cyndork

Is blogging the traditional way still a thing anymore? As I've been lacking and I feel like I only post once a month these days. Which is better than nothing I suppose. The above photo is of me - all blue and blurred out - and my friends. I assure you, the whole matching couple colour scheme outfit was totally not planned. It was a complete coincidence.

I wish all my friends were friends with each other. It would honestly save my bank account. I've had four friends - who aren't friends with each other - try to invite me out for brunch/dinner already. It's so infuriating trying to organise a day, pick which cafe/restaurant to have, set a time and decide who to go with. Then I have to use my money when I'm already in the middle of saving up for a, might I add, much needed vacation!

Anyways, back to the blog title. I thought I would do one of those monthly reviews again as I deleted it last time as I didn't want people to think I was an actual food reviewing blog. Sorry, I'm not deserving of that title yet. This month + a little bit of April - we mostly went to South of the River. It was such a road trip. I think next month we'll just stick to our favourites and places I haven't been back in ages like Mr. Munchies!

Harvest Espresso

Went to Harvest Espresso with my sister to try their menu. I ordered the roasted cauliflower while she ordered some pancakes (I think?) I really liked mine! But I wouldn't order it again just because towards the end it was tasting really repetitive and bland. It was just a whole chunk of cauliflower. I wish they had more of that cream as the cauliflower needed more flavouring. The cream was exceptionally nice The nuts and the crisps were a nice touch of texture and flavour. Wish the egg was more cooked as it tasted soggy and the yolk didn't add much flavour :(

I also ordered the Matcha latte and honestly it just tasted like powder. Not really much Matcha flavour at all. Was kinda disappointed with that as we're used to drinking the Matcha drinks at Superstar Waffles and they're lovely.

Yelo

We dropped by Yelo as we wanted to find a pet-friendly place as Choco desperately needed to go out after being stuck with the cone around his neck all week. I ordered a banana bread (really into that lately) and a vegetable slice with a cappuccino. The banana bread didn't have any banana taste to it which I was disappointed in and it was super sweet. The texture was nice though but maybe I'll just get banana bread somewhere else.

The vegetable slice was slightly cold and that could've been due to the weather so I won't blame them. It was really nice and I would definitely order it again! As was that cappuccino - nice with enough froth. I honestly don't like people who give me a cappuccino with barely any froth. FROTH IS WHERE IT'S AT. Otherwise, I would've just ordered a Flat White.

Varsity Bar

Ordered the Nachos as it was on special. It was good...I guess. I still wish there was more meat sauce and less coriander. For some reason, all I can remember is loving nachos from an pop culture convention I went to. It had a lot of nacho chips, chunk of chilli con carne and do-it-yourself sour cream, avocado and jalapeños. WANT!

The Modern Eatery

$99 meal at the Modern Eatery. WHAT?! We were already deciding what to order differently next time when we were leaving the place. So we're definitely going back but we're definitely going to be eating some stuff before going instead of going on an empty stomach.

We ordered a tofu & seaweed salad - that was great and everything was blended in nicely. Definitely ordering that next time.

Fry me to the Moon - Awesome, crunchy sushi roll with cooked salmon and cream cheese. Recommended.

Will not be ordering the nigiris next time. Was not anything special to be honest. Not very filling and was expensive $3+ for one single nigiri.

Sweet Potato roll was super nice and crispy. However, it did not leave a good lasting impression. Won't be re-ordering.

Chirashi set. HAHAHA. Never ordering this again. Look at above photo. $23 for the above and a miso soup. Sorry, but it just wasn't worth it even it is using the freshest ingredients possible.

Musashi. Was so nice. Want it right now.

The Moon Cafe

Ordered the Chilli Prawn, Comfort and Lamb Ragu and a Spinster Pizza. Everything was so delicious. We literally ~~devoured~~ inhaled it. Even my dad, whose a chef, said it was super nice and filling. Also so worth it - $13 on Monday - Thursdays for pizzas and pastas. Can't wait to go back again!! Our server was also so helpful and friendly. Thanks the Moon Cafe!!

Ending this post with a photo of Sarah and I promoting the Shaun the Sheep Movie after we finished watching Pitch Perfect 2! Thanks for reading!! Can't wait to try more places!

