good food!

I've been having good food to compensate for exam stress! (:

1. Lunch at Hatched with geog-ers (: 

I've been wanting to try Hatched for a really long time, cos it's all eggs and seems very yummy

Holeen and  I had the same thing- one egg benedict! It was pretty nice, except i wish they gave cripsy bacon instead. You can choose from 1 egg benedict (13++) or 2 egg benedicts (19++). i think it's more worth it to have 2 of course, but for people who can't finish their food, then it's still better to get a discount than to waste food.

they serve it with mash and salad. the mash looks a funny colour, but is creamy and yummy! (:

my friend had a burger thing i think? i think the sunny up looks goood!

we didn't get to try the desserts (too full), but they had warm choc cake and ice cream for 6 dollars i think!! looked so good, and there were toast and ice cream and pancakes. so tempting! will definitely try if i go there again (:


2. Tavern fine dining with S and T

we bought a nice voucher from streetdeal for fine dining lunch at  The Tavern! I think it's a really good buy, cos we got an 80++ value lunch for 30 dollars.

The atmosphere is really cosy, like a family restaurant. i really liked the old school ambience (:

First, we had a choice of pumpkin soup or a prawn salad. They are really professional in that they serve all plates and bowls warm if the food is hot and plates cold if it's a cold dessert!

 Here's our creamy pumpkin soup! i loved it (: so hearty and warm

served with hot bread. i mean really hot bread! with olive oil and a tub of butter (:

we then had 3 mains and we shared!

 Angus rib eye with potato gratin and sauteed vegetables

 salmon with boiled potatoes and sauteed vegetables

Chicken Cordon Bleu with fries and salad

and to finish off, we had a crepe normande, which is an apple crepe with ice cream

 really good too! i think it was really good value for the price we paid. haha

we almost felt bad about paying so little for such fine food. lols. As usual, great time catching up with the girls, haha, we haven't seen each other in... 2 months? so long!!! everyone's so busy!!



and after today it will be 96 day more to see Z! (: it's past the 100 day countdown hehe

It seems quite long, but i think it will pass pretty quickly, especially since we both have exams ahead of us ):

another update is that i got upset with my new dance partner and told him i'm not dancing anymore. lols, so now i'm back to square one, but i dont regret dropping him, don't waste my money dancing with him >:[

Lancôme video shoot and Model Mayhem

I've been pretty slow to update because it's week 13 and exams are in 2 weeks! ahhh!

Last week, a friend asked me to help out with a video shoot for Razor TV, it's a Lancôme makeover for the theme of make up for long haul shoots. 

I think i don't look very nice in videos! Cannot Photoshop, plus my features are not very sharp. It didn't help that i had to tie my hair back into a bun, exposing all my flaws haha. 
ohwell! it was still fun! 

the make up artist was lovely though, i liked the foundation very much, cos she made it very glowy! since i have less oily skin now, and i received an awesome new set of brushes from zhe for my birthday, i wanna try out liquid foundation for a more glowy complexion! (: 

i'm torn between MAC, Dior snowskin, Lancome matte foundation and Make Up Forever HD liquid foundation which is supposed to be really good for photoshoots. hahah

I'm also in love with the anna sui lip stain that the cosmopolitan make up artist used, and i need a coral blusher and new eyeliner so i'm going to go shopping for a make up restock after my exams. hehe :D 



i've recently set up a model mayhem account, and i've been lucky to have a very good amount of shoot requests, both TFCD and paid shoots (: 

went for casting for a photographer who is hoping to expand into magazine fashion editorial spreads, so he is looking for new faces that he can shoot to build a portfolio to show the magazines what he can do. 

it was mostly chatting, and then we did a few profile test shots, and he gave me one to keep (:
of course if we really do a shoot, it will be with more digital imaging of backgrounds, effects. haha

not sure if I'll make the casting, but we'll see!

