Current Music Taste.

Hi people, so sorry for not postng up the second part of the Germany trip, I was kinda lazy :X I will try to do it by the end of this week, so just enjoy this filler post in the meanwhile ok? :)



So I was just stalking the piano music circle of my piano teacher and just so happened to find the website of my accompanist for my DSA auditions for Strings last year.

During our short meeting (3 days to be exact), I liked him quite a lot, which is kinda weird since I rarely like a person in just three days. His playing makes him really cool and when I talked to him just before the auditions and was freaking the hell out, he kept on reassuring me that I will do fine. So sweet :) OH OH I REMEMBER ANOTHER ONE he can speak and read Russian fluently! :DD

Anyway, here's a video of him playing a Chopin Ballade....

Enjoy~

ANYWAY, on to the real post, basically the kind of music that I listen to now.

I'm really into rock music nowadays, especially 80s rock bands. Pop/punk rock and metal are also in my playlist. This is due to the influence of my badass peers, ie. Stanley and Nicole, as well as vloggers like clothesencounters (if you havent checked her out, do so, she is uh-may-zing).

The one thing that I really love about rock is that it is so unrestrained. The band members just do whatever the heck they want, and this is reflected in their music. Pretty liberating for me after years of classical music training.


I'm also starting to get interested in psychedelic kinda music, but havent quite gotten there yet.

Of course, pop music will forever be there, especially with my Adam baby coming out with amazing songs as well :D



Just making a playlist of songs that I personally REALLY love, hope you enjoy it (and not get too freaked by the wildness) (not in any particular order):


1. Bon Jovi - Always

This is THE love song. It's all about missed chances, pledging eternal love and all that sap, complete with Bon Jovi's sexayye voice ;)

2. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

This is basically the whole band's genius and talent all lumped together in a single song.

Not a very stereotypical 80s rock band, but they turned out to be a legend.

if you dont at least know this song, We Are The Champions and We Will Rock You by Queen, 

SHAME ON YOU!

3. Marilyn Manson - Tainted Love

This is the only song that can make me feel sexy. IDK why. 

Manson looks freaky but he is a really decent guy, so dont judge!!

(the video cover looks wrong, i have to admit, but dont let it hinder you)

4. Alter Bridge - Isolation

The guitar intro says everything. One of my favourite bands and songs!

5. Sleeping With Sirens - Do It Now, Remember It Later

Practically my soundtrack of the year. I keep replaying this song over and over again just to hear Kellin's VOICE. The lyrics are really empowering as well. 

6. Pierce The Veil - King for A Day

The reason how I even got to know SWS in the first place. This collab between PTV and Kellin was golden.

7. Alice Cooper - School's Out

Probably the least freaky track (and most catchy!) out of all the albums Alice has produced. :/

Whenever its the last day of school I'll play this without fail.

I really liked Vengeance is Mine as well but I think it'll scare people away from my blog LOL

8. Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train

All hail the Prince of Darkness, OZZY! 

No rock/metal playlist can be complete without one of the Godfather of Metal's songs.

I think Randy Rhoads (the guitarist) was on steroids when he wrote this classic.

9. Guns and Roses - November Rain

I realised that many of the songs that I like consists of a rad guitar solo.

And this is played by Slash so I dont need to explain any further hehe

10. Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love 

Loved this song ever since Adam sang it on Idol. 

Zeppelin is most famous for Stairway to Heaven (i think) but this song just clicks with me more.

11. Asking Alexandria - Dear Insanity 

I had been looking for a real screamo song for a really long time when Stanley finally introduced this to me. I was eternally grateful.

12. Motley Crue - Home Sweet Home 

Piano throughout the song made me have hearts in my eyes. 

Is there anything that the band members CANT play??

Okay if I continue on it'll never end. Haha. There are SO many bands to check out! I havent even mentioned bands like U2, Aerosmith, RATT, Van Halen etc., or Simple Minds and All Time Low and Boys Like Girls (our favourite band I know). There are even more rad songs that I havent mentioned from each of the bands that I featured. Sigh.

Hope this post has provided all with a fresh alternative to the Top 40s pop music we always hear on the radio now!

See you on my next post, which is hopefully very soon. :)

Top 10 Favourite Blogshops!

Hi guys I just couldnt WAIT to get this post out to you all. Please scroll down to see my earlier post (Germany Trip part 1) if you havent! :)

I have been doing a ton of shopping this holiday, and I have been frequenting many of my favourite blogshops for inspirations and also to see what's available. I think this will be a really useful post for many girls so do read it :)

Disclaimer: I'm not getting paid for this in any way. This is just promoting what I personally love! :)
                    All credits for pictures go to the respective blogshops and owners.