I've been super unmotivated these past couple of months! I feel like I need to reset and energise myself and I surprised myself by waking up at 6:20 am this morning! I slept at 9pm thanks to pulling an all nighter the night/day before and so I was super tired and sleepy although I needed to study for a mid semester test. However that's all done and dusted!

I had coffee and a blueberry muffin as soon as I arrived at uni and then started revising for the test. I felt like everything was working out so nicely. I feel motivated to get my life back together and on track again! However, it's already 1am now I should definitely start by going to sleep.

But before that! Here are some notes for myself for the months ahead:

At the very least, hand in and finish your assignments on time but try to put in your best effort in each and every assignment and learn something from them.
Plan for your upcoming exam weeks already. That mid semester test was just a peek of what's coming up ahead. You only have 2 months left!
Work harder and play harder! Don't take so many shifts off. You never end up doing anything productive the whole day anyways. You have the whole of Sunday off anyways.
Choc Block is closing soon. Time to start looking for another job before it's too late!
Socialise effectively and make friends. It doesn't matter if you don't click with them or whether they'll become good friends. Treat them as making connections for in the future.
Honestly, your skin should be perfect by now. You've had 20 years to perfect it.
Start eating healthily. No more junk food like pizza, McDonalds/Hungry Jacks and greasy food.
Spend less time stalking people on Facebook and more time developing your vocabulary by reading novels. (FINISH 1Q84 ALREADY! SO YOU CAN READ COLORLESS TSUKURU TASAKI)
You are so not ready for a relationship. You're immature and inappropriate and so shallow. You won't have anything to talk about together! Also, you have absolutely no time for a relationship at this point in your life.
Travel, travel, travel!!!!

Random Ramblings about: Driving and Her

Ever since getting my driver's license, I've realised that so many people really shouldn't be on the roads. The main problem is speeding, not signalling and tailgating.

Also, can I just say, just because you have a dash cam does not necessarily make you the better driver?! So many car accidents can be prevented if people were just less arrogant and just let people in by slowing down. People make mistakes on road and many of them can be fatal but so much more accidents can be prevented if people were just less aggressive on roads.

Please stop tailgating me when I'm going the speed limit. Otherwise, move onto the fast lane which is right next to me as I'm usually on the slower lane.

So my GP told me I was depressed and should probably blog out my feelings because I'm keeping too many thoughts inside and not letting it out. So I should start writing out my thoughts more because it's healthy (?) and I'm totally bullshitting this horribly right now.

I don't know, I just felt like blogging and I've probably completely forgotten what I wanted to talk about but that's possibly the whole point of my blog. No readers. Pressure free - no new content out each week - just whenever and however and whatever I feel like doing.

So I hung out with my friends this morning which was far too early for my liking. I woke up at like seven am which was even earlier than what I usually wake up for for work. Breakfast was at 9 and I had to leave by 8:30. Did not even get up until 8am. I'm getting so good at not caring about what I look like in the morning and regretting it as soon as I leave the house and realise what my friends are wearing. I THOUGHT IT WAS CASUAL! WHY ARE YOU WEARING A DRESS?! I look like a completely mentally and financially unstable human being compared to you.

But anyways, breakfast was good. I'm now hungry though - few hours later. I had an affogato. Just finished taking a nap. Caffeine never does its job for me and I desperately need it because I run out of energy so quickly. Which I've found it is largely due to my unhealthy lifestyle of eat, sleep and poop and then eat even more without exercising. I had an eggs benedict. It was delicious. I'm not going to even attempt to make it because I know I'll stuff up the hollandaise sauce.

So in regards to actual (sort of) intellectual conversation we had today. We discussed about how flipping narrow minded some people are. They've never even heard of the word empathy or the phrase put yourself in someone elses shoes! We all know humans are selfish and why wouldn't we be. It's the only thing we can count on - we came into the world alone and die alone. Humans are so flawed but step around on this Earth and you'll soon realise that we're all social creatures and we all need one another even with our differences. Can people stop being EXTREMELY selfish and just be a tad little bit selfish in the right occassions such as not lending your money to your friend because it is your money. Or perhaps not giving a lift for a family member because you just want to go home as soon as possible! Those are actually reasonable reasons to be selfish. Like its OK. It's ALRIGHT. But when its just not ethical to be selfish and really harms another person - it is not OK.