Look into my eyes, It's where my demons hide

They say it's what you make
I say it's up to fate

When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide

Don't get too close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide


):

Cosmo Beauty Shoot

i prob sound like an awestruck little girl, and i am!!! This was probably one of the most exciting shoots i've ever done in my life!!! omgoshh i still can't believe i got to be a part of it, even after the shoot is over.

 they had an open photo casting call for the advertorial and i applied. i felt like the luckiest girl ever when i was selected, along with one other lady. But i can't talk about the product i was advertising until the June issue of Cosmo is on the newsstand.

The shoot was just a half day thing, I reached very early, and had a chat with the photographer who frequently does commercial shoots for various magazines. i remember trying to breathe in deeply and look around, thinking that this is where the pictures of high fashion models come to life!

I sneaked a shot of the studio! it doesn't look like much now, but after the set up it looked so pro, too bad i didn't get to take a pic of it.

then the make up artist arrived, bringing a huge luggage of make up and hair stuff. :o i was partly nervous cos i am always nervous when i'm not wearing make up, except around my bf.  but i was also hopeful that she would work her magic and make me look nice. she was really friendly and sweet, and she did my foundation so nicely i looked like i had flawless skin with contours at least for the shoot. haha and she curled and blew my hair out in big glam waves. i tried to keep my eyes open when i could, so that i could learn how she did all those stuff and try to copy it at home. i feel inspired to go and buy a new set of make up, and she was giving me tips for skincare and make up too!!

Then the features editor and her assistant came and i was almost ready to start my shoot after changing into my outfit. It was quite stressful because it was a close up of my face and i'm not good with face shoots cos i tend to freeze and look stiff. :/ a huge light was in my face, and someone was standing by to blow my hair if needed, and the make up artist was there to touch up make up. felt so pampered and it felt really cool cos everything was so professionally done.

the stressful part was that the editor and assistant sat at the computer and so every shot would be immediately transferred to the computer, and they would magnify it to evaluate. it was really weird to watch people evaluating my face in front of me? hahaha, i think i took about 50-60 shots before they finally said 'okay! i think we got it'. that was the best thing to hear ever. the features editor was very nice and she said the pictures look great, but i think she might be just being nice to me.

I wonder what the layout of this advert will be!!! there's going to be a small before picture of a less attractive me, and then the bigger after picture. i hope they photoshop and work their magic!!!! even if i can't look like the cover supermodel, at least let me look nice so i can have a nice keepsake and addition to my small portfolio. (:

it was really a super awesome experience, and i was just so grateful and happy to have the chance. 

After the whirlwind of excitement, i removed some of the make up and went out to lunchhh. i camwhored a little bit, and was generally too excited to eat much. i only managed about half my lunch. hahaha

 the curls kinda died a little, cos i combed my hair :/ haha shouldnt have combed!!

talk about the shoot has made me all excited againnnn. :D thank u for bearing with me if u read all the way till here! lovelove

I'm 22!

I just turned 22 last week, and can't stand it that i'm 3 months older than z. haha :p went out with my family for a yummy lunch at Turf city. They revamped the place, but it's not that great really. The layout is pretty messy.

First we went to Grill Out which relocated from Sunset way!! I had salmon with mash potatoes and vegetables. I enjoy having all my food on one plate. does that make sense? haha, i enjoy seeing different dishes arranged around one plate :D

the food was quite nice, but the service was lacking, and we were the only customers on a Saturday lunch slot. kinda telling about its popularity.. which is a shame because it used to be quite popular at sunset way!

i really must learn how to grill salmon since i like it so much (: i should learn and have all-i-can-eat when i'm in nz again.

 

my parents decided that they needed coffee, so we headed over to get coffee, and they also decided to have some pies and gelato too! gosh, lunch number 2!  haha it's really good. omgosh, wagyu beef cheek pie. so tender, and the mash is tasty too! 

anyway, this is what i mean about all the food arranged on one plate! it's so pretty an it looks so good to eat (: this was my lunch at jacks place where my family likes to go for sunday lunches when we can (:

Managed to catch up with D last week over lunch, and we had indonesian express at the deck at arts canteen! I loveee ayam penyet, but i decided to try fish instead. it's even better, cos of lack of bones.  makes me feel like having some now. yumyumyum.

Skin

I've had enough of my problematic skin which has been troubling me for ages and ages. my secret wish has always been that i can peel my whole face off and start anew.

