Trompe L'oeil

Another reason I must go to Japan: to purchase photo books such as these. Sigh. Look at that photography.


Whoever said the streamlined white vest is gay... look again. Btw, I can't believe Haruma is 19 years old.. T-T That's like my brother's age.


I'm a sucker for the scarf. I'm a sucker for scarves. And I'm an even bigger sucker for guys with scarves especially the stripey kind! As my cousin says : stripey goodness!

Despite all the visual goodness I've been surrounded with these past three months, certain encounters with certain guys have been a reminder of how the lack of character (or should I say their undeveloped nature) has kept me grounded. Really in Hong Kong I'm restricted to just looking because there's not much behind the clothes. Today I was waiting to get on the bus and a guy lets me on first. Initially I was happy and humbled that he allowed me to go before him... that was until I sat down and he sat in the same row across the aisle, calls up one friend who was busy and then calls another and proceeds to talk really loudly in english about his hot coworkers, how he's not talking about her in front of her to make her feel like she's out of the conversation so that she wants him more, how he sits next to the girl he's interested in while having lunch so he can serve her but not have to be distracted by her face (while mentioning to his friend that he's not looking at her boobs... how she's so 'vitalized'. I think he meant "full of vitality")how he dances and grinds with girls and how his female coworkers thinks he's cute but not hot.
I admit I was pretty amused by his antics as well as disgusted. I got the notion that he had noticed me on the bus and decided to put on a show that he was fluent in english plus made certain that I knew he was a ladies man. But by the end of the half hour prior to my stop, I really wanted to stand up, look him in the eye and tell him that there are some people who can speak english as well as he could and that not everyone wanted to listen to his conversations about girls. And that I hoped that "Katherine" would realize what a self centered jerk he was.
But of course I didn't have the guts to do it because I was so annoyed at him that I was trembling and just wanted to leave. He's probably from the States.

My grandmother's butcher: I'm guessing he's 40 but who can tell the age of Asians, has been hitting on me every time I go there. Initially I thought it was accidental, but since I follow my grandmother everywhere in the market and carry her groceries for her, every time I took the bag from him, he'd stroke my hand. I didn't want to jump into conclusions but the first time he did that he also asked my grandmother if I was dating anyone... and last time insisted that my grandmother let him take me out to dim sum. At that point I was so grossed out I now either stand at a distance and wait for my grandmother to get the bag and then take it from her or stay in the car and wait for my aunt to get the pork.

As my aunt tells me, you only need to find one guy. I think the difficulty of finding 'just one' is hard enough as it is. Considering the larger ratio of girls to guys here in HK, the field I am studying, the language hurdle plus the need for the same spiritual principles is quite limiting indeed. And even if he does pass all that, there also must be a physical, emotional, and spiritual connection/attraction/chemistry. Because of this, I've realized how each marriage is a miracle in itself.

People have asked me "are you one of those girls who say they must get married or else they'll go crazy?"
I'm not sure where I stand on this: I lean more towards the "I want to get married and not stay single" but I think at this point in time, I just want to meet people and date. I really like meeting the right people: the right people being those of either sex and having the same interests or completely opposite personalities. The right people often are those who offer as much as they take and typically are those who are more outgoing. And if they aren't outgoing, their personalities are distinct and strong enough to speak for themselves without having to verbally express it.

On the flip side, some HK guys care way too much about their appearance. I appreciate how they're so easy on the eyes but whenever I see a guy checking out his own reflection on the subway door, it kinda grosses me out. They pick at every strand of hair and place it neatly back in their coiffure. I guess that just comes with the package of looking good. -_-
I know I go 'ga-ga' when I see a vest-dress shirt-dark wash denim-white sneakers-skinny tie cladded body go by but if there's nothing deeper to get ahold of, then it's all fashion. And we all know that fashion on a micro level quickly fades.

I'm not very sure what to think of the youth in Hong Kong. I don't think I've immersed myself enough to really have a stance on it. However I do find many HKers really shallow and narrowminded: very few seem to care about anything beyond fashion, music, girlfriends, boyfriends, cars etc. After talking to a few adults here in HK, they too have noticed the difference between those who have lived in North America and those who grew up in HK.
But I cannot judge any of this because I too am standing back at exit E, acting as the spectator watching people pass by. And how much insight can you garner from just a glance? Thus I will say no more.

Photoshoot reference picture from deviant art. :D:

Boys of Summer

Loitering around the dessert section of the buffet at the Intercontinental. Sadly there were no L-like figures to make friends with.

I've always loved this song. Makes me feel nostalgic. Images of sunsets, car rides and lying in fields of hay come to mind when I listen to it. But this summer is indeed full of boys. From a distance anyway. lol.
Robyn went back west today.
Batman was FRIGGIN AMAZING. 8.8/10 stars.
People say that they've seen this kind of template plot before but I argue that it was done well in a way that both expressed the complexity of what is right and what is wrong and discerning evil from good. The reason why Batman is so successful, from my own opinion, is because its villain has an equally complex character as the protagonist. Where most movies fail is where they often spend too much time stressing on the importance of the hero while the villain is just given a varnish of 'evilness' and the audience is made to assume that he's bad because you have to entertain people for two hours. Kinda like Ironman: I didn't think it was amazing but it was some solid entertainment. However it did lack the character depth that Batman was able to deliver. This was one movie where I was able to relate more with the villain, the Joker, than with the hero of the story.
Yeah, I usually don't like superhero movies but even I was deeply impressed by Batman. There was a lot of 'what would you do?' scenes: perhaps they were predictabe but nevertheless it makes one question what one would do in their stead.
Man, if there's one thing I appreciate about American culture, it is in there ability to make decent movies and tv series. After watching a lot of bad acting, poorly written scripts and ugly lighting, Asian dramas seem like child's play compared to American ones. Canto tv sucks. It's at times like these, getting out of the movie theater at Elements, when I'm proud that I can speak fluent English.