1. Ebay 

 No, I am not screwing with you. Ebay is probably the best blogshop ever to find pratically anything you want.

You can get accessories at about 99 US cents that cost about $5 or more in retail stores. (take note that not everything on eBay is cheap. The nicer designs are usually more expensive.)

Also, the variety of bags, clothes and shoes is so huge, you can always find something really unique on the site. That is, if you are hardworking enough to browse through the many pages you are given.

I get all my iPhone covers on this website too!


Just a couple of examples on what you can get at this website:

I wanted this piece SO badly. Unfortunately, I couldnt come up with any valid excuses for my mum to buy it for me.

Rolling stones iPhone cover!

In any case, you just type whatever you want to find in the search box and it will surely come to you. Saves you the trouble of finding it elsewhere.

2. hauteurbanstyle.com

Most of you might already know that www.hauteurbanstyle.com is my all-time favourite shoe shop. It sells shoes that are the trendiest and most up-to-date at extremely reasonable prices. 

Expect designer knock-offs that look a lot like the real thing as well as other stylish options.

Price range is around $30-$60. This compared to other retail stores and blogshops like ROMWE is very, very cheap.

Did I mention that I got my prom shoes here too?

 

 Classic.

 How cute are these cat wedges?

If you havent checked out their site, I suggest you do it right now :)

3.ROMWE

I think ROMWE has established itself to be a really successful street blogshop. IMO, the stuff are quite pricey, but you can find many unique pieces in here.

This blogshop has one of the widest ranges of apparel and caters to every kind of style (glamorous, elegant, cutesy, girly, grunge etc.) I don't recommend the shoes and bags though, they are way overpriced. 

ROMWE also conducts frequent giveaways, and I was lucky enough to receive a pair of galaxy leggings from one of them. Go like their Facebook page and sign up as a member to join!

 The pair that I got for free.

My first purchase. I just HAD to have it lol.

Amazing dress for the hipsters! Wanted to post another galaxy dress here but I guess two is enough :)

4. The Editor's Market

The Editor's Market is one of the only Singapore-based blogshops that sells interesting clothes. This is also the reason why it managed to turn into an international label.

If you wanna shop here I suggest you drag some of your friends along as the price for each piece decreases the more you buy. Check out their website for more details.

Their retail store is located at Cineleisure and everything is at the same price as the online one. I think its cheaper to shop there coz there is no mailing fee, unless you count your bus/MRT fare.

The sequinned top, beanie and the skirt are new arrivals. 

Also, who could miss those dope shades?

Their popular cat jumper. There is a giveaway for this but IDK whether it is still going on.

5. RECXNSTRUCT

This is my favourite blogshop by far. Recxnstruct started out as an instagram shop which eventually branched out to become an actual blogshop. I was lucky enough to get followed by the owner and hence got to know about it. Thank goodness :)

Everything that they offer caters to the rockers/indies/grunge fashion people. Even if I am kinda over that kind of fashion, I am in love with all of the pieces. ALL. 

What's even better is everything is DIRT CHEAP. Not overpriced at all. Some items that can also be found on ROMWE cost way lesser.

Their instagram page offers more products than the online shop, so follow them @recxnstruct .

 How cute is this Bart Simpsons pullover?! Jeremy Scott inspired.

This silver pleated skirt has been on my wish list since forever.

Proenza Schouler inspired satchel. Another item on my wish list.

6. Missguided

 Missguided is probably the best party dress shop I have seen so far. Each dress is dripping with either sequins or studs or other embellishments and detail, which is the most important aspect of evening wear. 

All of the dresses look great, but in order to find those gems, you really have to browse through every page.

Just a few of my favourites (they are from the older collections):

Ugh, I LOVE this.

Amazing detail!

So simple yet so chic.

I'm obsessed with this. oh God.

7. Xenia

Another one of my favourite dress shops. This shop caters to  more smart casual dressers and needless to say, the dresses are amazing. Some of the dresses are even more beautiful than the ones found at Missguided!

 When I saw this dress I was just like

 Lavender and laser-cut lace, what more could a girl ask for?

 

Sexiest neckline I have ever seen. and the back is completely bare except for a string.

Symmetrical paisley print <3

The prints of each dress is beautiful and special, which is a key factor of this shop's success. Oh and I knew about this blogshop through instagram too. Sigh, the power of instagram <3

8. Modcloth

For all the vintage lovers out there, this is the place for you. Modcloth was set up by a husband and wife (I think) who had a passion for all things vintage, and it eventually expanded to become an empire, working with famous names like Betsey Johnson and Tracy Reese (or at least, they import the dresses from these designers).

