Olive Braids.

Oh hey! It's an outfit post again! :) I'm motivated to make outfit posts when I'm back in Malaysia because there are so many beaches nearby. If you have the perfect background, the pictures just effortlessly turn nicer! Don't you think?

I'm fully utilizing the beautiful nature resources near by hometown to take some beautiful pictures for my outfit posts! :) And today, my main inspiration comes from this cute olive top with braided straps! :) It's short in the front and longer at the back and I love how the fabric has enough weight to fall in this flowy shape and it won't fly up even when it gets windy! :) *phew!*

This is the rare occasion when I do something to my hair. To match the straps of the top, I made 2 small braids at the side and also getting rid of my long fringe by braiding them too. Hahaha.

Most of the time I'm just too lazy. XD

Right, let's get some green quotes! :)

Only after the last tree has been cut down;

The last river has been poisoned;

The last fish caught;

Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.

For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider. Every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver. -Martin Luther

You may think the grass is greener on the other side. But if you take the time to water your own grass, it would be just as green.

All I want is to stand in a field and to smell green, to taste air, to feel the earth want me, without all this concrete hating me.

Some close-up shots of my braided fringe! :) Hahahaha! Henry said my braid is too small. T_T I knowwww but my hair is too little I can't make big braids without using half of my hair. Hahahaha!

As usual the no-head OOTD shot. :D

Olive top from Bugis Street

Aztez-print washout denim shorts from H&M

Braided headband made into bracelet from H&M too. (Just to match the braids hahahaha!)

Oh and lastly the braided straps! :)

Hope you guys like this outfit! :)))

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. (Synopsis)

 I just finished reading Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger, the author of The Time Traveler's Wife. It was.......... a very interesting read and I would like to share the story with you guys here for those who're too lazy to read it. Hahahahaa!

It is one of those books that doesn't have synopsis printed at the back, I bought it at the roadside in Shanghai because I LOVE The Time Traveler's Wife. Somehow, if you love a certain book written by a certain author, you took interest in the other books he/she writes. :D So I got it home.

My synopsis of the story (Spoiler ALERT! Don't read it if you're going to read the book!):

Elspeth Noblin died  of leukemia and her lover, Robert grieved for her. She used to have a twin, Edie and they didn't contact each other for many years for an unknown reason. She kept it a secret and nobody knew. Elspeth left her estate for her twin's daughters (who're also twins), Julia and Valentina, but they have to stay in the flat for 1 year before they can sell it. The thing is, after her death, Elspeth's ghost still stay in the flat and she couldn't get out of it.

When the twins arrived, Robert started to fall in love with Valentina, the nicer sister of the twins. He didn't realise Elspeth's ghost was watching all these and she was hurt. Slowly Elspeth gained strength and could communicate to the twins and Robert by moving things around. Robert was stuck between loving a living virgin and a phantom lover.

At the same time, Valentina was having issues with her twins, Julia. Julia was the bossy twins and she wanted them to always stick together and do everything together. Valentina always relented, but she realised she wanted her own life without Julia when she started to fall in love with Robert. Julia wouldn't let her, she wanted them to stay together forever. Then Valentina get this idea of faking death and regain a new identity. With that she needs Elspeth's help. Elspeth can take out her soul and put it back to the body after she's confirmed dead and buried. Then if Julia thinks she's dead, Valentina can have a whole new life ahead of her without being with Julia after her resurrection. It sounded like the perfect plan.

However innocent Valentina had no idea what Elspeth had in mind. Elspeth knew the whole idea wouldn't work, because when a soul left a body, it got weak and needed a long time to get stronger again before it could get back into a body, but oh she planned. And she managed to persuade Robert to help them too.

Robert didn't think it was a good idea at all. It sounded too risky, but Valentina insisted and Elspeth was really eager to help her too. So after Elspeth has taken Valentina's soul out, Robert contacted his friend at the cemetery to help freeze Valentina's corpse throughout the whole funeral process.

At night, Robert sneaked into the cemetery and retrieved Valentina's corpse back into the twins' flat. After a few minutes, the corpse came back to life, but something in the way she spoke and the way she looked at Robert made him felt that something was wrong. It was not Valentina. Elspeth had gotten inside Valentina's body instead. She betrayed her because she wanted Robert for herself and couldn't stand seeing Robert falling in love with her niece.