An aunt was speaking to me in canto yesterday and I repeated something she said as a question. She says "do you not understand my cantonese???"
I was a little dumbfounded because if there's one thing I do know, is that I can understand pretty well within conversations. TV news takes me a little longer but I could still guess at what the news anchors are getting to. I often repeat things as a question form when I want clarification or if I want the person to continue on with what they are saying.

But then it happened again. After Batman, we were hanging out at my cousin's place and the girl next to me was laughing about something on the news. I watched the clip but it took me a little longer to fully digest what they were talking about (the new coke can yields less coke than the original). The girl next to me asks me if I understood what they were talking about(I was in the stage of trying to understand it fully before saying 'yes') and then asks me if my cousin's canto was better than mine.

It's at times like these I just want to ask what kind of retarded question is that?
I said "my cousin is better" because what else am I supposed to say? I don't want to have to prove anything to anyone.

When I meet people with parents who are not of the same race, I'm instantly attracted to them. The clashing of cultures and the sense of belonging here nor there reminds me of me. Purists, those of one race (I also lump in people who have lived in one place their entire life), are getting to me because of their illegitimate snobbery, narrowmindedness and inability to think broadly. Third culture kids and mixed race kids tend to be more open to new ideas and thoughts, more respectful of other people and have a broader worldview.
Anyway, I'm taking Mandarin next semester. I am so glad I chose Putonghua over any other language for very stupid reasons.

-----------------------------------
Conversation with Robyn and Ken talking about Batman and Robin
Laura: hellooooo come back to reality!!!!
Me: Who are you to say that? You work at Disneyland!
-----------------------------------

At Pokka Cafe:
S: The service is pretty good here
R: You mean the good looking service.
XD

If there's any good place to look at a particular type of people (coughanimeguyscough), it's at Izzue the clothing store, Pokka Cafe and King Wah Center.

Today I was at Page One looking for more books to inspire me in our quest to publish by 2010, when I saw this anime looking guy reading manga. I kept looking back to examine his face but for fear of being caught staring, kept my back facing him. It wasn't until his friend came when they both started to walk away. I thought it would be my chance to finally look when he caught he eyeballing and stared straight at me. I felt like I was being electrocuted. That was embarrassing: I have to stop this nasty habit of eye stalking although that's why I bought stalker sunglasses in the first place: to avoid mishaps such as these. XD

Miura Haruma. I confess I like this picture not because of the fashion but for the face:

Every Day is a Gift.

I swear Disneyland truly is magical. Disney magic+ my photo skills+ new camera= dangerous.


Bo kek/j drama watching after baking cupcakes: look how intense they are staring at Hanazawa Rui and his clothes!

Shanghai was crazy. Not what I expected at all but I guess I had the New York syndrome and perceived it to be more glamorous than in actuality. I'm glad we went because from there gave birth to a few good ideas of what's to come after we graduate. Man, Robyn and I are planning to collaborate (what else is new) and publish a book of whimsical fantasies and airy delights by 2010. kekek. And we are so serious about this too. We already have assigned one of our friends as translator/international ambassador and another friend as head administrator. Yes, we like the fancy, glorious titles.
Robyn and I also got to dilly dally in designing uniforms for a restaurant about to open in Shanghai. Talk about fulfilling our j drama waiter uniform ideas: that was it.
We also had a lot of intense discussions about art and design and the future for the artistic community in Asia. Shanghai's a little depressing in that way that Hong Kong is: little museums and galleries because the past few generations have never been encouraged to think creatively. The fault of the Communist ideology? Perhaps.
While we were in one new art district of Shanghai having coffee talking about the relationship between art and business, a guy overheard us and approached us. Turns out he was from HK too and was in Shanghai to get some research on the 'old houses turned new art spaces' for his prof at polytechnic. It turned out to be another intense discussion on whether or not the HK government should try to help fledgling artistic communities that were slowly growing in Chai Wan and two other parts in HK. He is also a Christian going to a church in Tsuen Wan. I thought that was super cool. Discussions on Christianity, art, design, Shanghai/HK, our dreams/passions all rolled into one? Delectable.

And at the airport in HK from Shanghai: Robyn goes through the 'foreign' customs section and I laugh at her because I get to swish through the super cool 'HK citizen' machines with my ID. Yehhhh. Done in 30 seconds! See ya sucker!
So I wait for Robyn at the luggage area: she tells me behind her were a bunch of anime looking guys all dressed in red t shirts. Perhaps a sports team? Okay, I told her, we gotta look cuz I wanna see these j drama guys!!! So my poor cousin has to loiter around as I stalkerishly wait 20 feet from the customs exit. I spot one: he's skinny (duh) and is wearing those black fob glasses. Looks kinda like every other guy at King Wah Center. Anyway so we tell our aunt about the guys and then proceed to the meet and greet area.
Wow, my cousin says, there are a lot of people at the arrival area.
My aunt spots a few fan signs in the crowd.
Omg.
ROBYN, WHO WERE THOSE GUYS IN THERE?!?!?! THEY WERE ACTUALLY FAMOUS: GREEDY COUSIN TRYING TO HOARD ALL THE EYE CANDY FOR HERSELF. lol
So it turns out, thanks to the fan signs, the six guys in there were from a Taiwanese band, 'Pan pan tong' aka Lollipop.
LOL. Omg, so my aunt stops the cart in front of the glass window and we loiter around waiting for the band to show up. Hilarious. A girl screams. False alarm but it's too late cuz we're exiting and it would look super lame if we backtracked AGAIN. Ah well. We pretended like we were the rock stars.
Next time I'm using my American passport. Screw HK id! Maybe Kenichi Matsuyama will line up behind me next time. I'd go ballistic for that. XD

