Tagged Post :)

Got tagged by Vermillion

Usually I’m one of those people who try to ignore these kind of tagged posts because I’m lazy LOL. I’ll take this opportunity to blog since I’ve been a bit slow lately. Been really tired/ busy.

Here the rules:

• Write 11 (random) things about yourself on your blog
• Answer the questions the tagger set for you and create 11 new questions for the people you tag
• Choose the next 11 people to tag and link them on the post
• Go to their page and tell them you have linked him or her
• No tag backs
• You must post these rules

11 random facts about me

1. I was born in the year of the dragon
2. I don’t listen to music that’s in English, rarely watch the news or read it
3. My favourite colour is green, yet I do not own any green clothes
4. My favourite music genre is hip-hop/ rnb
5. I don’t like my hair being black, so I dye it brown, though nobody can tell I’ve dyed it
6. The only overseas place I’ve ever been to is Hong Kong (and the outskirts of Shenzhen)
7. People call me via adjectives such as “emotionless”, but I’m not emotionless at all, and I really suck at hiding my feelings
8. I have really fat fingers, lol
9. I got my ears pierced when I was 4 years old… at the head office of the jewellery store I work at now
10. Although I am fluent in Cantonese, I cannot sing Cantonese songs; however I can sing Mandarin songs without a problem
11. I am single. LOL.

11 Questions

1. What are your pet peeves?
Oh wow, too many to list! I even started a series of blog entries highlighting these, I’ve practically lost count. I guess I shall try to list three of these? Haha – I’m actually a person who really complains deep down about these things >:\ I think one thing that annoys me the most is people who walk really slow in front of you when you’re walking down the street – and it’s really hard to overtake them, I hate it when that happens.  Straightening my hair just for it to curl slightly after I’ve finished. Finishing something just to find out I’ve missed something, or having someone tell me to change something – I really hate it when that happens.

2. Ever wished that you were taller or shorter?
I’m 165cm (that’s around 5 foot 4) so you can say it’s the ideal height for most girls, or super common, average height. I can’t say I’m tall, but I can’t say I’m short either. I did (and still do) wish that I were taller – around 167cm would have been my ideal height. I did grow a centimetre in 2009, so I guess there’s a bit of hope…?

3. What are your favourite type of shoes to wear?
Anything that looks cool, really, but need to be comfortable. I walk and stand quite a lot, and although I have small feet, they tend to swell up a lot and pretty fast too :\ I also think that shoes need to be good quality and usually I equate quality with the price tag or label. I now try to have all my shoes “Made in Italy” (I find they tend to last a heck of a lot longer) – so I guess anything that fits under those conditions, I’d buy.

But honestly, I have a thing for boots – I really really love boots in all forms, be it ankle boots, high top sneakers (they can be considered boots too!), knee high boots, heeled boots, gumboots/ wellingtons - you name it.

4. Do you listen to music on your phone or portable music device?
Neither – I rarely listen to music when I’m out and about. If I listen to music it’s probably via my PC with my headphones on.

5. Did you learn a musical instrument when you were younger?
Yes, I learned the keyboard LOL. It was lame, I think I got to grade 4, but I still couldn’t play with my left and right hand both playing simultaneously. Then I quit.

And then there was the recorder, which was a compulsory instrument in junior high… but seriously, who CAN’T play the recorder?

6. Do you prefer online or instore shopping?
It really depends on what it is – online shopping has so many awesome bargains, and it’s all mailed to me so I even get to save time and transport costs. I love shopping for skincare online because it’s a lot of cheaper, but for things that involve colours or sizes (such as pants) I really have to buy them instore. Most of the things I order online are either one size or are dresses, because I know there’s a 95% chance it’ll fit me.

Even so, 90% chance is if I order a dress online, it’s way too short on me, so I end up wearing them all as long tops.

7. What’s your fondest memory of your childhood?
I didn’t really have a great childhood to be quite honest… possibly the best memory I had was one of my birthdays… I had a fruit cake, took lots of photos and got to sit on my dad’s lap.