I don't know what else to really talk about. The sudden urge to blog just disappeared. THIS IS WHY I NEVER BLOG.

// Ok I just remembered.
IT IS NOT OK TO FORCE YOUR OPINIONS/BELIEFS/VALUES ONTO OTHER PEOPLE. I don't even care if you want to be a good role model thats completely up to you and how you want to live your life. I respect that. You can do that with your life and be a perfectly good role model. However, don't force that onto me. I'm only twenty but I feel like I haven't even experienced 75% of what life has got to offer me. Getting married right now is the least of my worries. I want to make new friends and travel the world and hang out with my close friends that don't keep me boxed up and respect me. I need mature friends that act their age and I can't deal with people who put me down and just force their opinions down my throat and expect me to act a certain way because thats what they think and feel is right. I don't do that - that's just not me.

I admit that I'm the type of person that talks about people behind their backs but its really nothing that I wouldn't mind them hearing about from another person. If they found out - I wouldn't deny it because it's what I think of them honestly. I would probably judge someone about their views and create my own personal opinions about it but I wouldn't force you to follow what I believe in and try to pressure you into doing what I think you should do. I'm probably a really bad friend and person and sometimes I think to myself - wow I can't believe I said that. I'm such a horrible friend. It's just one of my big flaws (I think it's actually genetics tbh).

Ok bye /rant over.

It's once again the last day of the year again. I feel like this year didn't go by as quickly as the other years since it seems like a lot of things occurred this year and it was probably one of the most interesting and eventful years. I learned a lot of life lessons this year and I feel like I'm content being me and accepting that my teenage years will soon be behind me. I'll be 20 in two months. I don't feel 20 though and I guess even when I'm 40 I'll feel like I don't feel 40. I still feel like a teenager trying to take in everything all at once but processing it one piece at a time.

Can you figure out how I'm feeling right now with all these depressing songs? I'm spending New Years Eve by myself again! I'll probably also be spending New Years Day and Valentines Day by myself again this year too. I hope next year I'll be able to blog more, meet (more) people and dress more fashionably and hopefully get a retailing part time job that I likeeee!

Have you ever felt like everyone's lives around you is progressing, yet your life is just at a halt or a crossroad and you don't know which direction to take next?

I feel like this right now. It's such a horrible feeling. I feel so unproductive, I didn't even do anything in the second half of this year after I came back from Melbourne. Whether it be through career aspects, social life, love life, fitness goals, diet goals or educational subjects etc. Especially my poor, sad love life.

I was never really in a rush to get into a relationship ever since high school finished. It's university life right? These are the times to make connections with other students and tutors and also just go YOLO and party hard. That was until the second semester started and all my friends started getting involved in relationships whether that be the opposite or same gender.

It all happened so rapidly as well. I think I'm getting too old for this single shit anymore hahahaha. Getting a bit too desperate now which is so uncool. You know what I did today? Which was so out of character that it was like some teenage fangirl was writing a fan fiction and decided to stuff up her character's personality and change her character 180 degrees of WTF. Okay - so I watched flipping Disney Princess videos like Cinderella and sang 'So This is Love' with the lyrics video on my phone. Then I cried watching the Cinderella 2015 video because I realised how romantic it was. (In general these past few weeks, my emotions have been unstable). I NEVER THINK THINGS ARE ROMANTIC unless they're romantic comedy type. So there's full serious cheesey, serious romantic movies like The Notebook but then there are romantic comedy types that are my forte such as 'Silver Linings Playbook.' Do you understand? It's like it's romantic but in a hilarious way???

Like Silver Linings Playbook does not even showcase PDA (I don't think?). PDA is like a big huge WTF NO GET AWAY FROM ME type of deal. I hate skinship in general. Then I was discussing this with my friend and it got me thinking - maybe it's because I'm too damn hilarious??? Maybe that's why nobody approaches me. Maybe I'm too tall and intimidating (but then it's the bitchface, stinkeye intimidating not the I'm gorgeous~ intimidating). Seriously? I need a guy's perspective on why nobody ever approaches to chat me up on Facebook (or in real life) except girls. Do I attract girls? Is it because I'm like average Asian male height that they approach me and be like 'so this is what it feels like to have a boyfriend?' Do I freaking look like a guy?! I'm trying to grow out my hair already - it's a slow process but it's getting there!

k i went off topic. but there's only one month left. lol

Friends eventually ALL come and go...but some bounce back into your life.

