Spring Break 2011: Hong Kong

1) Miss Anne Pomel sent me this delightful illustration of me last weekend and it completely made my day! I am so completely flattered and honored that someone would draw me! Thank you so much, Anne!
2) Last week, I got a little lazy and didn't write a few posts, including Analog Sunday #4. Analog Sunday #4 wasn't productive anyway. I was asleep the whole day and then watched The Big Bang Theory all night.
3) Yes, The Big Bang Theory is my new favorite past time and I am completely obsessed with the show. I must thank Diana of our.city.lights for recommending me the show this time last year. I took her suggestion and watched a few episodes, but I didn't really get into it, although I always liked Sheldon Cooper.
4) Now I am madly and undeniably in love with Sheldon Cooper/Jim Parsons.
5) Spring break was a lovely break. I got to spend time with my parents and grandma. I had lunch with Diana twice at Sen-Ryo, the best Japanese restaurant in Hong Kong and Jessie the second time.
6) Met up with Veronika of Tick Tock Vintage for the first time and in Hong Kong! How cool is that?
7) Had every intention of bringing Kitty and Chloë out and about with me, but failed since my bag isn't big enough to transport them. Also failed at photographing the landmarks of Hong Kong.
8) Got five rolls of film developed. Two are slide film and one was taken in 2008 and the other in 2009. Film is so delightful, I just wish it didn't cost so much to get developed and printed.
9) At the airport, I was offered $400 if I take the next day's flight, since they were overbooked. I said yes and then they informed me that I had to wait thirty minutes, in case there are no shows. Turns out I was able to board and lost out on $400. Sad face.
10) Watched The King's Speech again on the plane. Tried to watch True Grit, but I just wasn't captivated. Read some more Mere Anarchy. I can assure you it is a very hard book to read, but I did enjoy the story about bidding on a white truffle at Christie's and buying customized prayers on eBay.
11) Still jet lagging.
12) Still building balsa wood bridge for tomorrow, whilst watching The Big Bang Theory.
13) Hope to catch up on sleep and comments after tomorrow's class!
14) Looking forward to Woody Allen's new movie Midnight in Paris!!! Oh the poster! Although my favorite Vincent van Gogh painting is The Night Café. Which reminds me, I still haven't seen You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger yet!!!

On this week's agenda

Thursday: Buy fresh flowers for the room. Tidy up the room!
Friday and Saturday: Find props for upcoming film shoots.
Sunday: Alameda Flea Market/Analog Sunday #4.

Dusty Rose

retro style photo album / pleat dress / chloe eau du parfum
edie velvet chaise / tea set by esther horchner / shell coin purse
timex watch / egérie high-waisted silk-satin briefs / book boxes

Dusty rose is my new favorite color for this season of spring. Isn't dusty rose such a romantic color? I've always loved this shade of pink, but I never wore it and now I am obsessed. I've always loved pastel colors, but my wardrobe is lacking in the pastel color realm. In an effort to embrace the spring season, I'm going to try to wear more spring and pastel colors. I've been stocking up on pastel nail polish colors: mint, lilac and sheer pink all from Revlon and I also bought a coral lipstick. For this season, I have a few favorite color combination: olive and dusty rose, dusty rose and navy, navy and coral. I'm really loving the color blocking we're seeing everywhere and I am so thankful to Zara for providing such great clothes that sadly I can't afford. I've recently become obsessed with Svpply! It's such a great place for me to discover amazing products. I've been spending a lot of time looking for products for my future home.

At The Beginning

Firstly, I must apologize for the lateness of this post. I had every intention of writing a post dedicated to my best friend Vicky for her birthday on March 24th, almost two weeks ago. Happy belated Birthday Queen Victoria! I had this idea before Spring Break, when I was going through my music and listened to At The Beginning again. It just brought back so many fond memories of boarding school days and being a teenager: blogging on Xanga, playing Neopets, Habbo Hotel, Mario, rolling down the hill behind the main building, walking to the village just to buy "lesbians" biscuits Leibniz biscuit (Leibniz looks like lesbians), collecting Pringle cans, drinking Qoo. I will never forget those times growing up and going through a period of teenage angst and a pathetic attempt at pseudo rebellion.