So back in HK, no time to rest: Disneyland, j dramas and cupcake baking!
The day we went to Disneyland was truly magical. LOL. Sunny skies, a huge moon and a whole new world... Space Mountain was the best. Oh man, we screamed louder than the kids. Sad. We rode it twice: I plan to build my own space mountain in my future library in my future flying taxidermy humpback whale home with Robyn.
That is, if the both of us don't get married. But with ideas like these, I'm pretty sure we'll stay single for the rest of our lives.
Anyway we went to see the Golden Mickeys, Space Mountain, 4D ride, Mad Hatter tea cups, water parade and the fireworks. Oh the fireworks make you melt and you feel like a kid again.

But in all seriousness, God showers blessings upon us at the most unexpected times to show us that none of us deserve anything but He gives them to us because He loves us. I came to HK expecting little but have gotten so much out of it. I've never dreamt this wildly, laughed so much despite linguistic hurdles, learnt so much about my fickleness and shortcomings through work, met/befriended so many different people with the same passions and been encouraged by friends and family.
I never thought I'd meet the people I met. I can say that it was all by grace: I bumped into Agnes at Times Square and we instantly clicked. We grew up as kids when I lived in Hong Kong: we didn't have much in common but ever since I hung out with her, it's been so much fun. Talking till 4am, intoxicated with laughter and drowsiness. And now she's coming to America to study abroad and she's gonna come visit me in NYC and do 'research' for out future book project. :D And then perhaps Japan in summer 2008?? :D
God knows everything, prepares all for you even though you aren't aware of it: my aunt who is my mom's childhood best friend has been a criticalkey/pivotal character in this short but happy chapter of my life. The first day we met this summer to pick up Robyn from the airport, she asked me what my dream was. She didn't really understand what I was getting at because I couldn't explain it in Chinese but ever since that day she has been helping both of us to dream big, fan the passion that we were given, pursue what interests us and to remind us that God has fashioned us for a purpose. We may not know what it is but surprise surprise! I really feel like I'm on this magic carpet ride with God:
A whole new world
Every turn a surprise
With new horizons to pursue
Every moment red letter.

Alan Menken, you are the genius of genius scorewriters.

In the meanwhile...

I like the suit. That is all. Oh and Zettai Kareshi. That is all.

Shanghai, Here we Come!

Alex took this pic with my camera on the cruise yesterday.

Shanghai tomorrow!
Today is such a nice today.. too bad we didn't go yachting today.
Yesterday was nice.. got to meet new people but at the same time felt a little.. yeah. I always get too ahead of myself on these kinds of things. I dislike it when people get so enthused by an idea but when you actually put it into realization, they back out. -_-
Omg, the sermon topic was called "How Green should I be?": Wow ECC is really on the forefront on issues such as these. I was having a little party beside Robyn. :P Although the sermon was a little disappointing, it was great that they even addressed these issues. Look here to listen to the sermon which will probably be up in a few days:
http://www.islandecc.hk/resources/sermons.htm


Kenichi Matsuyama: I love your red peacoat! XD

More later!

Life Without Expectations

Life's wonderful.
Every day is different, every day is full of unexpected encounters and surprises.
I'm seeing friends in Toronto, Shanghai, Hong Kong, New York. Wow that sounds like a splendid collection of cities that I'll be visiting this year.

Today, Robyn, me and my mom's good friend had dinner. Good conversation about a passion driven life, the immaturity of boys hence the need to watch j-dramas to keep ourselves from being disillusioned. Lol. Maybe there is hope.
I'm looking for someone who has the same intensity in something he is passionate about.

Robyn, my coworker and a local HKer friend and I went to 'Modern Toilet' to eat where Robyn proposed to get her hair permed and her fringe cut to wispy bangs. I showed her the card I got from this certain hair salon I saw in Causeway Bay... I was supposed to go there with a friend a month and a half ago but things didnt work out. I liked it there because I saw the hair stylists (male, duh) and thought it would be great if someone got their hair cut there. Anyway so fast forward to the present, when I showed the card to Robyn, our local HKer friend takes one look at it and starts laughing saying how they're known for the good looking hairstylists. LOL. Omg I always laugh so hard when I'm with the native HKers... we seem to find a lot of things in common. It's hilarious. Anyway so now Robyn's getting her hair permed there. Four hours of sitting and watching 'Robyn'. XD

Too bad, if HK guys got their act together and thought beyond just looks, they'd be dateable. Fashion is easy to change, character is not.

So I did my Ralph Lauren Polo interview this morning. The guy sounded like he was trying to convince me to come more than I was trying to convince him that I was qualified. Then I started to talk to him about himself: turns out he's a summer intern under their business consulting department and is going to SF soon to intern for Sanrio for five weeks and then it;s back to school in Boston. He said I was the second person out of all the interviewees to ask him about himself. I love it when the tables turn. lol.
Anyway, the hard part was: "so if you were to work for us today, what would you wear?" If you've seen me in person, I do not embody the preppy Polo persona. So I said, "uh.. I would wear jeans.. um. dark wash skinny jeans. And then a.. polo??? with a belt...." LOL I think I failed the interview right there and then. Another question was, "Who are your favourite designers, besides Polo."
LOL I was thinking "Polo is not under my list of favourite designers."
But I said, "Honestly I don't have a favourite designer.. I just like particular collections designers have done. But if I had to name a favourite designer or two, I would say that I really like local HK designers here. You don't know their names but there's this menswear designer whose stuff I really love."
LOL. Hey I answered truthfully. It's why my menswear collection has grown exponentially. As I speak now, there are three menswear outfits hanging on my closet door. keke
Anyway it was pretty jokes.

