mypinkpot

2011-12-04T06:46:00.016+08:00

A Morsel of my Life

I'm ashamed to say I haven't been active here for months yet again nor formspring or twitter :(

I attribute that to my (unfortunate) lack of interesting topics to blog about lately and the very boring life I now lead because of the increasing workload I have at HVV (more on that later). I kind of feel like my creativity's sizzling out and that I've been overwhelmed by a bout of dis-personalization, funnily enough, if you get what I mean, which kind of makes my entries seem very vacuous. And considering how much I used to like blogging, it's quite the miserable feeling :(

But yes, I have received all your FS questions/comments and I will try to put up more outfit-of-the-day pictures on my blog and twitter so you guys can see how truly beautiful and versatile our pieces are haha and in the meantime, if you have a topic in mind that you'd like me to blog about, you can always leave me a FS comment and I will get to it :)

For now, I'll leave you guys to random snippets across the last few weeks. Apologies in advance for some of the unclear pictures, my trusty old camera has wonked up since I dropped it so I've resorted to picture taking on my iPhone instead.

Dinner with the family at Paragon,

V's birthday dinner at Gunthers, Drinks at Alleybar

A short trip with mum/

Trying out a slightly shorter cut,

Approving samples,

Bits of photobooth,

After my most recent haircut with Gabriel,

A day at an HVV shoot,

It starts off all prim and proper and professional ... before they both start rubbing each other the wrong way hahahaha.

Shoots with the both of them always crack me and Mag up so bad and gets everyone within earshot shouting with laughter.

A normal day at a photoshoot normally sees Claire starting off very placid and demure before she starts getting mildly cross at Chase' silly comments. And then ... it escalates into yelling at a trigger (literally) happy Chase for taking incredibly unglamorous shots of her. That then launches into friendly squabbling, threats (possible violence) especially when he starts saying her shots aren't up to standard of which she then blames his tiny tee that shows off his cleavage (apparently .. the valley distracts her). ?! Hahaha

My loyalty to her and lack of bravery towards losing fine talent (in case she quits the job haha) disallows me to put up some of the very incriminating shots we have of her, but me and Mag managed to catch pictorial evidence of both of them in action :)

1. Chase makes Claire strike an exciting pose

2. She does it very solemnly and he giggles

3. She loses her balance and gets cross while he bursts into laughter

4. She totters across to take revenge

5. Indulges in inappropriate violence

6. Surprisingly and (very obediently) totters back to resume her serious posing

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2011-09-08T02:29:00.010+08:00

Seoul 2011

A 5-day breather away from work.

We had so much fun last year, we had to make a second trip :)

Nice room; pretty miserable view :(

Gyeongbokgung

and feeble attempts at touristy shots.

Haha they were pretty fail, it's not possible to play brilliant tourist when the weather is so hot!!! Really :(

The picture of Lee cracks me up every time.

I'm assuming that's the epitome of how a nasty parlor Korean equivalent of a head parlor maid would look like hahahaha

Myeongdong

Dongdaemun; Korean BBQ Dinner

Annyeong-haseyo to Korean style drinking

Sinsa & Dongdaemun

For brekky & local designer shopping; Midnight shopping

Lotte World

Dongdaemun; Caffe Bene

Waffles and one last desperate trawl through the rest of the malls :)

And a last hurrah to the doctor who managed to summarise his ad so succinctly (V was starstruck by this, I dunno why); and to me who once again managed to come up with a sob story good enough to get my 60kgs worth of luggage on to the plane with me. I kid, I kid. It was a sob story the last time I came to Seoul. This time, I tried to con my way through instead haha.

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2011-07-21T18:41:00.003+08:00

London'10 (III)

Last bit of my Europe trip :)
Back in London for some good old outlet shopping and to celebrate Lee's birthday.

Outlet shopping;
The injustice of it all... the day I left, the day the Prada outlet opened :''(
Lee got 4 bags for 2000!!! :O
And they were brand new, some still retailing at Selfridges.

Hahaha we were laughing at how you can practically see me running in.

Haha and a tribute to V who managed to lose heaps of weight (but has also since gained it back after staying in Shanghai for 6 months). Cheers to good times :(

Sketch for dinner

Check out their super cute egg toilets :)

British Museum & Covent Gardens

Lee's birthday dinner which ended with us at Thai Square, Lee's favourite skank club in the world hahaha

Hahaha <3s to everyone's expressions in this picture
Everyone went home completely smashed that night

Borough Market the next morning -

V left to Sweden first so I walked him to the train station. It was quite funny because he found a wooden knife in his pocket on his way out and he handed it to me and after he left I was clutching on to it in the middle of the train station bawling my eyes out quite shamelessly. Hahaha must've looked pretty crazy.

Haha I never realised he looked so emo in this picture.
Why so serious?

Anyway, he left me with huge mess to pack and a very unhelpful best friend who took pictures and rolled on the bed while I packed like a slave and sewed like my life depended on it because my luggage popped.

I am very proud to say though that I managed to pack the mess, sew my luggage and squish 55kgs worth of stuff into 3 luggages and 3 handcarrys within 4 hours before I sent myself to the airport, although I did almost break my neck trying to get the luggages off the belt when I reached Singapore. But am I a warrior or what?

Anyway, after contemplating for just about forever, I've finally gone and gotten my hair snipped!! :o)

Been holding out for a bit because I've got a small face and broad shoulders. I was worried I'd turn out looking a bit like a ninja turtle, but all is good and I kind of really like how it turned out :)

Okay I'm super late now, gotta run.
Will blog about what's coming up the next post! :)

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2011-07-02T23:05:00.007+08:00

London/Paris '10 (II)

I must say it really doesn't feel as if the last time I posted was a month ago :\
Time passes way too fast.

So much has happened the last few weeks though, the shit, the pits and the happy and I'm feeling really really lucky that I have some seriously awesome people in my life that have my back all the time :o)

Anyway, another super overdue hugeass picture post from London/Paris before I'm off for another trip on Wednesday!

A little bit more before I hit PPS kkkkkk, then I won't have to depend on dad to help me out anymore >:)

and proof of V's incredibly lousy phototaking skills,

as compared to this,

--
Paris for 2 days;
Obviously that was very poor approximation on our part.
There wasn't enough time for food, shopping or being touristy :(

V's poor phototaking skills PART 2
He took so long to get the camera started that I got bored (and cold) and took a seat and while I was about to, he took a picture. (I look like I'm about to take a dump) And then he started laughing and I got grumpy - the second picture haha.

This super nice American helped us take pictures and because they weren't clear enough, he lay down on the floor for more shots (!)

Back to Le Hide for dinner because the food was that gud :)

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2011-05-30T06:03:00.006+08:00

We all deserve a kitkat

Been traveling like a fiend the past few weeks to meet new suppliers and manufacturers. If I thought I was busy last time, my schedule is on the brink of absolute insanity now. But I'm loving it :) Although my trips are packed and working from overseas to catch up on what's going on in SG is a bit of a downer, it's nice to step out of the country and just detach. And it's helping me earn mileage too so I'm not complaining!

Funny how just 3 months ago I used to think it wouldn't be necessary to take that extra step and venture out. I'm glad we did though, because it's proving to be worth the risk! So.. now that our stocks are coming in on a regular basis (damn, finally), we really gotta uppp our manpower. Probably gonna put up another hiring ad soon complete with the scenario questions :)

Anyhoo, snippet pictures from ancient times,

MBS - Mag's birthday with the family at Guy Savoy.
3.5 hours of blissful stuffing. Check out Mag's blog for her pictures (when she finally finds the time to update it).
The rest of the pictures are all with her :(

Prelude for Drinks

Dozo/MBS

Guy Savoy before V left for Shanghai -

BKK for a 3-day trip.
Not many pictures though because I forgot to bring the camera charger and we were too busy shopping & pigging our hearts out!

Club Lounge, they never ever fail with their cocktails and canapes :)
Hands down the best amongst all the hotels we've ever been to.

Le Beaulieu for lunch

And on the last day there was a massive protest going on right beneath the hotel.

