One would assume I would have gone to a musical or a play at least once, right? Wrong. I've not been to one though I really, really have always wanted to go, just been a case of wrong timing, not enough funds, no company.
But guess what came to Bristol???
MARY POPPINS, the one and only.
So as soon as I knew that there was going to be a Mary Poppins musical here in Bristol, I was so so determined to go and thank God I had Nana who shared the same enthusiasm as me.
I am SUCH SUCH SUCH a happy girl tonight - it was my first musical here and what better way to start it all off with Mary Poppins!!! I loved the movie and it brings really fond memories of my childhood so it was amazing to watch the whole show. They did change some aspects of the original storyline and they went on a complete new tangent but it was brilliant, nevertheless. The extraordinary bit dedicated to 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' was absolutely ridiculously amazing. I was so happy and it was so much fun to watch! It was so colourful and it was so joyous and everyone was clapping and singing along, it was such an experience!! The chim-chiminey-chim-chim-churroo also had everyone clapping along and the tap dancing was so so well done. Don't even get me started with the set and props - blew me away!
I even teared up at one point because i) It was a touching scene ii) Mary Poppins remains to be one of my most favourite childhood movie and memory. UGH so fun!!! Obviously I couldn't take photos but man, what a fun night. Now, I'm itching to go for more! People have been telling me to watch Wicked so I really hope to go this December or whenever I'm in London next!
xx
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
10 - 11
I have a huge love and hate relationship with Tuesdays.
I have a 10 - 6 schedule in university and 6:30, I have to rush to the city for my Korean class and that goes on for 2 hours and after that, Nana and I grab our weekly dinner date ; either at our favourite Korean place or... well, that's the only place we ever go to because it's just so sedap. So I always come back by 11. 13 hours out. If you know me, you know that's a huge feat. I love being home so going out for long periods of time is like a shock to the body almost like my legs are probably wondering "Why... are... we... functioning...".
But I hate Tuesday because of this busy schedule. I decided early on that I wanted to cram everything in one day if I could because then I could have rest of the week free (and also, not have to buy bus tickets everyday). And I feel like I'm a lot more productive when I have one busy day - like I'm forced to attend for everything since I'm already there in university anyway. Hahahah what a way of thinking but hey, whatever.
But I also freaking love Tuesdays because after the whole day being out, I come home to allllllllllllll of my Korean dramas and Korean shows alllllllll in HD and subtitles and allllllllll ready for me to watch. I mean. The best reward ever, really. I have green tea with me and I lay in bed and watch everything.
On top of all this, I actually also completed my coursework due this Thursday last Sunday!!! What?!?!?? Man, I should do this doing-work-early thing more often.
I'll blog properly tomorrow...
... I think.
xx
I have a 10 - 6 schedule in university and 6:30, I have to rush to the city for my Korean class and that goes on for 2 hours and after that, Nana and I grab our weekly dinner date ; either at our favourite Korean place or... well, that's the only place we ever go to because it's just so sedap. So I always come back by 11. 13 hours out. If you know me, you know that's a huge feat. I love being home so going out for long periods of time is like a shock to the body almost like my legs are probably wondering "Why... are... we... functioning...".
But I hate Tuesday because of this busy schedule. I decided early on that I wanted to cram everything in one day if I could because then I could have rest of the week free (and also, not have to buy bus tickets everyday). And I feel like I'm a lot more productive when I have one busy day - like I'm forced to attend for everything since I'm already there in university anyway. Hahahah what a way of thinking but hey, whatever.
But I also freaking love Tuesdays because after the whole day being out, I come home to allllllllllllll of my Korean dramas and Korean shows alllllllll in HD and subtitles and allllllllll ready for me to watch. I mean. The best reward ever, really. I have green tea with me and I lay in bed and watch everything.
On top of all this, I actually also completed my coursework due this Thursday last Sunday!!! What?!?!?? Man, I should do this doing-work-early thing more often.
I'll blog properly tomorrow...
... I think.
xx
Friday, November 13, 2015
'She Was Pretty'
Ugh how cute is he.
