Fashion Quarterly x GHD Spring Fashion Preview

Hiya!

Super late post again! Arietta at KnotJustAScarf has already been posting up photos from the show for several days now... See all her posts regarding the show here, and her thoughts on the evening here!

I was in the second row, and didn't bring my DSLR so my iPhone photos were pretty shoddy to say the least. Fashion Quarterly finally released their professional photos on fashion & beauty for the show today, so here are my favourite pieces from the show, and some extras around the location, and of course: selfies! ^^

The show consisted of four styles, each with four outfits: Tribal, Art Pop, 70s Glam, and  Embellishment.
I personally didn't like the Tribal set much. Not because it's the polar opposite of gyaru aesthetics, but I just personally didn't like any of the outfits at all.

Also, the photographers didn't capture every full outfit, so all three of my favourites have the shoes cropped off. I'm pretty lucky they had close-ups of my favourites actually, seeing as they didn't publish many photos from the runway.

all high quality images, unless otherwise specified, belong to FQ.

Trelise Cooper sweatshirt, Topshop dres, Chaos & Harmony heels (not pictured)

The above outfit is my favourite in the show. Didn't really feel much for the shoes, but loved loved everything else including the hair/make!

Helen Cherry top, Karen Walker skirt, Karen Walker boots (hardly pictured)

I'm so sad that the photographers cropped off so many shoes. I couldn't see them from my seat so I was really looking forward to these photos.

Plus, the model above had really nice legs and her over-the-knee boots looked so good with the outfit. :<

Karen Walker dress and pendant, Nude heels (not pictured)

How cool is this dress? Seriously. I seem to like a lot of outfits worn by this model. Perhaps she's my bias? hahaha

Behind-the-scenes ~ it looks like so much fun! 

Demo stations and goodie bag contents ~ 

I didn't really like the outfits from the tribal lineup (which this hairstyle is for), but the model looks stunning in this shot! Her 3/4 profile is so nice QAQ

Am I being creepy? Nope.

This is THE only flattering candid of me. In the whole world. Ever. Just leaving it here forever :)

I wasn't even the main focus of the photo. But that's alright, my jawline is fabulous QAQ

Poncho: Honeys, Dress: Forever New, Necklace: Diva, Bag: Galaday, Heels: Wild Pair.
Sorry for the iPhone quality!

I like gifts haha

Bunny teef! (Arietta looks so business-woman!)

This selfie is also on my instagram I think.

Selfie (filtered) from Arietta's camera <3

Drinks before the show were down in Bedford Soda & Liquor, while the show itself was held in the adjacent building up in the Sapphire Room. Bedford Soda & Liquor was pretty darn hard to find imo. It's in the back of a building with several different bars. I felt so awkward walking through in my dress, sky high heels, and fluffy poncho, while the guests in the other establishments in the building were dressed in work clothes. Definitely something I need to toughen up on ><

Outside the Sapphire Room

Awesome lights inside Bedford Soda & Liquor

Awesome shelves

Hehe this photo somehow looks a little creepy...

Panning left - diner type number signs? Perhaps I've watched too many American movies

Bar counter, and the massive bowl of punch

Grapefruit and something punch. Bitter, but c'mon it's so pretty!

Serious blogger hard at work. Photo taken by not-so-serious blogger (moi).

edit: Forgot to put up this last photo! I got a strand tested at the beauty booth :D

The strand stayed pretty put for the two hours or so before I removed my extensions ^^
Photo courtesy of Arietta Yin

Hope you enjoyed this post! This was such a rare venture into non-alternative fashion for me lol.


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First impressions of Depot Eatery

Today I'm spending my entire day at a training and examination event for LabVIEW (it's free!) which unfortunately starts at a grossly inhumane 8am.

Seriously, why are these out-of-uni events always so damn early!?

I hope I don't fall asleep -0-;;

Since I got here half an hour early, I decided to grab a coffee near the skycity convention centre where the training is held. *THANK YOU NZ BUSSES FOR BEING INCONSISTENTLY UNRELIABLE* (#｀A´)

There's a really awesomely deco-ed 'murican style diner next door to the Depot, but I wondered if they had good coffee since everyone inside appears to be eating. Plus, good coffee in a diner? Hmmm idk...never had good coffee in North America...

So I ended up at the Depot!

I made an absolute fool of myself ordering coffee lmao. They don't provide a coffee menu or anything! And the cashier is where you order, but the cashier is facing the barista area, on the right when you enter so I totally didn't notice wtf. The barista lady must think I'm dense since I tried to order from her. Especially as most people here are in suits, and I'm in my fluffy pink poncho, leopard chiffon skirt, LizLisa bag, pastel bookcase, and pastel phone .-. Not out of place at all.

