Monday, July 29, 2013

Birthday Celebration: Day 3 (Boyfriend's Date)

Last post about my birthday, sorry that it dragged so long.

On my actual birthday, I took leave from work and spent some quality time with the bf. We didn't do anything too fancy, just a day out together. It doesn't sound like much but it means a lot especially when I'm mostly too tired to bother to dress up and go out lately.

Wore this Dolly kei inspired outfit:
Inner shirt: Uniqlo
Lace Corset: 2nd hand from mom
Skirt: Snidel
Shawl: Borrowed from mom
Bag: Borrowed from mom
Shoes: Itti & Otto
 

Makeup was light with Dollywink No. 2 lashes and only mascara on my bottom lashes. Basic contouring was done and blush was applied just below my eyes.

We shopped abit before catching the movie Despicable Me 2 and had dinner at our favourite Japanese eatery.

Saw this sign on a display piece at Franc Franc, so funny!

The bf was pretty happy with the gift I got for him from Cosfest. It's a cat from the Monster Hunter game and for a home made toy, it's done exceedingly well! The body and tail can be bent to fit snuggly on your shoulder and attached by a pin on its belly.
 
Got some gifts from the bf too, he's always surprising me on my birthday, but he always gives me a clue to what he gets for me and I'm usually able to figure out from the clue hahah

Mawaru Penguindrum artbook!


It's so beautiful! I love the sketches and looking at how much planning it took for all the poses, there are at least 3-4 sketches with just minor differences in the hands and angling in a lot of scenes from the opening song and the Princess of the Crystal's entrance. It reminds me cosplay, where such minor details also affect the overall look and feel you get from a photo
 

He also got me a Princess of the Crystal nendroid. She's accompanying me at work now and yells at me to stop slacking off and get work done!
 
 
I had a really great time during my birthday this year and I'd just like to thank everyone who sent a birthday wish.
 
In the mean time, work has been getting more intense, I almost feel like I'm at a breaking point, but I'm telling myself to just ride it out, get tougher and learn from it. So apologies if I don't update as often as I'd like to, I'm just usually too tired to muster up the brain power to write a post. I do have some posts lined up, so I'll definitely get them out as soon as I can.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Birthday Celebration: Day 2 (Spa & Family)

The 2nd day of my birthday celebrations was with my family, my mom took me out for some shopping and a day at the spa for a total body massage, I needed it bad as my body has been aching and gone stiff lately.

Barely any makeup on, I only used the BB cream and mascara that Steph gave, didn't wanna waste time doing full makeup since is was definitely gonna be washed away during the spa session
 

Super comfortable outfit:
90's style My Little Pony t-shirt: Cosplay event booth
Polka dotted shorts: Part of the birthday gift collection from Steph
Pink cross necklace: Taobao
Black lambskin shoes: Chanel

At the spa, we enjoyed a session in the sauna, followed by a soak in the bubble bath before getting full body massages. The bubble bath was crazy full of bubbles, they were so high, you could literally disappear in them! See the black blob in the pic? That's my mom's head, and she looks like she's being consumed by the bubbles. You can't even see where the tub is!
 
After the spa session, we did alittle more shopping around the area
 


I spotted this dress in a shop and after tryng it, I was in love! The cut and length made it conservative enough for the office, but the leather and metal stud detailing made it less serious, perfect as a weekend dress too! The price however, was bit too high for me, at $80++ I wasn't willing to splurge so much on it, but my mom offered to pay half for it, so I gladly took it home!
 
My sister's gift, I haven't read any good books in awhile but my sis really recommends this. Gonna use it with the bookmark she got me as a souvenir from her trip to Paris
 
We also had dinner at an amazing Japanese restaurant near home. But the food was so yummy that I forgot to take any pictures and just dived for it the moment the waitress set it down on the table. My dad says he'll help to pay half the cost for a new laptop for my birthday present as my present one is getting impatiently slow and wonky. I'm now trying to decide between continuing as a PC user or switch to Mac, hmmm, any opinions? 

Monday, July 22, 2013

Birthday Celebration: Day 1 (Hair Modelling & Date with Steph)

My birthday was last week, on the 15th to be exact. I knew that I'd probably be celebrating it with family and friends individually but I didn't expect it to a 3 day affair LOL! 

Anyway, my first day on celebration was with Steph on the 13th. She kindly accompanied me to get my hair done by the newly opened Naoki Ashihara by Ash salon at Liang Court. I was their hair model that day and after bout 4-5 hours of colouring and cutting (and patient waiting by Steph  >.<"), my hair looked and felt incredible.

Steph kindly helped me take pictures for the blog, here's a pic of the Director, Teiji-san, checking my hair
 

The other guy is Kelvin, who did most of my cutting and colouring, under the watchful eye of Teiji-san of course.
 

After cutting my hair, the hair dye was applied and then cling wrap was placed on top of my head. I left it entirely up to them to decide the cut and colour. The only things I told them was that I wanted to maintain my hair length and that I worked in a corporate office so bright hair colours were a definite no.
 
