Back then...

Happened to reminisce with a friend about our younger days…

"Please lor, talking about dorky."

"Can't beat me using my mom's card to buy Farmville money"

"I had the most awesome farm"

"And during seasons I would redecorate"

"That's why I needed money"

"For a Christmas reindeer sled"

I loved games like that… Farmville, Cityville, Sims… In fact "younger days" refers to me like, 2 years ago. And in fact in fact, I would still love to play those games if I had people to play them with! I was so sad whenever my virtual neighbours lost interest (which they always did) & stopped playing…

I wish I could play these games again but there's always a million & one things to do & I'm afraid that once I start I'll be even less productive than I already am (which judging by my blog updates, is EXTREMELY unproductive). Oh woe thee growing up…

Nowadays blogs all seem to be a competition of seeing who is more "lifestyle" - who travels more, who goes to the best brunch places, who has the nicest clothes, who can recommend the best desserts…

I'm as guilty of that mindless picture-spam (though I suck at that lifestyle thing because it generally involves being awake before 3pm & night-time OOTDs just don't cut it) & maybe that's why I slowly lost interest in blogging… because I feel like I have nothing worthwhile to say anymore? Or maybe I still do, but I just don't know how to anymore, or I forgot how.

I'll read my archives & be like, "Where did that girl go? She used to be so interesting" 

(YES I WAS VAIR INTERESTING END OF DISCUSSION)

Now my reflex is that like… if I blog too many words people will lose interest (like now). Attention spans are getting shorter & shorter. Everything is bite-sized, instant & straight to the chase.

I remember this line I saw - "It's not an adventure if it's not on Instagram"

And it's so true. I look at some couples & I see the ridiculous amount of effort they put into making their relationship look amazing on social media. Who are you trying to prove your love to?

Or how even I myself said earlier on today that I would want my proposal to be done in the company of my friends because somehow recounting the event to them instead just seems less… nice.

It's like… your experience isn't worth anything anymore if other people can't witness it.

Telling a story has become so much less consumable than clicking a "like" on Instagram.

Well I'm rambling. 

Goodnight.

Kerastase treatment

Urghhh in Photoshop I always use my saved Actions (you can record a series of actions & play it each time rather than having to do each action) to resize my pictures. It usually works fine. Then once in a while I'll realise that my stupid Photoshop changes my actions & saves it as super low image quality -_-

Hence the result below.

Anyhow, I remember that for my recent Osaka blogpost a few people commented about my hair haha.

I have rather frizzy, flyaway hair :(

It doesn't get tangles & is pretty healthy (considered all the crap I've done to it) but after a while it starts looking bushy & frizzy so that's when I decide it's time to go for hair treatment!

I used to colour my hair really often & so for the time being I've stopped doing that.

The last time was… in August I think?

So the top 5-months-worth-of-hair-growth is my natural colour!

The treatment my Salon Vim hairstylist (look for Stephanie!) did for me is the Kerastase treatment!

This time she used the formula for dry hair so as to help my hair repair itself & look healthier.

It looks so much better since the treatment!

Much less flyaway & frizzy.

I sleep with my hair up like this by the way! 

It's been a habit since young & I don't move much in my sleep so it generally stays fanned out like that.

My hair a few days later! Still looking very healthy :D

(mirror-imaged the left side to hide my messy room haha)

More on Salon Vim...

* Quote my name to get 10% off all salon services on your first visit!

(not applicable with other discounts)

For enquiries & appointments, call: 

- 6884 7757 (313 @ Somerset) 

- 6837 0073 (Bugis) 

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Zurich winter

Just a reminder that all these pictures are from December 2012 :x

I know, I'm horrible. But I pretty much look the same anyway right?

Anyhow, the streets of Zurich were lit up with Christmas lights so it was pretty nice!

Went into a random Swiss restaurant for dinner!

Sarah & I wanted to try the Swiss fondue so we decided to share one set menu since the portion seemed large enough (and it was pretty pricey…). But as soon as the waiter realised we intended to share the set his moustache bristled in indignation & he said, "but miss, this is a RESTAURANT!" which left us caught in very cheapskate-Asian headlights… So we had to order a rosti to go with it :x

The fondue was good though it gets jelat fast, but the rosti was just mediocre. Like… I can probably get better rosti at Marché. The final bill cost something like 70 SGD per person $_$

Zurich is quite pretty! The mountains are nearby too, so you can plan a day trip up to ski or snowboard but unfortunately we didn't plan for that so we had no time :(

This is the ETH Zurich University! They're located atop a hill so they've got a great view.

Made 2 friends the night before, Enrico & Stefano. Stefano is a PhD student at ETH so that's why we were at the university. Ironically enough neither are Swiss lol. They're Italians!

Caught a tram back down to the city area!

Kind of cute, but surely a pain in the ass during the student rush hour.

*sings* "How much is that doggy in the window? The one with the waggedy tail!" *sings*

Tons of One Direction accessories at Claire's...

Wanted to buy this for friends who love Hello Kitty but it was like 30 Euros for one!

Haha slanted buildings.

That evening we caught our train to Munich, so those would be the next few posts!
For December 2012 I did Paris -> Zurich -> Munich (here I part ways with Sarah) -> Paris (for Christmas with my family) -> Stavanger (to visit Vivaleng). I have a lot more backdated posts :x

Ok that's all for today! :)

2013

[2014 edit]

Drafted the post below sometime end 2013. I hate writing these things & I hate even more re-reading them because I always feel so foolish the next day -_- I sometimes used to tear out & throw away diary entries for this precise reason. At that moment all you're feeling is "I'm sad & I just want to be sad", but the next day you're like, "Omg wtfbbq was that omg I am so embarrassing get a grip on yourself".

