Sunday, November 29, 2015

Travel Diary : Hong Kong Disneyland

Almost two years later and I'm back on the streets of Hong Kong. Everywhere I looked, there's this familiarity that creeps in bringing me back to the first time I laid my eyes on this small but vibrant city.



Getting lost in a strange city is ain't fun, but Hong Kong is different.  The streets come alive leading you to certain paths and before you know it, you are either in a spot surrounded by skyscrapers, a cafe, beach or a street where the oldest Michelin restaurant exists serving nothing but the best dim sum.

It's my second time yet it feels like there's still so much to experience, to see and indulge myself with. Hong Kong has a youthful vibe that feels rather ironic as you wander your eyes seeing how much heritage and history are written all over it's streets and walls. The sound of cars honking, people rushing and the orderly chaos in MTR, I fell in love with the tiniest details Hong Kong has to offer. I may keep doing the same things here over and over but even so, I know will never grow tired of them.
Its probably the feeling of belonging and its  food, people, culture, party scene, weather and now, admittedly - shopping that makes me want to come back.

This recent trip to Hong Kong was a series of abrupt decisions and a little bit of spontaneity. I love airline seat sale and apparently subscribed to several airlines to receive their seat sale notice. So when Jestar posted a $0 fare deal to Hong Kong, I immediately sent the screen cap to the group and as soon as I received their "go" Bam! Booked. Weeks later, we found ourselves in Hong Kong.  Giddy and slightly overdressed for the weather ( it was 26C when we landed and I was really hoping to at least 20C) but overly excited and ready to take the city by storm.

We took A21 ( paid $33 hkd)  and got off at Carnarvon Road at Tsim Sha Tsui. It was roughly a 30-minute ride to the city from Lantau Island but your eyes will feast on the view as you make your way to the central area. ( more information about transportation from Airport here)

Hong Kong is known for small spaces and comparably has the almost the same cost of living as that of Singapore. I found this guesthouse ( Sleep In Hotel )at Mirador Mansion which has great reviews. It fits perfectly on our budget and has subway access. When looking for a place to stay in HK, I strongly advise staying in TST or along Nathan Road. Jordan and Mongkok area also good options for their proximity. I stayed in TST before and I felt that it's my niche whenever I'm in the city. It's Hong Kong's version of Orchard Rd in Singapore but with a view of Harbour and  good dining options.

And so our adventure begins. Sharing with you some snaps of our Disneyland experience. I am no Disneyland newbie but my inner child automatically activates whenever I'm at the happiest place on earth. Personally, I think winter season is the best time to visit, as the park transforms to Christmas wonderland with all the decorations and beautiful adornments. This is truly where magic happens.







My I-don't-want-to-go-just-yet face.

By 8:30 pm, everyone gathered at Main St. USA for the much awaited fireworks display. There's something about the lights and "A Whole New World" playing in the background that can put anyone in that "disney moment." It surely will tug at your heartstrings but in a good way. Don't fret, Disneyland's fireworks have that effect on anyone. 

So if you find yourself wanting to relive those childhood memories and experience magic again, I urge you to visit Disneyland. It's where magic happens. A must-visit place when in Hong Kong and as they say, explore and enjoy for "it's the happiest place on earth."


♥,
Jhesy 

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Flapper Girl - Dazzling 20's

Time-traveled for a night back to the Twenties, Known as the "Roaring 20s" or Jazz Era. It was the age of dramatic social and political change. People were speaking in the same slang, doing the same dance moves and listening to the same type of music. It was referred to as " roaring" as the society is more exuberant and a lot of people defied prohibition and indulged themselves to new styles of dancing and dressing, rejecting many traditional moral standards. It was considered the freewheeling popular culture of the decade.


With dramatic change in fashion came the "new woman" or the flapper. This is considered the symbol of this era referring to young women with bobbed hair and flashy outfits doing unladylike things. Corsets came off, skirts were shorter and style loosened up. Women dress more comfortably but put an added effort in embellishment. Pearls, sequins, tulle, lace and trousers for women were in for the first time ( Thanks Coco Chanel )

I absolutely adore the fashion in the Twenties. One because it is more relaxed yet flamboyant. It has a distinct style and everyone seems to be party-ready yet exudes dainty, lady-like style in embellished head dress, fur and satin gloves.

When our company announced that our Year End Party is all about Haute Couture collaboration; my mind spinned and I became giddy thinking about the runway and the look I would put together. We were given the freedom to choose the style theme for the event and I thought that Gatsby would be nothing short of perfect!