So I just finished watching She Was Pretty. Pretty sure I've mentioned it before. It's this Korean drama I've been watching for the past 2 months. I'm about to attempt on a drama review because I have so much to talk about and no one to talk about it to ('cept for a very few. Hi, Nana!). I'm no good at writing so descriptively like how I've read in some reviews (the one at Dramabeans write SO well, I sometimes just read random reviews for her writing!)
That said, I might have bits and pieces of spoilers in this post so if you're planning on watching this lovely show, please refrain from reading.
________________________________________________________________________
See, I'm nice enough to even put a border so that you stop reading. Regardless, I'll try to not spill too much for you.
Oh my god. Do I love this drama or do I love this drama? It's so fun, so sweet, so loud, so bright (literally, the scenes were all shot so brightly, almost bordering over-exposure) and really makes you feel so warm about everything.
It's 16 episodes and I went through it weekly, so I didn't binge watch it or anything like that. This is my first Korean drama since Pride & Prejudice which was AGES ago. Nothing really piqued my interest and there have been dramas that I just gave up on the first/second episode. I've even watched one drama HALF WAY in (that's dedication guys, seeing how an episode is like an hour long).
What I LOVE about this show is how it is just very sweet and everything just comes down to love. In the sweetest and most genuine way.
Take our Idiot Reporter Shin Hyuk for instance. Played by the MOST wonderful Siwon. Honestly, this guy. What an actor. He serves as the comic relief for the show and he does it so well! Sometimes, I get really peeved with how unnatural some comedic acting can be but he does it so natural, so fun, makes you want to be his best friend. And given Hye Jin's appearance and careless behaviour, this goof ball still falls for her. The first of many lines that just melted me to slosh was
Hye Jin : I was really pretty back in the day! Hard to believe, right? But I really was!
Shin Hyuk : You still are.
HJ : Huh?
SH : I said, you still are. Beautiful.
And this was one of the few moments that he was not crazy or joking around. Which made it even sweeter. Given his playful manner, it can be easy to doubt his intentions and his feelings. Like was he for real or is he just brushing it off like it didn't matter? But although he was in high spirits all the damn time, you can still tell his feelings for Hye Jin grew more and more and more as they became close. It was very heart-warming to see him fall for all that she was in present day, frizzy haired and all.
Also, can we spare like 5 minutes to appreciate Park Seo Joon. I've decided. I'm going to watch everything he'll be in in the future. Such a good actor. It was very difficult to like him in the beginning because of how cold he was and how dismissive he was to Hye Jin. It did concern me a bit with how he was so obviously annoyed at Hye Jin at the start. Like??? She's your best friend and she must've been like that before so why you hating now?? Was it because she's not pretty now? I was annoyed at a point because here you have Shin Hyuk gazing lovingly at this girl from the next desk only to see her looking at Sung Joon. Like, girl??? You have someone who loves you flaws and all (cue Beyonce) and you're still blind?? To be perfectly honest, I was unsure of who I liked her better with right until the last episode. That was how much Shin Hyuk's feelings for her touched the hearts of the audience.
Although, there was a turn in the show where Sung Joon started showing his interest in Hye Jin. And this all before even knowing that she was the Hye Jin that he knew since he was a kid.
My other favourite scene ever in the show was when Sung Joon affirmed his feelings for her
"Even before I knew you were my Hye Jin, I liked you. It's always been you. Then, it was you. Now, it's you. And in 50 years, it'll still be you."
OMG MELTING RIGHT NOW JUST EVEN THINKING ABOUT IT I SWEAR THIS HYE JIN IS SO DAMN BLESSED TO HAVE A GUY WHO CAN SPURT OUT RIDICULOUSLY SWOON-WORTHY THINGS LIKE THAT AND ALL WITH AN HERMES SCARF WRAPPED AROUND HIS COLLAR (can't decide whether fab or tacky).
It was also heartbreaking to see Ha Ri falling for Sung Joon. It was finally time for her to realise what a real man looks like and it just had to be Sung Joon. She was radiating at the thought of Sung Joon but every outing, every date, every contact was accompanied with guilt. I didn't particularly like how dismissive Sung Joon was after finding out about Ha Ri. Like, how brief was that mini crisis!?!?! Min Ha Ri has equally a beautiful heart and the friendship between her and Hye Jin was so touching - these girls love each other like no other, always looking for one another and that part when Hye Jin rushed home from a date with Sung Joon (after finding out that he just left after confronting Ha Ri?!?! rude!) just to comfort her best friend. With Hye Jin, you really don't know who mattered more, the love of her life or the friend she's had forever. And I really liked that - she didn't weigh one over the one which was is just evidence of what a person Hye Jin is.
