Happiness: The Fondation D'Entreprise Hermès Presents Nadim Abbas 'Tetraphilia'

The Fondation D'Entreprise Hermès invited me to the launch of Nadim Abbas' 'Tetraphilia' Exhibit last May 9, Thursday.

I have been dying to escape the mundane activities of my ever boring life--thank goodness! Surprisingly, I have adapted to the routine of my new workplace; quickly enough for it to be considered boring now, haha! Shh! Don't tell my boss! That is pretty surprising knowing it takes me a couple of months to get a hang of things, but I guess it comes with the territory--I have been teaching preschoolers for five years. Routines may change but the everything else is basically the same.

But anyway, back to Tetraphilia. I was blessed to get off work early and attend the exhibit launch held at the Hermès flagship boutique at Liat Towers. I arrived slightly late, sans my friend who canceled on the last minute due to sickness.

The exhibit was packed with a lot of people, but I did my best to squeeze myself and check out the art pieces on display. In total, there are 12 pieces. I have to admit, I came without any knowledge of the exhibit nor the artist; which meant I had no expectations either.

What is Tetraphilia? To understand Tetraphilia, one must begin to understand and get to know the artist, Nadim Abbas. The Hong Kong-born installation artist's style "includes heavily-researched installation and sculptural works that play on the psychological patterns of everyday objects and kitsch. His work draws thematic inspiration from literature, science and psychology." Knowing this helped me understand what Tetraphilia is. It is in every way a heavily-researched exhibit with "psychological patterns of everyday objects and kitsch". And most of the pieces are inspired by literary, scientific and psychological themes.

It turns out, the exhibit was all about a collection of all things "tetra". And there's a recurrent theme with most of the pieces, a four plane-pyramid called "tetrahedron". I tried to take cheeky photos of some of the pieces from the exhibit but I was a little coy because I didn't know if it was "allowed" or not. There were a lot of people, too, so getting the perfect shot was almost impossible.

Tetra is actually a small tropical freshwater fish that is typically bright colored. It made sense why most aquarium pet shops have some sort of "tetra" portmanteaus. You can also see a looping video of tetra fishes played on CRT television, a pool rail and aquarium optimized tap water and much more.

Monument to Poseidon, stainless steel forks, glass aquarium, pedestal.

If you look closely, you'll notice that each fork's right tooth has been trimmed. It was strangely fascinating and very hypnotic.

Holy Mt II, Tetra Brik pyramid

This was the first art piece that caught my attention. It was right smack in the middle of the exhibit, a clever and very quirky display of milk cartons. Amazing! A tetrahedron of Tetra Paks!

Holy Mt III--Marshmallow, clear plastic platter, ABS plastic outdoor table and chairs, Gameboys (with Tetris cartidges)

Aside from the Tetris, you might be wondering why there is a pyramid of marshmallow. Who would have thought marshmallow contains tetrasodium pyrophosphate? I didn't know that but Nadim Abbas did (which corroborates his practice as "heavily researched"). I don't know if you can eat those marshmallows but I saw some people taking and popping them in their mouth.

Lady Sings, Framed inkjet print on photo paper, chroma key blue wall, speaker system, selected recordings of Luisa Tetrazzini.

This was one of my two favorite pieces from the exhibit. I just love how simple and artful this piece is. The entire wall was painted blue and blue framed photo of a blowfish (which is scientifically named Tetraodontidae) is lit. With this piece, you hear acclaimed Italian coloratura soprano, Luisa Tetrazzini. And while the famous colloquial term, "It ain't over till the fat lady sings" was attributed from the Valkyrie Brünnhilde, it seemed to fit the phenomenal operatic legend perfectly.

Tetragrammaton, Inkjet prints on Duraclear (Set of 16 composite images)

Another favorite of mine is this artful display of Tetragrammaton. Tetragrammaton is a collection of 16 digitally superimposed images of pyramids or tetrahedrons on various sites all over the world such as the Louvre to the Luxor in Las Vegas.

The event was filled with a lot of people so I wasn't able to talk to the artist or further admire the works but I had an absolute great time. It was also finally nice meeting Sara, the press and advertising attaché who found my blog in the first place. Thank you to Sara and the rest of the Hermès team for inviting me, and congratulations to the successful launch. I am certainly looking forward to more artistic collaborations.