Robert was more devastated when he found out about Elspeth's family secret. Elspeth has a twin called Edie and Edie's husband is Jack. Elspeth has never tell anyone WHY she doesn't contact her twins after all these years. After her death, she left her diaries to Robert and Robert neglected them. It was only before the Valentina's dying plan that Robert thought of reading it and he was shocked to find out a dark secret. 

Julia and Valentina are actually Elspeth's own daughters. When she was in her twenties, Elspeth got drunk and accidentally slept with her twin's (Edie) husband and got pregnant. Even though Edie was devastated, she wanted Elspeth to give birth to the babies and after giving birth, Elspeth left the city and didn't contact her twin afterwards.

So now you know, Elspeth actually KILLED her own daughter and take over her body just because she couldn't bear to see Robert falling in love with Valentina. 

The story ends with Robert leaving the pregnant Elspeth because he couldn't stand the guilt of being a part of this murder of the girl he loved, and he realised the woman he once loved was just a cold-blooded, selfish woman.

The story is so dark, interesting, and twisted. It gave me a very dark lingering feeling after I finished it. :( And I got moody all day. It writes about the connection between a pair of twins, the different kinds of love, and what some people will do in order to get the things they want. It was a heart-twisting, creepy and painful novel. I guess I did have an engaging read, but I don't like the dreaded feeling it puts me in after reading. :( 

Anyway you guys can go have a read if you like ghosts and dark stories! :)

22 Things I Want Myself To Know At 22.

My bestie, Yingz sent me this link today :25 Things I Want Myself To Know At 25 and I'm inspired. :)

Mary Schmidt was 25 that year and she was feeling lost and having a quarter life crisis. So she asked her family to write a letter to themselves at 25, imparting some kind of wisdom or advice to their former self that they wish they had known at their age. So Mary wrote down 25 things that she wants herself to know at 25 too after reading her family members' responses. :)

I think I'm going to write 22 things that I want myself to know at 22 too. :) Things that I've learnt recently and things that I know but tends to forget. :) I'll include some points from Mary's too.

22 Things I Want Myself To Know At 22:

1) Don't judge before you know somebody or until you've walked in their shoes. Everybody has their own life/problems/miseries they don't need your judmental looks/comments to add to them. Try to be more understanding and patient to others. There's always something beautiful you can find in a person! Look for it, and cherish that.

2) Nothing is more important than family. Listen when your parents start to nag, do house chores for them and talk to them whenever you can, because believe it or not, their biggest joy is to be with you and even if you just stay silently beside them doing your own things they'll feel contented and happy too. Remember, they'll not ALWAYS be around.

3) Don't be an ungrateful person. Nobody is supposed to help you to do anything. Not your family, friends, not even your boyfriend. Some girls tend to say, "He's your bf he's supposed to pay for you/buy this or that for you, or else he doesn't love you." or "She's my mom it's her job to clean up all these things in the house. She does that all the time!"Well, listen carefully, nobody HAS to do that for you. They can do it if they want to, but it's not mandatory. Say thank you when somebody do a nice thing for you and appreciate it.

4) Never think that you're too important. The world doesn't revolve around you. Stop being fussy or sulk when things don't go the way you want. Never think you're too pretty/too smart/too perfect. Be humble.

5) Don't go on FB too much, it is a waste of time, really. (Totally agree with Mary on this one!)

6) If you have free time, indulge in something you like. Be it cooking, drawing, reading. Anything that you can learn something from. Don't stay in front of the computer or tv. Get up off your ass! :)

7) Dream big, and work on it. Keep saying YOU CAN DO IT a thousand times when you think you're not going to make it. Somehow it always works.

8) Make time for your loved ones. Friends or family. Don't be the kind of person who're always "too busy" or "too important". One day you might regret it and realise you've missed out so much. Make time for a little walk, a little chat, a little afternoon tea. Make time.

9) Keep an open mind. Get to know a lot of different people, make all kinds of friends. Learn from them and you'll find out how little things you actually know about this world.

10) Accept challenges. Try to do things that you haven't do before. If it scares you, the more you need to do it and then you'll find out that there's no limitation to your capabilities. And every time you'll just learn something more and grow wiser.

11) Get into a healthy lifestyle. Your body is getting older everyday, you'll have to start taking care of it from now. Don't sleep too late, don't eat too much junk food and eat more greens and fruits. Work out more. I know it feels like you're dying when you're working out, but the sweet refreshed feeling afterwards is all worth it. Be responsible of your own body!

12) Always stay positive even when life turns bad. Find out something good in the day and hold on to it. Take a little walk, have a bit of ice cream, get some fresh air and listen to some music. Stay cheerful because the fact is, no matter how crazy or how tragic the problem is, it all goes away with time. Don't be afraid. Time takes it all away.