It was SO heartwarming to see Sung Joon's guards come down as the show progressed. He started acting cute and obvious and when he started warming up to Hye Jin during their little business trip, it was really refreshing to see a hard-exteriored character like him to finally just take a break. Even if he and Hye Jin didn't end up together, they would've been great friends still. He's still tough on his staff and with his work but only because he wants to take care of them. He found how much he liked this odd and crazy Hye Jin - which showed that he wasn't biased with his love for his childhood friend 'Hye Jin' who was played by Ha Ri (man, this must sound really damn confusing for anyone who hasn't watched this and is just reading this post for fun).
I didn't really like Hye Jin's character. I wasn't so sure if I didn't like the acting or the script. It was too forced. Her energy level was too much for me. Like, every little thing was just 10% too much. I mean, obviously you can't blame this on Jung Eum, it could've been the directors preference but it was endearing at first but it just got a bit much. The carelessness and messiness of her character looked a bit strained. Like, the stuttering and the shouting. Her chemistry with Sung Joon, although the relationship was so cute, didn't really do it for me. I thought it did at first but I've been watching this other show, Bubblegum, main roles played by Dong Wook and Ryeo Won and their chemistry is infectious and sickeningly good so I couldn't help compare the two shows. But Seo Joon is a brilliant actor - every time he shoots a loving look to Hye Jin, it felt like a literal shot to the heart and you're just left there thinking "They can't possibly be someone so in love like that". I had to constantly pause and scream into my pillow and slap myself before I could resume watching the show. The way he looks at her wins you every time. And he looks like a damn good kisser too at that. I liked how this show didn't really fake kisses too. I cringe at shows (cough The Heirs cough) with awkward kissing scenes - like you either want it or don't, guys, don't just touch lips and not go for it?????
And did you not just DIE at Hye Jin and Shin Hyuk's last goodbye ? Man, he really liked her. And when he told her to not go after she got a call from Sung Joon broke my already broken heart in more bits and pieces. Like, we're talking about a guy who steals underwear from his boss. For him to go '가지 마' (don't go) was award-winning. Loved his character perhaps the most because not only was he always in high spirits, but you can tell with this guy he'll love you with this all. Such a character - I'm going to miss Siwon and Shin Hyuk.
I got a bit peeved that Sung Joon didn't say a word about Hye Jin's make-over when it happened but now that I think about it, I'm glad he didn't. Because otherwise it would've been as if he's now attracted to her even more with her looks. Which was not the point of the show. I liked how he started falling for her even before that and the fact that he didn't say anything about her make-over showed how much he didn't really care for all that. I also LOVED in particular, how Shin Hyuk particularly noticed the difference in her personality after her make-over. It became noticeably 'blah' after she got pretty. She was already pretty before this, anyway. This story was basically a message about how inner beauty can and should trump outer beauty. With a personality like Hye Jin's, who wouldn't love her.
All in all, I absolutely loved this show and I recommend it to anyone and everyone. It's a light hearted show about love and warmth and like I said before, I'm no good with descriptives but that's basically what it's about.
God knows how many times I've suppressed screams and shrieks to not let my housemates wake up, out of pure SWEETNESS. My heart beats fast to when I think about how simple Sung Joon's proposal to Hye Jin was. I was just aching after that. Couldn't deal. How simple but how bloody ridiculously annoyingly cute??!!!!! And how many times have I cried?!?!?!!?! More than I really should but that's besides the point.
Sigh.
I can't believe it's finally ended. I've endured 9 weeks for this show and so worth it, waiting impatiently every Wednesday and Thursday. It's the cutest love story, with such interesting characters (we can't ever forget the very garish Kim Ra Ra and her random Italian greetings! I predict they'll be a big thing to reference She Was Pretty with!). What am I going to look forward to on Wednesdays now???? I really, really hope Seo Joon gets involved with a new drama very soon because I'm such a fan of his (his face doesn't hurt either, so much prettiness in a guy i'm sobbing) and I hope that with this show he goes higher and further!