So the next while is gonna get crazy:
Saturday: free spa coupons spent with cousin, lunch with aunt and cousin, dinner with coworker and to get groceries for sunday.
Sunday: church and then yachting if weather permits... yes we got 13 people!! :D
Monday: Haircut with cousin and HK friend... and MONGKOK! kekeke
Tuesday: Shanghai!

God, thank you so much for all the blessings you have showered upon me. May I give back just as you have given so generously to me. As Casey said, "if you feel that you have a right to something, you probably aren't grateful for it."

K: Sayonara, good luck and have fun.
Sakura Matsuri: March/April 2009 in Kyoto. Tokyo Patisserie Tour: Summer 2009
Hope to see you soon ;)

Meet "L"

"Welcome to Canon."

I loved it.
I felt like I just entered a club exclusive to those who have purchased a Canon item.
Oh wait, I already am a part of that club; I have a Powershot point and shoot. Oh well, it sounded good to have heard that.

"Welcome to Canon," said he.
Darn that bag was heavy. I could feel the weight of the cardboard and metal slide slowly up my forearm as the muscles tightened to keep gravity from getting its way. I'm not sure how I will be able to bring all this stuff back to Toronto and New York without paying a hefty fee.

After a year of thinking, pondering, sighing, heeing and hawing, I finally mustered up the courage to invest in a camera. I already have the Nikon D70 but it wasn't designed to the intuitive photographer. It still boggles the mind why they decided to place the ISO into the program instead of having a specific button to just change it manually. I guess that's why the D200 exists. Oh well.

The reason for all the groaning, thinking and indecisiveness was not a matter of money. Well it always is but in my case it was less of a worry than picking a brand: to either stay as a 'loyal' Nikon fan and steal my dad's lenses or to switch to Canon all together. But the one incident that made me a Canon user was having Alex's camera for my birthday: thanks to his Rebel XTI and more importantly the 50mm prime lens, my birthday memories are now more romantic than what actually happened in reality. lol.

I said I wouldn't go to King Wah Center (menswear mall) until the 13th. We went yesterday since my cousin yet again purchased another dress shirt. I'm not complaining since it gives me a reason to go visit. XD Anyway I ended up at King Wah Center again since the camera store just so happened to be next door. I swear, I did not plan this. It's funny but I know Mongkok better than any of my family who have lived here for over 30 years so I lead the way. lol. So off the fellowship trekked to the camera store: uncle, aunt, cousin, cousin's boyfriend, Alex and their fat siu yao camera friend who knows the people at the store. Yeah I had a whole entourage come with me to make my purchase. It was quite the ceremonial gathering. :P

After two hours of more humming, heeing and hawing at this one particular shop tucked away in the corner of the plaza, I decided on a body: after touching the Rebel XSI (they call it the Rebel 450D here.. don't know why they have different names in different countries), it felt like a toy compared to the 40D that I was considering. Plastic body, lightweight and the buttons were yet again really annoying to manipulate.
Well after two hours of thinking and evaluating my options in terms of body+lenses (and my dad called too! He knew that I was getting it so I'm glad he called so I could ask about budget to which he said "you think for yourself" and I responded with, "so what if I got a $7000HK lens?" "WAHHHHHHH.. you think about it." So I guess that means it's okay? :P), I saw that my entourage was quickly dropping dead like flies around me so I decided to just get the body since their range of lenses wasn't that great.

But then after a lot of logical discussion with Alex and my cousin's boyfriend and the camera expert, I ended up getting a $7,000HK lens. You want to know something funny: the lens was $100 more than the body itself. Sigh. lol
The lens is from their top of the line collection called 'The L Series.' It's set apart from the lower series by the telltale red line around the rim of the lens. As I shared the news of my purchase to another one of my camera crazy friends who just spent her life savings on a 5D (the best Canon available so far), she mentioned how it was so wonderful the L Series was because the red band was equal to quality and trust. I said it was like buying Prada. For non fashion majors, Prada also uses a red band on their shoes to make a distinction. kekeke.
So since my first lens, more expensive than any other lens my dad has, is from the L Series, I have decided to call my camera "L". Come on, it's fate: my camera is the equivalent to L in Deathnote therefore I will christen my camera as "L." All I need to do now is to find an "L" charm to mark my camera. Tee hee. I know, I'm off my rocker but I've decided to accept my level of insanity so screw everyone else! My camera is called L. :P

So in total I spent $14,600 with all the accessories minus the bag. They threw in a UV filter and an extra battery so I'm happy. I love how I was planning on getting the XSI with a nice lens or the 40D with a cheaper lens and ended up getting expensive all the way. Oh well I can justify the price of the camera since it is my 21st birthday present. Plus I use my point and shoot literally every day.
It was either an SLR or a Chanel bag okay. The latter I decided to write off because people think it's absurd to spend so much money on a bag especially if I ever decided to pick the bag over the camera. I'm sure most people would think I'm truly insane. I don't care what people think about me but at the same time I do so the decision to go with the camera came out of the choice of getting something practical and functional. The Chanel bag would have been an aesthetic choice which would only give me pleasure as the user but does not have the ability to transfer "joy" to others. Anyway.