I've known Vicky for over a decade now. We met in September 2000 at Hemsted House, Benenden School. We were in the same house, same year, therefore, same dorm room. I still remember the day my parents and I were driving up the road to Benenden. It was a monumental and unforgettable moment, a new change in my life and I knew it was going to be my life for the next seven years. Eleven years have gone by and we're all in different places in the world. We're in our early twenties now! To think I was only eleven when I went to boarding school is still quite hard to imagine. I miss Benenden every single day. I miss my friends and the memories and all the fun, silly activities we did to pass time. I will never forget these treasured moments, because they have made me who I am and my friends make me who I am today.

I'm so thankful to have met Vicky. It has been so amazing to watch her grow up, mature and become the independent woman she is today. I remember how I would use to drag her out of bed in the morning every day! That seems so long ago. Now she's working in Reading and wakes up super early in the morning and she drives (I don't drive)! It just shows how much time has gone by since we left Benenden. I constantly have dreams about Benenden and I can still smell that countryside air, I can hear the sound of the gravel driving up to the main building, these senses and memories will always comfort me and remind me of a simpler time. We use to be obsessed with Cardcaptor Sakura and when we saw this video with the song At the Beginning, it became our friendship song. We would try to play the Chinese version of the opening song on the piano and sing! We were such dorks, but it was so much fun! I still tear a little when I hear this song, which is originally from Anastasia (1997).

I was fortunate enough to go to London for Spring Break last year, so I got to celebrate Vicky's birthday! It had been so long since I spent so much time with her, since she's in London and I'm in San Francisco and our breaks are/were so short when we were both in Hong Kong. It was so nice spending an entire week with Vicky in London! London and Kent will always bring back some great memories and I will always feel the British Pride and Nationality, but I know that I've always wanted to build a life and career in the States. I will never give up my British Nationality, but I hope to attain residency after six years of employment/work visa. I will always remember the night we went to Roadhouse and we were dancing like crazy! I'm just glad I got to celebrate Vicky's 21st birthday with her last year.

I love you so much Vicky. I'm so so so so sorry that this post is so late! I still have to go through my hard drives and post some old photos of us! Please bear with me! For now, enjoy a sneak peek photo of your birthday parcel! I love you! I hope you had a lovely birthday and housewarming party, even though it was almost two weeks ago! xoxo

We were strangers starting out on our journey
Never dreaming what we'd have to go through
Now here we are and I'm suddenly standing
At the beginning with you

No one told me I was going to find you
Unexpected what you did to my heart
When I lost hope you were there to remind me
This is the start

And Life is a road and I want to keep going
Love is a river I want to keep flowing
Life is a road now and forever
A Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

We were strangers on a crazy adventure
Never dreaming how our dreams would come true
Now here we stand unafraid of the future
At the beginning with you

I knew there was somebody somewhere
Like me alone in the dark
I know that my dream will live on
I've been waiting so long
Nothing's gonna tear us apart

In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you

Transitioning from Fall to Spring

l'aromarine eau de toilette / vain and vapid dress / swatch watch
rocker chair / chanel khaki nail polish / ymc parka
monocle necklace / asos canvas rucksack / nadinoo blouse

I Love Mondays: Spring Break 2011

1) Happy Birthday Caro! You're finally 21, you're an adult! I always viewed you as an adult, because you are one of the most mature people I know and you're always so responsible and positive. You are such a strong and determined person! I feel so lucky to know you. I feel so lucky to have met you and become friends with you. Of all the photographers I met via People Photography modeling sessions, we became friends and partners in crime. Thank you for your dedication and time to helping me with my outfit photo shoots! I hope you have the most amazing time at Gaga's concert! I love you lots!
2) Had afternoon tea and went shopping with Carman and my best friend.
3) Bought the cutest sailor hat from Monki! I want everything from Monki please!!!
4) Guest blogged for Veronika of Tick Tock Vintage, while she is on vacation with her husband in Hong Kong! Yes, we're meeting on Thursday! Can't wait! Thanks Veronika for inviting me to be a part of your fun traveling bug blog series!
5) Met up with Diana and had lunch at Sen-Ryo. Their seared black pepper scallop nigiri sushi is heavenly.