It was quite funny because me & V had an argument and I announced (very grandly) that I was going off by myself because if I stuck around I'd just get crosser with him so I sailed off hoping to go to Platinum but then on my way out I saw the hugeee red crowd, was convinced there was going to be a riot and got scared. Was obviously too proud to scuttle back to the room defeated so I walked around Gaysorn instead and Hugo Boss was having this massive clearance sale. And then I saw a nice tie, forgot all feelings of animosity because of the great bargain, bought the tie and sailed back to the room in a brilliant mood to share my joy and to be met by a very confused (and hesitant) boyfriend hahaha. Sometimes I wonder whether he wonders if I'm truly bipolar.

But that aside, check out the crowd that caused my little frisson of panic -

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2011-03-26T01:27:00.008+08:00

Linköping & Stockholm '10 (I)

Finally getting down to this!

A week in Sweden to visit V :)

The trip was awesomeee but the journey there was ... a bit iffy. 24 hours straight up of traveling, two plane rides, two train rides and a bus ride before we finally reached Linköping. It was like the corner of the corner of the earth. No joke.

There aren't many pictures either because V had school everyday and he was rushing his year-end assignments so we could only go out at night :( Owell. Here goes!

Linköping Town Centre. It's the smallest/quietest place I've ever seen!

(although I have to give it credit, it does have an H&M)

And prices are heaps cheaper than in Japan or HK :)

Sorry, I have to add this in.

Can you tell how much weight V has lost :O

(compared to the Japan pictures where he looked like he was going to pop!!)

Everyone says I'm bad influence for everyone because I just keep on stuffing and stuffing my face and I'm so happy that everyone is always encouraged to join in hahaha. Just so you know, I didn't see V for 3 months and he lost slightly over 10kgs. And looks it. Insane.

My new haircut.

Not so new anymore because it's almost 5 months old. But I'm trying to go shorter and shorter.
When I finally find the balls, I'm going to get a bob.

Outside V's accom and off to Ikea to try their meatballs because I didn't want to go to the Chocolate Factory. That was pretty much the only other alternative hahaha.

Dirt cheap and super gooddddd.

And V got us ice hockey match tickets so we could try out something different :)

(He normally doesn't have any initiative at all so this is a very big deal haha)

The walk back to the station.

Check out my gloves man. I borrowed them from V because I didn't have any. They're so massive they look like rapist gloves.

That aside, I love this picture because V looks like a durian seller but I look so happy and contented, you can practically see my SMIZE.

Supper at a tapas bar.

The place was tucked in a little corner of the town centre but the food was amazing.

Day-trip to Stockholm.

Drottninggatan.

Check out the number of H&M stores there are, it stretches down all the way to the back! + V skulking around and taking random pictures because he was bored to death while I disappeared into rack after rack of heaven.

Street Market

Gamla Stan/Us attempting to find the Royal Palace

Old Town Christmas Market :)

Cotton Candy and the inevitable unglamorous picture series -

Notice how I took of my gloves like an eager beaver :(

5 minutes after this we were regretting horribly because our fingers were freezing and sticky and we couldn't shove them back into our gloves. And then, yours truly had a lightbulb moment and took out water to wash my hands. Which btw was the stupidest move anyone could possibly pull at -9 degrees. I spent the next 15 minutes convinced I was going to be taken over by frostbite and whimpering miserably trying to feel my fingers :(

The Royal Palace.

Which was closed to the public because some royalty from another country came down :(

Making our way back down to Stockholm Central/Stopping by for Hot Chocolate. It was so cold, that was probably the only one time I ever felt like I truly appreciated a hot drink.

After this we had to rush back to catch Harry Potter :)

And that pretty much wrapped up my week in Sweden, of which 2 days were wasted because I fell sick and the rest taken up in the day because V had school :( I wish I had stayed longer! The weather was brilliant, I cleared a grand total of 10 emails when I was there (that's what I call a holiday) and I didn't look like a prawn cracker. The weather made me all pink and flushed and alive even without make up. Oh what I'd give to have some of that in SG.

Anyway there are wayyy too many pictures to put up so I'll leave London and Paris for the next post :)

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2011-03-14T12:59:00.021+08:00

HVV Tea Party '10

Wow I haven't been in here for .. another good 2 months. This place is practically antique haha. Okay I know, that's what I always say each time I start a blog post. Shame on me :( I surprise myself sometimes at how easily I manage to tune out or slip off the grid. It's a pretty shite habit that everyone who knows me can well relate to. And knowing that I have to blog about and photo-edit an increasing pile of backdated pictures is a a bit of a dampener especially when I barely have time to keep up with HVV's work. When I do find the time, I just want to mooch around and bask in the glory of .. being a bum. Quite uninspiring.

Anyway, let's not go into that. I've found the time to finish editing my pictures so here goess to an awesome end of year tea party >:) I forgot to take pictures of our office when it was completely bare and I'm kicking myself for it because we didn't get to document a step by step transformation. All I have are half done pictures of the office with everything but the furniture already up :(

We're regretting our gross underestimation of stock and space. We were so mighty relieved to find an office that could store our stocks without us having to shuttle to and fro home and dad's office, we didn't consider much of his advice about the possible lack of space and the added nonsense of renovating an office in a newly built building. Was also pretty silly of me to be so sold on the idea of a brand new office considering the obscenely unfair amount we had to fork out for permits and renovations, but now that we've gotten over that, I'm genuinely glad we moved in.

Soo.. after a lot of.. might I add, sensible budgeting haha, for furniture and deco, here's what we managed to come up with!

Minus the lack of storage space, we love the place to death because it has become our second home, a workplace that's informal, fun and cosy yet testament to how far we've come and serving as a constant reminder to us to work hard so that we can do better.

And here's to the awesome first half of the HVV team who helped out :)
The twins who were in charge of manning the front counter and confirming invitations,

Two of our best verifiers :)
JD the resident funnyman/alcoholic and Mark the solemn.

Demi who's our superfast&fab packer and Shireena who clears the lengthy, testy and difficult emails with such grace and speed Mag is put to shame (not me) haha

And here's to Alex, the only person we know who'd work just for food hahaha.
He's gone off to army but we're going to miss his antics!

It was really hard to capture the real lighting that day which was a bit of a bummer. This is the only picture that was able to! Ohh and no one could understand when I first insisted to install spotlights but after this... it was a unanimous agreement, me is so farsighted manx hahaha.
I kid.

When the guests started streaming in :)

At one point we were pretty worried that we had over-invited but thank goodness, we were able to keep the place slightly bustle'y without compromising comfort and space.

There were a couple of silly slips here and there (luckily no one was looking) but everything turned out brilliantly :) Most of the time, we were kept busy popping in and out looking for stocks, hearing out feedback, checking to make sure the canapes were replenished, forcefully offering food to our shyer customers (I'm pretty sure I saw terror in some of their eyes) and savoring little snippets of personal time and private chats with our customers who were awesome people that were funny, generous, spontaneous and a joy to meet.

And that wrapped up the end of the first day :)
After everyone left .. the boys requested to whip it!

Me and Lee :)
Considering how she looks like she h8s for a living heehee, looks mind you, me and Mag were dare I say it, fascinated at how gracious she was to everyone.

A group shot of all of us, and a brilliant example of the type of pictures Lee takes of me.

JD doing his thing.

And a group shot of the entire HVV team sans the newbies and the HVV night team who unfortunately couldn't make it!

And here's to mummy and the customers who made it all possible :)

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Second day!

Me helping out :) and Mag looking like the creepy shopkeeper.
With her buy or die glint.

And the happy sisters :)
Haha me and Mag call them that between us because they're always so happy, it's infectious! Thank you for driving the mannequins all the way down for us, for the gift and for helping us take heaps of pictures because we know how picky we are!

And a super cute picture of Mag to end off the pictures ...

Three hips and hurrah to my little rugrat of a sister for working overnight to make sure that the inventory was correct, the clothes were properly placed and that everything would be ready for the tea party :)

We've come a long way from when we first started in Livejournal and we've still got a long way to go but I'm glad we've come this far and although there are times where I want to box your teeth in, I can't think of a better partner to be in on this than with you. Cue mooshy hug :)

And since I'm already insofar and filled with gratitude, here comes the thank you clump :)
Be warned, it's going to be lengthy (and mushy)!