Do not forget to check out Tetraphilia by Nadim Abbas at Third floor Hermès, 541 Orchard Road Liat Towers. The exhibition will run until June 9, 2013, 10:30 am to 7:30 pm.

And since you're there, might as well check out the entire Hermès store! I am always a huge fan of their store display and even their interiors! It's creative and always classy. A couple of days ago, I met up with one of my best friend, Dre, for dinner. We passed by the Takashimaya branch and both Dre and I couldn't help but be fascinated with their shuttlecock display. It was beautiful!

Happiness: Colored Nails

Oh hey there, before you go all out and judge me for hoarding so many things... let me tell you this: I am not obsessed with nail polish. Seriously, I know this might sound hard to believe and very strange seeing how many I have but I'm not. When I was in fifth grade, I loved wearing nail polishes and I had very long nails. I don't even know how we got away with wearing it since it's not allowed coming from a very strict all-girl Filipino-Chinese Catholic private school. But the point is, I did. And one day, it just stopped.

I don't like wearing nail polishes on my fingers anymore. I don't know when I stopped liking it all those things. I feel heavy when I have them on. It's like my nails are in some tight bondage Kardashian dress that it can't breathe. I keep my nails short, too.

And it goes with the job, too. I'm always getting down and dirty with classroom routines and arts and craft that being pretty is the last thing on my mind. It's also dangerous to have long nails around kids as well. I know what it feels like because parents almost never cut their kids' nails and these kids love to scratch or get a hold of me through their nails.

But anyway, back to nail polishes. I do, however, love wearing them on my toe nails. I feel that it brightens up my look in a way. I'm fair so I get to walk away with a lot of colors. My favorite shades of nail polishes are blue. I don't know why because blue isn't really my favorite color but they seem to look really good on me and my toes.

My favorite color is my first nail polish ever. It's The Face Shop Deep Blue Pearl. It's my favorite color ever, even until now. And it freaks me out that I'm running out of it. The Face Shop doesn't have this exact same color anymore. They don't even have the same packaging anymore. It's just absolutely gorgeous! Every time I wear this people would just give me compliments.

I bought my second polish at Elianto. It's another one of those Korean stores and the color is Grassy Pearl. I sort of regret getting this color because I don't use it as much. I really liked it and somebody recommended it until they commented that it makes them look like a mermaid. I guess it sort of shattered my love for this. 

My third nail polish was the Etude House LUCIDarling Fantastic Nails. I don't know what color name is this but it's a shimmery pearl baby teal color that I really like. I wore this a lot and a lot of people would compliment me as well.

All those three were purchased while I was still in Manila, so they're kinda old. I'm surprised that they're still in good quality... except the blue one because it's almost running out. I got the rest of my new nail polishes here in Singapore, and some were given to me by friends. There are a few hits and misses to these but here goes:

I don't know if it was Tree or my Sue who told me about Michelle Nail Color. I got them from Cineliesure. They were 2 for a few dollars. I don't really remember. But I got three. The first is a darker teal blue color. It's opaque and I really like it. The second color is somewhat of a shamrock green. It's a nice color, nothing mind blowing. The third was a coral pink color. I remember not wanting to get a straight up pink color because everyone went for that shade. I wanted something different.

There was a Watsons member sale and they had discounts on Sally Hansen nail polishes. They're my favorite kind because it's Insta-Dri but the color is pretty boring. It was buy one get one and there weren't many choices so I got Flashy Fuchsia and Snappy Sorbet. Flashy Fuchsia is a super hot pink with purple shimmer while Snappy Sorbet is a salmon-coral shade. 

My colleague Esther went to Korea and asked us what colors we wanted. I told her I wanted a yellow nail polish. She went all out and got me a bright neon nail polish from The Face Shop. I was initially disappointed with it because I wanted a sunny yellow color. And it's a difficult color to wear because it's milky. It's not as fluorescent as I hoped. I have to layer it to get a nice opaque fluoro shade. Last year, neon was a hit trend and I wore this on my toes and it was quite nice.