A close second would probably be in Hong Kong with my cousin – we argued to no end while I was there, but towards the end of the trip I taught him how to say “cheeseburger” in English and that really made my day. I was 4 years old, he was 10 years old at the time.

8. Do you learn any languages?
Not officially – it’s all kind of “along the way” thing.

There are 3 languages I usually list on my resume as languages I know and have little difficulty with – English, Cantonese, Mandarin. The unofficial languages I know include Japanese and a dialect named Hakka – I used to actually translate Japanese manga, songs and various other crap in my spare time, so I was kind of fluent in a literal since. Hakka is a dialect I understand by ear, but cannot utter more than basic sentences. It’s been a very long time since I’ve used or encountered either one, so they’ve kind of dwindled and died inside me. If I have the chance, I’d like to pick them both up again.

At work I’m really trying hard to learn Mandarin – as in, polishing it up. There’s also the occasional Cantonese slang, but my manager is kind enough to explain it to me so I’m not clueless lol. I think my Mandarin has really improved drastically these few months as it’s all I’ve been using to communicate with my workmate – at least I don’t have to pause for about 5 seconds before any sound comes out of me lol. No really, I’m a lot more fluent than before.

The only language I’m genuinely interested in picking up bits and pieces at the moment is Korean. I knew how to read and write the alphabet in high school, but it’s only now that I’m really listening to their music, watching their drama and variety shows that I’m slowly picking up really really basic bits. Let’s just say I know enough to know if a Korean customer just doesn’t like a product or thinks it’s too expensive or thinks it’s pretty. It’s sometimes really nifty because we do have some Korean customers who know little English, and I kinda know what they’re trying to say.

9. What type of books do you like to read?
… manga/ Japanese fashion magazines? Lol, I really don’t read much these days. The most literate I get is reading something like www.fmylife.com or www.cracked.com – hardly any scholastic merit, I must say.

10. Do you like to collect anything? If so, how big is your collection and when did you start collecting?
I go through phases, so if there’s a collection of anything, it’s never really all that big. I stop collecting when I start to think I’ve got a terrible obsession that really needs to stop.

My ongoing collection will probably be my stash of designer goods, I suppose. I started when I was about 21 years old.

My collection is really getting out of control… it’s hard to say how many items I have because I have bought a lot of what I consider “borderline” designer branded items… but for items that are definitely designer (Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Burberry, Prada – you get the idea) as in boutique style items, I currently own at least 43 items (there are probably more, I probably did miss a few items). The items include things like accessories (belts, jewellery, sunglasses, watches), clothes (tops, jackets, pants), shoes, scarfs, hats, keychains, bags, wallets.

I did not include items such as skincare, cosmetics or fragrances.

Just a small portion of crap I own. Yes, I have a Burberry newsboy hat. Why, I do not know.

Out of the brands I purchase, the largest collection is surprisingly from Burberry, at 12 items. That includes a travel bag, three jackets (to be precise, one jacket, one coat/cape, one quilt jacket), two tops, a jumper, three pairs of shoes, scarf and a hat.

So yeah. I bought all of these items (none of these were gifts, believe it or not). I’m turning 24 this year… so it means I got on average about 15-20 items each year… >_>

My collection is relatively small compared to some people I know, but still, it’s the biggest collection I own, because it’s the most expensive… and I know it’ll only just get larger because I have a lot of things I have yet to buy…

11. Do you prefer typing or writing (by hand) your notes?
By hand, by far. The only time I like to type is when I blog, but if it’s taking notes, definitely by hand. I find that if I type my notes, I don’t use them. Never used them, actually, lol. I mean, even several years down the track I can still find my handwritten notes and they are still useful now. Awesome.

And so I shall tag…

@onthebeat, @lolitium and @camillesioco, though y’all are under ZERO obligation to do it LOL.

