『ＳＨＩＹＵ ☆ ＢＬＯＧ』

New Beauty Blog

2014-02-13T05:08:00.002-08:00

As the title says, I've started up a new blog for beauty related things! I actually started this blog last year around April because I had all these products that I had so much to say about but no where to say it. Then summer came along and ironically, I became more busy and soon enough school started too and I nearly forgot about that blog (and this blog too... for that matter). BUT in any case, my new year's resolution is to keep up with my blogs and update when I get the chance and I've been doing pretty with that so far!

For that reason, I thought I'd share the news on my personal blog! This current blog really is kind of like a diary to me and I literally post about events in my life so I don't really expect people to read it. So for the *more interesting* life posts, I will probably be posting it on my beauty blog.

A screenshot of my new blog from my phone:

So from now on, this old blog 'SHIYU BLOG' will contain:
- my personal life events (school, work, friends, dates, etc.)
- projects / art / cosplay in progress
- occasional rant about stupid things in the world
- occasional reflection on life and goals
- my random thoughts and ideas

AND my new blog 'Florid Escape' will contain:
- beauty product reviews
- makeup looks and tutorials
- beauty tips and tricks
- Interesting life posts (travel - going to Tokyo and Taiwan later this year, Fashion / Beauty / Art news that I am excited about, cosplay, etc)

http://florid-escape.blogspot.ca

Going to be hopefully posting something on Florid Escape consistently, maybe every week or two weeks? I have high hopes for this project and I'm hoping to get the word out there so wish me luck!

Overdue Update on My Life

2014-01-27T15:29:00.002-08:00

It's been a LONG while since I've updated this blog, partially because I pushed it back for too long and I know I'd have to have a good couple hours in order to catch up on everything.

Lately I've been keeping myself quite busy with main work, school and of course some time for Akira and my friends as well. I feel as though 2013 was a huge transitional phase for me where I am finally understanding myself and my goals a little better.

For one, I've always known that I enjoyed artistic and creative ventures. I loved drawing and fashion and creating things. Though I realized that something in the back of my head stopped me from pursuing art as anything more seriously than doodling in a sketchbook for no one to see. Perhaps because my mom had always taunted me about the future being difficult and dark, insisting that there's no stable future in artistic endeavors (I wanted to be a fashion designer but "who needs fashion when the world's in a recession?" was her argument). I didn't want to believe her but part of me did and another part of me wanted to appease her.

So I applied for economics, convincing myself that this was what I was good at and what I enjoyed but the more I thought about it, the more I questioned why I had chosen this path. I was so convinced that I'd be happy as long as I graduate from a prestigious university, have a stable income and have a family. This was what most people would want, isn't it? I had probably unconsciously suppressed my artistic side in order to cope with what I imagined to be my future because for the first couple years of university, I barely touched my sketchbook.

But maybe those few years that I lacked art in my life was what it took for me to realize that I won't enjoy the mundane life I had settled for. I wanted to do something that I could be passionate about, something that I would love! I suddenly believed in myself again, that I could be successful in doing what I love and there were probably many factors that triggered it in me.

I found someone whose passion inspired me and gave me the encouragement I needed. I began working in a place that allowed for me to see first-hand, an industry that promotes creativity, art and beauty. I had realized that the world isn't such a cruel place as I had grown up to believe.

I feel as though I've opened up my paths again and as cliche as it sounds, I finally believe that I can succeed in anything I want and it is the absolute MOST liberating feeling. So in the past year, I've signed myself up for some Visual Arts courses as electives (which I'm taking now), I'm planning on studying make-up artistry after grad and traveling the world as a life goal. I'm just overall more motivated, grateful and enjoying life as it is.

So far this year, I've already booked a flight to Taipei / Tokyo with Carol. I'm also looking forward to graduation so that I can do the things I really want. I'm hoping to take the freelance makeup program at Blanche and I'm already trying to build my skills, practicing on people. I've also been talking to Akira about spending a year in Montreal working, to explore the area and learn some French. This will be an amazing year!

Lonsdale Quay Market Date

2013-05-05T01:03:00.000-07:00

We decided to go visit Lonsdale Quay Market in North Vancouver since we've never gone there before. So after I got off work, I met up with Akira and we took the skytrain down to Waterfront where we transferred to take the SeaBus. I was excited to go on the SeaBus because I've only been on it once before.

When we got there, Lonsdale Quay Market was right in front of the terminal. The weather was beautiful that day and the little shops and vendors at the market were so awesome! They had a huge variety of good food (seafood, soups, deli meats, cheeses, etc.) and small shops that sold the coolest little trinkets and what not.

We stopped by this shop that sold all kinds of ethnical and religious trinkets. When I say all kinds, I literally mean all kinds. There were Buddha statues next to Jesus and wall scrolls of the wheel of life next to Ganesha. Akira and I found cool matching bracelets there and chatted with the store owner about the significance of the bracelets. We found out it was made with yak bone which was apparently a symbol of the "elder" which provided love and protection in Tibet. Carved in the yak bone bead are the 3 monkeys that "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil".

Afterwards, we went to grab a small bite and stopped at a neat salad bar. They had a huge variety of salads and it was surprisingly good too! We then went to check out the store upstairs. Again, there were a bunch of neat stores (even a random sex shop). Everything there was surprisingly reasonably priced too!

After checking out every shop in the market, we head back to downtown where we had dinner at Gyukaku. I got to eat my yummy tuna volcano roll and I was happy lol. Also bumped into my brother there which was a little weird lol.

