Filed under: Travel
This was by no means my first time in Tokyo. I’ve been to some of these places below at least three times. But it was my cousin’s first time, and so we felt the need to pay the customary visit. I must say, it still feels different seeing everything again now than it did from the perspective of a teenager.
To make it a more fun and local experience, we decided to skip the boring tour bus and explore the city on our own via the subway system. After a lot of pointing and simple English phrases, I’m proud to say that I’ve finally figured out how it works! It’s confusing when they have 3 different train systems and tickets according to prices (instead of a flat fee or according to stations). But let me warn you, there’s a lot of walking involved! Oh and you can’t use your cell in the train, except for texting.
I personally don’t eat raw food, so my scope for food is limited. But do get a bowl of ramen and treat yourself to some of their lovely marbled steak. They literally melt in your mouth. It was heavenly.
Last night, my girlfriends and I went to an Anti World Cup event held at an exclusive night club by a social and lifestyle group for girls. The event wasn’t quite as exclusive as the club’s usual. All you had to be was female to enter. There were free champagne, makeovers and manicures with like minded girls who were also tired of hearing about the World Cup all the time. Sounds like the perfect night, right?
Not quite. Upon entering the club, we were all taken aback by the scene as we tried to recall the last time we saw a club full of females. Obviously, we were not one of the first 50 girls to arrive and be rewarded with a goodie bag. As we wandered around looking for a space to sit, we encountered many “this seat is saved” and “someone’s sitting here.” When we tried to figure out how the makeovers and manicures worked, we were told that ”Oh, we’re in line and the line stretches all the way around this couch,” when obviously they just happened to be sitting there and wanted to save places in the line for all their friends too. We were quickly reminded of how bitchy in general our gender was- especially when it comes to free things. We travel in packs. We talk amongst our exclusive little cliques and we look out/fight for our own, whether it is saving them a seat or a space in a line. It almost felt like high school again, except we were all sipping champagne and dressed better.
I’ve always thought of myself as a girl’s girl. But for once, I actually missed the boys and football.
Filed under: Travel
Deciding to hit two birds with one stone, we headed to Hakone for a day trip, so we can see Mt Fuji and enjoy the hot springs there. But alas, after many hours of travel, we only saw the sides of Mt Fuji because of the fog. The hot springs however were open and totally made the hours and hours of travel worth it. After the initial embarrassment of nudity, it was purely heaven. I especially enjoyed the feeling of enclosing warmth getting in again once I’ve cooled off in the breezy air. I totally recommend finding an outdoors hot spring with a good view. We went to the Hotel Green Plaza Hakone, which has hot springs with a view of Mt Fuji on a good day and includes poolside sake.
Obviously, photography is not my strong suit. I’m much better with the details. So here is a brief itinerary. The easiest way to get to Hakone is the Odakyu train at Shinjuku station, which will take you directly there in 1.5 hours with no transfers. The bullet train is also available but transfers are needed. Be sure to buy the Hakone pass. It costs 5000 yen, but is totally worth it because you will use it very frequently. Once you arrive at the Hakone station, you can take a 45 minute bus ride to Moto Hakone, where you can grab lunch and buy some souvenirs. Remember to check out their secret wooden boxes there. It doesn’t look like a very elegant home decoration at first glance, but it is a traditional Japanese craft exclusive to Hakone and the intricate woodwork is fascinating. Oh and show the restaurant your Hakone pass. You might get 10% off!
Next you can take the pirate ship to cruise Lake Ashi. There’s a temple along the way, and there’s a red gate in the middle of the lake to indicate it, which you should take note of. On a nice day, you can also see Mt Fuji. As to why there’s a pirate ship in the middle of the lake, it is beyond me. But maybe you can ask the guy in the pirate costume walking around taking pictures with people if you go.
Once you reach the other side, you can take the rope way uphill again. For me, that was the most enjoyable part of my trip after the hot springs. The Hotel Green Plaza is located at the first stop of the Ropeway. After that brief detour, we continued our way up the hill on the rope way, passing Owakudani. You can stop for a tour if you want and eat a black egg which supposedly extends your life by 7 years, but for us a picture was enough. Next came the cable car ride downhill to Gora. They claim it’s scenic with flowers, but I really didn’t see much but shrubs. From Gora, we took the local train back to the Hakone station back to the city. That was a very long and painfully slow 45 minute ride. If you still have the energy by then, the open air museum is one stop away. But alas, we were pooped and slept on the ride along with the Japanese school girls sitting opposite us.
If you have the time, I highly recommend staying a night. Because all those rides in one day really is quite grueling!
The final post on Art HK 10 features a series of paintings that are both cute and eerie, which is a surprisingly powerful combination. When I first passed them, I thought it was just another picture of a cute anime girl with a really big head. But then I did a double take as I noticed odd little things that I didn’t expect to be there. First it was pills as toppings on a sundae.