"Welcome to Canon."

Looking at the Negative Spaces in Life

My mom used to say I was too sensitive for my own good.
Well, being the sensitive kind, I took it to heart. So whenever someone would say something at my expense, I'd keep quiet thinking that it was my fault for taking their jokes too seriously. But dealing with these hurtful comments also made me bottle them all in until in one of those rare moments, I'd explode at just one person.

You know what hurts? It hurts when your friends are the ones who talk down to you.
Being the 'sensitive kind', I never try to elevate myself at the expense of others. I don't say to my friends "my english is better than yours. You can't write or express your thoughts if your life depended on it."
So why is it that all my friends here feel the need to establish the 'fact' that their Chinese is better than mine? I saw a certain someone for the first time a few days ago and out of nowhere he asks if his chinese was better than mine and then says that it probably was. At that moment I wasn't angry: initially I just took it like "here we go again" but by the end of our time together, I was so pissed off at him I couldn't look at him. Love keeps no record of wrong but I'm starting to almost sadistically enjoy counting the number of friends who think their Chinese is better than mine. But because of them, I've become extremely self conscious when I speak in another language when in fact I'm pretty okay. However people's comments, as much as I want to stop thinking about them, have really made me second guess everything I say. You want to know why my Chinese may not be as good as people from Canada despite the five years I lived here?
English is the prized language here amongst locals so as a kid I only spoke English to people. I also went to international school, never ate at dai pai dong and chilled at Pacific Place and hated Cafe Coral (dai gah lok).
I felt unique because I spoke English without an accent (save a british one but obviously that's faded). So the only Chinese I really got was by listening: it wasn't until this past christmas when I really started to make a conscious effort to speak more. And having trained myself to not speak cantonese has obviously taken its toll.
I'm really at the brink of slapping someone the next time they decide to compare my chinese with them.
My aunt said that it was probably all in jest, but has no one learned that even lighthearted comments can be the most hurtful? I hate it when my relatives call some of my friends "fei mui jai" (fat young girl) because I know how it must hurt their self esteem.
I've somewhat stopped being nice to particular friends. Their lack of dependency, tact and sensitivity is highly detestable to the point where I'm just rude when I speak to them. If you decide to flake on me last minute I will make no effort to sound polite.

In saying this, on my walk back to the station at Tsim Sha Tsui, I was feeling really depressed. This summer I've realized I've been trying really hard to assimilate into local Hong Kong culture. I've been trying to speak as much Chinese as possible, eating Chinese food, going to places where most people meet up at. There are times when people automatically speak English to me although I haven't said a drop so I attempted to dress more like a local HKer to throw them off.
I was walking along Kowloon Park by myself I had one of those movie moments. It dawned on me,
"why are you trying so hard to be like everyone else when you were born to be different?"

Yeah I'm pretty sure my brain subconsciously filed that line from some Hilary Duff movie but for one reason or another, it was the most comforting thing said to me lately.
If there's a reason for everything, I think I am who I am for a greater purpose that is beyond me at the moment. Despite all my language struggles and my attempts to fit into one culture or another, the reason that I am a "neither" sort of person is unknown to me at the moment, but I trust that God has fashioned me in a way that would be useful on the long run.
I don't want to stand out but at the same time I want to be set apart.
Fashion is not the answer to the latter part of this statement for the youth are far more experimental than ones across the Pacific. I look like everyone else in that I've managed to dress in a way that looks local with brands and prints that most people identify with here.
But everyone tries hard to look like an individual to the point where everyone looks the same.

But I've found it. My ability to draw has become a defining factor that sets me apart from the majority of the people here. Most people here cannot draw; at least they can't draw well but they can copy to an extent. My boss has realized this so now I've become a pseudo graphic designer for her which I'm not really happy about since I was expecting to do more fashion oriented projects. Vivian Yeung, the tv actress, saw my drawings a few days ago at the photoshoot and said I drew well. I'm not saying I am the best but I am competent. Mb not as good as my cousin but how can you compare styles, taste and preference in subject matter?
My sketchbook has given me the ability to cross language barriers; my rainboots a testament of a God-given
talent nurtured over many years. People ask me how long I've been drawing: I've been drawing for as long as I can remember all the way back to kindergarten at Montessori School. Yes it was a natural gift but it's taken a lifetime to learn and fine tune the technique and style.

The other day a student asked me where I was studying and when I said "New York" she was in awe that I was majoring in fashion in one of the fashion capitals of the world. When my friend told her she was studying in Toronto for fashion, she didn't illicit the same enthusiastic response from the student.
Today I went to dimsum and my aunt noticed that the european couple next to our table had no idea they had to flag down a waiter to take their bill. I told them in English that they had to take initiative to find waitstaff and that they would not come to you. The woman commented on how great my English was.

A technique to find out the placement of objects in relation to each other in art is to look at the negative spaces. Whatever my path may be in life, I've started to look at the negative spaces; the flip side of things that may be too subtle to see in the picture. And just as the arrow emerges from the FEDEX logo, I one day hope to see all the good things about being a "neither/nor" person.
------------------------------





Talking to Rin about Phi from Jabbawockeez and how she's stalking him on google cuz he is the perfect man
:
Rin: and a lack of a shirt (phi)
§åM: sigh hopeless
Rin: yeah!! really is!! HAHAAH
§åM: I see you like your men undressed. I like them all covered
Rin: yeah well...undressed is just...straight to teh point
you like the foreplay
HAHAHA kidding!!
§åM:uh WHAT?!?!? RIN OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGG


I thought I was creepy but Rin takes it a whole new level. XD

Sugar High

I love how you bribe kids with skewers of sugar

Listening to j-rock. Sounds like Good Charlotte: Missing- Ellegarden

I love this song by Jay Chou. It didn't have a name on it so I searched youtube until I found this song called The Herbalist's Manual and hoped it was that one because it had such an awesome name, and lo, it was! :D



I am totally in love with this picture. Okay when I say that I mean that I love the atmospheric perspective captured in this photograph: it's just stunning. I could stare at this picture forever. It's smoothness, with the darkest area captured in the hair that leads your eye down to the vast whiteness of his jacket. I love it. Colour not required.


