READ 2010

So, it all went downhill when I decided to give myself two months to read "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy and only read the first two pages...in mid-July!  Then I said to myself, well, that was a summer vacation of sorts, back to it in August.  Let's just say I've had two different copies of Betty Smith's "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"" for two months now.  Just like the romance I'm currently reading, one or two pages and I'm out.   Sigh.   To be fair (to myself) most of September was dedicated to "Entitled"but now I've got some down time.  So,  what will be - "O, Pioneers" or "On The Road"?
Hopefully one of the two this month.

First Page

I've had this same spiral notebook full of magazine clippings and collages since high school, though very little of the high school images remain.  It's starting to fall apart, and I have a scanner now, so there you go.  

"The Perfect Stranger" - Anne Gracie - 2006

An enjoyable, though pretty uneventful road romance that I'm currently re-reading.  It's slow-going as I've been falling asleep after about two pages, my fault -  not the novels'.  I do remember enjoying all of Gracie's "Merridew Sisters" quartet, especially "The Perfect Rake" however, "The Perfect Stranger" strongly reminds me of Mary Jo Putney's classic, "One Perfect Rose" - a great road romance with a twist ending.  Also, I know guns are phallic symbols, but doesn't that one look like there are two figures on it (in a Cosmo-like position), or is it just me?

A Successful Show...

...now I just have to unload my car and recycle all those 'gin' bottles!

KOTD: Summer Splash Ruffian.

Wait, is it even still summer?! I don’t think so…

Well it doesn't matter anyway, because Brunei has summery weather all year round! (Sudden spark of inspiration – I could do seasonal nails! Winter snow and autumn leaves and spring florals with butterflies :O)

I was SO reluctant to remove my previous Konadicure which I was just hopelessly in love with T_T But each time I tell myself, I might love the next one even more. That’s what keeps me going. (I have terrible separation issues btw.)

Instead of the typical girly-girly, sweet and chio type of Konadicure, I decided I’d like to try something a bit different. I wanted a huge splash of bright, cheerful, in-your-face colour!

AND I wanted to take another stab at the Ruffian-style manicure (sort of a reverse French manicure) because my first attempt in March was a total trainwreck – cute premise, bad execution. Hopefully with practice, I’ll even be using French tip Konad designs on my Ruffian moons in the near future! Now there’s an idea…

Anyway! Brace yourselves!!!

I actually ended up loving this Konadicure a lot!!! Which surprised me because it’s so not me! I felt like happiness was literally bursting from my sunny fingertips!

Okay moar piktures!

I used The Face Shop YL702 and BK902, Elianto #19 Hot Pink, Silkygirl Snow White, Konad Special Polish White and Konad image plate M60.

Every time I do my nails I wish and hope and pray to have magically gained ambidexterity between then and the previous time. But I’m always disappointed :( Normal nail painting with my left hand is okay nowadays, if I focus I can get it as perfect as if done by my right hand. My problem is DRAWING! I cannot FOR THE LIFE OF ME keep my hand steady when I’m holding my nail art brush and it frustrates me so much! T_T

Nevertheless, keeping in tone with my previous post, I won’t give up or be complacent and I’m on a mission to train myself to become ambidextrous! ^^ Shall do all my exam corrections with left hand lolwtf. Then teachers will all minus marks for bad handwriting?! D:

Okay! I don’t know how qualified I am to dish out nail art tips, but it’s up to you to judge and decide if you wanna follow my advice!

One tip I would give is that before considering nail art or Konad etc, make sure you perfect basic nail painting first. Both your right and left hands have to be really good.

This is because your nail polish has to look immaculate before your nail art can have that "professional touch". Otherwise it's gonna look like what it is: a shoddy home job. And I don’t know about you, but when I put in the effort to do my nails, I want them to look as professional as possible!

What I do is while I’m painting my nails, I’ll load an episode of a TV show on PPS, then when I’m done with each step and waiting for the polish to dry, I watch my show! This stops me from moving my hands too much and reduces the risk of messing up freshly painted nails. Also, it makes time fly so you don’t feel like you’re waiting AAAAAGESSS for your nail polish to dry!