Then it was a girl knitting a dress for her doll from the wool of the dress of a lifeless unseen form hanging above her. How incredibly creepy is that? Innocent everyday scenes suddenly took on a new meaning!
There was even a fairy tale themed series that was interesting since it provided another perspective to the classics. A little bit like Gregory Maguire books which totally changed my perspective of Cinderella and the Wizard of Oz forever. There was Snow White and her poisoned apples. It seems to be suggesting that she poisoned herself. Notice the little can of spilled arsenal on the ground?
The same was going on for Sleeping Beauty and the poisonous needle point.
Then there was Cinderella, where she has trapped all the things that had helped set her free i.e. the mice and the glass slipper. It seems as if in each case they’re inflicting pain upon themselves instead of being victimized by others. I haven’t quite figured out what message the paintings are trying to convey yet, but it is all very ominous and thought provoking. It makes one just want to stare and wonder.
Ps. There’s nothing quite like procrastination to keep the blogs coming. Good luck to all CFA candidates this weekend!
One of my favourite things about modern contemporary art is how it is open to interpretation.
Sometimes it may just look like a blob of paint, but if you look closer, it is actually something more. Can you tell what this painting is?
It is an lady sitting sideways on the left, facing a window! The blob on the upper left is her head (tied up in a bun), followed by her body. If you look closer, you can even see her hands with five fingers at the lower center of the canvas.
This painting is one of my absolute favourites! From this angle, you can see a nude lady standing up proud on the left and another clothed lady kneeling down on the right. It’s a bit faded in this photo, but she’s there inside the third arch on the right in the background.
From another angle, their status of clothing is exchanged and the lady on the left is clothed, while the kneeling lady on the right is nude. How cool is that? I believe the message here is that clothing does not define a woman. The woman herself and how she carries herself is what defines her. The positioning of the audience is also an interesting choice.
From a distant, it looked like a regular portrait of a girl with a black background. But if you step closer, it is actually a black canvas made out of lots and lots of tiny holes! Pretty neat!
A photo of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange from back in the days. There’s nothing very artistically intriguing about it besides the perfectly symmetrical diamond shape it creates. But the subject matter just warms my heart- probably because I grew up seeing this image everyday on TV and it brings back childhood memories!
It’s a fairly simple portrait, but clearly this is Karl Lagerfeld. It’s the suit with the skinny tie, the shades and the white hair. It’s always amazing to realize how iconic one man has become.
This weekend, I stopped by the Art HK 10 fair at the convention center. It is an annual 4 day event, showcasing pieces from modern and contemporary art galleries all over Asia. The pieces ranged from $1000USD to $10 million USD. Though I reckon most people were just there to absorb the cultural atmosphere, which is soarly lacking in Hong Kong.
One of my favourite things about Hong Kong is that no one is camera shy- even when there are “no photography” signs all over the place. So here are a few pieces that caught my eye:
This interactive piece is a glass platform that viewers are invited to stand upon. Taking a closer look, this platform is supported tonnes by identical little figurines with their hands raised above their heads. Maybe it is demonstrating the power of the many? It is pretty cool.
On a side note, I’ve still not managed to get the mark off my shoes, but from a distance it still looks pretty!
Sweet and simple. Though I’m not sure I’d want it in my apartment. Maybe a restaurant.
We couldn’t find the descriptions, but from the smell of it, it appears to be a car made of flour! I wonder how they got it here………
A plastic black dog at the entrance. See all those cameras in the background? It really wasn’t just me!
Can you see the owl? The stripes of color also reminds me Paul Smith!
I just cant get over how smart and neat this armor/dress made of Chinese ceramics is! Can you see the bowls and plates? To top it off, this is a well made dress with a design too. There’s a defined bodice, a waist and little frills at the hem. Isn’t it absolutely awesome?Filed under: Blogging
I’m a bit slow on the news, but apparently hauls are the next big thing since blogs. Hauls are basically a Youtube version of your conversation with your girlfriends after a shopping spree. They are approximately 10 minutes long and their makers are typically attractive young women. Some of the more popular vloggers have over half a million viewers, and with advertisement partnerships with Youtube and sponsorships, can earn up to$1000USD a month. Some vloggers have gotten so big, they have their own agents and dropped out of school to be “home schooled” so they can concentrate on their vlogs.
When I first found out about all this, I was intrigued. There is something to be said about seeing something in motion instead of looking at its still picture and reading about it. But then I saw a few hauls by the Fowler sisters and was baffled. I just couldn’t relate to them and failed to see the attraction. It struck me as a 10 minute video of a teenage American girl babbling on and on about well… nothing in particular. And by teenage American girl, I mean the “omg!-Mean-Girls” kind. I thought it was just a stereotype people overdo to make fun on TV, but I guess they really do exist!