One day, last year, I suddenly wanted a great hot pink nail polish so I bought myself one from The Face Shop. It was a nice color and everyone loved it as well. I just wore it recently because I attended the Nylon Singapore Pretty In Pink party.

For Christmas, I got three nail polishes! Sabrina gave me this bright yellow nail polish from The Face Shop. Well, actually, she let us choose our color and I was the first to get yellow since I've been wanting that color for years!

I bought some products at Etude House and they had a promotion and I got myself a free nail polish. There weren't many choices so I opted for a baby pink LUCIDarling. It's the same kind as the one I bought a long time ago back in Manila but in a baby pink shimmery pearl color.

Dre gave me two nail polishes from Forever 21 called Love & Beauty. She gave me another yellow and dark red one which was a surprise! I'm not to keen on reds because I feel it makes me too Chinese but I wore it during Chinese New Year. 

Clearly, it wasn't my intention to grow this collection and I'm not as interested in growing it as much unlike my lipstick collection. I am still finding that perfect duplicate to my Deep Blue Pearl color. And looking through my colors, it made me want to get a good purple shade and a taupe one. I also need to be reminded to steer clear of greens and teals and corals (which aren't my favorite color anyway) at the moment, haha! And I should probably stop saying I want a yellow nail polish before somebody gives me another one! I'd like to thank Esther, Sabrina and Dre for their contributions to my collection. 

Happiness: Kiss Me Collection

I posted this photo of my lipstick collection a couple of months ago on Instagram and my friend Janelle requested I swatch all my lipsticks. It was a great idea and I thought about doing that several times but I figure it would be time consuming. I thought I'd collect photos of days where I wore certain lipsticks and collect them, but then I'd just forget what I wore on some days and it will be just a long cycle of photos.

Anyway, I woke up incredibly early today and figured I ought to waste my time with this and watching  the third and fourth episodes of Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown. By the way, don't forget to check out Episode 2 where he features Jollibee in Koreatown LA.

I was watching that show and at the same time trying to swatch my lipsticks, simultaneously taking photos and editing. I realize it doesn't really show much difference and you'd think a couple of my lipsticks look a like but trust me when I say they're different. If you're not convinced, feel free to head on to Temptalia, I'm sure Christine Mielke will agree with me.

Because my headshots doesn't really show much difference to the color, I swatched it on my arm. I think the colors are more visible. I know people would often assume my Etude House VIP Girl PK009 and MAC Pink Nouveau are very similar, but Etude House is lighter. MAC Archie's Girls Daddy's Little Girl is pinker and MAC Wonder Woman Spitfire is more magenta. Revlon Kiss Me Coral is bright red orange that evolves during the day and fades into a lovely orange tone while Rio Rio is bright red with a slight hint of orange. Topshop's Rumour Has It looks dark but it's actually a barely there-lip color. 

• Topshop Lips Rumour Has It - Dusty rose, nude color
• MAC Archie's Girls Betty Bright - Light vibrant peach, pinky-coral
• Etude House VIP Girl PK009 - Light baby pink
• MAC Pink Nouveau - Mid-tone cool blue-based pink
• MAC Archie's Girls Daddy's Little Girl - Mid-tone pink violet, magenta fuchsia with blue undertones
• MAC Wonder Woman Spitfire - Dark pink with magenta
• Revlon Kiss Me Coral - Bright red-orange 
• Topshop Lips Rio Rio - Bright red, red-orange tone
• MAC Archie's Girls Ronnie Red - Bright pink-red with blue undertones

And if you are wondering whether I have any intention of growing my collection, the answer is yes. I know I should probably stop buying until I finish some of my older sticks but I love having a lot of option.

My next buy would probably be MAC Candy Yum-Yum, a bright neon pink lipstick; and perhaps a good nude color. I'm pretty scared of wearing nudes just because I'm afraid to look dead. I'm so pale it's driving me nuts. And if you noticed, the lipstick I use the least is Rumour Has It (despite the fact that I carry it almost all the time just as I would my lip balm as an emergency lip color). I just don't want to look dead on a nude lip color. Any suggestions?

