VIETNAM FOR VIET-NOMS

Flew up to Ho Chi Minh City in March over the weekend for Daphne's birthday trip! In total we were 6 girls on a #girlfriendsphoever trip - Daphne was trying to think of a suitable hashtag & yours truly came up with that. Ok fine it was basically a rip-off of #phoeverfriends.

Here's everything we got up to over the 4 days, chronicled entirely on my iPhone 7 Plus :)

So yeah there I was happily minding my own business watching Moana (after hearing how it's really good & all that; it was slightly underwhelming). Daphne was beside me & she was fiddling with her hand sanitiser when lo & behold... She got the cap open & a shot of hand sanitiser flew out & hit me square in the eye. HOW DOES THIS STUFF HAPPEN TO ME LIKE WHAT ARE THE ODDS.

As you can see my eye is super red & in the beginning it was burning SO BADLY.

I was clutching my face & tearing like crazy. I couldn't open my eye at all!

Me: *rubbing my eye frantically & tearing like mad*

Daphne: "Omg your eyelash extensions!"

Me: "I DON'T CARE"

LOL #priorities...

Speaking of which, check out the size of Daphne's luggage haha. She looks more like she's going on a 3-week long vacation rather than a 4D3N. And yup there's my battered green suitcase which has followed me on so many flights around the world! That's the exact suitcase I used to use even for my 3-week long trips to Europe wtf #packingskillswin.

So there's my outfit OOTD which basically usually involves jeans for practical airplane-seating as well as a cardigan for cold air-conditioning! And featuring Daphne's Rimowa as my prop since my own suitcase looks terrible.

And we got a great recommendation from our hotel for a proper legit hair salon just opposite that was modern & fairly posh, yet cost only S$11 for a hair wash! As someone with very long hair, I hate having to wash it because it's such a drag. A hair treatment at the same salon only costs S$28 or so but unfortunately I didn't get time to do it before I left!

 

After taking a short nap we headed out to explore the surrounding area & one of the restaurants along our road was running an oyster promotion that day! Urban Kitchen & Bar was industrial-chic & pretty affordable for the "poshness". The oysters (both fresh & baked, which I wasn't a fan of) were about S$1 - $1.50 each & I think we got 20 in total or something haha.

Girlfriends L-R: Jacqueline, Daphne, Sheena, myself & Maggie! Missing Rebekah. Think we didn't actually manage to get one picture that had the entire 6-girls #girlfriendsphoever team.

And so the story with my outfit is... I've owned this white top since 2013 & I had no issues fitting into it back then. So I didn't think anything more of it when I chucked it into my suitcase. Then in Vietnam I pulled it on &... I couldn't zip it up. Like, absolutely could not.

So what did I do?

Nothing. I let it be HAHA.
I considered it a "DIY" bareback top since it was zipped up halfway at the back. I simply tucked in the sides so the back became a V-shape. Ingenious right?

At dinner I burst a seam moving slightly. Ok never mind.

Then... a strap almost snapped completely. It was barely hanging by a thread.
WTF. OK TIME TO FACE FACTS.

Had to head back to the hotel to change...................
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So after dinner at El Gaucho Steakhouse which is really famous, we headed to Penthouse Rooftop Lounge! It's not actually on a rooftop, nor is it really a lounge lounge. It's pretty much a club.

I'd have to say the Vietnamese really know how to party! The service staff were super attentive & it's so cute how they serve a platter of fruits hahaha. And Singapore banned shisha entirely a few years back. I remember going to Arab Street for shisha back when it was still common.

The next day we got up early-ish & headed to this local restaurant famous for serving crab dishes!

Ok wow the address is kinda difficult; you really need Vietnamese friends lol.

Thuy Restaurant

84 Đinh Tiên Hoàng, Đa Kao, Quận 1

The food was really good & the crabmeat was really generous! 

Loved the crabmeat beehoon & spring rolls.

Our friends brought us to this indoor shopping space called The New Playground which was full of lots of really cool shops! Lots of cute clothes & accessories & each shop was well-decorated. Prices were still very reasonable as well, ranging from S$10 - S$40.

The New Playground

26 Lý Tự Trọng, Bến Nghé, Quận 1

Bought quite a few accessories on this trip! Hehe happy.