Nonetheless, it was a big part of my 2013. 

I've some other entries drafted that I may one day put up when I find them less mortifying… 

Anyhow, I'm much better now!

Cheers to 2014!

*inserts Whatsapp muscle arm emoticon*

[/2014 edit]

I don't usually do these reflections/resolutions because well… I hate acknowledging the shortfalls I guess. But this year I've too damn many. I really need to wake up. To sum up my 2013, I became retarded with age.

I haven't updated this space much. Aside from losing the drive to blog & altogether having lost the drive to put my thoughts into words, I've spent many weeks having to hide how I'm feeling. I always feel like I have to be so careful about everything I say, when really all I want to be able to say is how much I'm hurting. 

2013 flew by relatively decently for me in terms of school & work. I finally closed a chapter on my education & entered a new one & I'm grateful that both thus far progressed relatively smoothly.

This year however, I made far too many mistakes & far too many stupid decisions. I became weak, so weak. I accepted & put up with far too many things I never should have. I let toxic relationships continue when I should have put a stop to them, or never started them. I gave in all the time, I let myself get sucked back in, & I let myself get hurt, over & over again. I said once, earlier this year, about how I didn't even feel anymore. That turned out to be false. I feel, a lot, & I wish I could stop it. I was a stronger person 5 years ago & it's horrible to think that if my younger self saw me today, she would be so disappointed.

I don't even know what to wish for in 2014 anymore. If they say that time heals all wounds, then I hope it passes faster. Despite some previously bad experiences, I had never felt afraid to enter a new relationship, or to put myself out there again. But now I am. I'm scared of hurting this much again, scared of how many more of these I might have to go through. Yet at the same time that's all I crave, for someone to take me away from all of this.

Zurich

Cigarette vending machines. They must trust their youth very much.

The main city centre of Zurich seems pretty small actually (how big the whole city is in actuality I have no idea). The more modern shopping area is right beside their "old town" area, which is right beside a big lake. And well that's it. I've pretty much just delineated what there is to see in Zurich.

If you have more time there you can make day trips to ski slopes on neighbouring mountains but sadly we didn't plan for that so we had no time for it. Zurich is a pretty nice relaxing place, but not… very busy I guess? Compared to other cities like London or Paris, if you're looking for that kind of pace.

Bloody freaking cold the whole time in Europe for 3+ weeks T_T

And this is what REAL winter fashion is like.

Looking like a giant retarded (insert choice of coat colour) marshmallow.

Nobody is going to appreciate your cute new sweater & whether your jeans (finally) make your ass look nice. Instead you are just one big black marshmallow/potato sack with a face red from the cold.

.

.

And… on the other hand you have some crazies born with extra layers of skin or some other unknown supernatural power (but I think it may really be heat from exercise but I wouldn't know as I do not engage in this activity much). See below. Runners in tank tops & shorts in the near-zero degrees in Zurich.

Normal, non-running type of people (me) on the left.

Global population's biggest spoil-market-people (marathon runners) on the right.

No seriously, how is it to be rolling out of bed at 2pm on Sunday & grabbing some nonsense crap food, then settling on your couch to read tweets &… it's all about some bloody 5 or 10km marathon that day.

DAMN YOU. STOP MAKING US FEEL BAD.

Weird artsy fartsy (read: pretentious) shop/showcase we passed by.

But ok, this was quite cool.

One of mankind's oldest & most popular trades…

Just looked at the poster on the left… "Perverse Wunsche"… 

I have no idea what the latter means but isn't the title a bit too in-your-face? Lololol.

Boat ride across the lake!

#PicturesofAsianstakingpictures

"Oh hey when you get to my house just park your boat with the rest"

Pretty awesome-looking apartment.

Europe has a lot of these types of water fountains where the water is potable is freaking amazingly fresh & cold! It's like it comes straight from the mountains (possibly) & should be bottled as premium mineral water at $10 a bottle. I hate water but it's 50x better from these fountains #dramaqueen.

Walking around the lake!

Maybe the tree felt shy.

And hence… was covered in dead skin (bark) from a friend.

?

Had nothing to do, so we decided to go to a sauna!

It seems like a pretty popular thing in Zurich.

The one we went to was located on the lake itself & has multiple sauna rooms of various temperatures.

Zurich actually has "sauna competitions"… Basically people compete to see who can better withstand the heat. So at the sauna we saw people practising for it by wearing these swimming bodysuits.

And… this was the sight that greeted us as we walked in.

LOL got quite a shock. Like "OMG aren't they cold?!"

Obviously after this point I could no longer snap pictures.

Anyway, the procedure is that after you sit in the saunas for a bit (we usually aimed for about 15 minutes, beyond which the heat really became intolerable - the engulfing heat is not actually pleasant), you step outside into the freezing cold air &…

JUMP INTO THE FREEZING COLD LAKE

The experience is actually really pretty freaking awesome!

It's really very invigorating & even if you don't go into the water, you don't actually really feel cold because you just came out of the sauna. Definitely a must-try (wherever in the world) sometime in your life!

The saunas are pretty fun - you can stay as long as you like & there are sunbeds & a small cafe & so on.

Basically it's a nice place where you could spend the whole afternoon reading a book or chatting with friends. Or of course working on your sauna competition skills..