To everyone who has been supporting us this far, thank you, thank you, thank you!

To our customers, I promise we'll try to hold more of such small scale events so that we can get to know all of you better and hear out your feedback. HVV is embarking on a new journey and I hope that with it, we'll be able to work on our designs, quality, quantity and frequency :)

To the current HVV team, thank you for always having our backs :) We call you guys in at unearthly hours, come up with the weirdest of requests, cheat and bribe you with food, leave you to the vices of all sorts of emails and thoroughly abuse you (lovingly of course) but you've shown nothing but loyalty to us bringing in the craps, fun and laughter to our office. You've stuck by us and we couldn't have been happier to get to know all of you :)

Even though its been a tumultuous ride, we've learnt heaps along the way and we're happy to say that the HVV team is well prepped and ready to take what comes along readily into our stride! Yeehaww!

<3

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2011-01-21T20:52:00.005+08:00

January '11 & piktures from Japan Aug '10

Taking a break off the post. I'm slightly crossed eyed with all the emails coming in!
Very overdue post as usual unfortunately. But I'm making up with the obscene number of pictures below.

:)

In other HVV news .. one more collection to go before CNY. Look out for some superbly pretty (no, really haha) pieces coming up soon!

V has also returned (for a miserable 12 days I might add) from his exchange stint in Sweden and ... also flown off again to Shanghai for a 6-month internship so the past two weeks have pretty much been spent trying to catch up on quality time as much as possible and sneaking in a small (but swell) break to BKK over the weekend for some good food and shopping :)

--

Anyway, back to the Japan trip.
Japan in August was really quite feral. I don't think we realised exactly how hot it was going to be (considering it was winter the last time both of us went). The place was like a boiler.. within a boiler and the ventilation was crap so we were extremely miserable half the time. So.. please excuse the heaps of sweaty, tired-looking and gross pictures :(

On our way from the airport to the hotel

Trying to find our way to Shibuya

I didn't really understand Shibuya109 though. Or maybe I just lack the depth needed to appreciate Japanese fashion. The concierge said it was the place to go to for shopping. But the building, although split into many different shops, stock practically identical stuff across all shops from Level 1 to 6. I'm supposing that lace was in fashion when I was over because that was pretty much what the entire building was selling, identical lacey stuff in the same colors and in the same type of prints, which was .. beyond me.

Was pretty bummed out at first, but then sought solace in H&M and other random local designer stores we found along the streets which had much much better stuff.

I thought this was massive but that was before I saw the ones in Stockholm >:)

--

Groggy & Grumpy/Breakfast at the club lounge

And then off for more shopping at the Shinjuku area

I don't know why I look so ruddy & gross here :(

--

And then V brought us to Narisawa les Creations for dinner. It's meant to be the best restaurant in Asia!

Excuse the (extremely) crass descriptions, I can't remember the exact names off the menu :(

Mixed dough being heated right in front of you while you wait for it to form. Can't get any fresher than that!
Butter in a flower pot/Radish entree

Vegetable Appetiser/Seafood Bouillabaisse/Lobster/Foie Gras

Pigeon/72-hour processed Charcoal Wagyu
Me & V were marveling at the time taken to prepare it. I don't usually like ordering Wagyu because I haven't come across any restaurant that does it the way it's meant to be, exactly. But Narisawa seriously takes the cake, the wagyu here is insane.

Dessert/Dessert Trolley :)

--

Popped by a day-market that sold all sorts of random stuff

And came across this shop that had massive Cros on sale. Like hideous magnified.

Daiso for super cheap treats, dog snacks/toys.
I was really tickled when I came across the massive coke.
Ha ha excuse the look on my face

A hugeass toy/electronics store that's like a brilliant maze (forgot the name) to look for V's camera and to find my mum's massage cushion.

Was a happy camper walking through the aisles at the toy section.
I really like popping in massive toys shops to wander around and browse through the aisles of Polly Pocket/Barbie/girly stuff before poking them a little bit here and there.

Hahaha the super chinese looking, money-waving kitty that we were seriously considering buying for the office. Decided against it in the end because it was too small. Not official looking enough.

--

Aoyama district to have a peek at the high-end labels, local designer stores

Harajuku for more shopping

Hahaha sorry, I can't help but add this series of pictures in.
Apparently according to V, this is how I look almost all the time when I see something I want to eat.

I stop by and peep at what's going on,

I turn around to look for the nearest person to exclaim loudly that I want to eat that/whine that I need money/small change. (Okay this is just a damn bad picture of me in mid-blink)

And.. someone gives me the coins to let me buy what I want.

You have to admit I am pretty damned easy to satisfy hahaha.

--

A quick change at the hotel and off to Odaiba :)
I hope I got the name right, it's this new place in Tokyo that has awesome shopping and (very) random global monuments.

Muscle Park, an indoor mini-theme park, Ninja Warrior style hahaha

Mini Indoor HK

Mini Japan/US

Faux Statue of Liberty

And off to the shopping/designer store section. Not many pictures though because there wasn't enough time and we were frantically trying to get our stuff.

Btw, we were amazed at how the parents pay to chuck their kids inside those massive float rolls before sailing off to shop. You get to see them inside running tirelessly like hamsters. Hahaha

--

Disneyland! :)

Hahaha I just had to add the second picture.
Can you believe how incredibly lame he can get????

The weather was way too foul to join the massive queues for a ride so we ended up eating and eating..

We started off into the stores me telling V that only tourist schmucks get cheated into buying more than xx of Disney stuff.
An hour later, we ended up with .. too much.

Check out how (gross, sweaty and) adorned we are with Disney stuff!!

--

And our last day. Lunch at Pierre Gagnaire :)

A nice lunch to finish off our trip :)
(We were so happy eating, we almost missed our flight haha)

Will update about Europe soon!

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2010-12-11T06:48:00.003+08:00

Winter in Melbourne

I'm back from my trip to Europe! :)

The weather was seriously ball-freezingly cold and the 16 hour flight + transit time was painful at the very least but I'm glad I hauled myself over; more so that I finally overcame the miseries that used to plague me on long-haul flights (albeit armed with a pharmacy worth of motion sickness pills). Although I did fall deathly ill for 2 days, I'm pretty sure my parents secretly wept in pride on knowing I landed alive. God only knows the heinous amount of torment I put them through each time I used to board the plane on semi-long distance flights.

So it's hellowello to many more awesome distance trips to come!

They're all so excited, we're already planning another trip to go back and visit the places (I quote my mom) "where their love blossomed". Ha Ha I bet Mag just got the heebiejeebies.

In the meantime, because I'm so superbly overdue with all my picture posts, here's winter in Melbourne mid of this year for weekend school :) I promise to put up a post on Japan soonish too so we can get over that and clear the massive overhaul of pictures we took this trip!

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Putting up at Lee Yi's place for the week/Fluffy Chloe the lamb

Dinner with the pals in the city/brilliant mains, risotto & dessert

Ca De Vin/Coffee & Dessert at Supperclub

Emo night at Crown, Yarra & St Kildas for dinner & drinks/Me in super shameless FOB wear :(

Korean Dinner & Bistro Vue

Mart Cafe at Middle Park for brekky, Chapel St & the Korean hairdressers for Lee's new haircut :)

Hen's birthday dinner

Mucking around outside Phoon's house while she sneaks home and steals her car keys/Shopping like bogans at the 24hr Kmart!

Brekky at Laurent/Miss Marples/Mount Dandenong

Tea at Phoon's for her mom's awesome cookies & cupcakes/Pancake Parlour & Print Machines

And that wraps up Melbourne - in a nutshell.
Can't wait to go back soon for an obscene amount of awesome dinners and awesomer company :)

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2010-11-04T19:54:00.007+08:00

Uluwatu

Promised to put up Melb pictures first but it's going to take me ages to sift through, edit and upload the obscene amount of photos we took so I've decided to do a Bali photo-post instead! I'm glad we managed to fit the trip in despite our super squished schedule. Spent some much needed quality time with the parents & sister and now we can't wait for Maldives, hopefully at the end of this year!