On our way back to Akira's, we passed by a small park that's right by his apartment and I spotted a sleeping duck. I thought it was interesting to see a single duck sleeping on the brick ground of such an urban park so we walked over there to see it. I started taking pictures of it and suddenly it got up to reveal 8 little ducklings under her! It was the cutest thing ever :')

My Cosplays 2010-2012

2013-04-29T18:44:00.001-07:00

I kind of felt like organizing all the cosplays I've done into one place because they're all over the place on my Facebook and mostly private anyways. Also thought it might get me motivated to start on this summer's cosplays if I looked through all the cosplays I've done too! So here's all the cosplays up until now:

- Suzumiya Haruhi (Sakura-Con 2010)

Me and Carol at our hotel

- Black Rock Shooter (Sakura-Con 2010)

Outside S-Con Concert hall

- Nakano Azusa (Anime Evolution 2010)

Outside UBC SUB (Photo: Tagged from FB)

- Matryoshka Gumi (Sakura-Con 2011 + private photoshoot)

Someplace in East Vancouver (Photo: Wilson)

Outside S-Con concert hall

- Stocking Cop ver. (Sakura-Con 2011)

Me and some random cosplayers lol

- Hatsune Miku Love Ward ver. (Minicomi + Cos&Effect 2011)

Cat and I at Minicomi in UBC Ballroom (Photo: Tagged from FB)

Serving at CosCafe (Photo: Kelvin)

- Kiryuu Moeka (Lights and Cameras photoshoot)

At Queen Elizabeth Park (Photo: Wilson)

- Finn the Human (Anime Revolution 2012)

Eri and I outside Convention Centre (Photo: AX3 Battery)

- Kyary Pamyu Pamyu PONPONPON ver. (Anime Rev 2012)

Inside vendors (Photo: tagged from FB)

Outside Canada Place (Photo: AX3 Battery)

- Matryoshka Rin (Cos&Effect 2012)

Me and Sally at UBC (Photos: Jono)

- Marceline (Cos&Effect 2012)

Me and Eri at CosCafe (Photo: Kirk)

Mixed thoughts on Japan exchange

2013-04-03T00:24:00.003-07:00

I might have blogged about it before that I've applied to UBC's Go Global program to study in Tokyo and I was "nominated" for the program (which means Go Global has accepted my application but I still have to apply to my exchange university and get approval from them). So I'm already halfway through the process of getting there and I'm starting to have wavering thoughts.

I know that studying in Japan has been something I've wanted to try since I was in elementary school and all throughout high school but I guess I never considered all the complications.

For one, I'm planning to pay for airfare, accommodation, food, transport, etc. by myself and it's not the easiest task to save money from a part-time job while studying. I had a target goal of saving about $8000 for the 4 months that I'll be in Tokyo but considering I'm taking 5 courses and also actively in a band, I don't have enough time to work more than 15-20 hours a week.

When I began searching around the web for cheap accommodation, I realized how lost I might be in a foreign country all by myself with limited knowledge of the language. I also realized that unless I really pushed myself to socialize and make new close friends, I would probably just be going to school and coming home to my lonely apartment everyday. As fun as Tokyo can be, it wouldn't be much fun if I couldn't make any friends to hang out with.

Another thought that came to mind was that perhaps that $8000 that I work so hard for could be better spent travelling to a variety of places. Since $8000 is quite a sum of money, I could technically tour a bunch of places in Europe or Asia instead of dwelling in Tokyo.

Adding on to that, probably one of my bigger concerns is how I will survive without Akira, my friends, my cat and family. The thought of not being able to see these people for a whole 4 months makes me want to cry. Even now, when me and Akira don't meet for over a span of 4 days, we slowly become dysfunctional. Even if Akira is able to find some time off work to visit me, it wouldn't be more than a couple weeks and I won't want to see him leave... I won't be greeted by my fat black cat when I come home anymore and I can't play with Oden either.

With all these conflicting thoughts in my head about studying abroad, I've started to dread going rather than be excited. Not sure what I want to do anymore : /

My Recent Playlist

2013-03-11T04:22:00.002-07:00

I thought I'd start regularly posting (and by regularly, I most likely mean every few months) my recent favourite songs and bands that I'm listening to for the heck of it.

It's a little difficult to categorize what kind of music I listen to because it ranges quite a bit. Recent months I really got into the post-rock, experimental, instrumental, mathy rock stuff. I also like alternative kind of progressive / grunge / indies rock or maybe even space rock (?). I also got into instrumental trip-hop lately too. Then there's also the random poppy songs that I can't help but grow fond of too. In contrast, I had a little phase where I was into metal and punk a few years back. Hopefully that gives a general idea of what I listen to.

Onwards to a few of my recent favourites (in no particular order):

Tycho - "A Walk" (2011)

Radiohead - "Blow Out" (1993)

El Ten Eleven - "Hot Cakes" (2007)

Band of Skulls - "Bruises" (2012)

toe - "Past and Language" (2005?)

Muse - "Micro Cuts" (2001)

Bonobo - "Black Sands" (2010)

Toe - "I Dance Alone"

A few albums I'm constantly listening to (in no particular order):

Tycho - "Dive"
Radiohead - "Pablo Honey"
Nirvana - "Nevermind"
Band of Skulls - "Sweet Sour"
El Ten Eleven - "Every Direction is North"
Toe - "The Book About My Idle Plot On A Vague Anxiety"
Nujabes - "Samurai Champloo Music Record: Departure"
Bonobo - "Black Sands"

Valentine's Day

2013-02-15T19:43:00.000-08:00

Luckily for me, I had 2 midterms on Valentine's day so I pretty much had an all-nighter the day before and felt like a zombie at school. By the time I finished, I was so relieved but at the same time had the worst headache known to mankind.

After heading home to take a quick nap and change, I went to meet Akira at his place. Instead of going out for dinner, I asked for him to cook something up for me because I haven't really tried his cooking yet (despite it being his profession haha).

So being the ultra cheesy guy that he is, this is what I see when I step through the door.

Yup, that's a trail of flower petals leading to a bouquet of roses and presents. As cheesy as this is, I'm a sucker for these things ahah too cute.

Sneaked a pic of him doing last minute prep for our dinner hehe

About to eat!

Various cheese finger foods

Spaghetti and fish made from scratch

Avocado salad (I love avocados haha)

Heart shaped strawberries (too cute ahaha)

For presents, he bought me a cute set of pajamas to wear when I'm at his place and a little book about love superstitions and fortunes. It was such a sweet valentines and it was seriously an oasis from dealing with school and all the exams. In all honesty though, just getting to see him after such a long week itself was already enough to make me incredibly happy. I seriously get pampered way too much by this guy <3 p="">

MUSE Concert

2013-02-08T04:20:00.000-08:00

I originally planned on going to the concert early to get up to the front unlike the Metric concert but in the end, I was the late one haha. I met up with Akira and Carol at Waterfront and we skytrained to Stadium-Chinatown station to go to Rogers Arena.

