Today is my 2nd 20th Birthday

I know I need to blog but I've been unable to upload anything with Photobucket for the past week )':

Plus I was really busy with my birthday! Turning 21 feels so sad in an it's-so-incredibly-mundane way. I mean it's like... either I get to become 21 and feel super super special, or if not I just stay young and juvenile.

Anyway for my birthday I had a mini-evening picnic on Saturday (because none of my friends like to be awake during daylight hours) followed by booking a table at Zouk (Velvet).

On Sunday I spent majority of the day trying not to die from the effects of the previous night (I exaggerate), and then had a family celebration where my mom had catered buffet!
Oh and then I played DotA again! Apparently I've improved quite substantially ^^

Today (which is my actual birthday)... I dreamt of DotA, woke up with a headache and had to get out of bed before noon (a crime against humanity) to finally get round to going down to the French embassy. The French embassy seems to be non-operational after 1pm. Seriously. Hahahaha.

Met Qiuting for lunch, came home and conked out on my bed. Woke up for dinner with Alaric at Spruce (320 Tangling Rd).

I also had a stomachache throughout majority of the day.

Might be going to get Starbucks now and maybe play DotA again. So yeah that was my 21st Birthday weekend!

Thank you to everyone who wished me Happy Birthday! :')

♥ ♥ ♥

Gaga

Was given tickets to Lady Gaga's showcase at MBS by Nuffnang! I was in Krabi when they asked me if I wanted to go (via Whatsapp) and luckily I was at an eatery with Wifi and could reply in time hehehehe.

Alaric and I aren't huge fans of Lady Gaga but I mean, no one can claim they don't sing along to her songs in the car! I didn't take any pictures of her actual concert (she sang 8 songs I think, if not more) but now I kind of regret it :(

Anyway she's actually really good live! She didn't sing throughout her songs; some were clearly recordings and she would just sing the chorus while dancing the rest of the time, but she has a lot of energy that kept the atmosphere up.


Saw quite a lot of bloggers at the showcase! Alaric and I went to eat with Eric, Shiberty and her boyfriend Sam. After eating, Eric left and we went to play L4D2 :)

I haven't gotten to play L4D2 as much as I would like to nowadays! I used to play it like 2 or 3 times a week.




Got these leopard-printed chiffon skorts from a spree! (Don't ask me where/which because it's just an ad-hoc spree that I saw on spree-ing livejournals)









A whole bunch of random outfit pictures because I was bored while waiting for Southpark episodes to load!
I'm not a huge fan of Southpark (it's a bit too crude for my liking) but I've never been adept at downloading/streaming stuff like most people so I just watch Southpark because they upload all their episodes online haha.

Watched Bridesmaid yesterday at Cineleisure and I really liked it! Funny (ok for guys too) and sweet *thumbs up*
"So he went to your place and you had sex with him".
"We had... an adult sleepover".

Overheard these girls talking in the toilet after that (girls, remember there are people in the cubicles...).
Girl A: "Omg I can't believe we were just talking about him and then we saw him!"
Girl B: "I know! It's so coincidental!"
Girl A: "We are TOTALLY meant to be together."
Girl B: "You don't have his number though right?"
Girl A: "Yeah I don't even have his Facebook."

Lol. Just thought it was quite amusing.

Okay goodbye! It's my birthday weekend! My 21st birthday is actually on Monday but I should be doing something tomorrow and the day after. I don't want to grow old ): noooo *forever young*

Milly's

Hello! :D In case you hadn't noticed *points at sidebar banner*, I have a nail sponsor!

Milly's! If you were wondering (I did), the owner's name is actually Emily haha.

Far East Plaza #03-129
6737 6723

Bugis Village
Level 2 & 3
Enter Bugis Village by the big main alley (on the right of the food stall), go up the escalator which will be on your right. Turn left and walk to the end. Easy!
Booking/Enquiries: 8383 5395
6338 4137

And this is what I got:

These are actually EXTENSIONS! :D

I've never managed to grow my nails long before this because mine break easily so I'm amazed at these!

I know they don't actually look that long (compared to most girls' extensions) but that's the good part! Because they're extensions, you can choose how long or what kind of shape you want them to be!

Since I'm not used to long nails I asked for a shorter length (the manicurist was quite surprised but obliged) but you can opt for longer ones!


I vaguely picked a flowery design from the examples they had available - my camera's battery died so I couldn't take pictures ):

I said I wanted peach/nude tones and that's the design that the manicurist improvised with!



It's actually been a week since I did my extensions and I'm so amazed at their durability! For me my nails + nail polish used to last like, 3 days. I'm looking at my nails now and they look the same as the day I walked out of the Bugis outlet!

And for me the best part is that...



They make my hands look older and more feminine! I'm serious, many people have made the same remark.

I have pretty small hands and feet for someone my height/build (I'm a UK4/Eur 37 which is the size of most girls who are 155-165cm, while I'm 173cm).