42 Nguyễn Huệ, Bến Nghé, Quận 1

Have you seen those Vietnamese apartment blocks where every unit is a cafe or boutique?

We stopped at one of those for a tea break! It's pretty nice sitting at the narrow balconies overlooking the bustling streets below.

Grabbed dinner at l'Usine, which is a French restaurant which a super pretty interior!

It's supposed to be quite well-known as well but we found the food to be pretty ordinary cafe fare. Luckily the prices are very reasonable so we ordered A TON of food & ate ourselves silly.

l'Usine

70B Le Loi, District 1

Drinks at Glow, which is a 2-storey rooftop bar overlooking the city! Views here were really nice but cocktails pricey, averaging about S$18 each. And after that it was back to Penthouse! Ok the 2 pictures really look like the difference between your own photos versus tagged photos hahaha.

Lunch the next day at Pizza 4Ps which was really good! This restaurant can get pretty crowded so do consider making a reservation first! Please take into account the popularity of this place.

Again prices were really reasonable & food was great! Their crab pasta is pretty famous & the cheese appetisers above were so good that we reordered them a second time!

Pizza 4Ps

8/15 Le Thanh Ton, District 1

Haha the Vietnamese Dong took some getting used to because their currency runs really large.

And yes wtf I packed 3 pairs of shoes, wore 1, bought 1 at the airport & finally bought 1 more in Ho Chi Minh. So I wound up with 6 pairs of shoes for 4D3N #overkill #HCMFashionWeek

The girls wanted to head out one last time & luckily I had a spare dress to wear. Looks like a party dress but in reality it's just a basic dress from H&M in size 34, a.k.a. too small for me so it became a minidress. We headed out to Qui Cuisine Mixology, which is another famous bar.

22 Lê Thánh Tôn, Bến Nghé, Quận 1

The cocktails were again a bit on the high side though & were very comparable to posher bars in Singapore. This big cocktail bowl came up to S$100 :O

The day of our return we squeezed in another massage (really good & cheap!) + I had my hair washed again! Lunch was also at a recommended restaurant just beside our hotel:

Quan Bui

17a Ngô Văn Năm, Bến Nghé, Quận 1

By the way our hotel was in a great location in District 1, which is basically the centre! There were tons of restaurants around us, everything was within a 10-minute taxi ride & places like Qui Cuisine were even within walking distance. You can consider our hotel if you're travelling to Ho Chi Minh!

Bay Hotel Ho Chih Min

7 Ngô Văn Năm, Bến Nghé, Quận 1

(same group as Bay Hotel Singapore)

Finally it was time to head home... We all departed at different times based on our various work schedules & flights. Luckily I remembered to buy magnets to add to my fridge collection :D I began collecting magnets in perhaps my 2nd or 3rd year flying? Some crew do things like collect a snow globe from each city, or take an exact same picture (same pose but different background)...

And yes I was very pleasantly surprised to bump into a stewardess I had flown with before & she recognised me, so she gave me a little care package. This is something that crew usually do for each other on flights (where one is travelling on holiday of course). And we also have the custom of buying a little token snack/food for the operating crew when we board their flight, but since it was such a short flight (about 2 hours) I thought I needn't bother. Felt a little bad that I had nothing for her or the crew working that day! What we do is maybe buy things like chocolates or snacks like curry puffs, pandan cake, or any local snacks from the destination we just came from. It's just basically a way to thank the crew for serving you today since they're your fellow colleagues.

Being back on a SIA flight definitely made me miss flying a little... aside from the many destinations, I actually really enjoyed the work itself. I loved how everything rolls out like clockwork & I did enjoy making people happy. And even though to a crew this Ho Chi Minh flight is just a turnaround (meaning they don't get to spend a night there), I still missed the actual stewardessing as I watched them work.

If you haven't seen it on my Instagram, I filmed a short video for this Vietnam trip!

That's it for my little Vietnam getaway! It was lots of fun to hang out with all the girls & see a little more of a city that I knew very little of! Quite a few friends were surprised at how fun Ho Chi Minh turned out to be. There's lots of great food, shopping & massages & best of all, prices are comparatively low. Taxis & Ubers are also cheap & easy to get!