If there's one thing I've learnt from my sister - it's that no matter how long you've known a person they will always change, they'll leave, be distant, you'll lose contact but sometimes you'll meet that person again and become friends and pick up right where you left off.

I've encountered this myself - plenty of times in fact! - Destiny and fate play such a big part in friendship. It's all about the right place at the right time.

I've known this lady since I was six years old and although we've gone our separate ways plenty of times ~ during primary school, middle school and high school - We always end up becoming close friends in the end!

She's started being in a relationship again and I just treasure every single moment she's been telling me about it. I miss the times when friends would just tell me about their love lives without annoying me. When it was genuine, lovely, and made me feel excitable. Whereas when other people would tell me about their relationships which made me feel uncomfortable as I knew that it was unethical and wrong to do.

She still continues to contact me and hangs out with me even though she could be busy with all her friends and her boyfriend. She could be busy with work or university. Her parents might not allow her to hang out with us. I just don't get why other friends of mine couldn't do it. It's like they didn't even put any effort at all.

I'm sure many people are aware that recently ZARA - the Spanish brand has opened up in Perth, Garden City, which a lot of people have been happy about. The reason why it's such a substantial factor for us Perthies is just because it's a step forward to more diverse international fashion brands.

Just recently coming back from Melbourne, which is the fashion capital of Australia, being exposed to all these international brands such as ZARA, Topshop, H&M, American Apparel and all these small boutiques have been completely overwhelming. Especially when you're from a developing city such as Perth!

Perth will always be my home - no matter where else I travel and choose to stay. Seeing it develop and become more 21st century while living here makes me so proud. I'm really happy ZARA came over to Perth because I find that it is such a lovely brand and holds such a strong marketing strategy. A video was recently shown in one of my lectures at university which I thought I would love to share.

I hope this is the first of many fast fashion stores yet to come to Perth! Hopefully they can open up plenty of major retail stores such as my favourite UNIQLO! But at the same time, I hope Australians can take the initiative to open up many Australian-owned/brands stores which are affordable and unique from other countries.

I am slowly, but steadily, earning all my money back through working my ass off!

To be honest - not really, I only work two nights a week and I'm broke as ever than before. Other major news which occurred this month is that I finished my Invisalign treatment but I am not happy with my results! Like they look a lot straighter and everything looks good but I just want them to be straighter! I didn't pay (well, technically my parents did) $6000 just to get almost-straight teeth! The dentist keeps insisting that they are fine and it will mess up with my bottom teeth but my bottom teeth have always been fine! I just want to fix my top teeth once and for all! When I speak, my bottom teeth don't even show so people can't even see it but everyone can see my top teeth. I really pray to God that everything will be over and done with after my consultation with my dentist and that I will be able to get refinements to just tweak these two annoying top teeth.

I have been super lazy and been meaning to blog about my Melbourne trip but just been putting it off. I think I'll just blog about each day seperately instead of bundling it all into one post!

Last week on a Tuesday (22nd of July), my best friend Yun, my sister and I took on Melbourne! We arrived there at 5 am in the morning and hardly had any sleep because we had a child sitting behind us and she talked the whole 3 hours on the way to Melbourne - we hardly had any sleep and I arrived in Melbourne feeling exhausted.

We lounged around the airport and had breakfast. It was freezing when we arrived in Melbourne. The fact that we arrived there before the sun even came out was possibly the main reason why but it was Winter there also. Anyways, as we ate our first meal in Melbourne, we planned out how the day was supposed to go. We couldn't check into the hotel until 2 pm but we didn't want to carry our luggages around while we explored Melbourne. We called up the hotel - which was the Albany motel - and they were super friendly and let us know we could leave our luggages at the motel and they could even let us check in earlier than 2pm! So we caught a taxi (the taxis are yellow!) and the taxi driver was also really helpful and friendly and let us know about all the tourist destinations which we were planning to go. He helped us cross a lot of destinations off our list as he told us which ones we should go and which ones were not as good.