But not only do I have small, child-like hands, my fingers are freaking CHUBBY. My nails are very small (seriously, you have to see my pinkie) so when I paint my nails they basically look like the same hands I had when I was 6 years old (and vain)!


The extensions make my fingers look longer while the design is super girly! So happy!



If you don't want to opt for extensions (Gel/Acrylic), they do have other types of manicures including the new and super popular GELISH! Don't forget to pamper your toes with a pedicure too!

Aside from nail services, Milly's also does hair and eyelash extensions! :D

❤ ❤ ❤

And right now Milly's is working with Qiuting to raise funds for Gentle Paws, which is a dog shelter that takes in homeless dogs. Most of these dogs are actually mongrels, which aren't popular for adoptions but deserve a good home too! The life of a stray dog is tough and the shelter is the best they have, but maintaining 40+ dogs requires a lot of time and money.



They have a Sponsor-A-Dog program where you can contribute an entirely arbitrary amount of money a month to care for a specific dog and you can opt out of it at any time.

In the meantime, Milly's is sponsoring vouchers to help raise funds because recently Gentle Paws went through a scare where they realised their food supplies for the dogs were really running very low...

And the vouchers are:

FREE EXPRESS MANICURE
FREE COLOURED HAIR EXTENSIONS

For the extensions it means you will be entitled to a bunch (of 10 strands). It will basically look like highlights!

Both of these services are usually worth $10 each, but you can choose to pay any amount you want!

❤ ❤ ❤

Sadly Qiuting has been telling me about some of the amounts people have offered to pay...

I know that the ideal would be to plan something that can benefit both parties - the dog shelter and the donor. And in this case I think it does! It's a really good idea by Qiuting + Milly!

BUT THE FACT REMAINS THAT IT IS FOR CHARITY.

With an original value of $10, how much do you think you should pay for it? Hey, you actually GET something out of donating money (and it's not a -let's admit it- useless badge/bookmark/etc).

Do you think $0.10 is enough?! Do you think this is Groupon?! Where the hell do you think you can even get 99% off manicure/hair extension services normally?!

I just thought about this: Singpost's cheapest stamp is $0.05. The most common stamp is the $0.20 one. Is Qiuting's cost of mailing the voucher out to you, MORE than your "donation"?

And get this: there are people who contacted Qiuting saying they'll pay _____ (insert insanely pitiful sum) (no seriously the amount is so small you will be shocked) for XX number of vouchers, to SELL FOR THEIR OWN PROFIT.

I mean, wow. Stunned.

❤ ❤ ❤

So let me repeat, the original value is $10. You can pay more, or less. *no pressure* Seriously, you can pay less than $10, that's fine! But you ARE getting something out of it so be reasonable and don't take advantage of the situation :(

"A lot of people put hope in this" (Qiuting). A lot of dogs too!

Milly didn't offer to sponsor entirely complimentary vouchers so that a whole bunch of girls can get free/almost free nail or hair services.
She did it so that homeless dogs can go to bed at night with a full belly and wake up the next day in a safe place where they won't be hurt.

How to donate:

1. Internet/ATM transfer to POSB Savings 198-66799-4 (Gentle Paws' account).
2. Take a screenshot/picture of the transaction and email qiutinger@gmail.com with your mailing address!

Don't forget your mailing address! And the picture/screenshot!

*The vouchers are valid till the end of the year so you have time to use them!*

For your reference, THIS is Qiuting's original blog post on the vouchers (but you have to scroll down quite far LOL).

Gentle Paws Facebook (updates on need for volunteers, etc)
Milly's Hair Lashes Nails Facebook (ask questions, see examples of designs etc)

Milly's provides good services! So give yourself and the dogs a treat! ❤

P.S. Qiuting can't be fierce with the cheapos emailing her so I'm being fierce on her behalf! If you're not offering her something ridiculous like $0.10 then she'll have nothing to be complaining to me about :D
P.P.S. Was wearing green contact lens + false eyelashes because of a shoot! Pictures when the magazine comes out.

Saturday

Hello! Sorry I only have time for a short post because Alaric's friend from Australia (met via SC2 lol) is in town so we're gonna show him around then bring him for Clicknetwork's Harry Potter 7 Pt. 2 screening (I think they booked one whole cinema o.O) then I have a friend's birthday at 1-Altitude and Zouk!









Below are two random pictures of me testing out the lighting before I take pictures! 
Sadly despite having a ring light, I still can't get consistent pictures ): They're always too dark, a little grey/green, look weird etc... In fact the two pictures below already have their lighting edited, the original was way more dark ):


I take the pictures against the ONLY blank wall I have in my room (in the whole house actually, my living room is painted green haha), which is between my ceiling-to-floor mirror and the door. 


So if anyone were to swing open my door violently they would actually slam me in the face haha.


Anyway usually my pictures end up with a bit of the mirror+door on either side but obviously I cut these out in the final pictures. Sometimes however, depending on where I stand, you won't see either side at all like in the picture below.