The Depot actually looks pretty awesome. The rustic setting with open kitchens is really nice, definitely something homey, chill, and all-round different from the corporate offices all in the CBD!

Cool rack of wine bottles and various artifacts like fish skeletons, old tins, and random old stuff I don't recognise, to complete the look.

The one thing I find a bit strange is tap wine.

Yes. Tap WINE. Haven't heard of that before have you?

Behold. I wonder if the taste of wine in the pipe is compromised...

My coffee turns out to be quite good, surprisingly. I have no idea how much it costs (upwards of $4 for sure), but it's definitely better than the coffee at any of the uni cafes~

I told the barista I wanted to have it here, but she still stuck it in a takeaway cup. I see how it is. >>

All in all, I've heard good things about the food here so I'll definitely visit again in the evening sometime. Unfortunately this place is too far out of the way to drop by before my 9am starts at uni.

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Japan Day in Auckland 2014 (Annual Festival) [Confetti]

So Japan Day in Auckland this year was on the 23rd of Feb, so this post is just over a week late (awks sorry!) ;w;

Japan Day festival this year happened to fall on Japan’s Cat Day! At least it seemed to, since most people I follow on instagram are so many hours behind me that their nyan nyan day (22/2) posts appeared on the 23rd for me.

The festival this year was held at ASB showgrounds. I haven’t been in the past few years, so in my eyes the festival has gained a lot of recognition and has grown heaps!

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Auckland Chinese Lantern Festival and presents from Malaysia! [Confetti]

Hiya!

It’s been a while since I posted, sorry for the brief hiatus!

I’ve taken so many photos these two weeks, but being the instagram addict that I am, every photo has to be filtered yadi-yadah. Long story short, I simply didn’t have time to prepare all the photos for posting recently ><

Is it better to have few, but good quality, photos…or to have many, but average quality photos???
I swear that is a blogger’s biggest dilemma :’( #firstworldproblems

Anyway, last weekend we had the annual Auckland Chinese Lantern Festival! As usual, the festivities spanned from Friday till Sunday – with fireworks on Sunday evening.

I originally planned to go on Sunday so that I could stay and watch the fireworks, but I had to leave early. AND THIS YEAR THE FIREWORKS FLEW OFF THE SKY TOWER TOO!! So unfortunate T_T

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AT Transport / Transdev FAIL [rant]

Ok so I live in the north quarters of Auckland, where we mostly have buses instead of trains because all the houses are super spread out and hilly, the country is not wide enough, and long story short- trains/metro would be impossible.

However over this summer, I have been working at a place in central/bordering south of Auckland, which is really close to one of the train stations. Because it's so far away from home, I moved closer to work for two months. But now that I only do a few days here and there, I decided to move home and just do the long commute from home which includes a trip on the bus, and then transfer to train.

Auckland's train system is really simple. Like, REALLY simple. There's only 4 lines, and 5 platforms in the main station (Britomart) downtown CBD. Because I rarely take the train (read: never), I don't know the stations, especially the really end-stop ones which is what is displayed on the train and platforms to indicate direction.

The train I need to take the is the red Southern line that ends at Pukekohe. My stop is Ellerslie (circled pink), and there are 2 trains that go down this line past my stop.

So I get to Britomart, and like yesterday, I ask the concierge which train to take because there isn't a single train map like above until you've entered the gate and walked halfway down a platform. He tells me to take the train leaving really soon heading to Swanson, so OK I run for it and manage to catch the train.

Turns out Swanson is way out west. There isn't a single stop along the way to Swanson that sounds REMOTELY like 'Ellerslie', but I forgive the guy cause you know, everyone has their off days and it was 8am. Thankfully, the train stops at Newmarket which is on the way to Ellerslie anyway. No big harm done, just some time lost.

So I get off at Newmarket, and because I had been told the wrong train once this morning, I was a bit cautious and wanted to find the train myself. But NO. Turns out there isn't a single map like the above around Newmarket Station. All they had were these posters that had West line, South Line, East Line, and stuff which didn't list any of the Stations. AND IT WASN'T JUST ONE OF THOSE POSTERS EITHER. COULDN'T THEY PUT UP SOME USEFUL MAPS TOO!?

At a loss for solutions, I went and asked the concierge at Newmarket station which train I should take. He tells me that a train is leaving so I run for it (again), not even looking at what train it is because there's no time to lose. I get on the train and what do you know, its a train BACK TO BRITOMART. Like, I am so un-amused at this point I was just RAGING inside. When I get back to Britomart, thankfully there are maps along the station platforms so I found a map and managed to get to work.