AND! Siwon is about to go to military (so his goodbye in the show was like a real good bye to everyone which made it even sad for me. Also, if you listen to the lyrics (ok fine, google translate them), you'll just CRY at his song for the show. It was played in a very prominent part of the show and made me cry buckets so whenever I hear the song, I get so emotional!) so we won't see him for the next 2 years in any acting project but let's hope the next 2 years come soon enough. I can't wait to see him in more dramas like this!
I'm such a huge fan of light-hearted dramas like this where girl likes boy and boy likes girl and they exchange loving gazes at each other when one's not looking and this was that show for me. Now that it's ended, I'm really going to miss the characters and the whole show. Made my heart smile, this one.
xx
Monday, November 9, 2015
Stay warm
Right now, it's 4:33 am.
My grandfather woke me up just now. He called me while I was sleeping but as much as I try to muster my 'fully awake' voice, I always always get caught.
"Sleeping, are you?"
"Um... yeah but it's okay, I'm up now"
And he told me somethings and before we ended the call, he told me
"Eat well, don't go hungry ok? And be warm, always."
Before the phone call, he had texted me but I hadn't read it before his call. It read simply 'Take care ok, love you'. My very, very simple day was made just because of that.
When I texted my mum that, she said,
"You're a very lucky girl, you know? He thinks of you all as his pride and joy"
The love I have for my grandfather knows absolutely no bounds. I always pray for his good health and good life and for his deeds to blessed and sins to be forgiven. As much as a heart can love, my heart loves my grandfather.
Isn't it amazing how some people make you want to be a better person? My grandfather is like that to me. I always want to be the best version of myself to everyone. Because of him. He radiates warmth and generosity and I want to be like that, y'know? I want people to see me as that girl who radiates warmth and generosity.
I thought I would blog about that so that in the future, when I read this, I'll be reminded of how much love I receive and how blessed of a person I am to be surrounded by the company of the most warmest and most kindest souls.
It's 4:59 am now.
My grandfather woke me up just now. He called me while I was sleeping but as much as I try to muster my 'fully awake' voice, I always always get caught.
"Sleeping, are you?"
"Um... yeah but it's okay, I'm up now"
And he told me somethings and before we ended the call, he told me
"Eat well, don't go hungry ok? And be warm, always."
Before the phone call, he had texted me but I hadn't read it before his call. It read simply 'Take care ok, love you'. My very, very simple day was made just because of that.
When I texted my mum that, she said,
"You're a very lucky girl, you know? He thinks of you all as his pride and joy"
The love I have for my grandfather knows absolutely no bounds. I always pray for his good health and good life and for his deeds to blessed and sins to be forgiven. As much as a heart can love, my heart loves my grandfather.
Isn't it amazing how some people make you want to be a better person? My grandfather is like that to me. I always want to be the best version of myself to everyone. Because of him. He radiates warmth and generosity and I want to be like that, y'know? I want people to see me as that girl who radiates warmth and generosity.
I thought I would blog about that so that in the future, when I read this, I'll be reminded of how much love I receive and how blessed of a person I am to be surrounded by the company of the most warmest and most kindest souls.
It's 4:59 am now.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
October Favourites
Didn't October feel like 5 seconds?
Already in the second last month of 2015. Let that just sink in, everyone.
That much closer to winter holidays, that much closer to turning 23, that much closer to graduating insyaAllah! And then that much closer to having to find employment, to marry, to have kids, to buy my own house, to buying birthday presents for my friends' kids!?!?!?!?! I can't.
We've come to that time of year when I eat dinner by 5pm only to get hungry 4 hours later. Also, guess what guys! I'm doing a No-Rice November. I don't know why, I just thought I'd try it out for fun. I went a month without shopping once, without chocolate once, without Coke once so thought I'd try challenge myself to not eat rice. And it's also because lately I feel so lazy and so unproductive and so sleepy all the time. Might or might not be the amount of rice I eat in a day so I'm trying to see how far this goes hahah. I might succumb 2 weeks in but we'll see!
Time for my monthly favourites!