13) Be happy with yourself. Your flat little button nose, your heavy bottom, the non-existing thigh gap, unbalanced eyes. You are you, and you're the only special one in the world.

14) Be a girl that you will look up to. You can have fun, have a little drink and party but you should know how far you should go and when to stop. You have to respect and love yourself then only others would.

15) Keep a clear and rational head. Don't go with the flow. Listen to all the opinions/suggestions/advices, and then decide which one suits you best. Don't just go like "Oh right! She says this is good for me, so I probably should do it." Think. You're not a kid anymore.

16) Explore and discover. Explore a new city you've come into or even your own neighbourhood! Who knows? You might find out something nice in your neighbourhood that you've live in for 20 years! Open your eyes and look for the small details. It brightens up your soul.

17) Don't be afraid to get yourself dirty. Roll on the grass or the beach and sigh. Life is good like that. Try to bring a novel and go read in a park more often. Sit under a tree or lay with your belly flopped down on the grass and start reading. God, it feels so good. [ps: it really feels good! I've tried it!]

18) Express your love to the people you care. Tell them you love them, give them surprises on their birthdays etc. Small gestures can make somebody's day and you'll be happy too when they're happy.

19) It's okay to cry. Just let it all out. It helps to detoxify your body anyway!

20) Have fun, laugh and make ugly faces if that makes you happy. Don't worry about destroying your image. You don't have any to start with. Hahaha!

21) Posture. Always check if you're standing straight. You don't look good slouching.

22) Lastly, I think you're wonderful. You forget this sometimes so I just wanted to remind you.

I Feel Blue!

Who says blue has to be a sad colour? People are always saying "I'm feeling so blue today." when they get into the emo mode. :( I think I would probably be the first person who mean I'm HAPPY when I say I feel blue! :D 

Blue is my favourite colour now, and my favourite shade of blue will be the soft sky blue because it really lift up my spirit every time I set my eyes on it. :) That's probably why people always say, look up at the sky when you feel unhappy. The floating clouds and the blue blue sky just take all the problems away!

This post will be all about blue! :) You can find shades of blue in all the pictures and let's see if it can make you happy too! :D

I'm wearing this polka-dot cropped top (Yes, cropped top again!) with this nicest denim skater skirt ever! :) The shade of this skirt is so soft pastel I just fell in love with it at first sight! :)

The bright blue swimming pool! Such pop colour!

Nowadays I like to put my pictures through the vintage-feel edit because I think it gives the pictures more life and meaning. I don't really know how the logic works, but whenever I see some vintage-edited pictures my  heart just skipped a beat because it triggers some feelings out of me. There's something about the faded tone that gives the picture a nostalgic feeling? 

I love these plants that crawled abundantly nearby the beach. They probably are the type of plants that can adapt to sea water?

The sky that day was so breath-takingly beautiful I just........ gone speechless. 

Well just look at the pictures. :)

A sea-related quote:

Entire water of the sea can't sink a ship unless it gets into the ship. Similarly, negativity of the world can't put you down unless you allow it to get inside you.

A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not why ships are built.

Isn't the sky beautiful? Look up. Stop texting! 

LOL! I love this quote!

Live your life. Take chances. Be crazy. Don't wait. Because right now is the oldest you've ever been and the youngest you'll be ever again.

A facebook friend of mine, Stephanie, suggested me to put these 4 pictures into a collage. :) And I like the result! :DDDD So much BLUE! :D 

The head-off obligatory OOTD snapshot. Hahaha!

Polka-dot cropped top, high-waisted denim skater skirt and studded belt (All from Bugis Street, Sg)

Black sling bag from H&M

Since I have quite a lot of high-waisted bottom items with me, I decided to try pairing a high-waisted skinny jeans with the top! :)

The flip-flop is pretty much worn out already. What do you expect from a roadside RM 7 flip-flop? LOL.

Dreamy state.

Last picture of the outfit! Lemme know which look you prefer! :)

Oh and the elk ring I got from Singapore too. :) 

Hope I manage to make you guys feel BLUE today! I mean that in a good way! Hahahaha! Till then, XOXO!