Getting the royal treatment! Feels awesome to have your hair blown and curled by not one, but two professional stylists.

Took the obligatory photo outside the salon, but the salon people were really sweet and kept asking Steph to join in the picture. Check out how amazing my hair looks after everything!!!

Picture with Kelvin, he was surprised and bit shy that I wanted a picture with him haha
With Atsuko, the main contact point I had with the salon, she was really sweet and friendly and looked amazing!!! Even her outfit of a simple top and white jeans made her stand out amongst the crowd.

Another pic with Teiji-san, he's really funny and kept complimenting Steph and asked if she could be a hair model too hahaha
 
 
After being pampered, Noriaki- san, the one who introduced the salon to me and the mastermind behind StreetAngels , asked if we could do some shots for the site. I was more than happy to oblige! You can see me as the model of the day on 2nd August and at 12:26pm, Steph will appear on 1st August, 22nd November (her birthday, yay!!) and at 12:25pm. Be sure to check out the website, facebook page or handphone app to see our pictures!
 
I'm definitely incredibly happy with my hair, the colour is a dark brown mixed with a reddish-pink tinge. It is understated enough for the office but not boring and the cut is so easy to manage. I could curl it inwards with a hair curling iron or Velcro curlers, or if I simply brush it through, I'm all set for work. I'll probably go back as a paying customer next time.
 
Took this selfie as I was waiting for Steph and Noriaki-san
 

Outfit:
Babydoll camisole: Katie
Black sheer dress: Taobao
Belt: Taobao
Choker: Taobao
Dolfie print stockings: Bought from a friend
Shoes: Taobao
Bag: Mety Damali
 

Steph treated me to dinner by bringing me to Yayoiken, I had been wanting to try the place but there was always a long queue. I ordered the cheese hamburg set (top pic) as I was starving, while Steph had the yofu hamburg with ebi fry. I loved it! The food was really really yummy! Thanks Steph!

Camwhore of us! A must-do every time we meet haah!
 

Steph gave me a birthday gift bag filled with lovely stuff inside this Louis Vuitton paper bag. Hahaha Classy!
 

The gift bag contained a high-neck long puff sleeved lace dress (perfect for work!), a cute shorts with tulle overlay and studded with stars (perfect for cult party), Benefit Sugar Addict makeup tester set, Hello Kitty Hyper curl mascara, BB cream and OMG!!! A pair of Verum by Grimoire stockings, I nearly died when I saw it in the bag!! Not shown are a cute pair of polka dotted high-waisted shorts (it's in the wash) and a embroidered ethnic print scarf that I've left in the office to keep me warm (and to let me feel her lurrrvvvveeee as I wrap myself in it to not freeze to death in the office)
 
A look at the full length of the Verum by Grimoire stockings *sobs* omg its so beautiful, and I can't believe it's mine! I must think of a wonderful outfit to do it justice and let it's beauty shine through!!

Here's what the Benefit Sugar Addict set contained, Benetint Lip and Cheek Stain, High Beam highlighter, Sugarbomb bronzer/blush and Sugarbomb lipgloss. I've always wanted to try the Benetint lip and cheek stain and now I can! The entire set is great for creating a nude but polished look, so it's perfect for my work makeup
 
 
Once again, thanks Steph for the great day and presents, I'm sorry I made you wait for me during the hair process >_< let's meet up again soon! Bitches forever!

Friday, July 19, 2013

Cosfest 2013 (Day 2)

Really late post about day 2 of Cosfest, a lot has happened since then but I'll write about them as soon as I can. I've just been really tired out after work lately but enough bout me, let's get back to the event.

I had originally planned to cosplay Toph from the Avatar: Legend of the Airbender series, and I had even planned to do it Mini cosplaying as Sokka. Unfortunately, my tailor was so bogged down with orders and paid so much detail to my Rapunzel cosplay that she completely forgot to do my Toph costume. I was screaming mad but I knew yelling at her would achieve nothing, so after a quick call to Mini, explaining the situation, I ended up breaking down and crying from the disappointment. I had also wasted my money speed ordering my wigs and contact lens so I was really upset about the whole thing.

In the end, I reused my cosplay of Freya from Chobits for Cosfest day 2. However, on the morning of the day, my left heel gave way. Luckily, the room next to us (full of our other cosplay friends) had shoe gum, so after applying it, I could still walk around the event, but I couldn't rest my entire weight on it. By that time, I was really upset about the whole thing so it really put a dark cloud over my mood for the rest of the day.

Met plenty of friends again during the day.

Most of them were actually featured in my previous post, recognise any of them? 

One thing that did lift my mood was being able to finally meet Reika! Mini, Jo and I woke up especially early to prep and queue up at her booth before the queue got too long.

After she autographed her picture books for us, we hung around near her booth and luckily for us, she decided to leave her booth to allow the growing crowd to take pictures of her. Unfortunately mine are bit blurry, so I here's a more professional shot of her.
 