Here are my 11 questions anyway…

1. The one thing you’re really particular/ obsessive compulsive about is…?
2. Are you particular about grammar?
3. Were you a good student/ are you good at studying?
4. What is your favourite type of food to eat?
5. Do you have a favourite place, if so, where and why?
6. What are your dressing habits?
7. Face to face socialising or virtual (phone, computer/ net) socialising?
8. Where are your favourite places to shop?
9. What is your heritage?
10. In regards to self improvement, is there something you would like to learn/ pick up?
11. What are your long term goals in life?

Wow, that was long. Hope you all enjoyed my massive block of text… I’m really drained now LOL. Work tomorrow, good night everyone!

Okay, take 3.

These days I start writing a post, and then I keep deleting it because I think it’s inappropriate to post up. Maybe it’s because I’ve just grown way too sensitive in regards to what I can and can’t post up on the Internet since people will either get offended or whatever just because I am merely trying to get my thoughts out. I’ve started this blog as a way of sharing experiences (be it crap that I buy, or things that I encounter) that appeal to a lot of people so that readers can actually relate to what I am experiences as most of the stuff I write about tends to apply to most people. Since I can’t go into too much detail, then I guess I can only list it out in point form.

Sorry for this super sloppy post in advance – I’ve tried numerous times (I swear, this is not just take 3, this must be at least take 5) to post, but I never hit the Publish button because I never felt that it was “the post”. I will post about Melbourne (though the photos in question are not here yet – I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to get them, to be honest… if that’s the case I’ll just have to make do with what I have) and I will post about my new year’s resolutions as well as a review of the past year’s resolutions (whether or not I achieved them).

To make up for the lack of photographs I have, I present to you le doodles with the nearest felt pen I have – a blue coloured permanent marker. Geez, it’s been ages since I’ve last drawn. Though it seems I haven’t lost my drawing style – I like to describe it as “ridiculous”. Or “#WTF” will also do. Meh.

Happy Chinese/ Lunar New Year

Lol, that’s totally a classy dragon. Le doodle.

Yes, very late, but I did celebrate it (sort of) – I have a company dinner coming up very soon so I guess that’s where the real celebration kicks in.

This year is the year of the dragon, and I was born in the year of the dragon. Apparently since it’s my zodiac year, I need to be really careful, and in order to do that I need to wear red and stuff. It’s my very first time hearing that I need to wear red because it’s a year I actually need to be careful in so I have started to prepare all my red accessories so I could wear them to work.

I kid, I had NONE. Either that or they were so negligible, it equalled to none.

I absolutely hate the colour red, simply because I think that the colour is too sharp. I like colours like purple, pink, corals – but I don’t like red.  Like, #FF0000 red.

Either way I solved that by buying myself a leather bracelet… but I realised that when I was buying it, it was too dark inside the store to see what colour it actually was. Turns out to be a tangerine red (but hey, red nonetheless). SIGH.

This wasn’t the bracelet I bought (I got the double stranded slipknot one), but it was the same colour as above, with a fancy designer colour named “FIRE”. Red enough, I guess.

You can buy this bracelet from Bottega Veneta.

I’m generally not a superstitious person, but being careful is better than being lazy. But overall I still reckon that this year will most likely be an awesome year.

Opportunity or deathly trap?

Not much earlier than the new year, I got a job offer from a “friend” I’ll name X.

Can you keep a secret?

 

 

The job offer was to be a store manager at a retail chain store which I can only describe as fashion related, for privacy/ censorship reasons.

Those who have followed my Twitter probably have guessed what the situation was – yes, that’s right. Bullshit.

Look, I’m terribly sorry if I offend anyone, especially since I know that in economic times such as these, it’s really hard to get work opportunities, and I should be beaming like I’ve hit a gold mine when I’m offered a job (especially since it was a PROMOTION too) when I wasn’t even looking for one. Instead I look like I’ve received a phone call from a grim reaper and treated this situation like it was a burden. Well, guess again – yes, it was and would have been a burden had I said yes.

Without going much into detail, please, please assess your working conditions before you accept a job offer. Sometimes we get blinded temporarily by money and the prospect of a prestigious work position, but what good is that if you feel that it’s only short term glorification? ANY job offer is tempting, if it seems to be better than what you have now.