I'm Batman's Wife, Or His Daughter....-in-law? Whatever. ;)

Did I mention I'm back in Malaysia??? I'm here for a month already but I actually didn't blog ANYTHING about Malaysia yet. Gee, what have I been blogging about??? O.O *looks back archive* 

Anyway, I think I'll make a compact post summarize up my month in Malaysia soon. :) There'll just be like 2 weeks more and I'll get back to Shanghai! And.... start my new sem. *feeling reluctant and looking forward to it at the same time* I really enjoy my hectic school life, and playing music! Nothing's better than that! :)

Today's post will be an outfit post! I went to Singapore last week and my cousin brought me to this awesome shopping place called Bugis Street! :D I ended up getting myself some really cute stuff, all at really reasonable prices and great quality! :D And I got my very first 2 skater-skirts and 2 cropped tops! :D

Those are the IN thing nowadays isn't it? And I think I should have a go at it before the trend goes out. LOL.

At first I didn't have the confidence of wearing cropped top because I never really expose my belly/ribcage before and I think that looks weird. Somemore, I have this idea that only SMALL and SKINNY people can wear cropped tops, not tall and bottom-heavy people like me. That's why I didn't dare to wear any cropped tops before!

Since I already invested in the tops I guess I'll still have to wear them out somehow and overcome my doubts and fears. :) I spent some time searching up some tips on how to wear cropped tops.

Let me share the tips with you guys:

1) You DON'T need to be small and skinny to wear cropped tops.

2) Don't worry about your belly being big or whatsoever, because when you wear cropped tops, you only exposed your RIBCAGE not your belly. :D Which will give people the illusion that THAT is your waistline and give you the hour-glass figure. HAH!

3) If you don't have a flat tummy, it's better to cover your belly button with something high-waisted. High-waisted shorts/skirts/jeans whatever.

4) Of course if you're really skinny and you'd love to show off your flat belly/belly ring, go ahead and wear a usual shorts. :) You'll look hot. 

For me, I don't like to show my belly button, so show ribcage only la can? :D I think that works best on me. :)

See how the exposed ribcage gives people the illusion that it's our real waistline?

Truth is my real waistline should be bigger than that by a few cm diameter LOL. *play cheat* oops!

Oh wheeee swings! Didn't play this thing for a century. 

Love the lighting! :) Credits to my mom for all the pictures in this post! :D All taken by my faithful Samsung Galaxy S3. 

You know a year ago when I start teaching my mom to take pictures for me she wasn't sure how to take, which angle to take and everything. So I just tell her, okay I'll tell you what I want and I'll decide the angle, you just keep clicking away when I move around. :D

You'll be able to find SOME nice shots in those. Hahahahaha! :) Thanks mom! :)

Oh btw, just some advice, don't wear a short skirt/dress to the beach. Big mistake. LOL. Luckily my skater-skirt is made from a pretty thick material so it doesn't fly-up! :D

Connector-rings! I'm going to look for more in Shanghai. :) Soon you guys will see a lot of arm swags in my blog. :D

OOTD: Everything from Bugis except my braided headband-made-into-bracelet and my flip-flop which I got in Shanghai at the roadside for RM7. Hahahaha!

Got home after the brief beach trip and decided to try another styling! :) This time using high-waisted shorts and a high ponytail! :) Edged up the look a bit. :)

Look more bad-ass huh? Got the feel of Batman's wifey or not? 

Wait... He's kinda too... old for me. So maybe I'll be his daughter..........-in-law??? Whatever??!?? Hahahaha! *make sure his son is hot or not first, if he has a son lah*

So do you like the skater-skirt styling or the shorts version? :) Lemme know!

Oh and I bought a new phone case from Bugis too! :) Totally match the outfit. <3 And Daphne babe has a same one too! *high 5s!!!!!!!!!* Hehehehe!

Hope you guys like this outfit post and enjoy styling yourselves with cropped tops too! :) Don't be afraid it isn't really that scary! :)))

TAGGED!

I was tagged by Ben Dan about a week ago and I want to extend a huge thanks to the darling girl because I love being tagged! :D It's the questions that make me get to know myself better. There're so many things that I didn't notice until I come to think of it! :)

The questions are pretty fun, so let's read on!