It was my first time using "paperless tickets" and I was so confused. I swore that was the only option on Ticketmaster but I saw other people with tickets and I got so worried that maybe I was also supposed to have tickets that I didn't have with me. In the end, all they needed was my credit card to scan to find my tickets so that worked out. I still prefer my tickets in a more tangible form though lol

After getting inside, we went to the washroom and bought some merchandise. Akira and I both bought the band's t-shirt but different designs. When we went inside there were already quite a few people sitting on the ground saving their spots. Luckily we were able to get up to be really close.

People camping their spots before the show

As soon as the first band came on, everyone got up and rushed to the front. We had standing floor tickets so there weren't really rows but we were basically 2nd row from the front! I was really happy about that.

First band was "Band of Skulls" from UK. I previously skimmed through 1 or 2 of their songs on YouTube because I wanted to check them out since I knew they were the opening band. They didn't really catch my attention in particular but after watching them live, they were pretty good. The guitarist is great! I also found out that one of the songs that always plays at Sephora is by them. What are the chances haha

"Band of Skulls" opening band

After that band finished, there was a LONG intermission that might have been like around 45mins. They had a bunch of people setting up the stage and lights. Some people were even on ropes hanging from up high!

When Muse finally came out, everybody pushed to the front once again and us three had to stand behind these two fat obnoxious girls. They were right in the front row in front of us and they kept moving and pushing around. I tried to step forward to see past their shoulders (being short sucks in these situations) and they nonchalantly shoved me back each time I tried to do that. Nonetheless, I still had a pretty good view of everything and despite being behind those assholes, we were right up at the front!

Muse, of course, was absolutely amazing and everything I expected and more! Matt has the most amazing voice. One thing I realized about their shows is that they love extravagant lights and everything. They even had a cool grand piano rise up from underground at one point. On top of that was the trippy video light pyramid thing that shifted all over the place during the whole show. It displayed their lyric music video for Madness, some other pre-recorded material and sometimes the band or the audience too! Another cool thing was these sunglasses Matt put on for Madness that simultaneously displayed the lyric music video. They finished off with a spectacular encore with crazy lights and smoke.

Stadium full of lights before Encore

Best shot of Chris the (bassist, backing vocals)

Best shot of Matt (vocal, guitar, piano)

I enjoyed every bit of that show and it was a great experience. Only thing I disliked were the people around us that shoved around, trying to mosh. Also the drunk people who were singing (actually more like yelling at the top of their lungs) the songs louder than the band. And that one moment during the encore that my face slammed into this fat girl's sweaty back.

Definitely would see Muse play again if I get the chance! Love this band so much.

Vancouver Dine Out at PIER 7

2013-01-31T15:54:00.000-08:00

This was me and Carol's first time trying Vancouver Dine Out and we decided to try PIER 7 in Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver. Of course, I never really come out of Richmond much so this was my second time going to North Vancouver and the view of downtown from the pier was absolutely beautiful!

The restaurant itself was relatively small with what looked to be a few private rooms upstairs. The service and food were pretty decent as well. Though I'd have to say I enjoyed the appetizer and dessert much more than the entree itself.

Lobster & Scallop terrine with lobster vinaigrette, caviar & micro green salad

Braised beef shortribs with sauteed greens, 3 cheese polenta, and rib jus reduction

Vanilla white chocolate panna cotta with lemon shortbread & cranberry compote

Dark Chocolate Pave, buttermilk gel. & clemintine marmelade

The appy was quite nice and I really liked the texture. As the the entree, I wasn't too big a fan on the greens they used and maybe I'm just not used to it but the combination of polenta and braised beef was a bit off for me as well. The vanilla white chocolate panna cotta for dessert was really nice though. It was not too sweet and I liked the combination of that with gooseberry on the side.

A few extra photos I took with the crew at my house before heading there:

Oden Recording @ Nimbus

2013-01-28T15:32:00.000-08:00

Oden had planned on doing recordings for a while but we were bombarded with a show in addition to work and school. When we finally planned to re-do our ZOOM recordings at Soundhouse Studios, Brandon messaged us and offered to help us record and mix at Nimbus Recording School so we were stoked because we could actually use professional quality equipment.

Unfortunately, it was a horrible time slot for us from 9pm to 9am and Akira had to work at 7:30am the next morning. For that reason, we were hoping to quickly get a few recordings done and leave early but set-up for the drums alone took literally 4 hours so we began recording at 1am. At that point, we were all exhausted out of our minds.

Regardless, it was a really fun and interesting experience as it my first time recording at an actual studio! It was also really nerve wracking to know that we were being recorded and that I had to play perfectly orz At least I'll be more mentally prepared for next time, now that I know what to expect haha

Akira pretending to be a rebel

Akira's 23rd Birthday

2013-01-13T15:53:00.000-08:00

For his birthday I bought him the LINE 6 DL4 Delay Modeler Pedal that he really wanted because I knew that if I didn't buy it for him, he would eventually buy it for himself anyway. I also made him a card where I hand painted a picture of him on the front.

I also baked him a New York cheesecake : 3

He had work on his birthday so we met at night. We went to Nanchuu for dinner and got Ramen, a few sides and drinks. They had the most delicious avocado seafood salad ever!

After dinner, we went to our room and I got him to read his card and open his present. It turned out, just as I suspected, he accidentally saw his present in my room a few days before because I left it in the open orz. Regardless, he seemed to be really happy so I'm glad!

The morning after, we went to Kam do for some HK style cafe food. We ordered the greasiest foods ever: Bacon wrapped sausage skewers, french toast, french fries, spring rolls and garlic bread. It was so yummy and filling!

On our way home, we stopped by Lansdowne Zellers to check out their closing sale since Akira and Genki will be moving out to a place right by Brighouse station on February 1st and they have no furniture / appliances.

After we parted, I went home to nap a bit before heading out again to meet up with Akira and his friends to go to Manzo. I hadn't planned on drinking much but I accidentally had one too many drinks orz. It also didn't help that the alcohol hit me later so I thought I was totally fine at one moment and then I was wasted the next. Luckily, I didn't throw up but I had a bad hangover the next morning. I remember most of everything and I did a few kind of embarrassing things but it was all in good fun!