I don’t want to scare anyone, but honestly speaking, any business these days is hard. Major corporations continue to cut down on their numbers, larger companies are cutting down hours of their part time and casual workers, it’s the end of January and there are still major sales going on. These are all indicators telling you, “oh, that’s kinda abnormal.” It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out, and I can assure you, it’s not a smart move to change jobs at THIS current point in time. Especially if it’s to something you have very little confidence in.

I on the other hand, have confidence in what I am selling at the moment. I believe there’s a market niche somewhere, and there is still potential to grow. The offer I received, on the other hand, I saw limitations. With the Australian dollar so high right now, everyone is more than happy to spend their dollars overseas to milk every single bit their dollar can go. I just blew $50 on ebay just today on craft supplies, but I saved money in the process because I paid less than I would have if I bought it 2 weeks ago.

The moral of the story is that you MUST think about the long term, and also just beware of what you might sign up for. The situation I was in was damn complicated, and to say the least, I was not, and still am not impressed with why it even happened in the first place. Again, it was just BULLSHIT. It just made me even more annoyed that I had to keep quiet about this because under no circumstances should I have to abide by such a condition.

Thank you, but freaking NO THANK YOU.

Not every single opportunity has a pot of gold on the end – beware as sometimes there’s a little time bomb waiting for you on the other side. Then, it’s game over.

All I can say is that I’m super lucky as it is that I made the right decision – if I was blinded by that split second of glitter, no red leather bracelet/ string would be enough to save my ass. Seriously.

Either way, I’ve done everything I could to keep everyone’s privacy and I have omitted a lot of major details which would be enough to tick off anyone. If you were in my position and knew everything in detail, you’d probably end up doing this too:

Lol, of course I kid. I obviously have more than just like 3 friends to list >_> But I hope I got my point through.

So, what IS up these days?

Well, it’s currently 12:05am and I have work like, today.

Most of my time is consumed by work, and it has been draining my energy – fast. I have pretty much zero social life at the moment, and I’m still training (omg). Lol. I honestly don’t mind training (it’s a given since we have so many new people), and recently, work has been pretty awesome. From the coffee machine, random chocolate pig outs and workplace gossip (nothing nasty though, just prying into people’s personal lives, tis all) – all I have at the moment is just stuff to look forward to.

I think I am starting to enjoy my work more than I used to because I’ve just gotten so routine about it. I’m just so used to how I’m supposed to do things that it’s getting pretty efficient. I still have plenty of room to improve of course, but I’m starting to feel the joys of what I’m doing. I feel that I am actually doing something meaningful – the same rings I sell will last couples through their relationships, weddings, perhaps for many decades to come – and that’s what makes me feel happy. The various presents that are for friends and loved ones which can make a difference and can make an average day into a wonderful one – this is something that I have never been able to do.

It sounds pretty farfetched perhaps, but I do feel that I have a job which can make people a whole lot happier in some respects. I never felt this before when I was designing to be quite honest. I never felt that my designs could actually touch or move people, especially when it’s something that can be put under scrutiny. At least I know for now, I can, and am doing something meaningful.

My new years’ resolutions will be coming up within the next week or so – and I really hope that I can make more time for myself and go out more often. If I remember correctly one of the things I told myself to do was to go out on three dates (with guys, obviously) – I think I did make it to three (more than three if you count group outings with friends), but unfortunately they weren’t with people I have just met… they were all really good/ close friends… or boyfriends/ fiancés of friends… :\ That’s even worse than 2010… I at least went out with someone whom I met by chance at a social gathering… Anyway, I don’t really feel like going into detail about it – I’ll just continue to just be myself. Whatever happens shall happen.

I guess for mself, my first priority at the moment will be work and family. I’m doing fairly well, and for once I feel like I’m doing something where I am actually needed, and not just mechanically churning out “good grades”, which is what I did for 16 years.