I was looking at japanese actor photo books for posing references for a future photoshoot. Don't wanna be using girl fashion poses for the guys. :P


KAKAKA you are so cute. I can't believe you were the nerd in Iryu.


MUAHAAH. Here you go, cousin: the fullblown version of the Deathnote premiere. We plan on getting a bar of chocolate charm for a necklace. I would love it if on the bar of chocolate, the letter 'L' was inscribed on it. Now that's an idea.

Speaking of necklaces, ever since my theory of "guys getting their girlfriends the dreaded cliche heart necklace", I've figured out the perfect necklace charm that he could get me. I think it's pretty darn original after seeing all the bleh coupley ones here in HK. Anyway, that's my secret to share with a select few (probably only to girls though because I don't want any of my guy friends stealing my ideas! :P).

When Robyn and I are together, we have the most original ideas ever. We have a company name:
WO:NG
GET IT?!?!? HAHAA SO NIFTY! Kudos to Robyn for the colon. :P
And if I ever have a menswear line I'm gonna call it:
Ho[m]me.
The idea is that the wearer feels at home within the clothes he wears: I think it's the coolest name ever. I should go license it now. I'll be pissed of some random jerk read my post and stole it.

Call it paranoia, but I've resisted talking about any of my future ideas out of fear for someone taking them. If I make this blog private I guess I'd share. It's why when I say I want to study "fashion and sustainability" the ideas I want to try out are really original that go beyond using organic cotton or whatever greenwashing ideas are out there. My ideas call for a total revamp of the entire fashion industry or at least one large sector of it. Anyway.

Robyn+Me= cyclone of ideas.
I guess cuz we grew up together and have similar interests and general appreciation for the... random things in life (kekeke), we can understand each other.
Our future company is gonna kick butt. I can just see it now. I just want to do that advertisement photoshoot we proposed before Steven Meisel or Demarchelier does it! Man the other day we were just on a high of good ideas. I mean, hello, how could Alex think this can't work? He's gonna be the hippest doctor around with the both of us! XD
Wouldn't you like to know? ;)
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Upon asking why Jer wouldn't let us dress him at King Wah Center:

Gerbil says:
i don't like to change my style because i'm an unmoving block
Gerbil says:
but if i was any hotter i'd be a stumbling block

BAAHAHA
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Wow I'm glad I started watching japanese dramas. lol. Four girls (plus Alex) with not much in common anymore instantly bonded over j-dramas. So now we've set up a day of baking shu cream and green tea tiramisu and we're gonna "boil drama" ('bo kek jap' as they call it in chinese). YEA YEA YEAH! Now the hard part: HYD, Zettai Kareshi or something entirely new? OH the choices.
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Popped in with Casey to pick up his stuff only to realize he messed up the order and didn't have it. Oh well seeing this outfit was totally worth it. You can see the slits on the lapel there where he threads his skinny tie through. The sandals kinda annoy me so I asked him why he was wearing leung hai rather than one of his 100 pairs of sneakers. He said it was a Saturday and he needed to kick back a little. Anyway, the jacket he's wearing is the one Casey got but you can't see the edge detail. BOO.

Guess who has got who on MSN?!?! XD
Yep, so yesterday my cousin ever so innocently complains to Fai that we wouldnt' get to see his winter collection since we'll be across the Pacific. He asks if we have MSN so that he could take pics, not of him, but of his customers in his clothes.
Sweet, now I don't even have to take pictures of good looking guy street style photos, they're coming to me directly for free with beautiful clothes to look at. Genius genius! HAHA.
Anyway it's kind of useless having him on MSN since he can't read english; which it's even more of an incentive to learn Mandarin this coming semester so I can type in chinese to him. Bahaha.

I think the more amused I am, the more I creep people out.
I was gonna write something serious here but I think I'll sleep on it and write in the morning. This post isn't working out for me. I think I just wanted to get all the shallow stuff flushed out of my system.

Visual Overdrive: Menswear for Dummies 101/Cloudification: Becoming a Person with Good Boundaries/Reflections on Type Casting/ Shattered Points

There is as much images as there is text. Be warned: the majority of readers will fade away after the first section. I decided to put all the fun stuff at the beginning and all the self reflection after. Dessert first, vegetables later.


ITADAKIMASU!! I'd love to go on a picnic with L. XD
But too many sweets rot the teeth so may I suggest going for some visual eye candy that's 100% fat and sugar free? Let the feasting begin. KEKEKE:

So I found so many nice pictures for future referencing, I decided to create a new folder under my 'fashion' one called 'pretty boys.' Yes it's official, it has its own file!! Can I have the roll of the eyes, please? XD

For Visual Referencing: Menswear for Dummies 101 (aka guys who can't dress themselves)


Here we have a classic 'no-fail' look with dress shirt and tie. This combo works ONLY if the dress shirt is more fitted. Often I see dress shirts swimming on the body frame especially in the sleeves. Make sure it doesn't pile up on the arms when you bend them.
From a photographer standpoint the lighting is so pretty. XD


akerkwarnwj! Black and white: clean, simple, straightforward and draws your eye easily into the garment with ease. The contrast is nice and sharp especially with jackets, ties and dress shirts like these. I love his jacket.