Here’s an easy, straightforward nail painting tutorial video to start with. Time to go back to basics! It’s made by one of my favourite beauty bloggers, the very gorgeous Jen of From Head To Toe.

Start by growing your nail polish collection; invest in lotsa good quality polishes (which don't have to be expensive). Elianto (RM5/bottle), Face Shop (most B$3.90 or RM5.90/bottle) and Skin Food (most B$3.70/bottle) are awesome for kiamsiap gals like me! :D More value for money what?

Get a variety of colours, preferably every colour of the rainbow and 2 shades of each colour to start with, a light and a dark. E.g. baby pink and bright pink or cherry red and dark red, or light blue and dark blue, etc. And make sure your polishes are in good working condition!!!

I definitely made the mistake of buying lots of similar colours (mostly pinks) cause I thought they were pretty. Only lately have I been scrambling to buy rainbow colours!

This is the most simple and basic Konad-ing video made by the Konad company themselves! Actually if you bother to take the time and search for Konad of YouTube, lots of nail artists post up video tutorials and solutions to almost every Konad problem known to man!

ESSENTIALS (besides, of course, nail polish!):

1.) A good dotting tool, e.g. bent paper clips. (Toothpicks aren’t as good cause they don't make uniform circles),

2.) A good nail art brush, or unused thin eyeliner brush/paint brush if you can't find any to buy,

3.) A good 3-step nail buffer (I love my Yokoso! one cause it can really get right up to the very base of the nail),

4.) A good top coat, that’s liquidy and makes your nails shine like hard candy!

Honestly, I think anybody can do great DIY nail art, as long as you really really WANT to (refer previous post). It's not as hard as you think. You just have to be very patient and not give up.

And practice till all your nails rot off!! I mean, around this time last year, I didn't know batshit about nail art and had never even heard of Konad before!

I love reading nail art blogs and watching nail art tutorial videos to find inspiration and ways to improve. I even have a list of my fave amazing nail art bloggers ♥

OR! if you can't be bothered with all that, I can open up a nail parlour and you can, you know, come gimme money to do your nails ;) LOL!

It breaks my heart to say that this is the last Konadicure I’ll be doing until… November! *gasps in horror* Right at this very moment, I’ve about *counts* TWELVE new nail art ideas that I CAN’T WAIT to try out in 2 months time!

Which is actually good cause starting November, I get to have manicured nails 24/7!!! Every single day of every week of every month… *swoons in delight* (How will I keep coming up with ideas man, have to change nails 4 times a month, that’s 48 different designs a year *sobs*)

But one thing’s for sure, I’m going to LOVE having nails as long as I want, ALL THE TIME! If you’re a girl and have short nails for any reason besides musical instrument/baking/school/sports, I’ll think you’re a bit weird? We’re girls and we have the chance to indulge in something only girls can – pretty nails!

Talking about pretty nails, me and my sister will be starting a shared dedicated nail art blog soon! What that means is it's gonna be a blog featuring all OUR nail art, ALL the time! And you can feast till your eyes pop right out :D So yeah, hope you’re looking forward to it as much as we are! I is very da eggcitedz!!!1

But in the meantime, I’ll have to start focusing my concentration elsewhere for real now…

"A Man to Call My Own" - Johanna Lindsey - 2003

The first romance I ever read was "Gentle Rogue" by Johanna Lindsey, stolen from my mother and accidentally burned and the evidence disposed of (long story...)  Too young to know a cliche when I read one, I loved that ridiculous pirate/heroine disguised as a boy tale, though it would be many years before I read another official romance - (Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught) - and it seems my standards were much, much lower when I was new and completely smitten with the genre.  