(Photo cred: Ego)

New Year's Eve 2012-2013

2013-01-02T15:00:00.000-08:00

For NYE, Oden and Carol decided on chilling together. We decided on grabbing a room somewhere in Richmond so that we could drink privately and party it up.

I felt like dressing up a bit since it was new years so I wore my new galaxy dress from Romwe!

Before drinking, we went to Guu at Aberdeen and got some food. They even let us buy a couple bottles of the Guu beer to bring back (I think there's a law against restaurants selling alcohol to-go)

After eating, we went to our room at Radisson and played some drinking games. After counting down, we drank a bit more and went to sleep. Carol, Kuma and I all had work in the morning the next day so we really needed sleep.

We got up at around 8 the next morning. Apparently both me and Kuma heard Carol sleeptalking saying "You're the best!" LOL We went to IHOP to grab breakfast before we parted for work.

Oden Live @ Paradigm Shift

2012-12-29T14:39:00.000-08:00

We were invited to play with a bunch of local bands in Vancouver at a little place in Steveston. The place was actually a martial arts studio and the owner was nice enough to let us host a small bandshow there without charge!

We arrived at the venue a little early, tested out our sound and had some time to spare so we went to Waves for a little bit. The show started at around 9:30pm and there was already a good amount of people. The order of bands that played went as follows:

1. Lou & The Witchbaby

2. No, Boy

3. Oden

4. Calibre

5. Apples

6. Lockout

7. Poolsharks

So we were the third band to play and we were really happy with where we were placed in the order. I was really nervous playing because I didn't know any of the people or bands playing that night and I knew that a lot of the people watching were musicians too. When I got up on stage and started playing, I was so focused that I kind of forgot about the nervousness.

We were given about ~30mins including set-up and our setlist that night was:

1. Sad Disco

2. Clockwork

3. Ghost Town

4. Untitled 4

5. Untitled 5

We originally planned on playing Untitled 4 & 5 after Clockwork and then playing our new song and ending with Ghost Town but we realized we didn't have enough time so we cut out our new song and switched the order because we all agreed it would sound good ending with Untitled 5

Some really fucked up pics of us after the show

After the show, we chilled around for a while longer, started packing our equipment and suddenly the police showed up. Apparently we were too loud (even though it was a commercial area and all the surrounding stores were closed). They stopped the bandshow and urged everyone to leave immediately. We weren't even doing anything illegal and they threatened to arrest some people if we didn't disperse right away. Because of that unexpected turn of events, Lockout and Poolsharks were unable to perform and I heard that one of the members from Poolsharks ferried from Victoria just to play that night...

Nonetheless, it was a really memorable show and I really look forward to getting to know some of the local bands more!

(Photo credits to Jeff, Sandy and Sheena)

Christmas & Boxing Day 2012

2012-12-27T15:23:00.000-08:00

This Christmas, as usual, I didn't really have any plans so I decided to ask Oden and Carol if they were down for going Dim Sum. We went to Viva City on Alexandra, the place I used to always go with my family.

Carol gave me cute little ornaments of the letters "C" and "S" for our initials and Kuma gave me an Adventure Time set that came with a DVD and Finn hat.

After we had Dim Sum, Kuma and Akira left and Carol came over to my house to chill with me while I made mashed potatos.

I had to sleep early the next day because I had a 7:30am to 12:30pm shift on Boxing Day.

On Boxing Day, Richmond Centre opened at 8am and there was a long line-up waiting to get into Sephora. We had some pretty good deals but employees weren't allowed to purchase them orz

After my shift, I looked around Richmond Centre a bit and the sales weren't that great. I noticed that a lot of the sales were the same sales that were around even before Christmas so it didn't make a difference.

That night, I met up with Akira, Carol and Ego to go to Zakkushi. Jess also joined us with Matt after her dinner too. I have a feeling beer hits me harder than shots because I got tipsy after one glass orz

After Zakkushi, Akira, Carol and I head back to Richmond and Carol went home. Akira came over and we chilled for a while since we had the day off the next day.

Secret Santa 2012

2012-12-24T13:53:00.000-08:00

Like every year, we organized another little Secret Santa with the girls. I had work with Carol that day so we both arrived a bit late. When we got there, they had already made some food. We chilled and talked for a bit to wait for the rest of everyone to arrive.

I also made little gift baggies for everyone with some candy, a teddy bear and small lotions from Bath & Body works.

We were also talking about going to Las Vegas for our next winter break, once June turns 21. Everyone who was 100% down for the plan put their hands down and it looks like its going to be a good number of us going. I'm super excited to finally get to travel with so many of my best friends! (Missing a few people in the photo below lol)

When everyone finally arrived, we started opening presents and guessing who our Secret Santa was. The moment I opened my present and saw the Canada toque, I looked at Anna and said "What the...?!" because I had noticed earlier that she was wearing that same toque. But I ruled her out from being my Secret Santa because I doubted that she would get me the same thing that she had. It turned out though, that she really was my Secret Santa LOL

I also got a furry leopard muffler and popcorn from Anna

Carol got handmade scarf and mitts from Joanne

Anna got some baby food (lol) and body stuff from Berlin

Berlin got a cute decorated chalkboard from Lilian

Lilian got a handpainted jewelry box with lotions from me

Katrina got a little handmade plushie from Tiffany

Tiffany got a sweater and mug from Hallie

Joanne got a little Yoshi ornament and custom mug from June

Hallie got a NARS blush from Carol (how obvious..)

I had actually been so busy during and after my exams that I almost forgot to make my present so I found time and made it the day before. I got a plain wooden box and painted it red with a gold design. I also lined the inside of the box with a blue Christmas-y fleece fabric and put some lotions and stuff from Crabtree & Evelyn inside.

Downtown Christmas Adventure

2012-12-23T13:31:00.000-08:00

Akira and I decided to have a little Christmas-y date for our 1 month and also spend the prophesied "end of the world" together so we had a little 2 day adventure downtown.

We went to Guu with Otokomae in Gastown and got some yummy food. I haven't been to this Guu location before and it was nice. It was a two floor restaurant with a cozy feeling with the Christmas decor and brick walls.