Beauty
Nowadays, I'm very lazy with make-up. I only have foundation on these days. Sometimes I even skip concealer (which I look at as a brilliant thing - my skin isn't as bad as it used to be that I am now able to have the option of skipping concealer!). I don't even bother with mascara anymore. I used to. But then I just got lazy because they can be tough to remove. I've never really bothered getting into the hype of blushers and bronzers because they've proven to be a bit too much for my skin so I just completely forego it. I have to, however, keep my brows in tact. I haven't gone for threading in ages only because it's such a hassle to go the place I usually go here and I hate getting on the bus and be in public with really red skin (from all the threading, it becomes an awful shade of red around the brow area, it looks quite embarrassing! In KL, I usually just quickly get into my car and drive home!). So I just pluck. But I think one of these days, I have to make a point to drag myself out of this comfy bed I call my solace and into the Indian shop I call torture. Every single time I'm in the midst of threading, I just curse myself for doing it in the first place. But yeah ok moving on how did my threading problem become half of this paragraph anyway.
The only thing I do bother doing is getting my lips primed and prepped. I have a special lip balm from the skin specialist I go to in KL and it beats all the Vaseline's out there! It's amazing and I have tons of it left - it'll probably last me a good whole year. So before I get into doing my face make-up, I swipe a bit of the lip balm over my sad, chapped lips and by the time I've done my foundation and brows, the lip balm would've been absorbed fully. And then, it's on to the lips!
My current lipstick situation is very simple. I am really into the whole gradient lip trend. So what I do is I take a bright pink lipstick and just lightly dab it on the inner part of my lip instead of just swiping it all over. And then I just pat, pat and spread it but only slightly because I like the whole look of the colour to be concentrated on the inner part only. It looks really natural and effortless like you just had sirap limau. Which is my favourite drink of all time.
For this, I alternate between 3CE's lipstick and Topshop's newest lip ombre collection. It's a really cool thing, on one side you have the less extreme colours and then you open the other side and you get the brighter colours (the second picture). You're meant to use both I think to create the gradient lip look but I mostly use the colours in the first photo. I tried the blinding bright pink in the second photo and it works just as well! It's perfect for what I want. I wouldn't wear a lipstick in these colour ever ever on the whole lip but it works so well if you just dab it on the inner part of your lips and all you have to do it just smack your lips once or twice and you're set! It's my new favourite thing.
For skincare, I tried out Missha's New Skin cleanser and it shouldn't be a surprise anymore that I love this one also. I was using Etude House's foam cleanser before this and that one was also very good. I've been using all types of Western cleanser all my life and my skin almost always feels uncomfortably tight after that. Felt like my skin was stripped of all its moisture! I've never had that feeling since I switched to the Korean foam cleansers. It's a lot more soft - definitely more ideal for my skin. My skin is noticeably softer and smoother and alhamdulillah, my skin is very well-behaved these days. I swear by Korean skincare products and I will only use it from now onwards because it's had such a positive effect on my skin. My dark spots are still there (but has reduced significantly in pigmentation) but no pimples nor zits.
It's not that difficult to get your hands on Korean skincare products here in the UK, I got mine from Yesstyle. They might not have everything you'd like but it's still a good place to get a majority of your Asian skincare needs. It's like my favourite store now.
Music
I'm pretty sure you've heard of Adele's Hello. It's almost a crime if you haven't. It's an amazing song - expectedly so. I can't wait for her full album release - she's never failed in my books. One of the very few singers I'd get the full album to play in the car. I find it really amazing that in the midst of a really up-tempo, EDM-driven generation, Adele's music is still so well-received by everyone. If Hello was just a taste of what's coming, I'll be counting the days for her album release!
Also! One Direction's 'Perfect'. First time I've had an English song on REPEAT. This song is so good - reminded me of how much I love these boys. They're growing up and it's showing through their music so well. 'Drag Me Down' was also such a good tune so I'm really happy they've switched it up a bit and their music now sounds a lot like them and not just generic studio-produced music.
