safe & sound

i never considered myself a fan of taylor swift because she is somewhat bimbotic and perhaps a little too hyper. her songs are catchy and nice, and i've definitely enjoyed listening to her albums. i'm just saying i was never really a fan, not like with jay chou.
BUT, recently i heard her new single on radio and i've really been loving this song. and when i saw the music video for it, i fell in love with her. her look was totally different from the usual big hair, cat-eye eyeliner and red lips. she looked so elegant and for the first time, absolutely stunning! yes, she's always looked good.. but it isn't the type of look i appreciate. if this is taylor swift grown up, i will probably convert and be a fan. her voice is amazing, there's no doubt about it. her live performances are really good and to me, that's very important if you want to call yourself a singer.

i really love her new look! hair, makeup, everything. i think she looks less slutty without the thick eyeliner.. haha! i'm not trying to be mean.. i'm just saying. (: and this is just such a beautiful song.. great harmonies with joy and john paul of the civil wars. somebody please teach me the tabs to this song. i promise to practice plucking!

here's the official music video for safe & sound.. enjoy!

i remember tears streaming down your face

when i said i'll never let you go

when all those shadows almost killed your light

i remember you said don't leave me here alone

but all that's dead and gone and passed tonight

just close your eyes, the sun is going down

you'll be alright, no one can hurt you now

come morning light, you and i'll be safe and sound

don't you dare look out your window

darling, everything's on fire

the war outside our door keeps raging on

hold on to this lullaby

even when the music's gone

just close your eyes, the sun is going down

you'll be alright, no one can hurt you now

come morning light, you and i'll be safe and sound

happy valentines

to all the loving couples out there... happy valentine's day! to those who can't appreciate it, happy tuesday.

anyway, this entry is dedicated to pow. last valentine i recorded a cover of 'valentine' by kina grannis but didn't have the courage to upload it online. but i did still show pow the video and he loved it. this year, i decided to let the writers sing their own song.. haha. it is coincidence that it's another song by kina grannis but i really do like her music. enjoy!

for all that we have been through, i hope it will be forever. the year ahead will not be easy and i hope we both will come out of it well. "i love you not only for who you are, but for who i am when i am with you."

sigma premium travel kit - classy in silver

this is kind of overdue but i wasn't very motivated to get down to blogging about it because it was somewhat a disappointment for me. anyway, here is my sigma haul!

comes in a nice box with lots of pamphlets.

my free gift.. which is quite nice.

i got it in the mail before christmas but i waited till christmas day to open it! haha.. because as some of you know i was kind of trapped at home during the holidays so this was one of the highlights for me.

when i first opened the black mesh bag and took it out, i was already a little disappointed because the bag didn't feel like very high quality. from all the reviews i've seen on youtube about sigma, i always had the impression that their products were very good quality. i wasn't expecting top quality as well since sigma brushes are much cheaper, relative to mac ones but they ended up falling short of my expectation a bit.

dajie owns several sigma brushes and i thought they were pretty nice. when i got mine, the first thing i notice was...

which was mostly why i was disappointed with the brush kit. dajie bought her sigma brushes a couple of years back and back then, they were made in U.S.A! i guess now sigma is expanding too quickly because of all the hype and marketing on youtube, they've outsourced their factories. the brushes are still good, bristles are as soft as i imagined them to be. but the engraving on the brushes are horrid! there's hardly any consistency in the print and that's sad because my brushes look like a mess even though they are supposedly from the same kit.

i had the intention to get the sigmax round top kabuki and a few other things from sigma but after this purchase, i'm reconsidering. i'm not trashing the brand or anything, the brushes are still great for an affordable price. it's just that i am paying for the brand and i'm just anal like that. apparently there's another cheaper alternative to sigma brushes that i've been hearing about and it is sadona lace. they are obviously not as commercialized as sigma but maybe they will get there some day.

let's wait till thanksgiving this year. i will probably not be able to resist the black friday sale and just order more stuff from them anyway. (:

here we go.. again

so it's official.. i'm going back to australia. "to do my masters?" you might ask. well.. sad to say, no. i'm going to be spending one year doing my graduate diploma and really believe i can score well enough for me to carry on with my masters the following year. so the plan will be another 2 years in perth, if all goes well.

i'm thrilled to have the chance to go back to perth but things are different from before. i don't have my close friends there anymore and basically i'm going over by myself. of course i know people there, but it's just different. it's not that i dread going back to perth, i'm just scared to be alone this time.

on a happier note, suling still have one semester left so that means i do have one friend there until june. haha! she'll be in curtin and probably live not very near me, so i wonder how often we'd actually meet. still, she's my biggest comfort right now. things are kind of hectic and there's lots to do. i'm in a mad rush to apply for visa, book my air tickets, plan my accomodation and what not in the next few weeks. schools starts on 27th february.. time to get cracking!

urban decay naked 2 palette

so the long-awaited sequel to the naked palette is finally here! naked 2 officially launched in singapore at sephora ION on saturday from 3pm to 5pm and i'm very happy to say that i am now the proud owner of the naked 2!! it retails for SGD$80, which i'm not very pleased about, but i guess it's still worth it since i wanted it so badly.

the naked 2 came with a lip junkie(in naked) instead of a primer potion.

not forgetting the double-ended brush inside.

there are 5 brand new shades but half-baked is repeated in this palette. and my favourite thing about it is that it comes with foxy and blackout which are awesome matte shades for highlighting and doing a smokey eye respectively. the packaging is also different but i don't know if it's better or not. it's definitely more durable because it comes in a metal tin but i feel that the original packaging looks more chic. however, that's just my opinion.

comparing the original naked and the naked 2...