I would just gobble up anything I could find, now I try to read reviews first and find novels that are more of a sure thing.  I read "A Man to Call My Own" when it was first released and I remember really enjoying it.  I passed it in the library and thought it might be fun to revisit, to see if it holds up, ya know? It doesn't.  I couldn't even finish it.  I didn't know you could fit that many romance cliches and cardboard characters in one book.  Twins, an "evil' (spoiled) twin and a good one - Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield anyone?  A hero who is too stupid to tell them apart, even after he has sex with the heroine - are you fucking kidding me?? The horrific father, the kindly mother figure, and so on.  Also, Lindsey uses modern day slang in reference to relationships, saying "like" instead of "fancy" or something similar and the 18-year-old "bad" one is described as sleeping with men to keep them away from her sister.  Not saying people didn't have pre-marital sex, it just seemed so modern and casual.   Oh, it's so bad.  One scene I remembered as being powerful and sweet comes off forced and barbaric to me now.  The hero basically pulls the heroine into the stables for a roll in the hay because he can't stand one more second without touching her.  Just really terrible.  This is why I will never re-read more than selected sections of even my older keepers (the McNaughts and Deveraux's) - what worked for me then probably won't hold up, and I think I'd rather keep the fond memories of stories than read some purple prose.  

"Entitled"

This Week!

If there's a will, there's a way.

That saying is so true it’s disgusting. Something I’ve realized lately is that anybody can do anything as long as they really set their heart to it.

Very few things in the world are easy to do, easily achieved or handed to you. If you really want something enough, you won’t stop until you get it, you won’t let anything stand in your way, you won’t settle for less.

But wants require either one or both of two things: hard work and money. And if you really have the desire, you can even do enough of the first to overcome lack of the second.

I realized that not everybody strives to be the best. Not THEIR best, THE best. Not everybody WANTS to be the best, not everybody does things wholeheartedly, some people are completely okay with just being average.

Until now, I always naively thought EVERYBODY wanted to be the best. But that’s not true, it’s a choice that’s up to each of us to make: Awesomeness or mediocrity?

This post is not about constructive criticism, it’s not about judging people. It’s about taking a surface look at what drives someone to achieve their goals, and how nothing is really that impossible.

I think it's safe to say that I am a person that strives. No matter what I do, I always have the burning desire to be THE best and do MY best. And sometimes, if I work my ass off, MY best IS THE best.

When I don’t excel or succeed in what I do, I don’t like how it feels. I get a lot of self-worth from my successes and almost define myself by them. It's not a good thing, but it's how I am.

I think most people fail not for lack of ability, but for lack of trying.

We can all be great at the things we choose to do, be it studies, skills, sports, anything! We just have to WANT it enough to make the sacrifices and put in 110% effort. Because where there is a will, there will always be a way.

Like right now, I want to learn music, art, dance and a new language. But I do feel like I have more passion towards music and languages so the other two will probably fade into the background with time, but the two that I REALLY want, I will go out of my way to make sure I achieve.

I have the desire to LEARN music, art, dance and a language. But I only have the desire to play music and speak that language. Not draw nor dance. There is a difference.

I do think although I may not be conventionally talented (or may just not discovered my talents fully yet), I have a great capacity to learn. I want to learn. I ENJOY learning things and polishing my skills.

But it is the passion, the burning desire to DO that will drive you to continue even beyond the learning process and not give up or settle for “just okay”.

It’s also important to figure out WHAT motivates you. The motivation of material objects never lasts very long, I find. The kind of motivation that's strongest and most unwavering is motivation that comes from within, motivation to want to BE something.

My motivations are that I want to do really really well in life and open up a world of opportunities for myself, I want that addictive feeling of success and I don’t ever want to be forced to regret not striving. Because it’s a choice.

One thing I believe is that successful people are those who strive. Those who never stop going, never say this is enough for me, and continue pushing themselves to improve until they are the very best at what they do. Complacency is a successful person’s biggest enemy.

So think about it. With ‘O’-Level’s looming, what do you want? Are your motivations strong enough? And are you striving for what you want?


I have awful PMS today. I feel so down in the dumps. But when I’m done writing this, I’m going to go pick up my textbooks and make sure every single word I study stays in my head.

Because the down in the dumps feeling of PMS? That goes away rather quickly. I don’t think the down in the dumps feeling of not having done as well as I’m capable of, will go away that easily.


P/S: I really suck at writing wordy blog posts! Always so boring T_T I salute you if you managed to make it all the way till here and bothered to read this small font.

KOTD: Pinkalilly Swirlus.

Three words. LOVE THIS KONADICURE!!! It's so sweet and kua zhang dainty and girly, just the way I like it!