Hope everyone had a great week and I will be back fairly soon. My days off now really just consist of catching up on Running Man, Dream Team, threading pearl necklaces for my mum and doing exercise. I need to stop thinking too much though, I don’t want to grow old too soon. I’m already mature enough as it is now – although I’m the youngest at work, sometimes I feel that I am the adult at times, lol.

All the best to you all for this year – hope to see you all soon!

Happy New Year in low resolution – Dec in a flash.

Apologies for my absence, tbqh.

I MUST blog about Melbourne, but the highlight of it happened to be that I charged my camera battery but forgot to put it back into my camera so I didn’t take many photos!

I’ll blog about Melbourne as soon as I manage to grab photos off my friend, because I only have a few from my phone but they’re not really all that fabulous. I didn’t take photos of everything so yeah – I’m kinda counting on her photos. Until then, here is a super backtracked post – enjoy!

Happy New Year

Long time no see everyone

Well a lot of stuff has happened in the past few weeks and I did have a lot to blog about – I just kept missing the timing to do so because I’m actually running out of time to do the things I need to do on an ordinary basis.

I recently upgraded to an iPhone4S (though super unreliable, terrible, worst carrier in the world - Vodafone still hasn’t migrated my number after TWO whopping weeks – not to mention it took me over 3 weeks waiting for it) but I’m not pressed or truly excited. Planning to use my phone when I go to my Melbourne trip and if it’s still not switched over by then, gonna return it, cancel the lameass contract and then sign up for iPhone5 on another carrier. iPhone4S has a really crap battery. Sorry to Apple fans, but the battery life is just ridiculous by my standards – I’ve just been too used to charging my Samsung just once a week for the past 2 years. Maybe I’ll consider an android phone instead – at least it’s better than chasing Vodafone and getting tired and frustrated after waiting for so long, and having nobody do jackshit about it. Appalling, disgusting service.

I didn’t mean to start off the new year with such a negative opening - it just has been like a dark cloud hovering above my head for the past 2 months and it’s NOT fun at all. Vodafone should be reimbursing me for the time I’ve waited by waiving at least 4 months off my contract, especially sending me a phone I can’t use because the damn SIM card isn’t activated. System issues, public holidays, backlog? Stop making bullshit excuses, it’s just not good enough. UPDATE: I’ve just lodged a complaint to the ombudsman today. 3 weeks and no activation? U SRS?

For now, I’m enjoying the messaging system and the fact I can send Chinese and reduce the number of characters I need to send an SMS. HURRAY. There was a use for it

On the other hand though, I won a bit of money from yesterday’s Saturday Lotto 31 million dollar jackpot I rarely buy lotto but I was pleasantly surprised to see I did win a prize. It’s not much, but that’s a pretty good way to start the new year. MONEY AHEAD OF ME. Gonna collect it from my least favourite newsagency in the world, because I want to be mean and difficult.

No, really, sarcasm aside, I didn’t really have any feelings for new year’s eve. I completely forgot that there were fireworks, until I turned up for work. The fireworks were pretty dismal (I’m too used to seeing them on a regular basis, so fireworks aren’t really my thing) and only lasted 15 minutes. I don’t get why anyone would camp out for so long just for 15 minutes of fireworks.

I snapped this super low resolution photo with the iPhone last night standing at my window. I was too lazy to get outside and onto the balcony. Wasn’t worth it, in my opinion.

Low resolution, indeed.

But as you can kinda tell, I never felt the need to go out and see the fireworks since I could see them from my window. There were actually larger bursts of fireworks near the base of Centrepoint (but they weren’t going off when I was taking the shot), and I was just that lazy to even get a better camera. I wasn’t going to take a good shot anyway so this shall suffice.

Packing Progress: 5… or 50%?