Here's my massive photopost if you havn't already seen the pictures on Mag's blog!
The place was insanely beautiful (and therapeutic).

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At the beach. In time to catch the sunset & try out bigass kokonuts right after our flight -

And off to our hotel! :)

Prepping for dinner;

Brilliant authentic Balinese cuisine at the hotel;

Brekky delivered right to our rooms every morning!

Sightseeing nearby;

Drinks at Bvlgari Resort;

& here's to my dear little sister and her antics;

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What we woke up to in the morning -

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And that wraps up our very quick getaway to Bali.

Now I'm waiting like an eager beaver for our next family holiday.
We stayed on a cliff previously; it's gonna be on stilts in the sea next!

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2010-10-31T02:41:00.011+08:00

Hellowello.

I havn't been in here for so long, I've had to request for a new password to log in.

Sifted through the heaps of pictures I've accumulated over the months this morning and felt all warm & mooshy. So here I am (again), inspired to start documenting random snippets of stuff thats been happening in my life.

When V left for Sweden in August, I thought I'd be maimed without him around but the past few months have passed just like that and I'm actually having problems grasping that it's already end of October. I've been so furiously scuttling around trying to set everything straight and proper - fixing up the last bits of the office, rushing my regrettably very half-assed-done assignments, poring over interviews .. setting out to hire a team of helpers, assessing their fortes, training them, trying to rush out as many posts I can before I leave, planning the details for our office-warming party, finalising our CNY designs and finally finding good&proper suppliers that I know I can really rely on.

With all of that, I've barely had any time to even sit down to catch a breath.

But 3 hiphurrahs to those who have helped us this far :)
By a slight and extremely lucky twist of chance I was able to find an awesome awesome awesome team of assistants. And honestly, when I think of how they've helped HVV, I feel so indescribably touched I could weep.

I've been receiving emails commending me for our improved efficiency lately and while I'd like to thank all of you for your support and patience with us, I really have to let you guys know that it's really not because of me; it's because I have a team of selfless, full-of-nonsense, happygolucky, bad-music and food-obsessed (but I assure you very responsible) team of helpers that are literally working round the clock to rush out emails, verifications and parcels :)

We may have had a slow start because we've had to play trial & error with hiring. And also because of the workload and the different tiers of difficulty we've categorised the emails/issues to, quite a number of them are still learning the ropes and working on their speed and efficiency. But we're all trying really hard and I feel it in my bones that given time, we'll be able to prove our worth!

--
In other politicxzxz type of news, as much as I would like to be blissfully ignorant, I'm aware there seems to be heaps of gossip and controversy making their rounds about us. A lot of stirrers have also been popping by and leaving irrelevant and anonymous visits. I know there are others who are genuinely concerned and I thank you for your heads up.

I don't know how to stress enough though that I am disinterested in these rumors and disinterested in going out of my way to refute them. And it's really not because I am guilty or feel guilty, just simply because I have no intention to be led around contributing to this circus of unnecessary speculation at the expense of someone else's amusement.

It's just outright rude when someone comes up to me in my face, tattles something nasty someone else said about me from a pocketful of gossip in a bid to get me all heated up and indignant before resorting to name-dropping just to agitate a response from me when I fail to contribute.

Am I seriously expected to join in. And should I do, if I do, what will in turn be told to that person?

The only thing that occurred to me was how many others have been subjected, how many words twisted to achieve their intended effect and how many who actually stopped even for a split second to weigh those words and wonder whether they were being led like a moose.

It's just unimpressive and unwarranted.
Gives rise to unnecessary tension everywhere, and between people who barely even know each other.
Y must liddat huh?

...

Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest.

--

Anyway moving away from all work-related stuff ...

I'm finally done settling my trip to Stockholm, Paris & London >:)

Of which I must also add was quite an emotionally wrecking experience. Was happily booking tickets from SG - London - Stockholm and finalising payment details when the website hung and 3 seconds later when I was logged back in, I was greeted with a price hike of almost $4000. Tried calling up SQ but there wasn't anything they could do about it so I had to book my tickets separately. Not kewl.

I probably should've booked my tickets earlier but the scrooge within me somehow thought that hey maybe if I hold out slightly longer the prices will drop. Obviously doesn't pay to be miserly :( Everyone knows that each time I try to play sensible and smugly stinge on something, it always backfires in my face.

I'm also going to have a find a way to arrive at the airport armed with a pharmacy worth of sleeping pills. My parents have always been pretty conservative and restrictive with our holiday destinations because I'm always the unbelievably sad, scrawny, deathly green kid in the corner clutching on to puke bag for dear life so I'm really fearing for me. 16 hours worth of flight is really kind of like food for thought if I'm gonna land at my destination alive.

But you know, other than that niggling thought, I'm excited like a fat bee about all the shopping! I'll be in the land of H&M just in time for the Lanvin collaboration >:) and ... BFF has been filling me in on all the places in London shes discovered that will be having brilliant EOY sales. I'm also crossing my fingers to death that there'll be all those exclusive guerilla'ish sales when I'm over! And because my joy has been very infectious ha ha everyone has also started sending in their excel sheet orders along with all sorts of threats that will materialise if I miss any out.

I cannot wait for time off work!

And to cheer myself up the past weeks, I've been trigger happy shopping for winter clothing, trawling through sites for fluffy capes, oversized knitwear, knee-high riding boots and trying to cheat V into buying all sorts of Zara at insane prices on his trip to Barcelona.

Since I've tried sneaker-casual and bogan-comfy (shame on me haha) this year at different winter countries, I thought it'd be fun to try something sharper this time round.

I'm on a mission to find everything listed!
Less the brands that is, which are very compromisable. I don't think I could fork out enough for the Burberry trench.

By the way, if you're aghast by the black furry jacket, I must first let you know that it's obviously not real fur and second, it has always been a secret kinks in me to look like a princess with a cape - chinese emperor show in verycoldwinter style ha ha so it's really important that I find something like that.

OK. This been a long rambly post.
I'm going back to enjoying the rest of my weekend and sifting through good accommodation! :)
With the insane workload, I finally understand why Sundays are so precious haha.

Leave a comment on my Formspring!

2010-08-07T19:51:00.014+08:00

Her Velvet Vase Giveaway

On the plane right now headed to Tokyo - It's an obscene hour and I'm meant to be coming up with an exciting way to put this
getaway across but I'm having a major mind block! What's hitting me now instead is how far HVV has come … can you believe
its been 3 years since we started?? Cue me shaking a sleepy V violently to ask if he's amazed (only to get a grumpy grunt in reply :()

(Sidetracking a little) It honestly feels just like yesterday when me and Mag first lamented that there weren't enough avenues
of shopping; came up with the name Her Velvet Vase; excitedly worked on our free Livejournal template (ha ha)
and started our first sourcing of clothes in Melbourne, pleading with supplier after supplier in the hopes of allowing us
to go below the minimum quantity of order placements. Looking back now, we were such desperadoes!
Hahaha but we really were very lucky that we got our big break :)

I mean of course it hasn't been smooth sailing all the way.

It's a very nostalgic issue when I, or rather I can probably safely say all of us, look back fondly (and amusedly) at all the times
(although they weren't very amusing then) when we were met with problems that seemed unsolvable. Like the Chinese New Year
where our (at that time) most successful backorder screwed up horribly and we had to email our customers with the dreadful deed of
explaining the situation or the time we moved to a shopping cart system and the response was so negative and bleak that we almost gave up.

I'm glad we didn't though.
It was a long 10 months but we've managed to stand up again - amidst learning a great deal along the way of course.
Falling was hard but it taught us how to grit our teeth and claw back up. We've struck up invaluable friendships,
built memories, and learnt from our own experiences; how to be patient, tolerant, diligent, grateful and thankful.

Yes, grateful and thankful.