For Korean music, f(x) has just released their new full-length studio album and it is SO. FUN. I didn't think I'd like it as much as I would but some of the songs are really catchy. You can tell SM has really been pumping funds into improving song quality. My favourites from this album is the title track, '4 Walls', 'Diamond' and 'Rude Love'. I never really liked f(x)'s stuff before this but this album exuded such a weird but so oddly fun vibe and I'm really digging it. I've had 4 Walls on repeat ever since it was released. Such a catchy dance track without it being too overwhelming. It's really one of my favourite K-Pop songs I've heard thus far this year. And the outfits for their stage performances is so ON-POINT. It has a heavy 70s reference (as was their whole concept with their teaser images and all) with bell-bottom pants and extra large shirts. One of my favourite concepts out of all the comebacks of 2015. f(x) is not your average typical k-pop girl group and I really appreciate that they're setting themselves differently from typical navel-baring, aegyo-driven girl groups. They radiate a 'too cool for you' aura and I. AM. DIGGING. IT. Consider myself a new fan!
Also, oh my God, DEAN. DEAN. WHERE HAS HE BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!?!? He is just gold. Found his music on Youtube and was just so blown by his music, it's amazing! I'm looking forward to more of his music. Listen to it here (it's not on Soundcloud so I can't include it in this month's playlist but give it a listen, it's a really sick tune).
I've also been listening to Hyuna's 'Roll Deep' so so so so so much. When I first heard it, I was so surprised as to how much I actually like it. I don't usually like this kind of music but it was so addictive??? I didn't even want to admit how much I liked it 'til my sister agreed to it and I knew it was good. It's just really strangely addictive. It kinda has an hypnotising effect on me. But then that's again, that's just the whole of K-Pop now that I think about it...
Anyway! Day 6's 'Congratulations' has also been on my playlist on repeat. I really like the message behind the song. Some of the lyrics go like
"Congratulations girl, didn't take you long to bounce back"
"Why should I wish you happiness when you're the one who left me?"
I love it! I LOVE it! On top of just really loving the music arrangement and vocals and rap, the lyrics were so on point for me. Not that I've gone through anything like that, I just really like that it's going against the generic sad songs we hear a lot nowadays. This song is more like 'Shove it, whatever, good for you" kinda thing and I just love it, it's just so me, y'know? Hahaha
App
For everyone reading this who would like to take up a new language, you should REALLY download this app called 'HelloTalk' if you haven't already. I was introduced it through the website where I've been learning Korean from.
It's basically like a language exchange program... but conveniently on an app.
So you just state what language you can offer to teach (for me, it's English) and what language you would like to learn in exchange (and for me, that's Korean of course). So they just give you this long list of people matching your needs, people who want to learn English and are willing to teach you Korean. And you just strike a conversation with them and it's easy as that! It's strictly not for any other purposes (mainly dating), and they're really strict with it, like you can't even enlarge their profile photos and proper precautionary measures are taken to ensure that you don't exchange photos and videos that aren't for educational purposes. So it's safe and user-friendly. Although you might have some people who'll try to get more than what they're supposed to, but that's what the Block button is for, I guess!
I've had so much fun on this app; I've been approached by many native Koreans who want to learn English and are willing to teach Korean. And this all for free. Obviously, they are in-store purchases (which I succumbed to) like unlimited translations. So for me, when the other side types in full Korean and when I don't understand, I can just have the app translate it for me without me going through the hassle of juggling HelloTalk and Google Translate (which is shit anyway).
I love it!! I'm constantly on it because the Koreans are so determined to learn English so they're always talking to me. And it's super fun because I finally get to use all the Korean I've learnt thus far and get correction and explanations from native Koreans. And since you're learning from native speakers, it's more conversational and less text-book which is always useful. It's great exercise on top of the private tutoring I've been having here in Bristol.
I can't advocate it enough, it's such a great idea!
__
That has been pretty much what I've been loving the past month. I'm going to save a post especially for this one Korean drama that I have been enjoying loads because I've got so much to talk about it.
But til then!
xx
Already in the second last month of 2015. Let that just sink in, everyone.
That much closer to winter holidays, that much closer to turning 23, that much closer to graduating insyaAllah! And then that much closer to having to find employment, to marry, to have kids, to buy my own house, to buying birthday presents for my friends' kids!?!?!?!?! I can't.