Pulling the Gatsby look was not an easy feat.I didn't realize the limited resources I would have. There isn't a lot of flapper or sequined dresses to choose from in Singapore. I decided to consult the internet and checked for options online. I did find several dress styles which fit perfectly to my preference however, it would take them two weeks to deliver and we're talking about shipping outside of SG. Thanks to some fashion enthusiasts online and to Carousell, I found the "dress". It's copper and gold in color with sequins and beads intricately hand sewn ( see below ). I tried to veer away from wearing black for a change and wanted to experiment with a different shade this time. I fell in love with the dress the moment I saw it online. I figured that with the right accessories, I should be able to pull off the 1920s look. 



How to dress like a flapper girl :

Dresses : 
Shapeless dresses with beads, sequins, lace, fringes, satin and chiffon. Anything that has v-shaped front and back will surely define the flapper look.  Rummage through your closet and look for dresses with knee length, dropped waist-line and has v-shape front and back. This is a good shape to start your 1920s look. Concern about your body shape? 1920's dresses meant to hide the curves. The straight-waisted dress will you give you the figure you need to pull off for the Gatsby look. Show off your decolletage and hide those curves instead. 

Tip : You can also create the illusion of a dropped waist by tying a scarf around your hips. 


Shoes : 
If you intend to go all out and complete the look with the 1920's shoe then I would suggest to exclude stilettos. They were not invented in this era yet. Choose shoes with round closed toe adorned with a t-bar strap and buckles. Opt for chunky heels with medium heel. Another option is to wear Mary Jane Shoes or a tap shoe instead. 

Hats and headbands
You can play around with anything you want to put on your head. Hat or headband is one way to recreate the 1920s look. You can use a satin belt or thin scarf and tied it on to your end. Or bejewelled your hair with beaded accents and sparkly headbands. The goal is to accentuate your hair and it will surely look good on any 1920s outfit.

1920s flapper hairstyle
Bob hairstyle was big in the twenties. One thing I've noticed is that women in this era tend to sport short curly hair or the classic bob cut. Those with long hair pulled theirs altogether in a low bun or chignon. Alternatively, you can also create the kiss-curles hairline using gel or hairspray. This may take a bit of work but definitely possible for those with short hair. 

Tip : Here, I'm wearing a gold necklace which I practically used as a headband. Pinned it using bobby pins and voila! A headpiece. DIY is again so much better. #resourceful

Final Touches : 

Stockings: 1920s flapper girl ensemble will not be complete without these. You can pull them right below the knee. Just make sure they're not thick enough that you'll be mistaken sporting a preppy look

Scarf: Long feather boa or fringes and even fur  are quintessential 1920s flapper style.

Gloves: This will add the classic vibe to the entire 1920s look. Be it in Satin black or gold,  wrap your arms in them and you'd be rocking the flapper look in no time.

String of pearls: Anything shiny, long and beaded. Pile them altogether or layer them around your neck. And remember, the longer the better.



Make-up: If you've seen Gatsby ( the movie ) they altered the look a bit. Daisy was rather looking pale in a fresh -faced make up mostly in flush of pink and pastels. However, if you do want to be the utlimate flapper girl then you need to have your eyebrows defined and your eyes in smokey shade. Red, dark lipstick is a must. You can even emphasize it by drawing a cupid's bow to create the silent movie star look. 

So there you have it, if you're planning to host a party or attend one with Gatsb-esque theme, then you're in for a treat. It is a fun, fashionable era and you can go all out with accessories and embellishments. Dress up and don yourself with shiny beads and pearls, travel back memory lane and relieve the roaring 20s. Dance the night away in jazz and party in glitz n' glamour ( just take it easy on the alcohol I must say ). Oh and don't forget to take a snap of your #ootds. I bet they will be instragram-worthy! 
♥,
Jhesy

T.S 1989

From IG polaroid clues, to secret sessions and to 1989 fans who had the privilege to listen to the album for the first time down to the release of the Shake It Off music video and album launch at the Empire State Building - Taylor Swift fashionably and successfully released her 5th album - 1989. It was her "first documented official pop album." Following the success the first single Shake It Off was the announcement of the 1989 World Tour.  


"The 1989 World Tour is coming to Singapore!"
These were music to my ears. So come June 26th, thanks to AMEX; we managed to score priority tickets to the 1989 tour. Though it was 5 months prior to the event and the ticket emptied my wallet, I knew the concert will be worth every $$$.

And I am a still a bit hung over from the musical event. It felt surreal to see Taylor again for the second time. My inner fan girl was activated and I am positively sure I did look like my 17-yrd old self screaming and belting my tonsils out to each song. I'm sure you would like to know the deets and sneak peek of what happened last November 8th , so here's a little rundown for you Swifties!