i know it looks very similar to most people but they are really two very different palettes. i personally prefer the naked 2 because the colours are more taupe-ish and neutral, basically the colours are lighter. the original naked palette is great for darker smokey eye looks which i do not always wear, hence my greater love for the naked 2.

i will say now that i am an urban decay fan.. because i own the naked palette, the naked 2 palette and their 15th anniversary palette. you'll probably think i'm crazy but i really really love my collection! (:

get naked.. again.

i know i should be sleeping now.. but this really cannot wait. i just read online that urban decay's naked 2 palette will be available at sephora ION this saturday, 7 jan 2012!!! OMG, OMG, OMG!

don't know how crazy the crowd will be but just in case, i am going to be there by 12pm latest. MUST GET MY HANDS ON THE NAKED2!!! i didn't think it will reach singapore shores this quick since it was only launch in US on 5 dec last year (feels weird calling 2011 last year). oh my gosh, i'm so excited. i can't wait for saturday to be here...! (:

a thousand years - christina perri

so i'm finally back in touch with technology and the internet. oh how i've missed you! watching youtube on my iphone is no fun at all. anyway, HAPPY 2012 everybody! i didn't get to celebrate christmas and new years which made me a little down. december is my favourite time of the year because of all the celebrations and time that i get to spend with loved ones. well, i guess there's always next year right.

so beside watching a million and one movies on HBO and US dramas on FOX, i started reading twilight. before you say anything, yes i know. how slow can i be?! i've never really caught the twilight craze even after watching the movie. in the first place, i only watched the movie because of robert pattinson. but as the story progresses, questions started coming up because i didn't read the book. i think it's a little too much for my sister so she lent me the whole series to read. i'm still halfway through the first book and i will say that i am enjoying it much more than i expected to. now i just want to quickly finish reading all the books and re-watch the movies again. maybe i'll have a better appreciation for the movie second time round.

people kept talking about the 'twilight song' and i've always thought they meant "it will rain" by bruno mars. i only went to google "a thousand years" when i saw a tweet about it being the 'twilight song'.. and it's a really nice song. honestly, i'd think this song is so much more appropriate as the theme song for breaking dawn than the bruno mars one. i know we've all watched it before, but here it is so enjoy.

a new me

so as of tomorrow, i will be a brand new person. ok, only some parts are brand new, there are still parts of me that will stay unchanged. i'll just take it as i'm going into a retreat. yes, literally because i will have no internet connection for a good 3-4 days. (i seriously wonder how i will survive but nonetheless i will try.) i will have plenty of time which i what i need right now. so until i get back, merry christmas and happy holidays everyone!

back to perth-day 7

last day in perth.. you can imagine the sadness in me. but still, there's lots to do.. need to go northbridge(aka chinatown) and buy stuff. so no real agenda for today.. more like "errands" day.

pow met up with his friends for dimsum in the morning while i packed my stuff. we were suppose to meet at northbridge after that but i felt unwell on the way to meet him. it was a slight gastric working up because i didn't really ate a full breakfast, so we stopped by tak chee for chicken rice.

best chicken rice in perth, recommended by kinaun.

we ordered half a chicken..

after buying everything, we went to the city again. because we haven't actually seen all the new stuff that was up.

london court! my favourite place.

and look what was going on while we were there...

perth city always has these kind of cool stuff.

yup, so the road works are finally complete. and there's just a picture of me in front of the newly renovated road, with a huge cactus monument.

dinner plans was actually ciao italia.. but we were really dreading the queue. plus jean wasn't feeling well so we ended up ta bao-ing back.

my all-time favourite: ciao italia fettucini and mariana risotto.

and of course their TIRAMISU!!!

we went to get san churros again because jean has some 1-for-1 offer. (:

mmmmm.....

so that wraps up my last day in perth. of course i bought stuff again as usual.. who can resist last minute shopping. seriously, there's so many things to buy in australia. so many stuff that singapore don't carry... anyway, here's my haul on my final day!

so the next day, dear jean kindly gave us a lift to the airport. we reached super early so we sat at dome to kill some time.

goodbye perth...

and hello singapore.

this trip has been awesome! it wasn't a real holiday kind of trip but i just love returning to perth. these are definitely some of the best memories of my life and perth will always have a special place in my heart.

back to perth-day 6

morning of day 6... today was a nice day, because it's going to be a very chillax one. so to start off, i suggested going to subiaco for breakfast!

our seat.

forgot the name of this dish but it was amazing!

mushrooms with feta cheese on toast.

pow ordered a slice of the cake earlier..

the pretty one with the flower on it.

(:

after breakfast we made our way to the little blue house. but just as we were about to get out of the car, it started raining! ):

so "change of plans" we thought.. we sat in the car and talked abit. and then suddenly the rain stopped. so yayy!! off to the blue house we went.

you can see the dark clouds passing by.

bye little blue house.

rest of the day was more shopping. the plan was to just visit the suburbs.. so good for me. dinner tonight was took bae kee with the jean and dudy. chuxuan and yvonne came along too.

spicy seafood soup...

with crab!

we had dinner early so there was still time to catch some last-minute last night suburb shopping. of course i wanted to go! so pow and i drove to garden city to walk around until the shops closed. we kind of felt bad for not staying longer during dinner, so we got the gang out again for supper..

new san churro outlet at northbridge.

the gang... eijean, yvonne, chuxuan, dudy and ashley.

churros fiesta.. comes with 18 churros and 6 dip cups. (:

i love san churros. if i had the money, i'll franchise it over to singapore. sure earn like crazy one! but anw, here's my little haul update. (i know, i know, it's terrible that i'm buying so much)