The ride to the motel was so exciting and fascinating. Melbourne is truly, so awesomely, beautiful. Every single one of the buildings there are so pretty and I love how fashionable people are there.

We arrived at the motel, it was pretty nice and very homey (?). We checked in at 10am and asked about public transport. We decided to go to the Botanic Gardens first since it was nearby and walking distance. It was so pretty. We didn't fully explore the gardens though and we only just realised when we were on the way back.

Since we didn't have our myki cards for the trams, we couldn't take the tram to the CBD to get our myki cards haha. So we asked some locals and one man told us we could walk to CBD. So on our way there we passed the National Gallery of Victoria and went in.

After the art gallery, we walked to Federation square and finally bought our myki cards! They were $41 and were unlimited fares lasting for a week which was a pretty good deal. So we finally got our myki cards and we continued to explore the CBD area and found Krispy Kremes! Starbucks! (We don't have these in Perth) We also dropped by Coles to get some toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner and other toiletries and snacks just in case. We then went back to the motel by tram! and on our first ever tram ride ~ the tram crashed into a turning car!!!!! The tram actually thought the car would go so the tram driver slowed down but then the car didn't turn so the tram driver went but then the car turned right into the tram! So they collided and we were in shock as it was our first tram ride ever!

Anyways, the car driver,luckily, was safe and we arrived at our motel in time. I immediately fell asleep as I was so tired and hardly had any sleep during the night. After I and everybody else woke up from their nap - they also fell asleep after me haha - We went to Chapel Street for dinner. However, when we got off the tram we realised we got off way too early and we were so lost. We had no idea where we were until we got out our trusty paper map out. All the shops were already all closed by the time we arrived at chapel street though - except for Topshop! Topshop was so expensive though?? And I didn't really like anything there. Throughout the whole trip no one bought anything from Topshop.

After walking around, we were getting pretty hungry and I decided on having dumplings for dinner! It was so yummy and cheap. I paid and it was only $24 for the whole meal. So cheap! It would usually be more than $50 at least to feed 3 people!

That was pretty much our first day in Melbourne! This should be the longest post as we actually did a lot the first day.

Some people are so sheltered away from the reality of the world because their parents protect them so much. I pity them a bit. I feel like they're so pure and innocent and so protected from the world and living in their fantasy land. I don't think I can become friends with these kinds of people - just because we won't have anything in common. Even when I hang out with my friends who have to ask their parents permission to go out and parents who worry over being out too late. I feel like they have no freedom even when they're already the legal age. You're of age to drive, you're of age to drink, you're of age to get married yet you still need to ask your parents for permission to go out late at night with your friends and you can't be by yourself out in the city at night time. The city isn't that dangerous! There are so many people in the city - it's much more dangerous when you're in a place where there's not that many people.

There are so many anime shows to watch this season! The ones I'm currently following are:

Free! Eternal Summer
Glasslip
Sailor Moon Crystal
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
Ao Haru Ride

Kou: I…loved you.
Kou: But we can’t go back there again.

I've been reading Ao Haru Ride since it started being uploaded/scanlated onto manga sites and I'm super excited about it being adapted into an anime and ALSO a live action! I loved Strobe Edge so much! It was basically my high school shoujo manga and had a huge crush on Ren-kun and I adored Ninako so much. I'm really looking forward to all these anime shows this season and hopefully they get extended into second seasons so I can continue watching it!

Not sure if you've noticed but I live in Australia, where we receive everything last (or after the USA has already gone through with them) but I wanted to do this review on Revlon's balm stain and cream blush I recently purchased through Priceline!

I bought these three items and took a photo of them before I even started using them but I'm only going to be doing a review on the Balm Stain and the Cream Blush because I've only used the foundation once so I don't think I'm qualified to review it. Besides, there are loads of other reviews on the ColorStay Foundation which will do a much better job :)

Colorstay Balm Stain in Adore - 055

Backstory: I previously bought the Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti for Summer and liked it a lot but I stopped wearing it when Winter arrived. I was trying to look for a darker lip colour that matched the mood (apparently the Grunge look is in?) and it just so happened that Priceline/Revlon was having a 40% sale! So I took the chance and bought three Revlon products. It is honestly the perfect shade and I always end up grabbing this lip stain instead of my Etude House Cherry Tint now!