Till the next time Vietnam!

<3

Atlas of Mirrors

Testing out a new size of images on my blog.

They're so massive so I'm not sure how I feel about this...

Anyhow I managed to catch the very last day of the Singapore Biennale at the Singapore Art Museum! This year the mirror installation has gone pretty viral & it's basically all over Instagram.

The great part was that since it was the last weekend of the installation - ENTRY WAS TOTALLY FREE! Normal price is $15 I believe. The bad part is that it was pretty damn crowded. Because it was a 1) Sunday & 2) Free. And I'd have to say it was lucky that it was free because in the end the

"Atlas of Mirros" consisted of essentially... 2 mirror exhibits?

One is the mirror staircase you see below (plus all over Instagram) & the other is in a room which had a massive queue of people waiting to enter it. So... no-go.

I went with 2 of my colleagues from work - Yanti & Julian.

I haven't talked much anywhere about my new job & my new office, but I've been enjoying it so far! My office culture is great, my colleagues are fun & the work itself... still engaging.

It's been almost 5 months in this new path & so far so good :)

Will talk about my work proper again some other time!

Somehow I feel like this picture is such an accurate depiction of our friendship:

Because Yanti told him he'd look prettier from the back LOL #nasty

So part of the reason why I asked Yanti out that day to the Singapore Art Museum was to engineer a surprise birthday gathering! The original plan was that she'd have dinner with her husband & we'd appear magically, but unfortunately her husband got stuck overseas so we needed a reason to get her out of the house without telling her that we'd all be there.

And I instructed the rest where to appear but as we walked around I kept spotting them! *eyeroll*

Thanks to my sharp eyes I managed to divert Yanti away each time. I generally jsut gave the excuse that I wanted more pictures at the mirror wall... Blogger life camwhore expectations.

SUCCESS:

And the pictures that made it to Instagram...

Caught the last day of the #singaporebiennale & this iconic staircase of mirrors #singaporebiennale2017

A post shared by Sophie Willocq 🐱 (@sophiewillocq) on Feb 27, 2017 at 3:01am PST

🍃🍂🍃🍂🍃

A post shared by Sophie Willocq 🐱 (@sophiewillocq) on Mar 2, 2017 at 4:38am PST

WHEN WILL MY REFLECTION SHOW, WHO I REALLY AM INSIDEEE 😩🤔😣#singaporebiennale2017 #singaporebiennale

A post shared by Sophie Willocq 🐱 (@sophiewillocq) on Mar 8, 2017 at 1:46am PST

So that's it for a little weekend update from me!

14 FEB // V DAY

Posting a little lookbook collection this Valentine's Day.

Nothing in particular to do with Valentine's, unless you count that my pictures below were all taken by girls... #Galentine's Day. One of the 3 spots below is near my new office; make a guess which!

Speaking of which, all the pieces below were kindly sponsored by Le Contour, an online boutique based in Australia that provides free worldwide shipping. They have lots of designs suited for work, but that can also be casual when worn differently! For myself, I paired all 3 pieces with sneakers.

This is the Ribbed Bodycon Dress in Black & I love classic designs like these.

Wear it with heels, accessorise a little & you're good to go for the night!

This Stretch Knit Bodycon Dress in Dark Green is so, so comfortable.

Definitely suitable for work without looking too corporate!

And last but not least, the Sleeveless Flare Dress in Royal Blue! Went for something a little girlier for my last pick & I like that it's more feminine with the subtle flare & waist panels. This is perfect for Sunday Brunch, which is exactly what I wore it out for!

I was honestly pleasantly surprised by the fit & quality of the dresses from Le Contour.

Pieces from online stores sometimes can be ill-fitting on me as I'm not your usual petite Asian girl - I'm about 15cm taller & 10kg heavier! And many such stores simply cater a "one size fits all". But browsing their site I realised they even have categories like "Curves Creation" & "Top Balancing".

Shopping online often means you don't quite get the fit right, or it just somehow hangs awkwardly off you due to bad cutting & design. The Le Contour pieces were genuinely well-made, of good material & with cutting suited for actual bodies. A definite thumbs up & I look forward to more designs from them!