On this week's agenda

Wednesday: Spending the day sending out cover letters and résumés. Dinner with family friends at the Hong Kong Club. Finally get to wear my mother's beautiful 1980s black cocktail dress with sheer poofy sleeves.
Thursday: Meeting up with Veronika of Tick Tock Vintage, Mayo and Geneva of A Pair and a Spare.
Friday: Lunch with Diana (again) and Jessie. Facial. Dinner at Brasserie on the Eighth with family friends. Too many meals out.
Saturday: Flying back to San Francisco, unless the ticket can be changed for Sunday.
Sunday: Analog Sunday #4. I will be hardcore building my balsa wood bridge in time for my class on Tuesday morning! If not, I am getting an extension till Thursday, but I would be so proud of myself if I can finish it for Tuesday!

Analog Sunday #3

Analog Sunday #3 Recap.

Word of the Day:
largess [lar-ZHES; lar-JES; LAR-jes] -noun: Generous giving (as of gifts or money), often accompanied by condescension.

1) First and only Analog Sunday in Hong Kong, since I won't be back for a very long time once I start my OPT. If I find a job, who knows if they'll allow me to go on vacation, maybe for Christmas? But I'm only allowed to travel on my OPT when I'm employed. If all goes well, I'll find a company that will like me enough to sponsor me for a work visa.
2) Since I didn't have dinner the previous night, I ate some congee and watercress soup for breakfast and my beloved fragrant pear. It was delicious.
3) Started re-reading Amsterdam by Ian McEwan. I tried to read it back in 2007 and it was very gripping and I powered through it until I stopped halfway. I must start from the beginning and try to read it, because I remember that I really loved McEwan's prose style.
4) My parents and I went out to meet family friends for lunch and we all wore blazers. We were like a superhero family all wearing blazers as a uniform. It was cute. Shame I didn't photograph it.
5) Ate lunch at the Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club Hong Kong. It was so far away, considering how small Hong Kong is and Clearwater Bay is still in the New Territories, a 45 minute drive is far. We ate and talked about movies and then we went to a friend's home for homemade apple pie. It was so heavenly. The crust was flaky and thin, it was just perfection. I'm super picky when it comes to crust of any kind, pizza crust, pie crust and this crust was exactly what I've always wanted from an apple pie.
6) Came home and just lazed around due to jet lag and sheer tiredness. It wasn't a very productive day, sadly. Next Sunday isn't going to be particularly productive too, since I arrive back on the 26th. On Sunday, I'll be super jet lagged and then I'll be building my balsa wood bridge for class.
7) I just realized I've been wearing blue on Sunday since the first Analog Sunday?! Weird.
P.S. It's Monday in Hong Kong right now. I'm fifteen hours ahead of California. Nuts. So Happy Birthday Caro, Hong Kong time! I'll wish you Happy Birthday again on my Monday post!!!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Spring Break 2011 has begun. In fact, it began for me on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. I can't believe this is my fourth and last Spring Break ever. I'm growing up. I sent out my first two job applications in class on Wednesday. Wish me luck, please! Last night, I was up in the middle of the night searching for film related jobs in New York City. I bookmarked at least thirty jobs, so on Monday, I will be sending out cover letters and my résumé. It's still quite early to find a job, since I don't graduate till late May and my OPT doesn't begin until June 13th, but I want to be proactive. I know rejection is part of the process of job hunting, so I better get used to it now and build some thick skin.