Bang Bang Chicken Salad, Croquette

Beef Tataki, Spring Rolls

Orange Earl Grey Creme Brulee, Stone Bowl Yam Fries Poutine

Loser who can't pose for photos

After dinner, we stayed at the Metropolitan right by VCC skytrain station. It was a really nice place with a balcony and huge bath. Originally we planned to head up to Grouse mountain but we super slept in so instead we visited the Christmas Market.

The Christmas Market was really pretty and had a ton of German food and art. We ordered some German pasta called "Spatzle" (I think...) and it was so gooooood. We got some fresh hot apple strudel and I tried hot apple cider for the first time.

They also had a live band playing Christmas classics as well as a little indoor area selling a huge variety of German handmade Christmas ornaments, decorations and other trinkets.

Afterwards, we went skating at Robson Square. It was quite festive there too with lights and a live band as well. Luckily we got there early because a little while after we got on the rink, there was a huge line-up to get in. The ice started to get scratched up because so many people started coming in though orz

We were pretty exhausted after skating so we walked down Granville in search for food. We past by a place called "Twisted Fork" Bistro that Akira heard good things about so we decided to try it. He said the food they served was similar to the dishes he was used to making.

Polenta Chips

Ricotta and Eggplant

Gruyere and Caramelized Onion Tart

Beef Striploin Skewers

It was really interesting for me to try dishes like this because I never eat food of this sort. I really liked it and I want to try more things like this!

After dinner, we went back to our room, chilled for a bit and he gave me my Christmas present before we checked out. He got me an Adventure Time comic book, a wooden trinkets box and a children's book titled, "Guess How Much I Love You". His reason for giving me the wooden box was to use as something like a piggy bank to save up for my exchange to Japan. Inside, he put a print out of "The Future Belongs to Those Who Believe in the Beauty of Their Dreams". Sweetest present everrrrrrrrr.

Looking back on our date when I got home, it really felt like we went on a trip someplace because I went to so many places I had never been to and tried a lot of new things too! I don't think I could have received a better Christmas than this fun and memorable getaway!

June's Birthday Dinner

2012-12-02T12:29:00.000-08:00

Earlier that day, I had practice with Oden and then I went home to change. June came over to my place early so that I could do her make-up. I bought her the Sephora Bling palette as a present so we opened it and used it that night.

We went to a really cool place called EXP Restaurant + Bar. It's a video game themed restaurant with really awesome decor. Their food was reasonably priced and pretty tasty too! I ordered something like a poutine burger and it was awesome.

Everyone ordered drinks for June so June got pretty drunk that night but it was hilarious to watch.

It was a really fun night and it was awesome that most of us were able to find time to come out because I hadn't seen a lot of them for a while!

First Tattoo Session

2012-11-27T01:26:00.002-08:00

After about half a year's consideration, I finally decided what kind of design I would get and where. I'm fully aware that tattoos are permanent and requires careful consideration. For that reason, I tried to imagine myself with that tattoo design for a few months, see how I feel about it and wait until I feel completely sure.

The design I decided on was a simple lotus flower. Black outline with pink shading on the centre of my back. The reason I chose this was because I find that the lotus seems to reflect myself in many different ways. (HUGE blurb explain exactly why at the bottom of this post)

The day after, still a bit red where the bandage was stuck on

So a few weeks back, I had booked a consultation and spoke with Michie about what I wanted. I came back to see the design 2 days before my session to make sure it was what I wanted. On the day of the session, I went by myself, super excited and nervous, not knowing what to expect.

First they photocopied(?) my design and transferred the ink from the copy onto my back. I checked the position and everything of the design and then we started. I was sat in a chair backwards, leaning onto a small table. When the needle first came down, I probably anticipated a lot more so it didn't seem so bad. I think the best way I can describe the feeling is like an electric shock or a constant hot oil splatter? When it got to certain point like my spine or ribs though, the pain was more like a small sharp knife cutting into flesh but luckily my piece is small so I didn't have to go through too much of that. Overall the pain was very much bearable and I didn't have to take any breaks in the ~50 mins. After the session, my back bandaged and I was instructed to leave it covered until tomorrow morning where I have to wash off all the blood and vaseline. Can't wait to unveil it tomorrow!

Ink and blood smudging at the edges

This session, I only have the black outline and dark pink outlines of the petal texture finished. Next time, we will be shading in the pink to white to yellow into the petals sometime in early January.

Why I chose my design:

Of course, the lotus is an important symbol in Buddhism which is a religion or even lifestyle that I grew up with. I found that much of the way that I think and process the world is influenced by Buddhism. For instance, I sometimes unconsciously feel uneasy when I stray from following the five precepts which can be briefly summarized as no harming life, stealing, sexual misconduct, dishonesty and mind altering substances.

Especially after understanding Buddhism more in depth from an Asian studies course, I've found their approaches to life rather interesting. The idea of impermanence is one that really makes me think. You can't deny the fact that life is a process of suffering (as pessimistic as it sounds) because even the good things in life cannot last forever and it's painful to lose these things or see them end. This seems to be a key concept in Buddhism as it leads to the ultimate goal of attaining enlightment or reaching nirvana.

The lotus flower is often seen as a symbol of purity and enlightment in Buddhism and those are both qualities that I strive for. I was also recently shown the concept of the Tantric Chakras where, from my limited knowledge, there are 7 on the human body which must be "opened" through developing awareness and consciousness. Of the 7, the Sahasrara, otherwise known as the lotus with 1000 petals, is located on our heads and sometimes referred to as third eye. Perhaps this is just another interpretation of reaching enlightment by "opening" the third eye that is the Sahasrara chakra point.

In any case, what I can be sure about is that I will never regret having this piece done on my body because no matter what age, it will still be a reflection of myself for at least a huge portion of my life if not my entire life.

Brunch and Movie Weekend

2012-11-19T12:10:00.000-08:00

I never really tried a proper "brunch" before so Akira said he would take me. I had no idea where we were going but he seemed to have a place in mind somewhere in downtown. He didn't tell me where we were going either and it turned out he was bringing me to the Top of Vancouver Revolving Restaurant.

He told me he remembered that I briefly mentioned wanting to try eating there so he decided to bring me there for brunch which I also wanted to try.