Which is actually the reason why I'm doing this post!
(Wait, was that a smoof transition or what?? Hahaha)

But back to the serious stuff, we've actually been meaning to do this for some time and we're glad we've found a
great brand to collaborate with :) As a small gesture of gratitude, HVV has collaborated with one of our favorite and
most trusted brands - Bobbi Brown for a giveaway! :)

Just a small introduction while we're at it..

This season, Bobbi Brown has come up with their latest limited edition Denim & Rose Collection which features a
range of new colors and an exciting new look.

Click on the picture below for a larger image :)

In line with this new collection, Bobbi Brown will also be conducting workshops and makeovers over a span of 1 week for interested
customers to pop down and learn how to apply make up/try out their latest products.

For more details, click on the picture below :)

And .. here comes the exciting part!

As a small thank you, Her Velvet Vase will be giving away Denim Revolution Makeover passes worth $100 each to 35 lucky customers!

Winners will receive the following:
A free makeover worth $80
$100 worth of Bobbi Brown products of your choice
A complimentary gift from Bobbi Brown for being an HVV customer
Hairstyling tips from hair experts
An exciting photography experience
An 8R portrait of yourself

All you have to do is email us by 11th August 12PM in 3 sentences or more why you think you deserve to go for the makeover! :)
Please direct all emails to hervelvetvase.promotions@gmail.com.

Winners will be contacted via email on 11th August before 11.59PM.

On top of that, all customers who attend the makeover/workshop also stand a chance to win a guaranteed pair of passes to
HVV's exclusive year-end office-warming party!
You can expect a small tea party, sneak previews of designs from our main and new label, as well as a private sale of popular sold out items
and never-sold-before pieces at amazing prices!
All you have to do is wear an HVV dress on the day and take a picture of yourself with your 'after' make up and let us
know what you've learnt from the makeover session!
Email the details to hervelvetvase.promotions@gmail.com and you will be guaranteed a pair of exclusive passes. Very simple :)

For those who are interested in registering directly, you can contact Bobbi Brown (payment through credit card over the phone)
or email us at hervelvetvase.bbregister@gmail.com (payment through IB)

Depending on availability of slots, we will be accepting registrants up till 12th August 2010.

--

Anyway, to help Claire learn how to apply make up effortlessly we also brought her down for a small lesson earlier on this week :)
Wymond from Bobbi Brown Centrepoint taught her how to choose the most suitable foundation, apply gel liner, eyeshadow, blush and lipgloss.

Check out some of the pictures Mag took during the make up process!

Us at Bobbi Brown Centrepoint with Wymond our make up artist and Felicia the marketing executive of Bobbi Brown :)

A sneak peek at the amazing array of cosmetics to choose from.

Me and Mag have always been fans of Bobbi Brown because we really like how the brand plays with a range of colors yet retains
an earthy, natural-looking brown base in all it's products.

We think it plays up our best features without going overboard with dramatic colors ;)

--

And to end off, a couple of shots with Felicia and Wymond.

Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to work with you guys!! :)

Loveee Claire for always being such a sport!

For clearer pictures of the final look that Claire managed to achieve with her new Bobbi Brown make up, you must check out the preview
e-posters that we've put up on our website here, www.hervelvetvase.com!

Tell us what you think about it!! :)

Just a small note, I'm really sorry that replies to emails are a bit slower :( Please rest assured that once I get back, I will clear everything as soon as possible! Please do not send in any hvv-product/order related queries to the email addresses that have been provided above as these email accounts will not be handled by us. Thanks so much for your patience and understanding! :)

2010-08-01T12:23:00.003+08:00

Since I'm waiting for gmail to reset, I thought I'd pop in for a small update :)

July has been pretty insane; flying to Melb for school, a trip with the family, looking and finally settling for a brand new office/renovations,

conducting interviews, training newcomers, HVV's features and collaborations, and finally working on the details for the new website..

I'm still reeling from all that rushing and madness.. and it's not over yet!

3 days later, I leave for a week long trip but not before dealing with some crazy deadlines. I hope to goodness we pull through!

The month was time well spent though, especially the 2 weeks in Melbourne to visit the best friends and to attend class.

It was brilliant brilliant company, comic moments, gossip sessions, emo-weemo nights, vulgar shopping, and good food everyday!

To eleven years of friendship and counting :)

Insert a very rare mush moment.

I've given a fair share of shit to each of my friends and it never fails to fuzz me up each time I think of how even though

we're half way across the globe, I know they'll always have my back.

Wipe that look of your faces.

<3 you guys x42345889 and then some

And because you wern't there, here's a tribute to you and how unbecoming you are as a medical student <3

I'll be back in Melbourne in October so elibadi, wait upppp for me :)))

And here's what we woke up to every morning during our trip to Bali.

The view from the villa was seriously gorgeous.

I didn't think the place would look as good as the pictures online but it did!

And ten times more when you get to stand at the edge of the cliff and peer down at the waves beneath.

The parents loved it and I'm glad that we were able to go away for a short trip just to relax, take a breather and

spend some good old family time together.

Now that was a therapeutic holiday! :)

Moving on .. I can't wait for the basic renovations for the office to be completed so that I can start designing and furnishing the place.

Me and Mag have been amusing ourselves with the amount of incredible ideas we want to incorporate (all) into the office.

And this is one of my top priorities -

I MUST have a candy floss making machine in the office.

It makes people happy. And what better way to make everyone who pops by our office happy right? :)

Nevermind that it could possibly be a cow to maintain (my mum's first protest), I will find a way to maintain it.

Anyway, on to more serious stuff, in conjunction with a very exciting new collaboration, we were hoping to do a small scale

office-warming party (not so soon though) with sneakpeaks of what's coming up, together with an exclusive sale for items

that have been previously sold as well as those that have never been released at amazing deals.

At the moment, we're still considering though!

It's been a looong time since we last held a warehouse clearance sale and we haven't attempted to hold any others apart from

that so we're unfortunately a little bit rusty and unsure if the response will be positive.

Let me know what you guys think :)

In the meantime, Imma go back to work and cross my fingers that I can clear everything before my next trip!

2010-07-26T17:40:00.008+08:00

Advertorial

Some of you may remember that I did an advertorial for Toni & Guy Essensuals some time back. That was my first time
doing a proper advertorial and I was pretty worried at first that it may seem to some of our customers that we were
getting too commercialized/selling out. But I'm glad that the response we've received so far has proven otherwise!
We chose to accept advertorials not only because we wanted to answer queries about where we/Claire our model
get our hair/nails/facials/make up done but also to share additional perks as a small thank you to our loyal supporters :)

Anyhow in my previous post, I mentioned how both of us have been pretty obstinate when it comes to accepting new
advertorials because we only believe in supporting a brand that we have personally used and trust. Well, you can rest assured
that we're intending to stick by that little motto regardless and sift out the best deals for you girls :)

Anyway this time round.. we're collaborating with Strip!

While I don't normally do my nails/waxing in Singapore, Mag was a happy happy camper because shes been going
to them since some time ago and absolutely loves the place.

I don't really do any beauty stuff in Singapore because I'm abit of a pansy so I'm terrified of pain; nitpicky when it comes
to hygiene and also because I really don't take very kindly to being ushered into a small and cramped place to do
my nails. I tried it once when I came back from Melbourne and found it mildly disturbing to be squashed into a small bowl
while someone violently raced through painting my nails and the next customer stood in queue right in front of me staring
down, waiting and willing me to get out with her beady eyes. That was pretty much the first and last time I tried any of
that and even when Mag attempted to persuade me to try out Spa Espirit, I declined multiple times until of course this
opportunity came up and Mag would hear none of it.

She brought me to Beauty Emporium at House, Dempsey for a leg waxing session and full mani/pedi. Honestly, I wasn't
expecting much of the place so I was pretty damned surprised when I walked through the entrance to this,

which you have to admit kind of looks like a quaint mix of Ikea and Marche.

I love the concept they have; little counters, booths and sections for different types of treatments -
aroma therapy, massages, essences, spa products, a small nail parlor and Browhaus and Strip right at the end.

They've even got this incredibly cute concept for their Test Kitchen :)

If the marketing director hadn't told us, I wouldn't have realised that Beauty Emporium, House and Barracks are
under the same company!