Breakdown: The above photo shows you how it looks applied on and the colour.

It smells very minty and honestly, I first liked it but now I find it off putting and I'm not really liking the smell of it.

The product glides on your lips and stains them. I tried blotting them with tissues and I find that I like the look when it is matte and stained a lot more but it looks like my lips are dry. I assure you, when it says BALM STAIN - it literally means a balm + a stain.

I adore the packaging. The pencil-like packaging makes it easy for me to glide on with the flat side and fill in the corners with the tip of the product. You can twist it to have more product and also its easy to carry around - just like a pen.

Result: I would so purchase this again if it wasn't so expensive here in Australia. I think it's usually valued at $25+ and I grabbed it for $10 or something. I can't wait to try out the other colours and the other collections such as the Matte one!

Cream Blush in Charmed Enchantement - 150

Backstory: I have wanted to try cream blushes in forever! All we have here in Australia are all powder blushes and is it just me or are they all shimmery powder blushes?! What is with that! That's why when I was choosing for a lip colour (note above) I was in awe when I saw that Revlon offered cream blushes as well. It took me forever to decide which shade to choose. All of the shades were extremely nice and I wish I had more money with me to buy them all! (Maybe next time) This shade is a deeper rose colour and I don't think I specifically have this colour - in powder version.

The stain lasts for a long time, and the blush still has a faint colour

Breakdown: So, it doesn't have a scent! That's a plus, or at least not one that's really noticeable.

The texture is so creamy and soft and it like melts in your fingers like chocolate. It's not exactly as blendable as I would have liked (make up gurus make it look so easy!!) - or maybe that's just me not being skilled in 'blending' - but it is my first time trying out cream blushes so perhaps I'm not doing it right.

Packaging wise, I understand why it's twist and turn, but please make it easier to open up!! I'm either really scared that the cream blush will harden or that I won't be able to open up the product itself! Though other than that I'm content with how I can just swirl my fingers in and already grab a lot of product.

This is actually me with the Revlon foundation, blush and stain on. As you can see (well, at least I can see it), the blush is actually visible and looks au natural if I do say so myself. I love the colour it gives you and I know it can look like it's really dark by itself but when you apply it and blend it away - it gives off a nice natural blush.

Result: Like I stated before, I can't wait to try out more of the other colours that Revlon had to offer. I had swatched on all of the colours and even the super bright neon pink one? Yeah, I'd buy that too! They're all super pigmented and lovely colours.

I'm sure there are a lot of other cream blushes out there waiting for me to try though so perhaps I'll give them a go first though before deciding whether I actually LOVE the Revlon cream blush or if it's just me being infatuated with cream blushes in general.

Thanks so much for reading! :)

I am SO in love with TABLO X TAEYANG's Eyes, Nose, Lips' cover right now! I actually like it way more than the original.

"they say that time flies, but you keep breaking its wings"

Anyways, it's the 1st of July already! How fast did time pass?! So far this year I've just been completing my second year, semester one of university. I managed to finally get my driver's license which is a major achievement on my part haha even though I should have achieved it like 2 years ago! Actually, nothing has even changed that much from last year and I'm wondering if it should. I should probably get another job to get some marketing work experience. I should also aim to finish 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami - I've only just started the second book of the trilogy :( and then I suddenly stopped and it's been piling dust somewhere in my room. I also want to earn a lot more money this year and hopefully travel to places like Singapore and Japan by the end of this year!

People keep asking me why I'm not dating - actually my co-workers have been asking me that since last year!! I just tell them I'm not currently looking for a relationship and I really haven't! I just don't put any effort into seeking a relationship as I like being cooped up in my room (especially in Winter where I'm perfectly fine under my warm blanket) and playing Sims 3 (or blogging like I am doing right now). I think my mum has been hinting at me to be in a relationship as well haha because every time it's just me and her together she always ends up talking/giving me advice about love relationship stuff which I still find to be awkward coming from her. Yiiikkkeess!

Today (Tuesday) is usually my parent's day off - so we decided to go all the way to South Perth, Bull Creek specifically, to this Hong Kong styled restaurant which I've forgotten the name of. It was so cute and unique! It was upstairs and the restaurant was nicely decorated. Definitely a mix of coffee shop style and Hong Kong tea cafe style.