It was really nice inside with a buffet style service and of course, one of the best views in Vancouver!

Afterwards, we went back to Richmond because I had plans to meet with Sally and Eri. After I met up with them, we went to Riverport Famous Theaters to watch Wreck-it Ralph but the showing we wanted to watch was sold out. Instead we went to Metrotown to shop around a bit and see a later showing.

Wreck-it Ralph was a really great movie! I didn't expect it to be as good as it was because I'm not really a video game fan but the story and characters were so adorable! After the movie, we went to eat at Gyo-O as per usual haha

Metric & El Ten Eleven Live

2012-11-13T18:26:00.000-08:00

Akira and I met up with Sally and Robo at Broadway after Sally got off work and we went to eat at Milestone's. Afterwards, we skytrained to Rogers Arena and met up with Sally's friend, Stephanie. When we got our tickets checked and entered the stadium, we went to buy merch and go to the washroom before the concert started.

The show opened with a band called Stars. I really liked the female vocalist's voice! They were a pretty good band. After Stars finished, there was a long 30-45 min intermission until Metric started.

Seeing Metric live was as awesome as I expected. I knew all the songs that they played that night except for 2 and Emily is spectacular! Only thing was that half the time I couldn't see much of anything because I was on floor and there were so many tall people LOL

They ended off with a heartfelt MC and an acoustic version of Gimme Sympathy which felt magical. I'm definitely going to see Metric live again next time if they come. I just hope that they will play at a smaller venue like Commodore so I can get closer!

============================================================

Awhile back, Kuma showed me a post rock band called "El Ten Eleven" and he found out they were coming to Vancouver so we made it an Oden adventure!

I remember I didn't find El Ten Eleven amazing when I first listened to their stuff but their music is really chill so I often put their "Transitions" album on shuffle on my sleepy bus rides to school.

I think I started really liking them after that because I would be half asleep listening and all that intricate layering of the guitar and bass loops and everything would just fill my half conscious mind and I would kind of half dream about with their music in the background.

My make-up that day!

They were playing at the Media Club downtown and before they performed, there was a band and a dj. They were both pretty good but after watching El Ten Eleven I almost forgot about them LOL

The first few seconds El Ten Eleven began to play, I was so mind fucked. I can even put into words how fascinated I was. The guitarist/bassist guy would play on his double neck guitar bass thing (I don't even know what it's called) and loop what he plays perfecting timed with the drummer. Then he would layer more and more loops and stop them at exactly the right timing. Godly. He also played a fretless bass and I think he might have used some pedal to change the octave of his bass so that the notes were several octaves higher and it was basically like a guitar and bass in one again. Some more crazy things he used was this glowing electric thing that he used on his bass/guitar and he made the sound go crazy. As well as something that looked like a violin bow, except he used it on the bass/guitar. Writing this post really makes me want to see them live again haha

All in all, probably one of the best if not the best band I've seen live!

Oden at AE's Akimatsuri CosCafe

2012-11-06T01:51:00.000-08:00

I suppose I have to rewind a bit before I actually go into this post.

SO, around late September, Morgan was recruiting a bassist and drummer for his new band with Enoch. He asked me if I knew anyone who would be interested and I asked Eri but she wasn't interested. Since he seemed to be really enthusiastic with this new band and really in need of members, I volunteered to help out as a temporary member until they find a bassist. Then Andy and Martin joined as well and we formed what we now call "Temps" because most of us are technically temporary members who are also involved in other bands.

So Jamie had been organizing the Cosplay Cafe for Anime Evolution's Akimatsuri and she was inviting bands to play as background performances at the Cafe. Oden, of course, was totally down to play. Morgan also wanted Temps to play too so we pulled together 3 originals and 2 covers in the month that we had. Temps originals consisted of two which were what I might classify as electro-pop rock and a jazzy rock song as well. For our covers, we played Muse's Time is Running Out (by my suggestion obviously) and Back Horn's Wana.

The night before the show, I had two back-to-back 2hr studio practices at Charts with Oden and Temps to kind of work out our setlist last minute. Probably for that reason, I was dead tired the next morning. SFU is sooooooooo godamn far, I sympathize greatly for my SFU friends who live in Richmond. It was also an incredibly rainy and foggy day up in the mountains.

As soon as we arrived at SFU around 10am, we began to set-up and do soundchecks. Since most of Temps arrived super late, Oden switched with them to play first.

We were probably playing louder than we should but dgaf LOL. It was a lot of fun playing in front of people with Oden for the first time! Only thing though, was that nobody at the Cafe really cared because they came for the Cafe and not the bands. In fact, I'd be surprised if they even knew there were bands performing at the cafe. Another thing too, the room we were relocated to was super stuffy and hot. After we played, we we're sweating pools and rushed outside for some air. Nonetheless it was fun and I wished we could have played our set once more like we thought we could but they had already taken down the drumset.

We tried do a little matching with each other by wearing black bandanas. We also tried to dress schoolboy / schoolgirl -ish because it was the Cafe's theme that day.

The set with Temps was kind of all over the place because I think Morgan or Martin was playing to soundcheck and we all just started playing out of order. So we basically just played 1 original and our 2 covers.

Morgan and Martin on Guitar with Enoch on Keyboard

Andy on drums

After performing, I was on the verge of dying (not literally) so we went to look for food. In the end we got lost in SFU's "Quadragle" thingamajig and came back to where we started. So we got Enoch to guide us to food. I tried something new that day, I can't even remember what it was called anymore. I'm thinking shwarma right now but I know it wasn't.

When we got back to the Cafe, most the of the equipment was taken away so we started packing and leaving. On our way back, both Akira and I fell asleep exhausted (Poor Kuma had to watch us sleep while driving LOL).

A few extra shots taken by Kirk that day:

Will chilling with Akira and his E-Hookah

Enoch (in his wedding attire LOL) and I doing Adventure Time pose

My Awesome Birthday & Halloween Weekend!

2012-10-31T22:00:00.001-07:00

October 26 (Friday)

I met up with Akira at Richmond Centre to head down to Metrotown and coincidentally met up with Andy. Since I was going to have practice with Temps later in the day, I left my precious bass with Andy to take home. Akira and I shopped around Metrotown and he got me three CDs at HMV - Fantasies (Metric), 2nd Law (Muse) and Origins of Symmetry (Muse)! After quickly grabbing a bite at the food court we went to Science world for a special 19+ murder mystery Halloween event.

