somehow they fitted together hahah.

Inner striped Turtleneck: Uniqlo

Shirt: Candy Stripper

Mullet skirt: Bought in KL

Red bowler hat: Can't remember

Round framed spectacles: Taobao

Shoes: The Salvation Army

Since I have time on my hands now, I decided to start on a healthier diet. So I've been whipping up alot of home-cooked meals whenever I can. I cook mostly salmon, white fish and chicken with lots of vegetables and very little carbohydrates.

So far, my stomach has become less bloated and I definitely feel more energised and my skin has become alot clearer now. Hopefully I can continue whipping up healthier meals when I get a new job.

I also took the opportunity to clear out and streamline my wardrobe, so my wardrobe is less cluttered now. I'm getting round to cleaning my room and updating it as I've had the same posters stuck on my room walls since I was a teenager. Man I feel so old knowing I'm in my twenties now and I still have posters on old anime stuck on my walls. I've been looking at Tumblr for inspiration but since I can't exactly change the layout of my room and my furniture, I'm left with just sprucing up my walls and neatening everything out. let's see how I can make the best of it.

Snip Snip!

Sometimes I get utterly terrible days plagued with terrible situations, and sometimes, I randomly get the most amazing luck to counter-balance the bad.

I was having a rough day at work when I decided to meet the Bf on a whim, was browsing at the nearby Kinokuniya shop when I was spotted by Tomoko. That was how I became an accidental hair model/ willing victim for Tomoko to practise her hairdressing skills on. It was only much later did I realise she worked for the amazing hair salon, Kizuki+LIM.

After letting her go wild on my hair, I walked out feeling happier than most other salons I've been to, and with great hair that has lasted. Unfortunately, I didn't take many pics of the place, and though I wasn't asked to review the salon, I enjoyed myself so much that I just gotta write about it!  

I got lost finding the salon, but that's probably because I hardly ever explore Raffles Hotel without good reason

(Pic from : http://haze-lk.blogspot.sg/2013/10/throwback-on-me-and-my-friends-haircut.html)

Super cool architecture! Different areas of the salon were separated by these geometric shaped "walls"/ pathways

(Pic from: http://www.designboom.com/architecture/teruhiro-yanagihara-kizuki-lim-salon-singapore/)

Their reception counter and the place where they stowed my bag before my haircut

(Pic from: http://singapooo.exblog.jp/16793515)

Their washing area with super comfortable automated reclining seats. It's really great for me as due to my short stature, I usually end up shuffling myself awkwardly on those flat chairs for my head to reach the sink. With these chairs, I no longer need to look like a earthworm on drugs and am able to maintain my dignity

(Pic from: http://jrunway.com/great-experience-at-kizuki-lim-salon/)

The area where I got my hair cut and styled. The chairs are movable and so is the wall, allowing the staff to play around with the floor space depending on their clients

(Pic from: http://singapooo.exblog.jp/16793515)

Waiting for my haircut! As you can see, my hair looked rather heavy and old-fashioned with the thick, grown out perm.

Haircut after I reached home and being pummelled by strong winds. Still looked good!

Managed to take a pic with the lovely Tomoko! Thank you so much for the haircut!

My hair has remained rather low maintenance and looks good styled or not and even looks decent if I go to bed with my hair still wet from my shower. People have been complimenting my haircut and even the Bf says it looks good, which is rare since he hardly mentions much bout my hairstyles. 

Will definitely return, as a paying customer the next time. 

On a side note, I left my last job. Things weren't working out so I'm looking for another. It sucks quite abit and I'm hoping my next job will work out, but at least the experience has helped me open potential new career options. Lets see how things go in the future I guess.

Party, Concert, Shopping & Valentine's Day

February has been a busy month for me, so I haven't been able to update this blog much. Nearly every weekend was packed with stuff so I have compiled them into this quick post. Will have a more updated post soon.

Went window shopping with my mom and ended up walking away with a pair of Vivenne Westwood shoes that were on sale. Hmm....

Outfit:

Striped top: Can't remember

Skirt: Lowry's Farm

Scarf: The Body Shop

Satchel: Taobao

Boots: Payless

Attended Daisy's 21st birthday party. Spent the entire night clubbing then chilling in the cramped hotel hotel room while gossiping and waiting till morning to grab some amazing Tim Sum. Really fun night with some great guy friends.

Attempted to straighten my permed locks to see how long my hair had grown out. I liked the semi-wavy look that resulted.

Outfit: Top: Lip Service

Jeans: Uniqlo

Heels: Bought in KL

Necklace: Vivienne Westwood

Picture of the people at the party. Really fun night though I think I'm getting bit old for clubbing.

Attended the amazing Spirited Away - The Music of Joe Hisaishi concert. His music always stirs memories of childhood dreams, innocence and feelings of gentleness. The Singapore Symphony Orchestra did an excellent job of performing his music. 

Lots of friends attended the event, but most of us bought our tickets separately, so many of them were dotted all around the concert hall. Luckily I bought a bunch of tickets for some people, so we could sit altogether. Also brought my two little Jiji toys and Tessie brought her Calcifer toy.

I wore a somewhat jumbled together "cosplay" version of Kiki, or at least, how I think her wardrobe will look like when she's older. 

Tunic: Marks & Spencer (linen & cotton mix with a weaved design on the front and brass coloured buttons)

White Jeans: Uniqlo (a more modest, grown up version of her white shorts)

Satchel : Taobao (a structured version of her bag)

Red heels: Salvatore Ferragamo (I actually doubt she's the kind who will wear heels unless compelled to, but I don't have red ballet flats and my shorter, round toed heels need reheeling, so these pumps had to do)

Ribbon Hairband: Taobao (her signature ribbon hairband in better quality materials)

Celebrated Valentine's day with the Bf with a sweet date. We had lunch at this lovely, french inspired restaurant called Poulet before watching The Lego Movie. Cute and inspiring movie with some serious animation with the use of lego bricks.

Outfit: 

Black lace bustier: H&M

Tulle skirt: Forever21

Jacket: Jouetie

Beret: Acessorize

Socks: Cosmode

Pink studded garter: Creepyeha

Necklace: Osewaya

Some stuff happened recently in my life, so I'll be sorting them out for abit. I will definitely update as soonas I can while I sort these issues out. So apologies for the late post again, hope you guys understand.