*attached an irrelevant picture because I don't like a post without pictures hahahaha!*

1. What’s a nickname only your family calls you?

- Phew, glad that this tagged post starts with a simple question. :) It varies. My dad calls me Mei Mei (妹妹:In his case it should means Little Girl.), I think he got used to calling me that since I was a baby! My mom calls me Ah Xi, and depends on her mood swing, sometimes she just call me Zhu Por (猪婆 : Pig Girl) because I'm fat. Hahahahahaa! My eldest brother calls me Ah Xi as well but my second brother likes to call my FULL NAME. All the time he is like, "KHOR WEN XI!" And I said, "Don't you know calling ppl's full name is rude?!?!?!" Now I got used to it. XD

2. What’s a weird habit of yours?

- I don't like to sit and read books. I like to flop myself on the bed with the belly facing side down and 2 legs swinging up. That's the life man. :D I can read for hours like that. I always feel sore when I sit and read. :(


3. Do you have any weird phobias?

-Here are some of the phobias I have. 

 i) Acrophobia: Fear of heights (I have wobbly legs when I'm at high places, and I always get dreams in which I fall from a high building and I just keep falling... falling.. :'( )

 ii) Dishabiliophobia: Fear of undressing in front of someone (but seriously who wouldn't???)

 iii) Hemophobia: Fear for blood. 

 iv) Ichthyophobia: Fear for fish (In my case it'll be alive fishes. I find them scary!!! Especially when you touch them they're so cold and slimy!!! *goosebumps coming everytime I think about it* I prefer furry animals. =.=)

Curious T-rex strikes again. :D

4. What’s a song you secretly love to blast and belt out when you’re alone?

-There's no ONE song, I have a lot of songs in my playlist, so I just play them. All different genre, but I like those upbeat carefree type that I can dance to and that can lift my spirits up. :)





5. What’s one of your biggest pet peeves?

-I guess it annoys me most when people take my things without asking me. Even if you're my friends, I'd appreciate you asking me FIRST before taking my things. Coz I've encounter a few cases where people take my things away without informing me and I spent a long time searching for it. And my snacks or food gone missing. (That pissed me off the most!!!!) I'll probably give you anyway if you ask, I just want to know where my things are going AND I like my privacy respected.

6. What’s one of your nervous habits?

- I love picking my nails, since primary school up until secondary school. So my nails have been really ugly and chipped all the time. It feels really good, very calming and soothing. You can try too! LOL, but it's not that nice when you accidentally over-picked and blood came out. Shit, that's the worst part. X____X Hahaha. Now I use nail-clipper already because I got self-conscious with my ugly nails LOL. Though I still do that sometimes, especially when I'm going to have violin exam. T___T



7. What side of the bed do you sleep on?

- Usually on the left side, because there's a window above my head on the left side so I got used to facing it instead of the right side that is really dark. I don't fancy waking up in the midnight and seeing something in the dark! T____T So now even when I go to other places I still sleep on the left side. :)



8. What was your first stuffed animal and it’s name?

- A teddy bear I still have now! I had it since 3 years old? Oh well, I can't remember the other toys I had when I was a baby, but this teddy I had been sleeping with it since forever until I went to Shanghai! *sounds wrong* hahahahaha! 



9. What’s the drink you always order at Starbucks?

- Hot Chocolate. All the time. I don't like things with caffeine... so yeah. And the first time I was at Starbucks years ago, that's the drink I had. You know I always stick to the same drinks/food so I just keep ordering it until you recommend something better. :D 

Speaking of which, when I don't have enough money to indulge in a Starbucks Hot Choc, my 2nd choice will definitely be the Swiss Miss Chocolate Powder. Sweet chocolatey goodness omggggg.

10. What’s a beauty rule you preach, but never actually practice?

- Sleep early and wake up early. It's amazing for the skin and reduce dark circles/eye bags. Simple magic but.... I never really practise this. :( I sleep late almost every night like after 12am. :(



11. Which way do you face in the shower? Face the wall?

- I spin around in the shower, hahahaha! I don't like to face the wall.




12. Do you have any ‘weird’ body ‘skills’?

- Errr. I don't think so. 




13. What’s your favorite comfort food that’s ‘bad’ but you love to eat it anyways?

- Ice cream. :) Bad because it make me fat but they take all the depressed moments away. 

14. What’s a phrase or exclamation you always say?

- "Seriously???"



15. Time to sleep, what are you actually wearing?

- I usually wear a tee and shorts to sleep. Especially those tops that I don't fancy anymore, it'll automatically goes into my pajamas column. Hahahaha!



16. What did you used to wear that you thought was cool but now you realize it wasn’t that hot?

- Tank tops. I think it's still hot in a sporty way but it's not suitable for me. Too boyish, maybe. 

Going to end this post with a bright colour picture! :D I like the contrast of it with the first picture. Straight hair V.S curly hair. Left hand playing with the hair V.S right hand. And of course one B&W and one in vivid colours! :D 

LOL, hope you enjoy reading the post and get to know me better! :) Till then! XOXO!