Basically during lunch time, they've got a baker to come in to make cupcakes/brownies/cookies.
You're encouraged to try any of them although you don't have to pay for it. But if you like what shes made, you pop what
you think is worth into a tin box. All you have to do is fill out a feedback form and she'll work on it before she perfects
the recipe and that's when the pastries are sold downstairs at Barracks Cafe :)

--

Anyway, moving on to the waxing session,

No pictures allowed during the process but for someone who is terrified of pain, it was manageable.

Actually, considering I was able to camwhore afterwards in the room while waiting for Mag, it was pretty damn good hahaha

And moving on to our full mani/pedi session :)

Check out the seat/view :)
It's pretty refreshing to have greenery (and leaping squirrels) peeking back at you whilst stoning/getting your nails painted.

If you've got heaps of patience, the full mani-pedi is good because you get to properly sink into the armchair with hot lemon tea,
fluffy blankets and pillows, the full cleansing, trimming and nail painting treatment as well as a light massage.

Haha and heres me admiring my nails while waiting for our vouchers :)

--

When you pop down to Barracks on Thursdays and Fridays, you may also notice that they've got a high tea buffet from
3pm - 5.30pm at Barracks Cafe.

They've got a really pretty array of cakes, scones, tarts, mousse, cookies and finger sandwiches and these are the
pastries that would have been approved previously by customers from the Test Kitchen :)

A small perk for those who decide to pop down to Beauty Emporium on Thursdays or Fridays for treatment;
during checkout, you'll be offered a discount voucher for 2 for their high tea buffet :)

The usual price is $25 nett per person but the voucher entitles you to $10 off per person and a free pot of tea!

Cheers to a relaxing afternoon pampering yourself before hopping off downstairs for high tea.
Now you know why I was sold ;)

And since we're doing a small collaboration with Strip, the first 300 customers to make payment during our next
collection will receive a 20% discount voucher off a la carte service* slotted into their parcel!

*Services include:
Strip Waxing
Manicure & Pedicure

You can use this voucher at any of the outlets listed below:
Strip Co-Ed Beauty Emporium 8D Dempsey Road #02-01
Strip Co-Ed Cathay #02-10
Strip Co-Ed Great World City #03-09
Strip Co-Ed Ion Orchard #03-17A
Strip Co-Ed Mandarin Gallery #03-37
Strip Co-Ed Shenton Way Malacca Centre #B1-00
Strip Village 34C Lorong Mambong

**For those who are interested, please remember to call up to book an appointment and to clarify the availability of
services at the respective stores as some stores do not offer certain treatments/services.
**Further terms and conditions can be found at the back of the voucher.

More details will be up in our upcoming HVV post as well as in the vouchers :)

And here's a small preview of what's coming up the next post!
Will update this space with more pictures once Mandy uploads the rest of them :)

2010-07-21T00:36:00.007+08:00

Right before I left for Melbourne, HVV was fortunate enough to be featured in a couple of publications.
I didn't have the time to put up the pictures then because it was such a mad rush but now I'm back, I've gotten down to it!

We were lucky enough to make it on to the front page of Urban :)

Thank you to all HVV customers for your loyal support; if it wern't for all of you, we wouldn't have come this far.
HVV is everything it is today because of you guys :)
(As a thank you, we've come up with something awesome, details will be up once everything is finalized!)
And to Gladys, thank you so much for considering us for the interview! :)

And a full-paged article of us inside :)
Click the picture for a clearer picture of the excerpt.

Of which I have to add, I was horrified when I saw the picture they used of me.

I look like Mr Burns.

Can you see the uncanny and extremely unfortunate resemblance????
On national paper.

Compliments from Mag and my entire family who burst into series after series of most unkind laughter at my expense :(

Sigh. fml.

Anyway, moving on to less depressing matters, here are a couple of behind the scenes shots.
The make-up artist was so sweet; she did our make up and then scuttled around the place helping us take shots :)

On another very unglamorous note, every time I look at the picture below I'm reminded of how worried I was!
I was smiling so much, my smile was positively wobbly and I was getting all antsy that it'd show up like a bulb in pictures!

Although we didn't manage to stick around for a group shot with the BC girls and Ming from Nuffnang,
we managed to squeeze in a picture with Rach :) Absolutely loved the dress she was wearing!

And next up, we were also featured in Her World's Top 50 Most Inspiring Women,
the massive gold, anniversary book that they released earlier on this month :)

The photoshoot was incredibly fun with lots of giggles, pleas to photoshop our chin/eyes/nose/thighs/fats, and most
great & desperate pleas (on my part) to keep my precious roll of hair fixed on my head (which, as you can see, was rejected) hahaha

Our make up artist was brilliant :)
He taught us how to do our make up properly; how to take care of our skin; and introduced us to brilliant cosmetic products
and falsies that catered to our individual needs. Me and Mag were happy campers learning everything!

And a small group shot with the team who tolerated our nonsense and helped us through the 3-hour shoot :)

Thank you so much!

Here's me & Mag (or rather, me) looking increasingly unglamorous after the shoot -
I was getting pins and needles sitting in the chair with my legs crossed awkwardly!

And here's us all happy and fluffy in Seventeen, August Edition :)

There was a priceless behind-the-scene shot of us with the fashion editor but no pictures because I very irritatingly
lost my memory card and for the dear life of me, can't find it either! :(

--

Anyhow to all who asked, HVV will be updating soon! Have been receiving heaps of emails that we havn't been posting :(
So sorry about that! I'll be slotting in one more post before I fly off and it'll be a pretty big one!

We've also sealed a deal with a new sponsor so I'll be posting up a review on that soon as well.
Promotions for our customers will be up in the next collection! :)

I gotta go back to the emailzzz now.
Hopefully I'll be able to find the time to post up a masssivee photo post of Melbourne and Bali - this place is seriously awesome;
I'm so glad we managed to find the time to go down! Sceneries arn't usually my cup of tea but this one just blew me away :)
Pictures up soon!

2010-06-25T22:03:00.003+08:00

And, I'm (momentarily) back from my blogging hiatus!
Thought I'd update this space with my long overdue other half of a Korea photo-post and Mag's birthday dinner.
Unfortunately, the rest of the pictures will have to wait till next time when I'm back from classes in Melbourne and
another 2 back-to-back trips right after >:)

--

At Myeongdong for some good old cosmetic shopping!

The range of cosmetic brands at MD is seriously insane; it's the perfect place to buy gifts/souvenirs for friends :)

We ended up happily popping into all the little cosmetic stores (getting ourselves conned into buying all sorts of useless cosmetics heh);
local Korean designer shops; H&M, Zara, Mng, Topshop, F21 (all of which seemed to have different stocks than the ones in Singapore!)

Ooh and this is also the place to get whitening products!
If the sales person hadn't grabbed Lee's hand and voraciously rubbed the whitening cream on it and insisted we wait 3 mins before rubbing
it off to see the difference, we wouldn't have been convinced/walked away with 20 tomatoes each to keep for ourselves and for friends! ;)

And then off to Shinsaegae to look for the best friend's precious & very specific miracle BB cream and my mum's cosmetics.

Lee recommended Amore Pacific so I got the eye cream and anti-aging face cream for her to try out.
She wasn't lying when she warned me that it'd cost an arm, leg and kidney even when compared to other high end cosmetic brands..
But you really have to admit it does work wonders :)
Such a pity that Singapore doesn't seem to stock it!!

Sidetracking a little, look at how frilly & princessy they did Etude House.
Both of us were so tickled by it!

Walking back from the Coex taxi stand to our hotel.
It's such a nice fuzzy feeling to walk in the cold and take in the gorgeous view from the Square :)

--

Next day: Across the river for more shopping!

Our route for the day.
The map was so big (yes, because there were that many shopping malls) we were having trouble holding it up.

Best of all, shopping in Seoul is pretty damned brilliant because half the malls open in the day and the the other half through the night
making it literally a 24-hour shopping haven >:)

We went back 3 days consecutively and it still wasn't enough time to clear all the shops!

--

Next up.. A local shopping street that Lee brought me to :)

It reminds me so much of Chapel St in Melbourne, just prettier!

