The Modern Li(f)e

What I went through today:

Woke up
Lunch date
Explored an unfamiliar area (in my car)
Home, collected the laundry
Gym
Grocery shopping
Home, blogging this now
(Later)
Dinner
Watch TV while I fold the laundry
Paint/ Read
Sleep.

Whenever I was in between activities - traveling from one place to another or simply taking a break, a creeping sensation of hollowness sank in.  It's strange because you could hardly say that I am a lonely girl. 

I wonder if this is what the 'golden age' has come to.  We occupy ourselves with activity after activity - work, joining the gym, housework, socialising, et cetera, et cetera... in order to fill up this void.  I used to subconsciously meet up friend after friend to fill up my free time.  It's like, I was afraid to be alone with my own feelings or something. 

What is this?  Is this the result of our shaping the world into something we can't handle?  With modernisation and development, we compete with each other - our workload increases drastically and we are left with little more than work to keep us occupied.  But wait, I wasn't working today.  So what is it?

Marc Auge coined the term 'non-place'.  An airport is a 'non-place'.  A shopping mall is a 'non-place'.  The journey in between one place to another, is also a 'non-place'.  Judging from my schedule today, more than half my time was spent in a 'non-place'.  Could this have contributed to my feeling of hollowness?  Afterall, a 'non-place' is devoid of emotion and memory.  Maybe I've simply spent too much time in a space that does not make me feel anything. 

Or perhaps this feeling is, merely an invention of my own - and has nothing to do with the way my life is shaped, or the way my surrounding environment is shaped, or my schedule.

Happy Halloween

Guess who?

To radiate happiness

What do you wear when you are happy?  Why bright colours of course, and a Disney tee will not hurt.

This was taken months ago before I left Malaysia, where you get happy sunny weathers.  Not really relevant to where I am now, in UK and it's always raining.  I can't really take pictures here cause I don't have a cameraperson, le sigh.  And now that I've started studying again it's not like I have a lot of extra time on my hands =(

How could anyone not always wear slip on shoes? Its so convenient. I've wasted too much valuable time dealing with shoelaces...  

-Adam Levine

  Blazer | Zara

  T-shirt | Disney@Uniclo

  Shorts |Uniclo

  Loafers | Charles & Keith

Comfortable Colours

Today was special because:  I didn't burst out in tears/ I was comfortable in my own skin/ I laughed/ I learned that I suckX1000000 at darts.

Not the usual skimpy outfit girls wear on Friday night.  I'm no longer comfortable showing too much skin, probably because I gained quite a bit of weight this year.  I've learned that being comfortable in what you wear is the key to confidence.  So if you're unsure about an outfit, don't buy it.  Chances are you won't be comfortable in your own skin.

Top | stolen from my aunt

Skirt | from somewhere in Summit USJ

Belt | Discreet

Bangle | Nose

Shoes | Solight

Bag | Nose

Now you may notice that most of my clothes are cheap finds from unknown places.  That's how I make the most of my money, since I don't have much to spare.  =)

Victoria Jackson opening in Malaysia

Honestly, I've never heard of Victoria Jackson before today, so when the sales girl from Victoria Jackson cosmetics approached me today I was merely entertaining her at first.  Then she told me that if I get a Victoria Jackson membership now, I CAN GET A LIFETIME OF MAKE-UP SERVICES FOR FREE.  That caught my attention.  Imagine simply walking into a cosmetics store, flashing a card, getting my make-up done and just walking out of the store, everyday (if I abuse it)!  Apparently, they are doing their branding here in Malaysia now, so that's why they are giving out a lifetime's worth of make-up services in return for customer loyalty.  It seems too good to be true.

Now, I am aware that many companies often make promises they can't keep.  They might find that it is not feasible to permanently launch their product line in Malaysia, or they may simply hire a salesgirl with no make-up experience to do your make-up (the latter seems highly possible).  Thing is, I don't really have much to lose because membership comes with purchasing any product, whatever the price.  I looked at their products and saw something that I like.

 

It's called the Harmony Eyeshadow Kit and it's priced at RM98.00 for members.  The salesgirl told me that I would definitely like it as I am a Bobbi Brown user.  She said that their products are similar to Bobbi Brown (colour-wise, I assume), and their packaging is Mac inspired.  I'm really not that excited about the packaging.  Mac inspired, but really, missed the bar.

Anyway, this palette really got me excited because I knew that I could use it for shading and contouring as well as on my eyes.  In fact, I think it works better as a face contouring powder set than an eyeshadow set for me.  I have really flat Chinky eyes so the typical way you would apply this on your eyes does not really work for me.  (Like how westerners would emphasise darker tones on their crease)  The salesgirl has demonstrated that much to me today.  She was quite proud with what she did to my eyes, but I thought it kinda made my eyes look really flat and weird.  Anyhow, I'm pretty sure that I can find another way to work around it.

e.l.f. Golden Bronzer

I've been using this bronzing palette from e.l.f. for contouring before this.  It works pretty well but it's shimmery and thus not as suitable for contouring as the matte colours in the Harmony Eyeshadow Kit from VJ.  Still, it's REAAALLY value for money at, if I remember correctly, USD 3 a palette.  The colour on the bottom left corner is great for highlighting and with this palette it's like shader, highlighter and blusher in one - the colours complement each other so you won't have to worry about clashing colours!  In fact, I think I just convinced myself to get another one of these when I've finished this palette, hmm....  Still, the thing about it being too shimmery for daily use is a downside.

Apart from lifetime membership privileges, they thew in a little beauty tip booklet.   Really cute!



So at the end of the day, if they do break their promise of lifetime make-up services, they lose me as a loyal customer (and I do spend quite a fortune on make-up), I bitch about them to my friends and nobody wins.  At least I got myself this neutral palette as consolation.

Sad Saturday Night

So I ended up sad and alone on a Saturday night.  Well, not completely alone, since I live with the family (for now).  Yays for always having someone at home, and for siblings who have to stay home to study.  Heheheh.  I changed into my sister's sweater and stayed in the living room with everyone else to feel better.

Sweater |  Wufenpu, Taiwan

Shorts  |  Bugis Street

Watch  |  Lambretta

Featuring the cutest doggie in the whole world, Whiskey baby!  <3

Now ain't he just adorable?  =)

Kick-Start

I try to make it a point to wash my face, put on make-up and dress-up every morning (or whatever time I wake up, haha).  It gives me the motivation to start my day, to keep moving forward; instead of lazing on the couch - now that I've quit my job and there's pretty much nothing to keep me motivated. 

It makes a huge difference.  Sprucing yourself up for the day ahead.  Or night ahead, if your days and nights are reversed.  Different people might do different things: some style their hair,  some just put on a nice dress, some wear shoes, or some, (and I hope that this applies to less people) simply wash their face and that's it.  Whatever you do, make sure that you feel like you look smart, cause caring about how you bring yourself directly affects how you ACTUALLY carry yourself.  And that indirectly affects how people look at you.  First impressions DO count.  A lot.

Even if you're not meeting anyone, do it for yourself anyway.  Because really, if I hadn't bothered to put on make-up and think about what to wear today,  I'd either be still in bed playing with my handphone, or watching some meaningless tv show in my pjs.  Not blogging and doing the many mundane chores that I'm supposed to get done today. 

Sometimes, all you need is that kick.

Shirt  |  Bugis Street

Skirt  |  Cotton On

Watch  |  Fossil

Bangle | Nose

Shades | Top Shop

Shoes | Mod