Don’t get me wrong, as a teenage fashion blogger in my not so distant past, I do get that cheerful ditzy-ness sells. And admittedly they present themselves very charmingly. But I’m just not very interested in knowing that they got scented candles and shower gel for their birthdays and what they have in their bags- not in such a babbling long winded kind of way anyway. I personally prefer it fun but straight to the point. I do have more constructive things to do with my time, like watch a video teaching me how to put my hair up into a complex French braid nest.
On the other hand, I can definitely see the symmetry between hauls and blogs. At the end of the day, bloggers too blog about random things in our lives, like virtual birthday presents, things we bought, what’s in our bag and how we clean our brushes etc. We’re not all fashion insiders after all. Maybe I’m just getting too old to appreciate hauls or I’m watching the wrong hauls.
What are your thoughts on hauls?
Filed under: Fashion
If the Alexander Wang rockin’ high tops were a bit too grunge and cool for your tastes, might I suggest these very “pop” high top sneakers? They are colorful, cute and super fun!
You can show them off the easy way with some black leggings, like they did here with these Lanvin sneakers.
Or you can have some fun like they did on the Marc by Marc Jacobs SS10 runway!
I just love how it adds a hint of a tomboy to this otherwise super girly and sophisticated outfit.
It looks nice paired with ankle pants too. Obviously, the point here is to pair it with anything that will allow you to see it. No point hiding it underneath long pants!
Even though they’re not exactly as cool and summery as sandals, at $195USD, I’m tempted to buy some “pop” for my wardrobe!
Image Source: Shopbop, Style.com and Net a Porter
It never ceases to amaze me how captivating ANTM continues to be despite having repeated 12 times. Not all shows can say the same *cough*Project Runway *cough*. I thought the production this season was well done as usual, but the quality of the girls seem to be deteriorating. None of the girls were terribly memorable, besides the few who were terribly annoying *cough*Alasia*cough*. There wasn’t much real competition, and it was pretty obvious since episode 8 who was going to win. They must be running out of potential models in America. Girls who were eliminated first round in previous seasons, just keep coming back, eventually making it into the house. Girls are so desperate to stand out from the crowd that they told the world about getting pregnant the first time they had sex! FYI, that is not a personal achievement and frankly we don’t want to know about it.
But anyways, congratulations to Krista. She deserved the title. I totally didn’t see it coming from the first few episodes, but clearly when she “got it” she got it, because it obviously wasn’t luck that led her to winning the best picture (and challenges) week after week after week. She knew what she was doing and once she got all the free clothes she even started looking remarkably like a model. I was even impressed by her cutesy performance at the Anna Sui runway, since her walk is usually much more cool and high fashion than that.
Raina Raina. I was surprised the judges didn’t call her out for relying on her pretty face, because honestly, I think that’s what got her so far. She kind of just hid safely in the pack week after week, and suddenly she just popped out of nowhere. I don’t even recall her winning a best picture! Admittedly though her features are pretty striking. But as bitchy as I thought Krista and Alexandra were, I think they were right saying she was fake. She does get overly excited and cheerful, and sound kind of scripted sometimes.
As much as I didn’t like Angelea’s confrontational personality, I was surprised to see her fall behind week after week. She was doing so well, and she seemed so hardcore! I was actually routing for Jessica. I thought she was very pretty and sweet, with just a hint of bitchiness that kept her from being too fake. Except she did seem to have lost her touch towards the end, and I wasn’t surprised to see her go after the sheep shot. The rest of the models were all just very mediocre. I remember Alasia being super immature and a lot of whining from Brenda and Anslee about their babies. I was also surprised that Ren got to skip the first round. It doesn’t seem very fair for the other models, even though she was eliminated early.
The best part of the show remains with the fun challenges, cool prizes and creative photo shoots. Essentially, they’re teaching and doing the same thing every time, but it’s interesting to see them doing it a different way. Learning about timing by doing a runway through moving pendulums, learning to move with a dancing themed shoot, doing a live commercial at Times Square and expressing their personalities at a drag show, it was all very fun to watch. I especially enjoyed seeing the land of the sheep through the eyes of ANTM. I had no idea there was so much fashion in New Zealand. The clothes that Angelea and Krista won were a HUGE improvement and much needed for the two of them. I’m already berating my friend for not taking me to the hobbit holes last time I went.
This season they also switched Paulina over for Andre Leon Talley, which I thought was a great coup. He’s one of those intriguing characters in fashion that you see around all the time and yet have no idea what he does and what he’s like except that he likes to wear big capes. It was interesting seeing him on the show unveiling part of the mystery and sharing ‘drecktitude’ with us.
So kudos to the production team for another good season. Just one thing though… is it just me, or is your budget getting lean? A personality challenge with Nigel on a Ferris Wheel and a runway challenge on the aisle of an airplane on your way Queenstown …. a bit weak, no?
Image Source: CWTV