My hand and Mischa Barton's face hahaha. This was when she was still gorgeous and the 'it' girl, on a 2004 issue of Seventeen magazine.

The background for these photos was actually my laptop monitor on screensaver! Had to balance my camera on a cotton bud container on my touch pad. Innovativeness ftw :P

Used The Face Shop PP407, Elianto #40 Twilight Zone and Konad Special Polish White, and Konad image plates M57 and M63. I absolutely adore this shimmery pink polish and the designs are from 2 of my favourite plates. A guaranteed recipe for success!

The Konadicure Of The Day name is such a boliao play on Piccadilly Circus. I tried to find the photos of me and my parents at Piccadilly Circus when I was 6, but I've no idea where my dad put the family albums box!!! D: (No it's not an actual circus, I still have no idea why it’s even called that! :S)

Bought 3 new nail polishes from Face Shop and 3 new Konad plates from **** the other day!!! Love all of 'em so much especially WH003 (the pearlescent shimmer)!!! The yellow and purple were much more vivid on nails then I expected which is good!

And I've really gotta stop recommending **** to people, the 4th Konad image plate I wanted (M59) was sold out AGAIN (I went looking for it twice before)!!! The shopkeeper said they sold the last one yesterday T_T Who the heck is that annoying person who bought it now I have to go search elsewhere!!! Gah-reat.

WH003, YL702 and PP408. This brings me to a total of 13 bottles of Face Shop nail polish :O

M40, M62 and M71. I've now 9 image plates, yay!!! Will continue hunting for my 10th.

Anyway, this time the shopkeeper was a Chinese lady and she was really nice and friendly! We chatted about nail art and she complimented my Konadicure hehe.

I really enjoy it when shop people (or even strangers) compliment my nails (yeah I'm conceited in saying it happens quite frequently, but at least I earned it), gives me such a kick and makes me feel like my hard work is appreciated ^^

I AM A SUCKER FOR GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE MAN. I have quite a good gauge of which shops will make me feel like a million bucks when I go in and love going to those, and which shops treat patrons like crap *cough SaSa cough*

Gah, sorry I got nothing against SaSa’s products but their salesgirls are JUST. SO. RUDE. They follow you around the entire store at a distance of 1 foot and yabber some crap about promotions in Mandarin every 5 seconds. And cannot speak English! *throws miscommunication tantrum* (HEY, do NOT say this is my fault for not knowing Chinese! They are a reputable beauty store in a MULTILINGUAL country, but they only want Mandarin-speakers' business?!?!)

NEVER before have I been to a store where all the salesgirls are monolingual. I’m not the only person you will find who dislikes SaSa’s salesgirls and has written about it. I hope they work on changing that soon, they'll definitely get loads more customers.

Anyway, enough digressing! I decided to answer a reader question in this post! This should be interesting…

Firstly, thanks for the compliment! I owe it mostly to Leelou Blogs who makes gorgeous free layouts ♥

To answer your question, by “French tip Konad” do you mean the Konad plate for plain French tips? E.g.:

Cause if that’s the case, I really don't know cause I don't use that. It looks too hard, instead I recommend using DIY French tip stickers! The stick, paint and peel method is still the fastest and easiest way for perfect French tips I think. Explanation here. I did ‘em free-hand for the first time in my previous Konadicure though!

But if you’re talking about patterned French tip Konad, e.g. my previous Konadicure, I use French tip stickers to help me with that too. The problem with French tip Konad is it's hard to stamp it straight, but you don't have to worry about that if you use stickers.

And I’ve prepared a short photo tutorial for everyone!

For my French tip stickers, I use reinforcement rings cut in half cause I think actual French tip stickers are so overpriced!!! These rings are like $3 for 500 at anywhere that sells stationery. That’s 1000 french tips we’re talking about!

Whether you’re using a full nail design (like I am) or a French tip design, the method for this step is the same.

Super duper easy! Hope it helps :)

I don’t mind answering questions about how I do my nails, so ask away! (As long as you’re serious about it and not trying to waste my time alrighty.)

Buuuut, it's aggravating when people ask me irl, then don't bother to listen to the explanation because it sounds too difficult. HELLO, YOU ASKED!?!? At least TRY to look semi-interested, don't just gimme a blank look then say "Oooookay" and turn away -_-"

Next time – nail art tips!