Both of us had no idea what to expect but it was pretty straightforward and fun! Basically there were actors and we had to find out which one of the actors was the murderer through clues hidden throughout the building. The actors were hilarious and there was actually a surprising amount of people who came, enough to fill the dome-shaped theater!

October 27 (Saturday)

Oden had a 3 hour practice at Soundhouse to make up for lost time and to prepare for the upcoming show. We went through our setlist and tried to rewrite the BuRaKe song a bit. Afterward, we headed back to Richmond, picked up some liquor and went to my place to get ready for the birthday dinner. I had Kuma wear my Doraemon Kigurumi and it was the best thing ever LOL

We went to an all-you-can-eat hotpot place called Toyotomi near Richmond Centre to celebrate me and Hallie's 20th birthday. The selection of food there was amazing. For around $30 a person (after tax and tips), we got all the hotpot ingredients you could imagine as well as sashimi and deep fried goodies! We ordered a ridiculous amount of food!

Oh June, you blinked in every pic

After the dinner, we all went to hang out at Hallie's place.We watched "Cabin in the Woods" in light of the Halloween spirit and it was actually not scary at all. Joanne also made us the cutest cake ever of LSP from Adventure Time! I seriously have the best friends ever.

October 29 (Monday)

I had my first shift at Sephora in the morning and it was not bad. Mostly listening and remembering how to work the cash register and greeting customers. We got to make little samples which was pretty fun. I got myself a little sample of the Kat Von D foundation to try hehe

Afterwards, I met up with Kuma for dinner at Gyo-O. It was so nostalgic going back there even though it had only been two week since my last shift there ;__; I ordered the Seafood Salad Cold Udon and shared Chikuwa Cheese, Agedashi Tofu and Green Tea Ice Cream with Kuma. We chilled and talked for a while before heading down to Burnaby for my practice with Temps. As usual, I was the first one at Charts so Kuma and I jammed out for a bit.

After practice, I checked my phone to find some sweet birthday texts from some friends (since it was past 12am and technically Oct 30). I got calls from Carol and Akira so I called them back. I actually woke Carol up when I called her back, and she just wanted to say Happy Birthday to me like the BFF she is. Then I called Akira and he also said Happy Birthday to me and asked me to call him when I got home.

Morgan was being a loser and trying to get everyone to go for a drink before heading home but I really couldn't because it was already 12:30am and I had school the next day. Not to mention I was all the way in Burnaby. So after some debate, Martin drove me home.

I called Akira when I got home to see what he wanted me to call him back for. As usual, he was being weird and suspicious, asking me to tell him about my day. So I told him about my first shift at Sephora while putting my equipment and bags away to my room. Then he suddenly asked me to go outside and he came to my house with a present and card ;__; (It was like 1:15am!!)

He wrote me the sweetest, heartwarming card ever and got me the Portrait of Pirates Shirahoshi PVC that I've been wanting since forever ;__; I felt so overwhelmed by all these things that I actually zoned out, sitting on the ground for a good 10mins in disbelief.

October 30 (Tuesday)

Unfortunately for me, my birthday landed on a school day Orz But during ASIA360B, I was pleasantly surprised by June and Tiffany with a cute Halloween cupcake for me and Hallie's birthday!

The rest of my school day resumed as per usual. After class, Akira insisted on coming to UBC to bus home with me so I went to find him in the SUB. When I found him, I thought we'd be heading to the bus loop but then he was being suspicious again and asked me to wait a bit and tell him about my day. Suddenly some people came in with trumpets and I don't even remember what other instruments and played Happy Birthday. I looked at Akira and he pushed me towards them and I realized that one of them was Sandy! After they finished, they ran away and Akira denied he had anything to do with them LOL That was another interesting, pleasant surprise!

We bussed back to my place so that I could change and put on make-up. For dinner, Akira took me to Shuraku on Granville! It was a really nice place and the people were friendly. Behold, more pictures of delicious food!

This is like the only picture of me on my actual birthday LOL

After dinner, we went to Thierry for some desserts! Their salted caramel macarons have such a nice chewy texture, I want more thinking about them Orz They even played Bonobo which made my day that much more awesome.

We head back to Richmond around 12am. Akira randomly pulled out an origami lotus flower and gave it to me when we got to my house. The thought of him struggling to make this is so sad and cute LOL

Coincidentally Carol was with Jimmy so we went to my house to chill for a bit. Akira and Jimmy were so paranoid about being in my room with my parents awake and at home, it was hilarious. After the two of them left, Carol sleptover and we had a nice little heart-to-heart chat before dozing off.

I can't say this enough, I'm so grateful to be surrounded by such awesome people. I seriously think I have the best friends ever!!

Metric and Muse are coming to Vancouver!

2012-10-10T03:03:00.000-07:00

Basically the title of this post says it all!

I've only recently got into Metric and I'm really loving their stuff so far. Fantasies is one of the best albums I've heard. I've also listened to Synthetica and it's also a great album. I'm pretty damn excited to see them live and I just bought tickets to their show at Rogers Arena (Nov 10) today!

A few of my favourites to share:

Just yesterday, Akira told me that Muse was coming to Vancouver in February and I freaked out. It just made my entire day. For a while now, they've been the number one band I want to see live before I die so now I can die happy. Only thing I'm worried about is how fast tickets will go and if they'll cost a lot. I'll be definitely be camping for those once they go on sale. Oh geez, how I wish time could fast forward...

Forever 21 Online Purchase

2012-09-28T03:01:00.000-07:00

I'm subscribed to F21's e-mail updates on their promotions and what-not so one day I got an e-mail for FREE shipping with orders over $21 so I went and checked out their selection.

I've always preferred shopping at F21 online rather than in-store because the good stuff is always sold out and I can never find my size. There also seems to be a wider selection online and I don't have to deal with scavenging through racks and piles (especially the sale section).