Sadness: Abercrombie & Fitch Discriminates Size

I was scrolling on my Facebook feed when I came across this shared post from Elite Daily. The title reads: "Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Explains Why He Hates Fat Chicks."

I thought it was really crazy but then I thought about my experiences visiting the A&F store at Orchard. My strongest memory was that it was very dark inside, it had a very strong scent, it's noisy and they had extremely good looking staff... well, not so much recently as I saw a not-so good looking one in my last visit.

I read the article and tried recalling my experience. I remember wanting this white lace skirt. It fit me well. Thank God for American size then, I thought to myself. I did notice that they never carried and XL and beyond.

"In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids," he told the site. "Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don't belong (in our clothes), and they can't belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don't alienate anybody, but you don't excite anybody, either," - Mike Jeffries to Salon. For the entire article read this.

Initially, I was completely appalled by this statement. I couldn't believe that anybody in that position would ever publicly say that. I am a woman of size. It doesn't make me less of a person just because I'm not a size zero. And I know people who are fatter than me who are popular and bully skinny outcasts. What does that make them?

On the other hand I thought to myself how uninterested I am in A&F's style anyway. It's way too boring and way too cliche. It is true that A&F seems to evoke a certain sense of elitism; but it never enticed me to want something. I was always turned off by the strong pungent scent that whiffs Orchard, whenever I try to go to Topshop. I also hated the interior of the store. Now it's clear to me why everything is so dark inside; clearly, their CEO is blind.

The brand obviously had a stereotypical target market: rich kids from the 90's. Their style has not evolved in any way, they still wear the same kind of clothing since the beginning of time: red checkered button down shirt, A&F hoodie, knit, an array of boring shirts and very Tommy Hilfiger-esque designs. It's quite sad, really. And seriously, none of the rich kids--the so-called 'target-market'--will ever buy anything from A&F. 

The article I read teases a hint of theory on why Jeffries thinks as such, I was immediately intrigued and I quickly googled him. It made me laugh, really. Whilst reading the article I figured he looked like Matthew McConaughey--strong, chiseled jaw, washboard abs, beach blonde hair and good All-American dimples. Instead he looked like an albino version of Hellboy. I'm sorry that was rude, no, actually I'm not sorry.

Anyway, obviously, he's definitely had some unresolved teenage issues, or a misguided fantasy that he was hot when he was a kid and even now. Whatever it is, he's a joke. 

Disconnect: Met Gala 2013

Some crazy new look at the Met Ball! If you don't know what the Met Ball is, it is an annual ball that celebrates the annual opening of the Metropolitan Museum's fashion exhibit at the Costume Institute. Vogue generally oversees a percentage of the cost and event planning so you know it's the biggest fashion event ever. It is also considered to be one of the best red carpet event.

Celebrities certainly went all out on this year's theme, "Punk: Chaos To Couture". While I'm all about themes and all, I prefer simple and elegant looks. My favorite this year has to be Carey Mulligan's simple look. Black cut-out seems to be the trend here because Carey Mulligan isn't the only one to wear a black cutout dress. Miranda Kerr is stunning in her long dress. Emma Watson also wore something very similar. It's way too simple but I just love how effortless she looks. Blake Lively must be reliving her Serena van der Woodsen days and she looks divine! I love Kate Bosworth, it's refreshing to see a splash of sparkly color. I love that Anne Hathaway dyed her hair bleach blonde, she looks fierce! I noticed Rooney Mara tends to wear a lot of white nowadays and I love her dark lip color!

Happiness: Love Yourself

I think one of humanity's greatest flaw is the feeling of doubt, low self-esteem and self-worth. We live in a world where there is a culture and a perception of perfect beauty. As we grow, we learn to differentiate what is right and wrong and we struggle with these stigmas.


I am grateful to see companies like Dove take issues like this seriously. I love Dove ad campaigns. They certainly know how to affect women and tackle their self-esteem issues. For their latest ad campaign, they have teamed up with FBI Forensics sketch artist Gil Zamora to discover how women perceive themselves versus how other people perceive them.