Last Friday, Shy took me to Trader Joe's for the very first time and I fell in love. I always thought Trader Joe's was expensive like Whole Food's, but I was so mistaken. I bought berries, blue tortilla chips, salsa, pesto, prosciutto, goat cheese and vegetable chips and my lovely plant Amélie. I can't wait to go back next week. I really want the potted herbed plant; the rosemary smells divine. Afterward, Shy helped me design my résumé. Thank you so much! She was so patient and understanding and she helped me design the most perfect résumé. I'm so in love with it. It's so clean and all the types are perfect. She was designing, I was giving her instructions and we were talking about everything. Suddenly, she brought up this play she had performed at high school. She googled it and found it, it was Sure Thing by David Ives. She read it out loud the first time and it was amazing. The characters even mentioned Woody Allen and at that moment, I decided it would be my favorite contemporary play. We read it together the second time and it just made me miss acting and boarding school so much. It was such a splendid night. It was a perfect day.

Throughout Wednesday, I had this awful migraine and it was pestering me all day. It was kind of ruining my day, I made some food but it didn't help my head. Shy came over and I was editing photos for the Woman in the Hat outfit post. We were listening to Florence + the Machine and she was intentionally singing out of tune, it was hilarious, but it made my head hurt! Jonalyn came over and we caught up and then we went to OSHA for dinner. Afterward, I didn't feel motivated to pack, so I didn't pack until 3 a.m. I was looking through my suitcases and found two journals I had written in 2008 and 2009. It was like reading a time capsule, those memories were immortalized by my writing and returning to those memories and thoughts was such a trip. I was so naïve and I'm just glad I'm so much stronger now.

I'm glad my flight was at 1:00 p.m., so I booked the shuttle for 9:40 and woke up at 8. I lazed around and showered and packed the last minute things. I took a few photos of the essentials and decided that this is Kitty's first real trip in a long time. I decided to start my own traveling gnome series with Kitty. Although a week ago, I had every intention of buying my own Clonette doll from Facteur Shop, recommended by Adeline of Lady Croissant who is the owner of Ada the globetrotting doll (whom I met with Katrina of Pugly Pixel last June). But I decided against it and wanted to wait until I got back from Spring Break.

When I was on the shuttle on the highway, looking back at the city diminishing in size, I started to feel emotional. This is the second last time I will be leaving the city, next time I will be leaving for good, or at least for a very long time. I'm going to cry so hard when I actually leave, after all, I did spend the last four years in San Francisco. After I get back from Hong Kong, I'm going to do everything on my to do list and take lots of photos for my traveling gnome series!

After I checked in, I decided to just take a peek at the SFMOMA Store. I was looking around and something blue in the corner of my eye caught my attention and then I realized it was a clonette doll. It was destiny (and I don't believe in destiny), but it was definitely serendipitous. The moment I saw them all lined up, I knew I wanted the sea foam green one, although if they had had one in dusty rose, I would have picked dusty rose over sea foam green, but I love her, because she goes so well with Kitty and my suitcase. It was such a pleasant and delightful discovery! I bought her and named her Chloë. Although, it was between Arielle (like Little Mermaid with -le and the color of her tail) and Chloë, but I thought Chloë is a cuter name for a doll. So Chloë is a new addition to the family and my traveling gnome series. When I move to New York, I won't be alone, because I'll have Kitty and Chloë. They will visit Empire State Building with me! I'm going to be one of those crazy doll ladies (I don't mean crazy in a negative way though), but I don't care, because they make me happy! It was just the perfect way to say goodbye to San Francisco for Spring Break. On the plane, I had the most delicious cheeses, Manchego and Muenster. I'm such a cheese fiend.

Have a safe, fun, adventurous and memorable Spring Break 2011!

Movies I watched on my fourteen hour flight: Love and Other Drugs (2010), Megamind (2010), Clash of the Titans (again) (2010), Tangled (2010), Morning Glory (2010).

Songs I can't stop listening to: Between Two Lungs and Cosmic Love by Florence + The Machine, Samson by Regina Spektor