The entire street was littered with all sorts of exciting stores both of us were just ogling haha.
Handmade accessories, inspired bags, shoes, vintage apparel, local designer made dresses, cupcake cafes, italian restaurants..

Lunch at a restaurant that Lee read up on and the beef risotto was to die for.

Maple and chocolate syrup almond waffles for dessert before I was cheated into taking off in search of Rodeo Street :(

At Ralph Lauren's Flagship store in front of Dosan Memorial Park -
where yours truly basically got cheated into believing my (geography-failing) best friend's claim that walking through the park would
get us promptly to Rodeo St.

We walked to the end of the park only to realise it was all fenced up & there was only one entrance so we had to walk all the way back -_-

I figured someone looking so intently at 2 maps would have an inkling of where to go.

I figured wrong.

Hahaha

Here's to us walking through the fenced up park amidst birds and ducks and people doing taichi like 2 very silly idiots looking
for a beverly-hills type street (and me bleating non-stop to Lee)

<3

We eventually ended up at a street but it wasn't the one we were looking for
and Lee was grumpy because we never quite managed to find it..

But then it dawned on me (10 minutes ago) ... we've actually been to Rodeo St.
We are such idiots; I cannot believe we never realised it!

Rodeo is the one we were stranded at because of the hail!

We kept on repeating that it was like the Beverly Hills equivalent with all the brilliant brands and it was right in front of us all
this time and it never occurred to us -_- I ran a search online and it is, it is!

--

Okay anyway, moving on and stupidity aside, pictures of our last day!

Night markets for awesome street food, candy floss, insanely high choc&vanilla ice cream, sugar biscuits, potato fries and breadtalk :)

And that just about sums it up - 14 days of vacationing, spending quality/highlarious time with the best friend,
vehement shopping, stuffing of faces..

It was a bitch to come back and deal with emails non-stop for 2 months; clearing up the mess that happened when I left
but the trip was awesome and I'm so glad that I agreed to go even though it was so abrupt.
If I could, I'd do it again - and I'm hoping Melbourne will be even more fun because all 4 of us will be there :)

Spontaneity is the way manxx.

--

Mag's 18th Birthday at Les Amis.

With the parents for degustation :)

Happy Birthday Maggles :)

Even though you looked like a grumpy child-eater in NuYou I still <3 you

Thank you for loving and accepting my noisiness and always somehow being there for me.
You don't know it, but you're like the shit-catcher with the bucket when shit hits the fan and that means heaps to me.

You're the weirdest sister anyone could possibly have but I wouldn't swap you for nuts :))))

Our outfits for the day :)

And with that ... I'm logging off till I come back from Aus!

I'll be off for 2 weeks to Melbourne for school and to catch up with the best friends, a short trip with the family when I come back
because I've been so caught up with work I really havn't been able to spend quality time with them :(

And hopefully a short getaway with V for his birthday and to spend time with him before he leaves to Sweden for 6 mths :(

In the meantime, I'm going to try and clear as much as I can before I go...
I've scheduled myself to come back before BOs arrive so nothing can go too wrong (crossing my fingers), I've also got full time
helpers now so they'll handle everything except the difficult/more personal emails - I'll try to do that as promptly as I can.
Unfortunately replies will be slightly delayed, so I'll need to seek your patience & understanding! :)

In the meantime, check out these eyecandy pictures!
Me and Mag are planning to bring our parents here for a relaxing trip :)
I hope they like it!

2010-05-28T20:55:00.010+08:00

Advertorial

[EDIT: added preview below :)]

Since some time ago, me & Mag have been receiving questions about where we usually do our hair/which stylists we go to.

And for the longest time ever, we've always recommended Toni & Guy for their brilliant expertise/skill, their willingness to listen
(if it's one thing I hate, it's when I request for the stylist to trim 1 cm off my fringe and he snips off half of it instead!),
their professionalism (it's always nice to know there's a senior technician around to analyse how a new cut will suit you),
the way they wash your hair (no one likes to have their hair manhandled), and their after-sales service (within a week, if you're
unsatisfied you can always go back for complimentary styling/a second cut).

Prices can be pretty steep though especially if you require frequent maintenance for your hair!

A normal cut and wash is around $90 if you engage a senior stylist;
Some of you may also recall me going for a cut and straightening session (here) for $700+.
And for styling alone, like what I did for the Nuffnang Awards (here), it was about $200.

While some sponsors have been nice enough to offer us their products, unfortunately both of us have been pretty obstinate especially
when it comes to accepting advertorials because we only believe in endorsing a brand that we have personally used and trust.

So.… when we were given the opportunity to work with Toni & Guy's younger sister brand, we jumped at the opportunity to share
the perks with our customers! :)

Newly opened at Bugis, Essensuals is basically the branched out, younger and edgier version of Toni & Guy.
Originating from the UK as well, the brand is run by David and Henne Mercer, the same people in charge of Toni & Guy Singapore :)

Best of all, there is no compromise or difference at all in terms of expertise and you get everything at a fraction of the price!

And I say that because what Toni & Guy did was relocate some of their top stylists and hair technicians to Essensuals.
Bryan who straightened my hair previously is now style director and Seline the person who styled my hair for Nuffnang has also moved over.

See see, same people! :D

These are some of the current promotions going on, but HVV has managed to clinch exclusive benefits on top of existing offers specially for our customers :)
If you're interested, do remember to check our upcoming collections for further details/vouchers!

---

Anyway, since me & Mag were due for a haircut, we decided to pop down Essensuals to have a look/try out the new salon.

I decided to trim my hair, curl it and go for the treatment.
And because I was whining about how I wanted to blacken my hair, Bryan added a special little semi-permanent ingredient for me!
I figured that if my hair was darker, I'd look fairer ;)

Here's Mag getting her signature alien pouf before Bryan taught her how to style her hair differently.

Sidetracking a little,
Another thing I really dislike is going for a treatment and having immediate soft flowy hair the whole day only to go back, shower,
and be rudely shocked into realizing that my hair was merely coated with products to look good temporarily.

For Essensuals, while there was a slight difference in hair texture after my treatment, I did notice that results were not instantaneous.
On the contrary, what I really liked about it was, the difference became more apparent over time, especially after you've washed your hair.

Gotta think long term you know?

Anyway, I was so pleased with the results and it was such a good deal, I brought Claire our new model to try it out as well!

Claire's hair is naturally wavy and her results didn't show all immediately either.

But …
tell me if you cannot see the difference in the pictures below!

The first picture was taken you know, during our last post and the second picture was taken 3 days after the treatment.

Now that is what I call Princess Hair.

$49 for a haircut and treatment.

You likey? >:)

--

Click on the picture for an enlarged version of the vouchers :)

---

And for those of you who asked, here's a sneak peak of what's coming up in our next collection! :)
Am still trying to rush out a couple more... If I've the time, will squeeze in more preview pics!

Anyhow, for this coming post, I'll be clearing all existing emails while my helpers verify payments so please rest
assured that you'll definitely get a reply :) As long as you don't send multiple emails, I'll definitely be able to get
back to you asap. Thanks!! xoxo

2010-05-23T15:28:00.002+08:00

I'm sick :(

After 354634 people telling me that I'm going to fall sick at the rate I'm trying to squish work in a day, I have finally gone
and gotten myself sick. The surprising thing about it is when you really have that much work to do and your body knows,
it seems to leave a redemption of some sort.

So here I am, a day after my disgusting fever, nicely settled in bed, wrapped up like a dumpling in duvets still clearing
emails and sneaking off some time to do a photopost. God knows how long Lee has been breathing down my
neck for this so ... HERE YOU GO! now you can gasp at pictures and shed a tear of reminiscence :)

The day I flew off was pretty insane considering the ridiculous amount of things I needed to settle & handle.
It's always amusing and terrifying at the same time to be in that massive frenzy rushing everything!
Before I left though, to cheer me up, mummy bought me some accessories to bring over to Korea :)

...

And 12 hours later, here we are 2 grumpy girls in Seoul waiting at the lounge for our room to be done.
No pictures because we were looking dismal (okay maybe just me). I really don't take very kindly to flights.