It was an incredible finding--how women see so little of themselves. It is devastating that we all have that demon inside us where we live to tell ourselves we're not beautiful or that we're not good enough. The worst part is that it is imbibed in us as we grow up. You have no idea how many countless times my own family has told me I'm ugly or so fat; the worst is when they say, "Oh you could have been pretty but..." like why does it have to contain a but? Why can't they just tell me I'm pretty?


When I was in high school, I developed somewhat an eating disorder. It's nothing really serious or dramatic because it wasn't serious or anything but whether it was serious or not, it was still an eating disorder and something was still wrong with how I was living my life then. It wasn't healthy and I was starving myself during the day because I thought then it was the right thing to do.

I have always been on the chubby side. I grew up hearing everyday how fat and ugly I was. Sometimes it came from my parents, sometimes from my brothers, sometimes from other relatives and family friends. I wouldn't eat breakfast nor lunch but since I didn't want to risk my family knowing, I had to eat a small portion for lunch. Throughout high school, (I was already 5'4"and) I maintained a healthy weight of 110 lbs.

By body-fat index standards, I was healthy and at the right size. But the problem was I was incredibly unhappy. I considered those years to be the worst time in my life. I hated myself and I hated seeing the person in the mirror. I saw someone who's ugly and worthless. I would weigh myself ever opportunity I could. I realized that 1 Oreo cookie would add 10 lbs to my weight and I'd do a hundred crunches to fight it back.

One time, I decided to ask my mom why she couldn't just tell me I'm beautiful--that's what all mothers are supposed to say anyway even if it's not the truth. My mom said, "that's the way it is. No parent will ever tell their children they're perfect or they're amazing or they're beautiful." I laughed and at the same time I felt a huge pang in my gut. The truth is, the only people who will ever consider us beautiful is our own mother. But not my mom, clearly. I don't exactly know which mother's handbook she read but it's messed up and a whole lot of bullshit. I'm not a mother but I know that because I'm a teacher and I've seen tons of mothers and all of them looks at their child like they're gold.

I read my favorite book, "The Perks Of Being A Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky when I was in transition from high school to university (yes, I read it way before all the hipsters did). It was my favorite book and I read it at the perfect time of my life. In the book was one of the most memorable quotes mentioned by Charlie's favorite teacher, "We accept the love we think we deserve."


I think that quote is something that is evident in our society. Kids who decide to end their life due to bullying, self-esteem issues, etc. In most cases, people like me probably get messed up when they grow up but I've always been "different and weird" as my mother would put it. My family was trying to bring me up like my mother--a traditionally submissive Chinese daughter inheriting all these household expectations and responsibilities. The more my family tried to stir me in the direction they please, the more stubborn I grew. I was just a sprig of cowlick who refused to be a) traditional, b) submissive, and c) a Chinese daughter inheriting all these household expectations and responsibilities.

My mother was right: I was different and weird. I wasn't like her. She was a martyr and I was an antihero. And I like being the antihero, I like being different and weird and not being exactly like my mom. I like the fact that I have both my parents qualities and character flaws because it makes me who I am.

photo via Tumblr

I am glad that I did not have to go through this dark path. Everyday there is a kid or teen suffering from bullying and a huge part of it is because they're unhappy about themselves. In high school, I had a classmate who'd cut herself in class with a mechanical pencil. It was the grossest thing I have ever seen. It was strange because she was smart. Yes, she was weird; even verging on goth but I am pretty sure she knew that she was smarter than everyone else in school. If I had to make a movie about my teenage life, I'd pick Janeane Garofalo to play her. Anyway, look at that photo. I found it on Tumblr. It's a nice tattoo, except for the fact it was written on an arm basically covered with scar tissues from cutting. Whoever owns this arm, I appreciate the gesture of finally learning to love yourself.

Today, I'm still like any other person dealing with self-esteem issues but because my family has the most twisted sense of logic, I have to rise above all that and be the smarter person. I'm far beyond those days when I could fit in a small dress. Have you seen my family? I'll never be a size-zero! It's in my DNA.

Contentment is something we should all try to aim for. All those celebrities we see on television and film has had something done--obviously. None of them looked like that prior to being famous! And as cheesy as it may sound--what matters is the beauty we have within.