I just realised that today was my last day off work before I go to Melbourne. I’ll be working for the next three days – obviously not enough time to pack. My biggest concern about packing was mostly to do with the transparent cosmetics bag that you need to present to security. There are so many rules about this bag, including that it cannot be more than 1L of volume, and that each individual item in it couldn’t exceed 100ml each. The toughest thing was that this includes mascara, foundation/ BB cream and lip gloss. Don’t forget shampoo as well! I found it a nightmare getting everything to fit. I managed to find the largest resealable bag I had lying around and tried to fit all my crap into it in an intense game of tetris that lasted me at least 2 hours. I finally got there – but I sacrificed my mouth wash (will buy it when I get there), toothpaste (same story, will buy it there) and my facial mist. I didn’t even bring my cream liner – just settled for an eyeliner which I was going to abandon.

To achieve this task I literally dug out my samples hoard, which probably includes over 50 samples. I have them in sachets, tubes, jars, bottles – you name it, I probably have it. Well okay, not really, but… you know what I mean  The only reason why I decided on one thing over another was probably whether or not I trusted the brand, and if I deemed it useable. I have a lot of samples from brands I actually no longer trust (includes Biotherm and Clinique), so I picked samples from those brands that didn’t really matter – like facial toner. Everything else like cleanser and moisturiser, IMO are pretty important so I picked the brands I am using currently. I’m also paranoid about running out of product to use over my stay. I was considering hair styling gel (I have it in a sachet), but then decided against it. I just really had a lot of decisions to make…

I finally managed to fit everything in that tiny plastic bag! I didn’t manage to fit mascara primer… I’ll only hope that it’s not that humid to make my mascara run. Also ditched the makeup remover, too, which kinda sucks :\ So far I only have PJs, that plastic bag and another bag to fit the “dry items” (eyeliner pencils, powders and all). Currently my bag is pretty light which is what I’m trying to aim for. I think I can do without the hair straightener. I’m also planning to buy my clothes when I get there, but I’m not sure if I should do that or not.

Queen Victoria Building: Tea Room

Several weeks ago I went and had high tea. About a week or two later I went to The Loft to have high tea, but I will write about that later/ next time.

High tea (lunch) is $39 a person, $2 extra for tea for connoisseurs.

The Tea Room is also open for breakfast, and there is an option for tea with a glass of wine/ sparkling.

Find more information at: https://www.thetearoom.com.au/

I ordered a regular tea (forgot the name of it, but it was a rose tea) and it was quite nice and fragrant. This isn’t the first time I’ve been to The Tea Room – the last time I ordered a Superior Gyokuro tea (connoisseur tea) and it detoxed me like crazy. Not sure if it was a coincidence or if it was really the tea, but I decided to stay away from that list just in case

As you can see we got macarons, cakes, tarts, sandwiches. There was also an additional plate with scones and spinach pie. I think we finished everything (I think except for half a scone) – it was quite yummy. I really like The Tea Room’s relaxing atmosphere.

Note that the place was quite empty as we walked in at around 4pm – High Tea closes at 5pm, so be sure to get in there earlier so that you don’t rush to finish. It’s best to go there early and slowly take your time. It’s a great place to just chill and chat. I also really love their china and interior design.

Will go back again for sure.

Cutting this post short. Sorry for the crappy nature of this post.

I just have been bogged down with all sorts of random stuff – I really don’t want to sit at my computer and blog because I want to dedicate more of my time off to tidying up my room and doing exercise. I’ve been quite stressed at work because soon I’ll be probably the most senior staff around (STRESS, PRESSURE, NOT GOOD) and I am going to continue my training (again) very soon.

I was going to write about my Christmas pressie haul for myself but it’s probably going to be pointless. My next post will either be new years resolutions or about Melbourne, depending on when I manage to get the photos. I had a lot of fun in Melbourne and this time I really scored some awesome bargains. The highlights of my trip pretty much included Southwharf DFO, having fine dining at Crown Casino, visiting TopShop on Chapel Street, Eureka Skydeck 88 (not really a highlight, but I didn’t do this last time) and scoring ridiculous bargains that I really needed to rub my eyes and pinch myself to make sure they were actually real.

I hope everyone has enjoyed their new year and has a series of awesome things to do for the year ahead! I certainly had fun (even though I didn’t even realise it was the end of the year and start of a new one so soon) and I started this year with a trip. I shall be back really soon with a proper post!