We've come to that time of year when I eat dinner by 5pm only to get hungry 4 hours later. Also, guess what guys! I'm doing a No-Rice November. I don't know why, I just thought I'd try it out for fun. I went a month without shopping once, without chocolate once, without Coke once so thought I'd try challenge myself to not eat rice. And it's also because lately I feel so lazy and so unproductive and so sleepy all the time. Might or might not be the amount of rice I eat in a day so I'm trying to see how far this goes hahah. I might succumb 2 weeks in but we'll see!
Time for my monthly favourites!
Beauty
Nowadays, I'm very lazy with make-up. I only have foundation on these days. Sometimes I even skip concealer (which I look at as a brilliant thing - my skin isn't as bad as it used to be that I am now able to have the option of skipping concealer!). I don't even bother with mascara anymore. I used to. But then I just got lazy because they can be tough to remove. I've never really bothered getting into the hype of blushers and bronzers because they've proven to be a bit too much for my skin so I just completely forego it. I have to, however, keep my brows in tact. I haven't gone for threading in ages only because it's such a hassle to go the place I usually go here and I hate getting on the bus and be in public with really red skin (from all the threading, it becomes an awful shade of red around the brow area, it looks quite embarrassing! In KL, I usually just quickly get into my car and drive home!). So I just pluck. But I think one of these days, I have to make a point to drag myself out of this comfy bed I call my solace and into the Indian shop I call torture. Every single time I'm in the midst of threading, I just curse myself for doing it in the first place. But yeah ok moving on how did my threading problem become half of this paragraph anyway.
The only thing I do bother doing is getting my lips primed and prepped. I have a special lip balm from the skin specialist I go to in KL and it beats all the Vaseline's out there! It's amazing and I have tons of it left - it'll probably last me a good whole year. So before I get into doing my face make-up, I swipe a bit of the lip balm over my sad, chapped lips and by the time I've done my foundation and brows, the lip balm would've been absorbed fully. And then, it's on to the lips!
My current lipstick situation is very simple. I am really into the whole gradient lip trend. So what I do is I take a bright pink lipstick and just lightly dab it on the inner part of my lip instead of just swiping it all over. And then I just pat, pat and spread it but only slightly because I like the whole look of the colour to be concentrated on the inner part only. It looks really natural and effortless like you just had sirap limau. Which is my favourite drink of all time.
For this, I alternate between 3CE's lipstick and Topshop's newest lip ombre collection. It's a really cool thing, on one side you have the less extreme colours and then you open the other side and you get the brighter colours (the second picture). You're meant to use both I think to create the gradient lip look but I mostly use the colours in the first photo. I tried the blinding bright pink in the second photo and it works just as well! It's perfect for what I want. I wouldn't wear a lipstick in these colour ever ever on the whole lip but it works so well if you just dab it on the inner part of your lips and all you have to do it just smack your lips once or twice and you're set! It's my new favourite thing.
For skincare, I tried out Missha's New Skin cleanser and it shouldn't be a surprise anymore that I love this one also. I was using Etude House's foam cleanser before this and that one was also very good. I've been using all types of Western cleanser all my life and my skin almost always feels uncomfortably tight after that. Felt like my skin was stripped of all its moisture! I've never had that feeling since I switched to the Korean foam cleansers. It's a lot more soft - definitely more ideal for my skin. My skin is noticeably softer and smoother and alhamdulillah, my skin is very well-behaved these days. I swear by Korean skincare products and I will only use it from now onwards because it's had such a positive effect on my skin. My dark spots are still there (but has reduced significantly in pigmentation) but no pimples nor zits.
It's not that difficult to get your hands on Korean skincare products here in the UK, I got mine from Yesstyle. They might not have everything you'd like but it's still a good place to get a majority of your Asian skincare needs. It's like my favourite store now.
Music
I'm pretty sure you've heard of Adele's Hello. It's almost a crime if you haven't. It's an amazing song - expectedly so. I can't wait for her full album release - she's never failed in my books. One of the very few singers I'd get the full album to play in the car. I find it really amazing that in the midst of a really up-tempo, EDM-driven generation, Adele's music is still so well-received by everyone. If Hello was just a taste of what's coming, I'll be counting the days for her album release!