A nice injection of formality with this type of suit jacket that looks good for semis and rather dressed up occasions. The lapel is not the typical kind: it's more of a shawl collar but the reason I love this one on him is because of the black against the grey. It also fits well and dips lower than most Western suits which are either have two buttons or are double breasted.


I love love his thin pinstriped blazer. Very sharp with a little more visual interest than the average solid colour block but looks like a shade of grey from far away. It goes well with the domino pattern dress shirt: here you have lots of visual patterning that complemenents each other. Rule of thumb: if you want to wear pattern, it can be worn in large quantities of the print is small. The interior vest/jacket in the dark grey breaks up the domino and stripe patterns from clashing.


Kekeke. Sorry I watched 'Death Note' and crunchyrolled a ton of his pictures. He photographs really well. Anyway he's wearing a jacket with a more traditional lapel with an accent of black at the top. As you can see the jacket is still very fitted and paired with skinny jeans and 'combat' boots. Clean lines, muted palette still with variation in style.


This is relatively 'daring' but more or less the style seen at Fai's store: fitted through the entire body with interesting details: the lapel of the jacket is lovely with the black fabric wrapped around the edges. I like the use of a scarf as another accessory that acts a layer.


Because the previous pictures were more 'dressy', here's a shot of athleticism for you: still clean and form fitting. This works because the hoodie is not your average slouchy potato sack: it's structured casual.

Keys to Successful Dressing: Approach this like an Artist
-Layers: they draw your eye in and stimulates visual interest. Cookie cutter formula would include:dress shirt, tie and jacket. Just as an artist needs a foreground, middle ground and background, so does fashion. This relationship of three creates depth on the body.
-Silhouette: balance between 'slouchy' and fitted. Generally I would tell everyone to go more fitted and structured. 'Baggy' does not equate to 'loose fitting.'
-White to black noncolour palette is a safe bet for most beginners. It allows you to mix and match easily without having the introductions of colour. If you want colour, buy a graphic tee or a coloured accessory such as a tie or scarf. Playing with background (graphic tees, wifebeaters etc.. whatever you wear on the bottom) using the foundations or the foreground (anything that sits on top of the layers of clothes) can be easily integrated with a muted palette. Colour would either drive your eye into the layers or draw the eye to the front and then in.

You can blame HK guys for giving me more say on menswear. If you asked me last year I would not have had an opinion on what guys wear but since I got here I can write lengthy entries on it with plenty of visual examples to go with it. People watching has its perks.
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Cloudification: Becoming a Person with Good Boundaries
One thing that I couldn't bring myself to do after reading Henry Cloud was having to smile at a guy to signal that it was safe to approach me. It's just plain scary because I either am too self conscious to just lift the corners of my mouth while remaining a relatively prolonged eye contact or I just feel like a creep. But just like the Po in 'Kung Fu Panda' who found his motivation to learn his moves through food, I find that if a guy dresses up nicely, I automatically smile whether I like it or not. LOL. So as you can imagine, I smile at everyone here. Bahaha. It's so much easier if they push my fashion buttons (no pun intended) because then if I approve of what they wear, I automatically smile perhaps not at them but at their clothes. But then again as Fai said, Chinese guys are very 'see mun.' (unlike him). Generally I find outgoing guys very attractive unfortunately outgoing guys tend to be party-goers.

The other day I was debating whether or not to talk to this one guy who I met through a relative. People find it hard to understand that when I say that I am a shy person I mean that when I first am trying to get to know you, I don't want to make a bad impression (part of my passive, unconfrontational self) so I always have to work up the courage to approach if the ball's in my court. I also feel like if I single one person out, especially if it's someone of the opposite sex, that others would think I'm attracted/interested in the person beyond just friendly relations. Anyway the debate in my head to talk or not to talk ended when I realized that this guy spoke English unlike my insecurity with my cantonese when trying to talk to Fai. It's not like there's a language barrier, so why not.

Henry Clouding (I use this term very loosely to encompass all communication), not restricted to just dating/marriage but socializing in general, has taught me a lot about myself and has stretched me beyond my comfort zones. I used to be extremely passive and hated confrontation. The former has pretty much been eliminated since I began to flex my social muscles more and fine tune my social skills. I never realized it, but the nature of my field of work is socially-based so all this Henry Clouding has actually helped me to network and expand not just my 'dating realm' but also my career interests.

But just as it has strengthened some areas of my life, it has also brought to light some internal issues that I should be dealing with for the next while. I reread parts of the book due to my lack of internet access and realized that one main thing that I should be working on within myself is my inability to confront people. I don't confront out of fear of what others might say or I just think that I can solve it on my own by just withdrawing from the person until my anger subsides. I'm a "yes" girl like the main character in the movie "27 Dresses" who tries to please people without thinking of herself because she is a people pleaser.
But work this summer has made me realized that I have to become a person with good boundaries. When my boss told me I had to work until 9pm when the shop closed five days per week, I was quite mortified. I wasn't and am not getting paid!! Funnily enough my friend and I have the same problems in our fear of confrontation: so together we worked up the courage to say no. Draw the line early and draw it fast so as to lessen the blow later on and to avoid being trampled on. The more delay, the harder it would be to say no.
And every time I say "no" to my boss for things I don't think should be my responsibility, I feel a little stronger.
"No I will not take upon four projects at once. If you want me to finish them, tell me which ones you want exactly when so I can plan and get them done for you."
"No I will not work till 9pm"
"No you cannot just email me at 4pm the day before so last minute to come into the store. I made plans but I will accomodate: I will come in for four hours to help out with whatever but I am leaving early because I want to bake a cake."
"No I did not get the mood board done for today because you sent me the brief yesterday and I didn't have internet and didn't get home until midnight. I will do it now but you must give me more time to work on things if you want me to get them done."