Wore flower-printed shorts out! They're actually high-waisted but frankly they are TOO SMALL for me so the zip comes down and when I'm sitting down I unbutton it (hence the big batwing top worn over it instead of tucked in). Haha the unglam details of my life...




I went on a xiao long bao coupon buying frenzy (from Groupon) because they were really quite worth it! I think I bought 4 in total; printed out 2 for dinner the other day.
(And by spree I meant that originally I bought 2, then Qiuting asked me to help her buy 5 so her kiasu-ness spread to me and I bought another 2 or 3).

And sadly the queue was so insanely long! Our queue number was 72 and it was only at 20+ omg. But thank goodness 99% of the 40s-70s decided to disappear (guess they didn't want to wait) so we waited maybe 30minutes at most?

Anyway my other 2 coupons are going to have to go to waste because they expired... yesterday. We contemplated going down again but the queue was just retarded (and you can't make reservations).

That's the problem with coupons, you buy them not because you really want the product but simply because it's cheap. You chuck them somewhere and tell yourself "confirm will use one" and then you keep putting it off (because you were never dying for the product anyway) and then... it expires haha.

Oh well I only paid $7+ for each coupon anyway, and I still saved a substantial amount using the other 2, so if you add the savings + losses... ah whateverz.

My Hair

I went down to Bugis Essensuals the other day to colour my hair again! I don't know if you guys noticed, but my dark hair roots were seriously starting to grow out.

Anyway a little background,

1) My hair is naturally a dark brown, with the brown-ness only showing up under light.

2) I DIY-ed my hair sometime last year. I was just bored of my hair colour so I bought a box of hair dye.
Based on advice of "the colour will come out darker than that on the box because your hair is so dark now", I got a medium-ish brown. I certainly wouldn't call it light brown, but basically I hoped it would be visible brown (refer to #1).
Anyway... it did turn out like that on the box, so basically it was too light. To put it nicely would be to say it was copper-coloured. To put it bluntly I could call it orange.


Actually it looks pretty acceptable without flash (right) but with... (left).

3) With Bugis Essensuals I had my hair dyed a darker brown. I've still been hopping around with the shades of brown! Eventually planning to get a brown that tapers down back to my original hair colour.

You can ask Bugis Essensuals about any random hair woes (how soon can I swim after rebonding my hair?) (does short hair suit a round face?) as well as the services they offer at their Formspring!

They don't charge by length like most salons do, but instead they charge by the level of expertise of the stylist you pick!

Bugis Essensuals
241a Victoria Street, Bugis Village
(above Burger King)

Weekdays: 11am-9pm
Weekends: 10am-8pm

Mention that you're my blog reader to get a discount! :D
Valid every day (except Friday & Saturday) from 10am-3pm


P.S. My hair is naturally wavy! You can probably easily achieve this just by bunning up your hair for a short while.




Haha I remember deliberating about this flower headring thing in London, asking my friend if I should get it (it was 4pounds I think, which is not cheap at all by Singaporean standards).

She said that if she saw me walking down the street with this she would think I'm retarded. I bought it anyway.

Later on lots of girls/women came up to me to ask where I had gotten it from! ^^ (Camden Market)

TYING YOUR HAIR FOR SCHOOL

I sometimes get questions from girls asking what to do with their hair for school/what I did with mine, so I took photos!


This is what I do when I'm lazy or in a rush. Extremely low maintenance and it's comfortable! You can simply adorn this low ponytail with a ribbon (and the one I have here is exactly the same ribbon I wore in SAJC!)
Ribbons like these can easily be bought from stores like Paperchase or Spotlight, where they sell ribbons by the metre.


I usually do this when I have PE or CCA that day (I was in Rhythmic Gymnastics) because it keeps my hair away from my face. When it's really hot I can just incorporate my fringe into my braid as well, and generally you don't even need pins.

P.P.S. Please don't ask me HOW to do a French braid! It's really very simple if you know how to do a normal braid. It was self-taught for me.


Lol. Just if I'm feeling slightly more "adventurous" with my hair that day.


Did this quite often until my favourite rubberband broke ): In JC2 I tended to just do the Low pony almost every day haha. Lazy liao.


And here's your generic normal high ponytail! I very, very rarely used this in JC because my hair is pretty long and thick, so this seriously hurts and tugs on my scalp especially considering how long school days can be.

So there you have it! I actually first started doing the French braid in Sec3 when I was 15 years old, and everyone laughed at me lor... say look like farmgirl, Dutch milk girl etc.

But I was really quite worried about my hairline then (hahaha) and the daily weight of my ponytail was annoying so I stuck with my French braid and it slowly became acceptable! Then I saw other girls in St Margaret's starting to sprout braids/French braids... ~pui~

Haha but I think now girls are more adventurous with their hairstyles. Fewer are sticking to just the ponytail. But then again it's been so long since I've been in a uniform :D In NUS most girls just let their hair down!
I also don't know how strict the various schools are with respect to hair accessories, SAJC is pretty lax about such things.
(I tried to wear a flower in my hair once in Sec3; the teachers made me remove it haha)