SO here's what I bought:

Padded Matelassé Bustier
Price - $17.80
Size - Small

I have been looking around for something like a cropped bustier tank top to wear under sheer tops for awhile to no avail. I looked around at my local mall and actually saw this bustier in silver at the store but I wasn't digging the flashiness and the only sizes left were medium and large. So when I browsed F21 online after finding out about their promotion, I found the same bustier online in black AND in my size so I had to get it!

F21's stock photo of the black (which I bought) and silver version

The actual item is quite nice. It's made of a textured, shiny fabric, has 8 hook closures at the back to adjust to 3 different widths, elastic banding on the bottom and back of the bustier and boning in 4 places. For something so intricate, I think it was really worth the price!

The only downfall to this was that the boning in 2 places (the sides under my arms) started to break through the fabric. This seems to happen often with corsets because this also happened to my PVC corset after awhile. I decided to just remove the boning in those two places. I might sand down the edges and put them back in when I had time though! Another thing is that it's extremely difficult to do up the hook closures at the back (Imagine if you had a bra with freaking 8 hooks at the back).

Overall I still REALLY like this bustier! It's really cute and well-made for the price I paid

Pleated Faux Leather Skirt
Price - $27.80
Size - X-Small

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of pleather skirts around and I really like that kind of punky, gothic feel I get from it. So even though this one was a bit more pricey, I went ahead and bought it!

A few pleather skirts I saw on Tumblr that I liked

I don't have too much to say about this one other than the pleats are really nicely done. I would have preferred a leather waist band with zipper closure rather than an elastic one and I wasn't a fan of the raw edge on the hem.

F21's stock photo of the skirt

At X-small, the skirt fit really nicely on me and for sure, I wouldn't have been able to find that size in-store. Even though it's a hi-waisted skirt, it falls nicely halfway down my thigh.

It's a pretty nice skirt and I don't plan on returning it but it could have been better in my opinion

Shipping:
As for shipping, I expected the order to take about 1 week or so since shipping was free BUT I received the order only ONE day later. It was an incredibly pleasant surprise. I ordered everything Monday night and received the parcel Wednesday morning! Everything was nicely wrapped and sealed individually too!

Site Usability:
It was kind of frustrating using the site at times. After I put everything I wanted into my shopping cart, I pressed "Checkout with Paypal" and it led me to the Paypal confirmation page. When I entered my password and pressed "confirm" though, it redirected me back the the F21 "error" page. I retried 2 more times and the same thing happened. In the end, I just went with the normal checkout and entered in my credit card information to F21 and it finally worked.
The site is also a bit laggy when selecting size/colour options from the dropbox and their search is buggy.

End of Summer Update

2012-08-28T00:12:00.001-07:00

It's been quite a while since I've updated this blog as usual. I've decided to end my blog posts about Japan because it's already been 2-3 months since I've went and I can't quite recall every detail anymore. Sorry to those who might have been looking forward to them! I do read and appreciate every nice comment left on my blog though xD

Lately I've been looking for new job opportunities and applied to a few places. I actually just got a call today from an ergonomics clinic about a medical receptionist job and they said they would get back to me if anything but we'll see. I'm also planning to apply to Sephora tomorrow before going to work because Carol told me they were hiring. If I do happen to land a position at either places, I'm quite sure I'll be quitting Soul of Anime and Gyo-O.

On another note, I've join a new band with Akira and Kuma called "Oden"! I'm really glad that they let me play with them considering I'm just a beginner on bass but I've been wanting to play bass in a band for awhile. We've jammed about 4-5 times at Soundhouse and I feel like I've learnt a lot of new things. Now not only do I feel like I'm picking up on bass quickly (well, of course knowing how to play guitar helped a big deal) but I'm also kind of getting the hang of what "jamming" is really like. Akira and Kuma also showed me a lot of music that I never really listened to before and there is some really stellar stuff. Overall they're so supportive and I'm really looking forward to improving my bass skills so I play a show with them soon!

Here's a song that they've shown me that I really like right now:

I also have a new BIG goal (previously, my big goal was saving up and planning a trip to Japan). I've decided to do UBC's GoGlobal program and go on exchange to Japan (Tokyo, to be exact)! Since I've missed the deadline (obviously) to go on exchange on my 3rd year, I'm planning to go in my 4th year. The only problem is that the semesters in Japanese universities start and end a bit later than UBC so if I went to Japan in my 1st term (mid-September to February), I would not be able to attend any courses in term 2 because classes at UBC start in January. For that reason, I decided to do exchange in my 2nd term (April to August)! However, it's required that students who go on exchange must be returning to UBC to complete at least 1 more term before graduating so I'll have to complete my last few credits in Winter 2014. Not bad I think!

Here's a little outline of my plans:
Year 3 (Term 1) - Saving money and researching my exchange options / application
Year 3 (Term 2) - Saving money, submit my application and get accepted
Year 3 (Summer) - Saving a shitload of money, take maybe 1 course
Year 4 (Term 1) - Saving money, preparing myself for exchange
Year 4 (Term 2) - EXCHANGE TO JAPAN WOOHOO
Year 4.5 (Term 1) - Take a few more courses and graduate!

I was also talking to Jono who did the exact same program and he told me to apply for the exchange scholarships because apparently he was able to receive something like a $10,000 grant with a 76% average. He said that apparently, he had the highest average of the people who applied to Japan or Asia or something was why he was able to receive that amount. So I REALLY have to work hard in school this year to compete against all the other applicants for that much needed scholarship. He also mentioned that classes in Japanese universities are SO MUCH easier than that of UBC so I'm excited. I can't wait to finally really experience a Japanese lifestyle, meet TONS of new people, submerge myself in the language and kind of feel comfortable wearing whatever the fuck I want!

I've already mentioned this to my parents and my mom was like "Aiyaa... Japan has so many earthquakes, why couldn't you have picked a safer place to go?" But honestly, this has been a huge dream for me since I was in elementary school. I thought that I might be able to do exchange to Japan or even just travel to Japan in high school at the time and when I wasn't able to do either, this dream of mine went dim. I realized all the different complications with planning, money and responsibility that it would take to do it and the idea just seemed too far off. After planning and paying for a trip to Japan by myself this year, I felt that I now have the confidence I need to go after this dream. This isn't a LIFE dream for me, but it's definitely one of the things I wanted to do before I die and I don't think I'll have another chance after I graduate so I really have to take what opportunities I have now!