This ad campaign shows all of us that we are beautiful. It is unfortunate that we have to live our whole lives denying ourselves of contentment and that we need other people to tell ourselves that we are beautiful and that we're good enough. But we shouldn't rely on that, we should learn to love ourselves on our own. 

Video by Dove and Sketches by Gil Zamora.

Happiness: Pancakes on Labor Day

My sister in law asked me if I wanted to join them for dinner. And so I met up with them at City Square Mall for dinner. My brother texted me to meet them at PHOP.

I'm not particularly super familiar with City Square Mall. Sure, I've been there around five times I surmise but it's not like I know every single store or restaurant there (I can't say the same for Orchard, haha). I looked at the directory and thought to myself, "What the... PHOP is this?" Yup, it just came out. I wanted to cuss out loud but I was by myself and I didn't know where PHOP was.

But I found it. PHOP actually stands for Paddington House of Pancakes. Sounded like an IHOP wannabe to me. I remember eating at IHOP back when I was twelve which was about twelve years ago. 

I actually love the interior of the place. It's so artistic! I took quite a number of shots that stirred quite a response on Instagram. Here are just a number of shots on my Instagram, feel free to follow me @chedj (It is on private because I have to filter and make sure my people from work--meaning parents and admin-related people do not spy on me haha).

Just for the record: breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I can eat breakfast meals for lunch and dinner. My favorite breakfast meal is some good ol' garlic rice, properly cooked sunny side up (I'm particular about my egg, ask my mother), bacon or tocino. Yum. I love waffles and fruits but I only drizzle a small amount of maple syrup. One time I was at Marché with my family, I had waffles and my brother added chocolate chips on it. I got upset because I bought it and that wasn't how I wanted my waffles to be. He and my mom ended up eating most of it because it was tainted with chocolate. Ugh.

This is what we had for dinner: Oslo was salmon and an omelette. Frankfurt was sausage and cheddar cheese--it does not look good though (if you can see what I mean) but it was fine. I had the Classic Buckleberry based on my brother's recommendation. It was alright--it had blueberry pancakes, a roll of ham and omelette. My brother had Minnesota which was a bbq chicken and hashbrown pancakes. 

For dessert we had Dairy Queen Blizzard! I usually almost always get strawberries and banana or something to that effect. But then staring long and hard at the menu, I finally saw something interest: Banoffee! Oh my god, it was the best Blizzard flavor ever! I love Banoffee pies and I'm so glad there's a blizzard flavor for it!

If you have been wondering what I wore that day, I kept it pretty casual: I wore my Of Monsters And Men shirt, denim jacket from Topshop, leggings from Forever 21, grey Zara boots and Topshop x J.W. Anderson tote bag. I wore something simple and laid back because the weather was pretty insane. 

Don't forget to check out all these photos on my Instagram!

Disconnect: Free People Presents "Roshambo: Rock"

Free People Presents "Roshambo: Rock" from FreePeople on Vimeo.

Just when you thought it's over, Free People unleashes the second part of the lovely Roshambo video... three months later. I'm confused though whether this is the prequel or the sequel to the first. In any case, it's lovely. I love the glimpses of Christopher Abbott in this. It makes me want to see him more and more.

And I love how this other guys just tells Sheila, "I don't know you but I do know you're in one of the most beautiful cities in the world... and you can't even see it." And he goes on to say, "Sheila, open your eyes." Then asks her for a dance.

And just like any epic love story, just when you think she's on her way to moving on and letting go, the memory of Christopher catches on... and it just ends. Gorgeous part two to the short film. I'm hoping for a next one!

If you haven't seen part one, go check it out here now, it's amazing.

Disconnect: Free People Presents "Roshambo"

Free People Presents "Roshambo" from FreePeople on Vimeo.

I haven't posted any Free People lookbooks in a while--which is such a shame because it's Spring and of all brands out there, it's Free People I look forward to the most. But recently, this video has gone viral thanks to NYLON.

The video features GIRLS actor Christopher Abbott who plays the scruffy Charlie, Marnie's ex-boyfriend. A character whom I pitied a lot at the beginning. 