Consequences:
- huge amount of stress
- half an hour late for work (when I was originally due to be 10 minutes early)
- migraine from the rage
- wasted 30~45 minutes on the trains, and an hour typing a long af complaint and this post.

Transdev and Auckland Transport, you are even worse in my books than you were before. If that's even possible.


On the other hand, the guy working on the train on my final trip to work was super kind and nice. Though, it could be because I was looking so angry he was scared I would snap.



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Photoshoot on Auckland Anniversary Day

Yesterday (the last monday of January?) is the annual Auckland Anniversary Day.

I stupidly thought that there would be no-one out on this day, and requested to do my photoshoot for PretzelPOP magazine at the beautiful and new(ish) Silo Park in downtown Auckland. It's a perfect location for the style of photos I wanted-

note: all taken off my pinterest board

But no. Silly me didn't realise ahead of time that Silo Park, the prettiest and most tourist-attracting place in town would be the prime location for hosting Auckland's anniversary festival.

Sometimes I feel like my brain is floating in some other dimension :/

Anyhow, my photographer yesterday (Anniv. Day) is from our uni photography club. It was the first time I got to work with someone from our uni, and omg the shoot was so fast. Like, is this how it should be? 'Cause I'm totally loving it >0<!! Plus, the photos came out suuuuuper nice. I've only seen them on the camera, at the shoot, but I bet when they've been processed they will be absolutely stunning eep!

Like, I kid you not, I felt like i was on one of these spreads:

*Sobs in happiness*

The photos may not be out for a while. They will come out on PretzelPOP first since I don't want to ruin the surprise of magazine spreads before the first issue comes out, but I will be blogging up any extra photos from the shoot ^^

SO MUCH HAPPINESS!!

Oh and new CLs for 2014 have been opened! Tried my first pair for this shoot. Reviews for these lenses will be out after my 2013 lens roundup :)

preview photo from my instagram @snowrii

Dinner catch-up with my girls~

Tonight I went across town (Ellerslie -> Forrest Hill) which is like an hour drive, to have dinner with my high school friends!


The host today held a dinner event before, but i missed that one. I think I was in Canada? Anyway, everyone said her cooking is AH-MAZING so we kept pestering her to hold another eveent, and today it finally happened!!


There were several friends I haven't seen in many months, and some that I spent New Years eve playing drinking games with. We rarely get to meet up during the study semester since everyone is doing different degrees, and are super busy *ahem procrastinating* so we try to make the most of summer vacation!


Our lovely host made many Taiwanese based dishes, but she put a spin on everything and it was super nice! I got to deep fry the chicken, and the parsley, garlic, and apparently ginger too (I don't eat ginger) were so good! We agreed that next time, half the deep frying will be of parsley LOL

The Feast

We only had 9 people, but there was so much food!! Thankfully there wasn't much left over, though our host is now sorted for sugary drinks and snacks for the next fortnight hehe~ (she told us not to bring food, so we ended up having a huge variety of drinks to choose from)

We also had really nice 'tofu tiramisu' omg. First time in my life I felt healthy eating a dessert!! It was made with the soft jelly tofu blended instead of using mascarpone, and it tasted really good!! It is of course a tiny bit firmer than a cheese/egg mix, but the flavour and texture (on the most part) were not compromised in the least. I will hopefully be half-trying it this weekend as I still have a sachet of mascarpone in the fridge ><;


This weekend, I aim to upload at least 1 review on Confetti, which of course I will link from here too. If I slack off now I bet there will be nothing done when uni starts! Not to mention... I miss putting on gyaru makeup!

Also, extra goal this year:

Up my sujimori game!

Yosh'

Auckland’s Street of Christmas Lights [Confetti]

So last night, my mom was super motivated to go out (instead of staying home watching the telly drinking wine), so we decided to go for a walk down my wifey’s road (Honeysuckle Lane) to see their Christmas lights.

Honeysuckle Lane is pretty well known on the shore for being the most cheerfully decorated road during xmas, but this year several households seem to have withdrawn from the annual tradition :/

I kinda miss the house that used to even open their garage to display some religious scenes :’(

So my mom and I went to Honeysuckle, decided after a short walk that it wasn’t quite festive enough.

So we drove back home, put on makeup, did our hair, changed clothes, got all dolled up and went to THE best xmas deco-ed street in Auckland, if not the whole of New Zealand- Franklin Road, Ponsonby.



Christmas lights galore ❤❤❤

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