We made it just in time to take a few photos of the pre-show. There were a lot of people queuing up to buy the merchandise and to have their photo taken at the Cornetto photoboot. There were kids dressed in Christmas lights and all sort of LEDs. Some were even dressed in 1989 inspired ensembles while others were roaming around with their banners and placards catching everyone's attention. Energy was high and you can sense the excitement from everyone.The stadium was packed. It was rather amazing and in fact a showcase of how much Singapore adore Taylor. The 2-day concert tour was sold out months before and there were even those who purposely traveled from different countries just to see her perform.








By 8:10 pm, the lights went out and the backdrop streamlined as " New York". Taylor appeared in a leather skater skirt with cut out top and a sequined jacket opening the show with Welcome to New York. This was followed with the upbeat, "New Romantics" , Taylor even said she's been to Singapore several times and she's always mesmerized by its beauty.Blank Space was a sure crowd favorite . Taylor used a metal rod to hit a pole situated in the middle of the runway and looped her saying "Singapore" into the backing track. A different arrangement all together and the crowd was more enthusiastic this time.The lights went dim and our LED bracelets were lit in blue. Tay played I Knew You Were Trouble in a sultry, rock indie version reflecting the song's dark vibeThis was followed by I Wish You Would. While performing these songs, she expressed her gratitude to the people who welcomed 1989 to their lives and for choosing to party with her on a Sunday night. I was thinking, this is by far the best Sunday night ever.


How You Get the Girl was performed with Taytay dressed in pink co-ords ensemble which lights up and changes color. It was a good production with her danced armed with translucent umbrellas that lit up to match her dress, dancing around.


Tay walked to the edge of the loft and was helped to a harness. She began to explain that even though we may live in countries which are far apart, we are now in one place singing same songs which means that we face same insecurities and doubts . This makes her feel that we're not separated by distance at all.
Taylor has touched so many lives with her lyrics. In between her songs she would throw in some thoughts about how our worth should not be dependent on how people perceive us. That if we figure out how we look at the mirror and not see those insults or those criticisms; we can start living our life not based on those things. In that moment, you're clean. Smooth transition to Clean. That is my song!!!


It felt nostalgic hearing her play Love Story, her first ever number one international song. Tay was 17 when she wrote this on her bedroom floor and as what you might have guessed; the rest is history.

Truly a woman of Style, Tay performed this catchy song with her dancers in cropped blue suits and back up singers in pitch black gowns.In between costume change, there were pre-recorded video tapes of Taylor Swift's squad. Selena Gomez, Karlie Kloss, Jamie King, Haim, Abigail nd Cara Delevingne talked about the album, bonding sessions and how great Taylor is as a friend. Did I mention they are the ultimate #squadgoals?


Perfect combo I must say as the stage transitioned to an action packed spy film and Taylor performed Bad Blood and rock version of We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.To slow things down a bit, Taylor positioned in front of her piano wearing a long gown while playing Enchanted. It was dreamy and fairy tale like experience. She looked stunning in the blue dress.


I was really hoping she'd perform the acoustic version of Out of the Woods but the original arrangement did not disappoint. 

And what better way to end the concert but with a positive vibe. Taylor rocked the stage with Shake It Off in her silver glittery shimmery outfit to end off the night. She danced fearlessly in the moving propeller along with her dancers. I didn't want the night to end but it sure did with a bang. Shake it Off was the very first single released from her pop album and took 1989 to pop charts.




Borrowing words from Rolling Stone, 1989 is "Deeply weird, feverishly emotional, wildly enthusiastic, the album sounds exactly like Taylor Swift, even when it sounds like nothing she's ever tried before.

1989 is indeed curated from Taytay's experience over the past 2 years -the heartbreaks, lessons on friendship, adventures, phenomenal success  to embracing her own persona and moving to a genre which has been calling her for years now. As with Swift's previous albums, each song on the standard album is accompanied by a short "secret message", encoded in capitalized or decapitalized letters within the album's lyric book:


We begin our story in New York. There once was a girl known by everyone and no one. Her heart belonged to someone who couldn't stay. They loved each other recklessly. They paid the price. She danced to forget him. He drove past her street each night. She made friends and enemies. He only saw her in his dreams. Then one day he came back. Timing is a funny thing. And everyone was watching. She lost him but she found herself and somehow that was everything.



Setlist for November 8th 

1. Welcome to New York

2. New Romantics
3. Blank Space
4. I Knew You Were Trouble (Remix)
5. I Wish You Would
6. How You Get the Girl
7. I Know Places
8. You are in Love(Acoustic)
9. Clean
10. Love Story (1989 Remix)
11. Style
12. Bad Blood
13. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (Rock Remix)
14. Enchanted/Wildest Dreams
15. Out of the Woods
16. Shake It Off



♥,
Jhesy