I used to watch GIRLS and then I stopped at around the fifth episode. They said that Lena Dunham is the voice of MY GENERATION; a generation of twenty-something females. A modern-day Carrie Bradshaw in her twenties. BUT SERIOUSLY, SHE'S NOT. I don't normally capitalize my texts unless they're written as such but that just goes to show how SERIOUS I am. The show is annoying and completely misrepresentative of women. Yes, Lena Dunham has her ways of empowering women and she shows it through the use of her body and sometimes witty banters. She's just out there embracing all the flaws of her body and showing it in all her naked glory. But her character, Hannah, is also a freeloader who does nothing but whine--hardly the embodiment of my generation. In the show, Hannah nor her friends are exemplary women supportive of their peers--the show practically revolved around the four of them becoming enemies and rivals. Not all female friendships are hateful and malicious. 

I never really knew what happened to Charlie. He probably disappeared in the show. But he's in this video and that's cool. And I love this video. I just love short films like this that is subtle, sexy and poetic. I was thinking to myself, "What on earth is Roshambo?" and I found out within a second or so what it was. Adorable.

Thank you Free People for always being amazing!

Don't forget to check out part two of this amazing short!

Happiness: Liese Jewel Pink

Since I was out on a Friday night and the entire Saturday, I made a conscious and responsible decision to stay at home on Sunday. I spent the day doing absolutely nothing and it was fantastic. I caught up on the shows I was recently too busy to watch over the week.

I made lunch, dinner and even the next day's breakfast--which was nice. Since I've got a microwave at the new place I work, I figure it would be better if I cook twice the size of my usual dinner and save some for tomorrow's breakfast.

By 5, I got bored but I was way too lazy to get out of my room. Besides, it was a glum day so I looked around my room and remembered I got this loot from joining the NYLON contest. I looked into the bag and saw the bubble hair dye.

This was going to be awesome.

The last time I had my hair colored was on my birthday back in September. Technically, my hair still had that color, but since I cut off 13 inches off it, the color no longer shows as strongly as it used to. I wanted to get my hair colored again but I'm in a bit of a spending diet. I have been eager to try this since reading my classmate Val's post on it--that was about 2 or 3 years ago? I had my mom try it last year. She said it was a disaster because it dried out her hair so that sort of discouraged me. I also didn't know which color to pick. I'm always a redhead at heart but there's not much of an option like that. The closest was picking Jewel Pink or Mocha Orange. Both seemed leaning towards the red but I wasn't sure which one would give the best look on me. But anyway, it's a free thing and it was worth a try.

Inside the box contained a small bottle of chemical labeled #1, a bigger bottle labeled #2, a sachet of Rinse Off Treatment, 2 surgical gloves and a cardboard for allergy test, a pump, 2 instruction sheets. Stuff are mostly in Japanese but there's an English, Chinese and Malay instruction as well.

I was so scared to try it out. I have this annoying habit of just skimming through text and not reading the whole thing. So I made sure to read everything slowly and repeated it. The first few pumps came out white but because I thought I was going to run out of dye, I used it. I lathered up my hair with quite a lot of foam. I ended up throwing the rest of it away because it was just too much on my head already and you can't really keep those stuff anymore.

The box stated 20-30 minutes. I went for 30 minutes since I know my hair is pretty stubborn. It is so black that 30 minutes might not even be enough to color it. 

Inside my NYLON loot bag, I found an Essential Damage Care Shampoo and Conditioner and decided to try the shampoo to rinse my hair with along with the Rinse Off Treatment. My hair was pretty coarse after but it was still manageable because I used my favorite Frederic Fekkai Soy Milk Protein. On the next day, I used my regular shampoo Kérastase Bain Age Recharge and conditioner RPR Fix My Frizz in Berry Smoothie, the leftover Rinse Off Treatment and the Fekkai Soy Milk Protein and my hair was almost back to its smooth and soft feel.

It's kind of difficult to see on photos but it's pretty strong under the light or sun. The best part about it is that my hair didn't turn pink! Hahaha! It was still brown and when people ask me what color I used, they find it hard to believe it's "pink".

Will I ever try doing this again? Absolutely. Although I'm still hoping there's a possibility that my hair will be as awesome as Julianne Moore's!