The dresses at this site are rather pricey, and not all the dresses are pretty. However, when you spot a gem of a dress, it really is a diamond and not some semi-precious stone. In fact, I bought both prom dresses (one for my secondary school prom and one for my JC prom) here. 

What I like about these pieces is that they stand the test of time. Wear it anywhere at any time and any season, it will still be in style. 

I shall use myself as the model for one of the pieces they used to sell:

  Sorry for the extra large picture but you can't see the details unless it is this big.

This is the Poetic Penumbra dress, and I absolutely ADORE it. 

Your prom dress is one of those pieces that you will never forget, so why not make it good?

I'm not gonna show my other dress coz I'm selfish. >:) 

Instead, I'm gonna show you my other favourites from Modcloth that are equally cute.

Looking like A Million Bucks dress in Blush

The lace is to die for, seriously.

Another gorgeous piece.

BTW, just because I post up really pink and girly dresses doesnt mean that they dont have vampy dresses. 

They do. 

Look for it.

9. Nasty Gal

When we talk about blogshops, how could we not include Nastygal? From just another eBay seller to a multi-million dollar empire, CEO Sophie Amoruso brought Nastygal from nothing to everything in only a few years.

I swear, Sophie should be every blogshop owner's guru. She is mine, at least.

This blogshop mixes the vintage with modern, but is more well-known for the good-girl-gone-bad kind of clothing. The clothes are bad ass, the accessories are quirky, and the shoes are simply stunning.

The only downside about this website is that the prices are So. Freaking. High.

One dress can go up to USD320 (most expensive dress i have seen on the site). I saw the exact same dress on a wholesale website and it cost less than 10 dollars. I felt really, really cheated after that. 

That aside, there is no denying the power of Nasty Gal.

If it weren't for the price, it would have been my prom dress, or just mine.

This is not the only dope shoe they have there!

No words needed.

Rich bitches, this is the site for you! :D

10. EATINGZOMBIE

Very similar to Recxnstruct in terms of the kind of style. 

Eating Zombie is a pretty cool blogshop, but occasionally falls into the trap of buying typical Singaporean blogshop clothing, which is dangerous. As long as they can refrain from doing that, this shop is going to be even more popular than it is now in the near future.

 I typically HATE jumpsuits/playsuits/overalls that are pants.

For me to say that I like one is a VERY special case.

This playsuit is amazing.

other notable blogshops:

- Black Milk clothing. A favourite with fashion bloggers like Luanna P. and Grav3yardgirl (Bunny).
- The Scarlet Room.
- Chicwish
- Native Runaway

So guys, check out these blogshops! You can have so fun just by window shopping, like me! :D 

Do come back to see part 2 of the Germany trip! ^.^

Germany trip Part 1

Hey guys!


 So I am back from Germany, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly for the most part. The only thing that proved to be disruptive was my cold rash (and for those who follow me on twitter would have seen a picture of a part of my arm with the rashes), which spread EVERYWHERE, especially my arms and legs. I'm gonna have to wear jeans and long skirts to cover my scars up now due to the fact that I scratched till I bled.

Check me out scratching at the ticketing station (warning: disturbing and unglamorous shots ahead):

You know how good it feels to finally scratch after controlling for half an hour or so? 

You can tell by my face.

But enough of my rash rant and moving on to the actual trip. I dont really know how to start because there is so much to talk about, but let's just start with this....



I went to Hannover, Leipzig and Frankfurt during my stay in Germany, free and easy touring.
 You might be thinking that my parents and I were travelling from region to region by taxi or plane or something, but NO, to save money, we had to take the tram and subway and train (yeah they are different, German underground works) while lugging our luggage along. This is actually quite a common sight in the country, businessmen and the locals apparently do it all the time. Anyway, after that experience I am quite proud to say that the family is rather apt at taking public transport in Germany now. :)

Now that you have an overview, time for the pictures....



Before I got to have any fun, I had to help out at the exhibition with my parents. My dad was actually doing a business trip, then decided to make it into a holiday as well.

The Back Factory serves the most freshly baked pastries and confectionery in Hannover. You can see people flocking to this shop everyday at the Hauptbahnhof (main station). The donuts and quiche are especially good!

My mum and I in the train! (regarding what Im wearing, you wont get to see a change because I wore the same overcoat and boots for 12 days straight. hehe)

Daydreaming.

Anyway, the exhibition that my Dad is attending is called Eurotier. It is the largest international exhibition for those who are doing businesses in animal nutrition and people from all around the world (Iran, Turkey, Finland, China, Japan etc.). 

The entrance to Eurotier 2012.

The banner of our booth. My dad is pretty clever to put it there to attract people haha

MOO.

Doesn't the poster on the wall look gorgeous?? 