Shop below:

Le Contour

lost

Don't think, I tell myself.

Just do what makes you happy.

It's frightening to think that maybe all life has in store for you is a big fat screw up.

That you're just going to be one of those people, who'll constantly struggle, who'll wait and wait, who'll keep trying, who'll keep believing... but who will never quite break the surface. That in this lifetime, certain things will just not be meant for you to have. And you're just meant to watch by the sidelines.

You think that when certain things happen, there must be a reason. Some grander meaning to all this. Unforeseen forces guiding your way. Call it faith, fate, whatever you like. But what if there isn't?

What if things just happen because life can be shit.

And here you are, holding out for some higher meaning, some sign, some reason.

You let yourself be guided by how you feel, you tell yourself there must be more to it than this. There has to be some meaning behind these things happening. What if the answer is simply that you messed up? You followed your heart instead of your mind. And you were foolish to do so.

Midnight Musings

Sometimes I feel like... I wish I could redo things all over?

Start all over from when things were really simple, where all you did was follow instructions & your biggest decision was when to do your homework. Where you didn't have to make decisions that could affect the rest of your life. It's ironic but kids, your parents are right. Study hard, do well. I'll always regret not studying harder. I didn't do terribly, but the idea of not having done better, done more, done my best, will haunt me eternally. I can't say I would be happier if I had pursued a different academic route or career; life compromises of a lot more than that. But it would be one less thing to think about.

I perpetually find myself at a crossroad. Do I settle & make the best out of what I have right now? Or do I give it my all, say heck it & pursue something new, even if it means wasting another 4 years doing another degree and/or moving overseas? I did genuinely enjoy studying Sociology (my major), but interest & reality don't always coincide. And majoring in Sociology was never my goal. It was a lucky outcome because it turns out I enjoy it, but because it wasn't ever my plan, I have a never-ending list of What Ifs.

Sometimes I think about furthering my studies. I enjoy school, I always did. But again, interests & practicality often don't align. And I ask myself, maybe it's just time to suck it up & move on into the real world. Get a normal job, climb the corporate ladder... stop wasting time.

I try to console myself by stalking my peers. Of course some turned out to be overachievers. I feel jealous, with those feelings of That Should Be Me. At some juncture in their lives, they had a turning point & suddenly flourished. On the other hand, I look at some with prestigious backgrounds, promising prospects... & then just an average outcome. Maybe it's better to be one of those people who hit their peak later. You spend your early life feeling average, believing you're average & at some point, you develop your passion or skills & excel at them. The other group, is consistently above average at most stages in their lives & is above average at most things, but never excels at any of them. Yet there is a greater level of expectation placed on them due to the fact that they were comparatively above average from the start, which would lead to a greater sense of letdown.

I sometimes think I've already hit my peak. Or rather, my chance to have peaked. That that time was probably in my late teens to early twenties, when I was young & still studying. I had the luxury of time. I could have explored a million different things, maybe found something to concentrate on & excel at. Instead I dabbled in everything & excelled at nothing. I did some modelling, but never explored it seriously. I did decently well in school, but not enough to make something serious out of it. I could have done more with my blog, but it just ended up as a hobby & mild sideline.

I struggle with this inclination to want to do everything & anything. I end up doing a bit of everything & never fully concentrating on one thing. It's always safer to do a bit of all, to not put your eggs all in one basket. I could have taken a loan, gone overseas & studied something I really wanted, rather than sticking with what was safe - a degree at a local university. It's easy to say "follow your dreams". But reality hits you with constraints like time, finances, family, opportunities forgone... Did you know an overseas degree can easily cost half a million dollars (schooling + living cost)? It's an insane debt to start your adult life with. But is it worth it if it means you got to live your dream? Maybe. Is it too late now?

People always say it's never too late. But come on. It comes to a point where uprooting your current life to pursue your dreams just gets increasingly difficult. So I try to learn to settle. My peers seem happy, they tell me they're happy. We could all have achieved more, but we didn't. So I'm waiting for new priorities in my life to come; waiting for them to overshadow all my What Ifs & relegate them to It Doesn't Matter Anyway. Because right now with nothing in particular to be looking forward to in my future, my past is still casting its shadow of regret.