Jo kindly took a polaroid of us
 

I was also able to spot this Thai cosplayer called Zeasonal amongst the huge crowd. Doesn't she look amazing as the main character from Darker Than Black? I've been admiring her on her facebook page for awhile now.
 
My amazing friends, Skrei and Borupen cosplaying Trinity Blood. Look at the details!!
 
Found Robin and Wonder Girl! Wonder girl actually recognised me as the Zatanna cosplayer and I recognised her as the Supergirl that nearly knocked me off my feet as she sprinted with full force right at me in excitement
 
Met these two Legend of Korra cosplayers. They admitted that it was their first time cosplaying and I must say that it's pretty good! Now I really want to get my Asami costume ready.
 
I was so excited when I spotted this Last Exile cosplayer from afar! For one, I haven't seen anyone cosplay the series locally, and also, she was cosplaying the less well-known first season of the series. I told her I had been wanting to cosplay Dio, her character's brother, and she told me that if I ever did, I should contact her and we could do a shoot together. Yay!


There was also this amazing X/1999 team walking around, but they were split up most of the time, so I only met a few of the team members. Still, it's an amazing series that deserves more love and I was so happy to see people actually still interested in cosplaying the series.
 
These were the photobooks that I had Reika autograph, as well as the postcard in the middle. She was surprised to see them as they were only sold in Malaysia, the one on the top right was sold during the Cosfest event and luckily for me, my friend, Janice, helped me get it before it sold out.
 
All the coscards I collected through the 2 days. I'm amazed at the number of new people I met that day.
 

 
Oh yes, this video showed my amazing Disney Princess team and many of my friends too. Do have a look and don't forget to check out the 1st and 3rd video too for more amazing cosplays
 
Overall, I did have tons of fun and it was amusing to spend the last night, drinking and telling ghost stories to each other as we all crammed ourselves at the balcony so that the smokers could have their fix without missing anything. I also got to meet amazing Thai cosplayers, Narutan and Tama, they were so funny and down to earth despite looking so amazing when all dolled up.
 
I'm definitely looking forward to next year!

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Cosfest 2013 (Day 1)

Quick recap on what happened on day 1 of Cosfest 2013 last Saturday before I'm off to bed!

I cosplayed Rapunzel from the movie Tangled as I was part of a team of Disney princesses, Mini helped me do up the wig and despite being pretty heavy due to the sheer length and volume, it was quite bearable.

Lots of camwhores with friends that day, everyone looks amazing with their cosplays
 

More camwhores, despite having made arrangements with another group of friends to stay at their chalet, I ended up crashing at Blacklash's (the sexy Ada Wong in the middle and bottom right pics) chalet for most of the 3 days. The little girl on the left bttom pic was such a cutie, she was being brought around by her mom and couldn't have been more then 5 or 6 years old! She was such a shy little thing.


Camwhores with my amazing Disney Princess team! We had a Snow White, Aurora, Merida, Jasmine, Mulan, Tinkerbell, Pocahontas, Ariel, Megara and Belle. Everyone looked gorgeous! 


I also took part in the Cure cosplay walk that day. Was bit disappointed that because of it, I was held up from joining my team in many shoots, so there's a lot of pictures of my team flying around but without me :( However, it certainly was fun to walk onstage though I was winging it most of the time with my posing and was super worried bout my heavy wig falling right off my head right on the stage,
 
Shoot with some of my team members, Astellecia Skye (the one cosplaying Mulan) was the leader of the team and the one who invited me to join it. Really grateful for her doing so as I'd never have gotten to know these other gorgeous ladies otherwise.
 

Solo shot of me, I'm bit disappointed that there isn't the "flip" in my fringe but other then that, the wig was fantastic and my costume was pretty comfortable to run around in all day. I was happily dancing around backstage whilst waiting for my turn to walk on stage for the Cure walk.
 
 
There were so many incredible cosplayers that day but I shan't spam you guys with the images, so I've only put up a few of my friends' pictures.
 

Selicia cosplaying Hanji from Shingeki no Kyojin, doesn't she look spot on like the character?! The titan is Lawliet, who was crazily running around and trolling everyone
 

I dare you to find me a better Hanji, seriously...
 

I also met this cosplayer that I was admiring her costume from afar. I can't quite remember the series she's cosplaying as, but I did ask her how did she do her amazing headgear as it looked like a solid piece of moulded plastic both up close and from afar. She laughed and told me it was nothing more than foam with multiple layers of primer to give it the shine and hardness.
 
 
After the event, I went back to Blacklash's chalet where a whole gang of us ended up sharing a sukiyaki dinner. Her boyfriend and fellow cosplay photographer, Rescend, was really kind to help us buy the groceries needed for the night.
 
Here's a picture of Rescend (on the left) and the other guys looking mighty pleased with themselves hahahaha
 
 
I will be uploading a post on day 2 soon, but in the mean time, have a look at what cosplay photographers do when they're waiting around during the waning hours of an event:
 
 



Have fun watching the video!