I got to meet many of my dad's clients and partners, and at the same time, learn about the more underhanded behaviours of businessmen. What I learnt from the trip isn't really about the technical aspect of business, but more of the relationships and also about how to handle difficult people.

(I have to say, my Dad is not an EQ person. He manages to make quite a number of potential customers displeased because of the way he speaks (although it is not intentional), and my mum has to put him back in place all the time. Whatever it is, I will never ever make the mistakes that my father made, ever again.)

When anyone talks about an overseas trip, they cannot miss out on the food.

Germany is really famous for their meat, especially sausages and pork knuckles. However, they have really underrated food that tastes absoultely heavenly, maybe even better than their sausages. Their seafood is a perfect example to illustrate what I mean.

 

Enjoying food from Nordsee. It is like a fast food restaurant, just that the food they serve is a lot fresher and healthier than Mac or KFC. 

Codfish with lemon sauce. LOOK at the mixed vegetables. They are actually cooked fresh, not some pre-packed frozen shit like the ones I always get in Singapore.

Herring, eaten raw. It has a naturally very salty flavor so it doesnt taste like raw fish. My favourite dish here :)

skinny oysters. This one I enjoyed less. The type of oysters was just not to my liking :(

When my parents and I took the ICE (its a train) to Leipzig from Hannover, we stopped by a countryside station and decided to have lunch there. It was here that we managed to eat some real common German food.

I dont really like potatoes, but the way they cook potatoes here makes them taste really good!

And you don't even have to ask about the sausage, you just KNOW it was fat, crunchy and juicy. Perfect.

This ham/meatloaf (im not very sure what kind of meat this is) surpassed any kind of meat I have had in my life, even steak. The meat was so smooth, I just had to glide my knife through in order to separate it. It felt the same way in my mouth as well. Great for those who dont have any teeth to chew with. It's quite long ago since I had it so I cant exactly remember how it tasted but since it left quite an impression, I'm sure it was really good :)

The fish restaurant that I visited in Frankfurt. It was really near Zeil (shopping mall that I will elaborate upon later.)

Half of the dishes we had. Mmmm.

As you can see, my mum and I enjoying ourselves.

Just further down this restaurant, we discovered a wet market. A wet market in Germany, how cool is that? We decided to check out this interesting place, and were amazed by what we saw.

Entrance!

Seeds and bulbs for the gardeners.

A meat shop.

Too cute :')

Betcha guys are drooling just looking at it. x)

Fresh fruit and vegetables!

Just look at the variety of pasta. *.*

(HUGE)Black and white truffles. I have always though that truffles were a chocolate until I was about sec 2 before my mum enlightened me (it is a mushroom).

Lol look at the size of this chilli. It's twice the size of my Dad's hand, and that says something.

Olives and other types of beans....

The amount of sausages and ham and pork and stuff is enough to make you nauseous. Even for meat lovers like myself.

There was one shop in the market that displayed whole slaughtered pigs with the head and everything. It wasn't a pretty sight at all. The different sections of the pig (liver, stomach, skin, tail, you name it, they have it) were then further separated in the glass display for people to buy. Ugh

There was a fish shop upstairs that caters both cooked and raw food, and since it was a market, my dad assumed that the food was gonna be much cheaper than in other restaurants.

How wrong he was.

The cost for one bowl of soup, four oysters and a plate of codfish cost us up to 50 over euros, about 60 to 70 plus SGD. Thank goodness the food was really fresh and tasty, or we would have caused a mini riot.

Every spoonful of soup will guarantee whole chunks of fish and prawn. Amazing stuff.

Each piece of oyster cost 6 sing dollars. No way in hell am I ever gonna pay that kind of money, even if they were good.

Fish was so fresh, I could still taste the sea. (do I make sense?)

I rarely had any dessert in Germany, which was a pity because their cakes and confectionery are pretty well-known as well. I only managed to try the crepe and gelato there, and was a slightly disappointed because it wasnt anything too special (although good).

Banana and Nutella crepe with chocolate gelato on top!

Blissfully cutting the dough.

Other pictures:

Super hot and fat pretzel (bread), 99cents euro for three. And I always thought that pretzels were biscuits (think Auntie Anne).

Lovely hotdog and the shop we were in :)

------------------------------------------------------------

HALT!

I initally wanted to throw everything about the trip into one post, but while writing this particular one, I realised that it was way too long for you guys to handle (long and boring will make one lose their readers, or so I have learnt), so I'm gonna split this into two parts. Please do enjoy this post first while I construct the other one. Besides, I have so much to tell, so I think it is worth the wait while I fatten up the content of my other post. Second part is up next week, do wait for it :)


TOODLES~