Also! One Direction's 'Perfect'. First time I've had an English song on REPEAT. This song is so good - reminded me of how much I love these boys. They're growing up and it's showing through their music so well. 'Drag Me Down' was also such a good tune so I'm really happy they've switched it up a bit and their music now sounds a lot like them and not just generic studio-produced music.
For Korean music, f(x) has just released their new full-length studio album and it is SO. FUN. I didn't think I'd like it as much as I would but some of the songs are really catchy. You can tell SM has really been pumping funds into improving song quality. My favourites from this album is the title track, '4 Walls', 'Diamond' and 'Rude Love'. I never really liked f(x)'s stuff before this but this album exuded such a weird but so oddly fun vibe and I'm really digging it. I've had 4 Walls on repeat ever since it was released. Such a catchy dance track without it being too overwhelming. It's really one of my favourite K-Pop songs I've heard thus far this year. And the outfits for their stage performances is so ON-POINT. It has a heavy 70s reference (as was their whole concept with their teaser images and all) with bell-bottom pants and extra large shirts. One of my favourite concepts out of all the comebacks of 2015. f(x) is not your average typical k-pop girl group and I really appreciate that they're setting themselves differently from typical navel-baring, aegyo-driven girl groups. They radiate a 'too cool for you' aura and I. AM. DIGGING. IT. Consider myself a new fan!
Also, oh my God, DEAN. DEAN. WHERE HAS HE BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!?!? He is just gold. Found his music on Youtube and was just so blown by his music, it's amazing! I'm looking forward to more of his music. Listen to it here (it's not on Soundcloud so I can't include it in this month's playlist but give it a listen, it's a really sick tune).
I've also been listening to Hyuna's 'Roll Deep' so so so so so much. When I first heard it, I was so surprised as to how much I actually like it. I don't usually like this kind of music but it was so addictive??? I didn't even want to admit how much I liked it 'til my sister agreed to it and I knew it was good. It's just really strangely addictive. It kinda has an hypnotising effect on me. But then that's again, that's just the whole of K-Pop now that I think about it...
Anyway! Day 6's 'Congratulations' has also been on my playlist on repeat. I really like the message behind the song. Some of the lyrics go like
"Congratulations girl, didn't take you long to bounce back"
"Why should I wish you happiness when you're the one who left me?"
I love it! I LOVE it! On top of just really loving the music arrangement and vocals and rap, the lyrics were so on point for me. Not that I've gone through anything like that, I just really like that it's going against the generic sad songs we hear a lot nowadays. This song is more like 'Shove it, whatever, good for you" kinda thing and I just love it, it's just so me, y'know? Hahaha
App
For everyone reading this who would like to take up a new language, you should REALLY download this app called 'HelloTalk' if you haven't already. I was introduced it through the website where I've been learning Korean from.
It's basically like a language exchange program... but conveniently on an app.
So you just state what language you can offer to teach (for me, it's English) and what language you would like to learn in exchange (and for me, that's Korean of course). So they just give you this long list of people matching your needs, people who want to learn English and are willing to teach you Korean. And you just strike a conversation with them and it's easy as that! It's strictly not for any other purposes (mainly dating), and they're really strict with it, like you can't even enlarge their profile photos and proper precautionary measures are taken to ensure that you don't exchange photos and videos that aren't for educational purposes. So it's safe and user-friendly. Although you might have some people who'll try to get more than what they're supposed to, but that's what the Block button is for, I guess!
I've had so much fun on this app; I've been approached by many native Koreans who want to learn English and are willing to teach Korean. And this all for free. Obviously, they are in-store purchases (which I succumbed to) like unlimited translations. So for me, when the other side types in full Korean and when I don't understand, I can just have the app translate it for me without me going through the hassle of juggling HelloTalk and Google Translate (which is shit anyway).
I love it!! I'm constantly on it because the Koreans are so determined to learn English so they're always talking to me. And it's super fun because I finally get to use all the Korean I've learnt thus far and get correction and explanations from native Koreans. And since you're learning from native speakers, it's more conversational and less text-book which is always useful. It's great exercise on top of the private tutoring I've been having here in Bristol.
I can't advocate it enough, it's such a great idea!
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That has been pretty much what I've been loving the past month. I'm going to save a post especially for this one Korean drama that I have been enjoying loads because I've got so much to talk about it.
But til then!
xx
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