Not only is cystic acne ugly and disfiguring, it is also so painful >:[

for example, i've had acne on the weirdest places, like behind my ear? on top of my eye (this is the WORST, because it hurts everytime i blink. i've never been more acutely aware of how many times i need to blink) inside my nose? omgosh. i feel horrified writing about this. >:[

in the worst situations, i refuse, decline and worm my way out of social situations. i feel bad to do this, but i can't go out. but this is quite rare la. most of the times i just become very sad and maybe grumpy especially towards my bf.


i decided to go see a new dermatologist for my skin, and after doing some research, i decided to go to Dr Loke in Novena Medical centre.


He said that I have oily skin which is genetic and there's nothing i can actually do about it. So the only way is to control the oil production. I suggested if there might be anything wrong with my hormones, but he said that other people have hormonal problems too but the skin is not affected much cos they don't have oily skin. ):

so he gave me anitbiotics to control the current inflammations, oratane (a form of accutane) to control the oil, as well some lotion and cream.

well so far, its been 20 days into treatment!

i have to say that i haven't yet had a new breakout.. but that's also cos it's not the time of my cycle yet, so we'll see. but the major improvement i see is in the oil production. it is visibly much drier.

usually i have to redo my make up every 2 hours because the oil has melted it off and it looks terrible. Now i can go 4 hours and it's still ok, not even that much oil. if it doesn't sound like a big deal, it is to me ):

the bad side effect is that the rest of my skin that was originally not oily is now very dry. hahah, this is especially so on my lips. i suppose i'm not doing much kissing so it's ok, but it's quite irritating to have dry lips. ):

but if that's the price to pay for less oilier skin...

rain shoot

Shall share some pics that I got from the rain shoot maybe a month back...

hehe i am very proud of this pic! not because of how i look, but because i managed to photoshop the entire wall away!!! :D i took quite a while to do it, cos i'm not that great, but i think it looks pretty clean now. Want to see the original?

the wall looks so dirty and gross, so i cut it all out and made a flat clean background. hahaha. i felt so accomplished after that. :D heheh don't you think it looks much better without all the clutter in the background? ok la, don't look too hard, if u stare hard enough you can see the line. so don't >:[
this is how i destress when im working hard lols.

I did the same to the wall here (: but this wall was easier, cos it was just a little bit. haha

haha this is not really part of the shoot, just a happy post shoot thumbs up! and off i went to eat fries :D

My sis says that this pic looks like an advert for a horror flick lols.

I'm still waiting for pictures from my aerial shoot, and I'm going to do another shoot for cosmo magazine next mon! pretty exciting and enough diversion to keep me occupied!

"Dancing is like a drug, once you start it is difficult to stop. Even if one has some problems with it, and they have in their mind to stop. Even after two days, you will feel it in your muscles and in your mind that you can't live without it. And then you will go on to practice, and to dance because it is impossible to [live] without it. For the person who really loves it."
- Kristina Moshenskaya

I love her so muchhh, she's such an awesome dancer who's so full of energy. and I agree with her )): I wanted to stop dancing because i am facing so manyyy problems with my dancing, but i just couldn't give up. i really did try to quit. ): i told all my prospective partners that i can't dance, and i didn't dance at all for about a month? i even stopped myself from watching any dance video or listening to any latin music. i distracted myself with modelling and editorial work, but it didn't work. i couldn't take it still, and started to dance again. looking at all my friends who have competed yesterday makes me more itchy to get back into the dance scene... soon soon!!! (:

oh but I injured my back haha, and i can't stretch now )): must have been from jumping around. Even breathing deep hurts my back. feels like a bad strain. haha


117 more days to see Z!!! It would be perfect to dance standard ballroom with Z (: i've always wanted to do standard but had always focused my energy on latin. it's quite hard to perfect both, and i'm contented with doing recreational standard (: Z is tall too!! hehe maybe i can crash course him on basic figures in waltz when i see him in august. :D maybe even take a short choreo at my nz dance studio. maybe he will be hooked, and will practice and when i see him again he will be an awesome possum standard dancer hehehe :p