We got an upgrade to junior suite so we were pretty happy with the extra space to loll around :)

And because Lee wouldn't let me take a nap at all to rejuvenate my poor soul,
here we are 20 minutes later scuttling across the mini-field to the train station to get to our first destination.
Weather the first day was awesomeee, sunny with cold winds :)

As silly as this sounds, it was so long since I last took public transport, I was kind of excited to get on the train hahaha.

But trying to buy the Korean version of the MRT card was just tortorous hahaha, albeit amusing.
We spent 15 minutes trying to figure out where we needed to get, 10 trying to get a machine in English, another 10
trying to find someone to speak to us in English instead and then another 10 trying to find the entrance!

We finally got where we needed to get though haha - very tired but triumphant.
And then back again to the hotel for some work & to get ready for dinner with an old school mate :)

--

Our second day - the last time we took public transport hahaha.
The subway was way too heated and there were too many people :(

Migliore. We went slightly insane here with the winterwear.
They had a truckload of oversized tees, accessories, ripped cardigans and outerwear!

Dinner at TGIF Coex after shopping.
I don't know if the TGIF in Singapore has the same stuff but if they do, you must try their dip and quesadillas !
They were amazing. Me & Lee were so glad that the hotel was right above the underground mall.
Made everything so convenient :)

And because some of the shops opened in the day and the others at night, and we were downright properly
confused with all the timings, we brought the map home to plan and strategise our shopping route hahaha.
Look how big the map is!
(and the list of shopping centres)
It literally took us 4 days to comb through the place and we didn't even make it to the shoe building :(

And because I just had to try it out, here's a picture of me camwhoring in the toilet with my new gel liner and no make up at all hahaha.
I'm a bit of a pathetic excuse of a girl, I only just found out about gel liner the day I flew to Korea. If I hadn't popped by
Bobbi Brown/complained to the attendant, she wouldn't have (looked at me like I was an idiot and) introduced me
to gel liner, I'd still be in the dark.

I used to use liquid eyeliner but it was a bit too stark & made me look really tired so I swapped over to pencil liner and
although I love how it looks slightly smudged, I hated how it'd go beneath my eyes.
But with this liner, I'm so pleased because I get the look I want exactly without the smudges
and with barely any make up on as well HEHE.

--

Exploring Coex properly - the guides all said it was the largest underground shopping complex in Asia but for the life
of us we didn't understand why until we realised that we had only been trawling through a tiny little section.

Off the main path, there were a couple of other shops that were nais, cute and quaint.
Both of us were properly fascinated by some of them.
We passed a couple that had balenciaga/mulberry/hermes/alexander.w bags in their window displays and they looked so brilliant/
the colors were so amazing and close to the real thing we thought they were, or at least secondhand.
Lee had her Bal bag with her and we were trying to do discreet comparisons and we couldn't tell the difference.

Turns out they were (incredible) fakes.
Compared to HK/China they're more expensive but you really have to hand it to the Koreans for being able to come up
with such replicas.

Dinner after at Omurice for a local taste of Omelette & Rice.
Not my cup of tea though. Too squishy.

---

Shopping at Rodeo Drive/Galleria.
The variety of brands here and their ranges put Singapore to shame! :(

Me and lee were all prepared to hop into all the shops since it was such a brilliant day but within minutes it was cloudy
and then it started hailing (!) so we were stranded in a little box to shade ourselves :(

Okay very abrupt ending but I'm starting to wheeze and cackle as if my life is getting drawn from me so I'm going to blog
about the rest of the trip in my next post.

Gonna go take a break and start on my emails again.
I have 100 emails left to go and another 200 to resend - we found out that our external mailer has been failing us quite
sadly so some of you who have specifically asked queries but not gotten any reply, it's not because we're ignoring you!
It's because the mailer didn't send it out. But we're on it we're on it, will try to send out the rest by tonight/tomorrow :)

At least everything's looking alot better now.
Most of the BOs have arrived/been packed/mailed, most of the emails cleared, wondering if I should try to sneak
in a small preview later on tonight if I'm feeling better :)

Oh and yes, we've also found our new photographer/photoshopper. Me and Mag really like her designs :)
Once she starts work, that'll be another load off our shoulders. Can't wait!

xoxo

2010-05-09T20:55:00.031+08:00

Hm, am waiting like patience on a monument for gmail to reset the limit so that I can start replying emails again.

Had a good talk with the mother just now and I feel so much better.
She's so funny and silly and mean in her own little way that it never fails to cheer me up.
Love how she always pops into my room and dives into my bed complaining it's so cold before launching into her
happy exclamations of 'talk to me about xxx!' What I would do without her buzzing around is beyond me. Heehee

Anyway, we're going to be updating with an extremely mini-post on Jipaban tomorrow!
I'm still swamped with my own pile of work and am intending to focus completely on whatever I have left so
the post will be fully handled by my assistant separately. Crossing my fingers that everything will go brilliantly :)
Now I'm just waiting for the preview to be done. If there's time left, will definitely put it up!

In other work news, I've found other alternatives and everything looks very promising but I'm going to tread
really carefully so nothing that can go wrong goes wrong. Hopefully things will work out well and everything will
be smoothsailing and trouble-free from here!

And and and some good news that made my day...
After an incredibly long wait, the preorder for the Reissue is finally on it's way to me!
The wait was so long, I completely forgot about it so it was a very pleasant surprise when I received this:

Yayayayay.

I didn't like the idea of waiting for multiple bags to get to me so I put off the idea of getting a new oversized bag but...
now I can go back to deciding what I want especially since the pound has dropped brilliantly.
Everyone always says Paris is the cheapest to get bags but thats wrongwrongwrong (okay maybe for some).
But I honestly believe that for Bal & Chanel, London is the place to get everything.
The range is good, the price is good and best of all you can get more without the guilt hahaha.

Have a million other pictures to post from my Korea trip, Mag's 18th at Les Amis and an awesome Peking Duck
dinner I had with V at Jade Fullerton but all of that will have to wait for another time because it's back to work for me.

Some of you have been asking me to set up a formspring and it's so interesting and fascinating I did just that hahaha.
Didn't have the time to broadcast the link on my old blog previously so here it is!
http://formspring.me/clarechan
Ask me anything! :)

2010-05-09T09:23:00.000+08:00

Miissoproperlytired.
Just spent the entire night from 6PM till now clearing emails and have finally hit the gmail limit again.
It's nice to know that I have a proper excuse to scoot off and take a break without feeling guilty or
having that niggling feeling at the back of my head.

The emails the past week have seriously been insane.
I don't think I've ever had to deal with such a horde of cross/indignant customers before.

And honestly, I don't blame them.
I think if I were any one of them I'd be hopping mad at me as well.

I thought I could finally go off for a nice, fun trip but I returned only to be met with piece after piece of lousy news.

I really dislike having to clear up after someone else just because they're not responsible enough.
Here I am working my ass off trying to make things work, trying to get things done on time
but there you have the other side screwing everything up again, again and again and I have to take the rap.

And it stinks because it's not like I can point the finger and go, oh you know it's them; it's not my fault.
Because simply, no one cares. And rightfully so, no one should have to care.
What happens behind the scenes are irrelevant. I was the one who promised to deliver and I failed.

And I'm trying to learn how to take that in my stride.
Just because someone else fails to deliver to me, doesn't mean I have an excuse to fail to deliver to my customers.

Have been bummed with some of the emails that have come in recently because they can be pretty harsh.
But I think I really need to suck it up and look past all of that so I can see where the problem is exactly and deal with it.

And that's what I intend to do. Deal with it.
Face the shit, rectify it and make sure it doesn't ever happen again.

I'm fully aware that I can't fix the problem immediately because of the interrelatedness
of the chain of processing but I've taken the necessary steps (maybe not the best, but at least they're better)
and I'm going to work on them and better them until I'm satisfied and my customers are satisfied.

I am going to nip this shit in the bud and handle it calmly and graciously so that we can all move on to rainbows & happiness.

2010-05-08T04:53:00.001+08:00

testing
one chew chee.