Okay, QUESTION. What do you guys think about me painting fake nails for sale? Would any of you be even remotely interested in wearing my designs? Lol if I ever do, I'll probably price ‘em really cheap cause I doubt people would wanna pay much anyway.

Then if I'm a total failure and nobody buys, I can just were them myself! :D No losses.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed writing such a long nail post, as much as I enjoyed watching the MTV VMAs last night (2 nominations and a win for Mars, woohoo! But ugh, Chelsea Handler stunk. ELLEN G NEXT YEAR KTHX :D).

So you’d better have enjoyed reading it! ;)

"Stay" - Allie Larkin -2010

Ha Ha! He came up first in the image search!

I picked up "Stay" because of it's cute and cheerful cover.  Also, a quick glance at the back jacket showed debut author Allie Larkin hit the blurb jackpot.  Her novel features endorsements from 6 pretty well-known chick-lit/romance authors.  Since I just finished up Emily Giffin's latest, one quote especially intrigued me: 

"Wow! This book blew me away. Sharp.Smart. Observant. 

Buzzing with romance, friendship and heart. Most of all
incredibly well written.  Stay is sure to become the new favorite
among Emily Giffin fans. Enjoy!"  -Sarah Strohmeyer, author of The Cinderella Pact and The Penny Pinchers Club 

     However, I have read one of Strohmeyer's books, and it left the worst image in my head - checking for moles where the sun shouldn't be an issue...I'll say no more...Despite that, she is dead on with her recommendation of  "Stay."  

Based on the description and Giffin comparison, I feared
this book would be "Something Borrowed 2" just a rip-off of the engaged love interest plotline.  "Stay" could have gone that direction, but was so much better that it didn't.  


The heroine, Van (short for Savannah) is likable, but flawed.  She just watched her best friend marry the man she's loved for years, and goes home and drunkenly buys a dog on the internet.  The dog, who will be called "Joe" isn't a tiny puppy as thought, but is a purebred German Shephard who answers primarily to Slovakian commands and cost $6000 dollars.  But Joe is the keystone in Van's new life leading her to the life she's meant to have including a hero I would have liked to see a lot more of and some wonderful unexpected friends.

I know I would have gobbled it up in one sitting, if I hadn't been forcing myself to stop and get some work done!  Larkin also runs a blog called The Greenists for the environmentally minded,  which is cool, but I hope she's working on another book, I can't wait to read more from her.  "Stay" was the most enjoyable story I've experienced in quite a while -  not just in "chick-lit" but any genre.  

Real Brains

Now that I work in the mornings I like to start my day with NPR and "Fresh Air."  Sometimes I get funny looks (like the segment about movie musicals) from the regulars, but usually it's the most peaceful part of my day.  Whether it's celebrity interviews (I love you, Dolly!) or horribly depressing poets it's still great - and sometimes I get introduced to a whole new person or idea.

One morning, a few weeks back I heard a great interview with author Jack Clark who worked as a cab driver in Chicago for 30 years and has published three novels.  He was so down-to-earth and even self-published his first novel and  sold it in his cab for $5!  He had a great quote when asked about why he chose to drive cab - he said "he never wanted to use his 'real brain' for his job."  Not an attitude you hear very often, and I just love that, because I happen to agree wholeheartedly.  Here's a link to the whole story:  Fresh Air Interview

T is for Tradition!

I cannot believe I took 3 days editing these photos! And I didn't even Photoshop them except for some zit removal requested by Shar. Slow and steady might be good sometimes, but this is TOO MUCH! T_T
Okay back to actual topic.

I always look forward to every March, June, September and November because of Tradition! Hehe I bet my Tradition buddies would be so honoured to know that :D

A little intro for those of you who don't know what Tradition is:

Tra·di·tion n. First began in March 2009 (wow I thought for sure it was longer than that!) as a way for 4 old friends to catch up, spill all, camwhore and have a good time every 3 months, while eating sushi dinners and ice cream desserts and defy the tests of time and separation.