However this is just a baby step: because this relationship with my boss is more so me not so much needing her as she needs me, friends are an entirely different issue. Because friends don't owe me anything, confronting them in a manner that is firm but gentle and patient requires more courage.
As Henry Cloud says, become the person you are attracted to so you don't have to shop for those traits in other people.
It's my roommate's ability to confront and speak her mind that makes me trust in her opinion. It may be blunt and borderline rude at times, but because she doesn't hide what she really thinks, what comes out of her mouth is exactly what's inside her head. I don't really second guess what she says.

I have learned this summer what not to be as a designer. The more I work at my internship, the more unattracted I am to people like her and the more desirable people like Fai are to me. I see them as polar opposites: one is a one man show who does everything from production to design to customer service with little press or fanfare, the other takes existing garments and copies them directly and slaps on her own label OR gets others to design for her and calls it her own. While one directly talks to customers and holds responsibility for any production errors, the other shirks behind regular customers and interns to avoid conflict and blame. I could not believe what happened yesterday: my friend was given charge of dealing with a lingerie company who wanted to borrow clothes for a photoshoot and they wanted to alter the clothes. Obviously if you are renting you can't alter unless you purchase them at full price but the designer makes one of her regular clients as an alibi and says REALLY LOUDLY that she would "discuss their design together outside of the shop" so my friend was left to deal with the company people. My friend may be put in charge of the photoshoot but the designer has ultimate say and has to oversee it because it is her own label. My boss' inability to confront with just the most minute things like "sorry our store policy does not allow you to alter clothes for rentals" made me realize how passivity and fear of confrontation is not healthy. What is the lingerie company going to say, "if you won't let us alter the clothes, we won't use your clothes"??? Please. The photoshoot is on Monday. Don't give us excuses like "tell them (clients) that I am in an important overseas phone call so I can't talk to them right now."
I feel like she lost her passion for designing clothes a long time ago. People without a passion or interest are very unattractive.
Space creates longing.
Individuality creates attraction.
Independency creates desire.

I think I can let go of some people. Wishing, thinking, hoping that they'd feel and see just as you do is a waste of my time.
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Reflections on Type Casting
HK Handover Day: for the past ten years it's rained on July 1 but thank God this year it was a sweltering sunny day. We went to Ocean Park: Johnny, Robyn, Jer, Angie, Helen (Johnny's friend) and I. Everyone complained that there was no AC but I was so grateful that we finally got some sun even though it came in an overdose. As I wrote earlier, everything here happens unexpectedly. My uncle calls me up to ask if I was interested in taking a boat to Lamma Island to have seafood so I brought Jer, Ang and Robyn along to meet a part of my family. I learned that my grandfather built the Star Ferry ports! Well they already took down the ones on the HK side but the ones on Kowloon are still standing. Cool family tidbit. Anyway the boat ride back was lovely: as we cruised into the inky expanse of nothingness, the warmth of the wind tossing our hair back and the humidity of the air leaving a slight dampness on our skin, you could see a few stars twinkle ever so softly between the crack of the clouds while the HK skyline resembled fallen stars that shone brightly. Man, we gotta go boating. I'm currently organizing a "yao shun hao" trip. Something very HK. :D

I've realized that I love it when people are not who they seem to be. I don't mean extremes like average-looking guy with a serial killer mind, but most of us classify each person we see into a type. And I love it when what they present themselves as visually does match perfectly with who they are inside. My cousin and I were talking to this one guy on our way back from Lamma Island who at first seemed ever so the typical business major guy; you know the party goer, studies last minute but a nice guy. But then we found out he was 24 and already had two degrees: business and law and his ideal long term plan was to go to Africa and help with microfinancing. Surprise surprise.
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Shattered Points
-I feel like my time here is endless. It doesn't feel like anything is going to change. So this is what it feels like to 'move' to another country with friends. How lovely.
-I'm seeing pics on facebook of bikini clad girls. The past few years has made me not want to wear a swimsuit in public.
-Pale skin is the way to go. Tans not only take too much maintenance but cause skin cancer.
-I got an email from Polo Ralph Lauren saying they saw my resume and wanted to give me an interview to work in their branch at Manhasset, NY after I graduate. I wikipedia-ed Manhasset and saw that it had a population of 8130. No thanks but I'll keep my options open and do the phone interview.
-After yesterday's ordeal me, my friend and coworker were eating cake. Two japanese customers come in. We paused to look up and resumed eating. They must have thought Chinese people are really rude. At that point we didn't want to care.
-So Miss India and Vivian Leung (chinese tv series actress from Singapore) came in yesterday to do fittings. Wow hanging around girls taller than me with arms and legs skinnier than mine but with perky large chests are not good on my self esteem. All I could do was stare and think "no fair! Why did you make such a combination of features, God!? Why?! Where's the Achilles heel in their physical assets??"
-We went to King Wah Center for the 40000000000 billionth time. Even the accessories guy who works across from Fai knows us. As we approached his store he said, "cheui been ta- oh." (translation: "feel free to loo- oh. It's you two again but with a bunch of friends.
-Shanghai: 15-19 of July.