THE JOY OF GOOD RIDDANCE

Since I was a kid, my parents described me as a "garang guni" (a legit occupation term for someone who goes around houses collecting others' unwanted objects, from newspapers to furnitures and then resell it) because I was a hoarder of everything. Think brochures with cute images on them, keychains, MacDonalds ice cream tray, bubble wraps, postcards, random free magazines, (ugly) notebooks, novels I bought and never read, piles of clothes, soft toys...ok too many to name, I don't want to go on. In recent years, I got quite blasé of clutter, of having so much. I started getting rid of bags and bags of rubbish but you know bad habits don't change overnight – as I got rid a handful of junk, I bring home other stuff. Fail!

But this time I really had enough of living in a clutter, so this week saw me throwing out the unnecessary in my room – it was a tideous but at the same time, liberating process seeing much lesser things in my tiny bedroom/workspace and wardrobe. Our homes should be practical and simple, with only the essentials to allow more space to live in comfortably and think clearly. I have so many clothing that I bought on impulse which are still in great condition but they don't suit me anymore, and I can't bear to trash them so the better option is to sell them to those who would suit these items. Please have a look at my carousell account here – you'll find clothes, accessories, books and fashion magazines. Hopefully they'd find a better home. I should posting more stuff to sell in the next few days. Please help!

BLOG HOP: THEROSEBREAKER

Hi to those new here! A few weeks back, Zhiying of littleprojectsinstyle introduced this whole blog hop affair to me. I've known her for a long time from church and through her super cool mom. Then she left for the States to complete her studies, then worked, tied the knot, moved to a few cities, got a fluffy dog, moved back to Singapore and she's now a mom of a twenty months old son. I enjoy reading her blog that's filled with witty writing and photos of her son whom I see in Sunday School!

I don't usually take up such blog hop, quiz, FAQ sort of thing in my blog, but I thought this particular one would be rather apt since I'm making a shift in focus my blog's content, I thought these questions and answers would give you some background understanding of what goes into running this platform. 

What am I working on? 

I have recently graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts (I majored in Fashion Media and Industries) and I am currently looking for a job while catching up on life before the busy-ness sets in when working full time. So during my free time now, I am hoping to improve things on this blog. Since deciding to take this blog a step forward, I am working to generate better curated contents and when I do think of suitable contents, I'd note them down and try to execute them. But there's nothing really strictly planned, everything is still quite spontaneous, but not "anyhow" I hope.

Besides contents, I have been adjusting the look of this blog. For those who have followed this blog for quite a while, you might have noticed several changes made. I really want this space to be simple, functional and fresh. The current look is not quite my ideal design yet, but this is by far what I can do on blogger's customisation feature with my mere basic html knowledge.

How does my work differ from others in its genre?

I guess the direct distinction between my blog compared to the others that you might have visited through this blog hop tour would be that my blog is clearly not a parenting blog (but who knows, it might become one when I upgrade to a mom status in years to come).

My blog gravitates more towards style and generally, life of an early twenties (I'm 21 this October).

However, this blog is not entirely a fashion blog like fashiontoast or theblondesalad. Apart from their styled outfit photos (that always include new apparels or accessories), many fashion blogs often blog about their latest luxury purchase or their extensive overflowing wardrobe...which subtly but also impactfully encourages us to sink into materialism and over-consumption – my blog aims to respond to this issue. As a whole, it's a lifestyle platform where I focus on 5 main categories as you see on the above navigations: Style, Life, Making, Spaces, Travel. One that speaks on a personal note, less superficial and hopefully inspires good values.

Why do I write what I do? 

This blog was created when I was 13 because I was intrigued by the fact that I can have a website sort of thing of my own! It started out then like any young teenager, writing mundane activity that happened in school (friends and exam woes). At 18 when I was a fashion student in LASALLE, I tried to post outfit photos too (with really bad quality photos and bad outfits). Contents revolve around the snippets of my life, it is my digital creative journal and I've always enjoyed expressing myself this way. At times I wanted to end this blog because honestly speaking, I have no idea who reads this blog except for a few friends who told me they do. But when I know that people do read, it motivates me to keep it going, knowing that this is not a blog that I read alone. I must say I was quite pleased when Zhiying asked if I'd want to write a post for the blog hop tour, I really appreciate that!

How does my writing process work? 

I think there really isn't any fixed process I have here. Contents usually start with an idea or inspiration, and then I'd photograph, write and publish it. Sometimes, I'd just take random photographs and then review to see if they're suitable for the blog. At the moment, this is a personal and a non-profitable blog, so I do not have to go through any third party before I update or make any changes. And I work on this blog in my tiny humid workspace/bedroom.

Some of the guidelines I gave myself in preparing every post is to make sure it should be accompanied with photographs, I try to give equal weight to image and text. Pardon if you find my writing not on par with other established blogs. I'm not a great writer, but I constantly learn so that I can improve my writing skills. I come from a Mandarin speaking family and church service, and had struggled trying to pass English throughout Secondary school all the way to GCE O Levels from F9 to B3 – that

was to me a great achievement and I do think that writing on my blog have given me more opportunities to practise writing.

Now to pass the blog hop baton on!

Qi Min – she is my church friend for the last five years or so. She sings really well and is also a budding writer! We have had several discussions in subjects on fashion, culture, things in life and I remembered once we also talked about Miley Cyrus' disturbing wrecking ball music video. We both love writing and music, and we serve together in our church's music ministry together. To decades of friendship built on the love of God!

Thank you Zhiying for sharing this with me, and I look forward to reading Qi Min's posts next week! x

IN QUIETNESS

I have to admit that I did not entirely have a social network, internet break as I said so for the retreat I attended a few days ago at Johor, Malaysia. When we arrived, we learnt that wifi was available and being young adults of this social media generation, it is difficult to completely abstain ourselves from it. Nevertheless, I did tryyy to keep my itchy fingers away from going into social media apps as much as I could, and I had a refreshing time there being quiet – silent to reflect and get things in life refocused back on God rather than the materials of the world. Nothing is more important than having God as the centre of your life.

RECHARGE, RETREAT

This afternoon after church, I'd be crossing the borders to Johor, Malaysia for a short 4 days 3 nights retreat. We won't be staying at a hotel and it is not a shopping trip so it'll allow me to have a break from internet and social media with the absence of wifi there, a kind of break I really needed at this moment. Sometimes we are really too trapped by these love-hate first world pains. Hope I can still photograph some nice photos though!

Will be back soon – off the recharge myself!

BLACK LAYERING

Just another black outfit...but one that never run old. Throwback to Hong Kong 3 months ago where layering clothing was not an issue. Miss dressing in 2-3 layers feeling super cooling and comfortable. Weather has (always) been humid and erratic in Singapore and given we're geographically situated one degree north from the equator, layering is not quite mentally and physically possible unless you're in an air conditioned room all day or you're miraculously able to brave the immense heat. I'm one with a very low tolerance of heat and I will always place priority in comfort over style – still happy to dress in simple clothing.

Well I guess, I'll see you outerwears some time end of the year or when I get to travel somewhere cold again! (and hoping that will be sometime soon)

–

Uniqlo x G.V.G.V shirt dress, leather jacket borrowed from Lesley, Dr. Martens shoes, Katie Judith bag