The sad thing is, this coming November will be our last Tradition because I'm moving to Malaysia after that. I'm so unnaturally depressed over this T____T And unfortunately, Manda couldn't make it to Tradition this time T________T

Excapade

Photos they took while waiting for me to arrive (IN MY DEFENCE these were taken at 6.57 pm and we were only booked for 7 pm LOL!).

Converse buddies, pooh!

Gay guy sex change drag queen Miss America ba zhang Bruneian scholar.

Shar.

Me, Ya Wen and my Beauty Splash package.

Shar and "Manda".

Me about to attack my package which had my new gel eyeliner and 8 pairs of false eyelashes in it!

Shar's purdeh necklace.

Shar happily gulping down her Coke even though she had a sore throat!

Gi-, go-, gyo-... WTF IS THIS THING CALLED I CAN'T REMEMBER T____T Oh right!!! GYOZA!!!! So yummy.

Shar's chicken tom yam udon.

Me and my beef tom yam udon. Next time I shall try the seafood!

Yawen and her usual salmon teriyaki don. After seeing the pic, she exclaimed "Heck, I look like I'm picking my nose!"

And then proceeded to do this to Shar's photo:

 Somebody call 911...

Me gulping down 7Up as fast as it can move through a straw and Ya Wen doing dunno what hiding from the cam.

MASSIVE California maki! Mmmm~

Ya Wen's Miss America smile has not changed one bit!

Me and Ya Wen outside Excapade.

My lovely white angels!

Shar and me with a super gummy smile.

On the walk to the Mall.

Shar showed me this photo after she took it and went "Oh yeaah, look at that." LOL!!

Swensen's

Ya Wen is grumpy when she doesn't get her ice cream!

Shar and I.

Candid.

More candidity.

Shar looking super cute!

Me and Shar.

My shameless camwhoring :D

More of Shar and I's shameless camwhoring.

Shar checking out Ya Wen's Physics teacher on her iPhone! *gasp*

THIS pic is veeerryyyy reminiscent of one from June last year...

In which I looked uber fuggs! AHHH!!! Wtf, did I dip my face in a vat of oil before taking this pic?! -_-"

I'm guessing this means iPhone good? Hahah.

Random rather pointless camwhoring.

Insanely hideous photo of me being goofy! :P

Ridiculously dumb Jap/Korean/Act cute pose pics:

I've never understood this one! Salute for what?! Who are they saluting?? Stupid pose. But we still wanna copy. HAHAH!

And the winner iiiiiiiiss...

Ya Wen!!!

Two thumbs up hahahha!

Doesn't Ya Wen look so amazing adorable in this photo?!

Three huge smiles.

Cartilage piercing.

Sticky chewy chocolate and Mango something.

My pathetic single scoop banana split flavoured ice-cream. I was so stuffed from Excapade I couldn't even THINK about eating anything bigger.

Aaaand Shar finished her gigantic tall thing all the way to the bottom :O

The abandoned cherries.

Won't tell you what Shar is giggling like a little girl about HAHAHHAH!

Me and Shar just before she left early.

Spilling nyaman juicies felt soooo good. And as usual, our volumes always got too high. Apologies to all the people who sat around us that night! No peaceful meal for them at all xD

I'm already anticipating our next (and last) Tradition! We've gotta go out with a bang!!!

Beauty Splash

As you saw, my makeup package from Beauty Splash arrived with Ya Wen! In the end, I had a good customer experience with them (why does this sentence sound wrong...) and I LOVE the stuff I ordered!!

Black gel eyeliner (too lazy to take photo of it on my own) which was smaller than I expected but is total AWESOMESAUCE! ♥♥ And only B$9.90 hehehe.

And my 8 pairs of falsies!!! MwahaHAHAH! The existing adhesive on it sucks la, which I expected. But they're a lot bigger than I thought they'd be! Which is... good! I can cut em to all kinds of sizes yay.

Okay, end of really long post! Hope you're satisfied! Cause now I have to go study :( And maybe edit new nail photos so you guys will have gorgeous (in my opinion) nails to drool over soon!

P/S: So sorry for the glitch in my layout earlier. Leelou Blogs switched image hosts and relinked all their images, and I was a bit slow on the uptake D: All's fine now though!