Category Archives: Inspiring

3 things no one told you before graduation

September 9, 2013 Ena Teo 5 Comments

I’ve penned several notes about work post graduation but just have not gotten down to compiling them into a sensible post on the blog until now. I’m wary about posting things too personal on the internet in general, lest I look back in the future and cringe at my past self. A bigger reason is of course I worry, tho I’d like to think them as unfounded, about people reading what I write and judging me for it. Which leads me to digress – why am I, or I believe why are we humans so fearful for others’ judgement on us? It isn’t to say that others’ opinions of us will make us more or less of whom we already are, if that makes sense to you.

So anyway, lengthy introduction aside, if I have not already bored you away, here goes my list of 3 things no one told you before graduation:

1. Be certain of uncertainty.

You know how in school we always have that next thing to look forward to? The next semester, the next exam, the next academic year, the next grade, etc.

But when you come to the working world you’ll find that things aren’t as clear cut. There isn’t (for most people or for me at least) a certain bar that you need to meet and pass before you rise up and go on to the next stage or level. Sure, some routes are tried and tested, perhaps you have a manager above you and you have an idea of how long you’ve got to work before you’ll rise to his level. But in the world of business (yes, so if you belong to the public sector this might not be that relevant to you), there is no guarantee. In worse case scenarios the company might go down but in the best case scenarios you might be promoted and be placed in higher position/s that comes with responsibilities perhaps more than you can manage.

2. If you have a choice with whom you can work with, then pick people you’re comfortable with.

Some of you reading this might go, “Jia En/Ena, isn’t that a “duh/ needless to state opinion” ? Yes, to many it’s common sense, but sometimes in the hustle and bustle and the thick of working life, we forget things. We think that just cause we have goals to meet and benefits to gain from another party, we simply have to suck it up and work with people are simply plain bad. That’s not true.

To elaborate, I’d like to humbly suggest for you to choose to work with accountable and responsible people. If you’re the person in charge, then you’d better be accountable and responsible. Choose to work with people you like and likes you back. I can’t emphasize enough how this mutual good feeling of the other party contributes to the success of a project.

3. Chances are, you’re the only one who feels for your dreams and ambitions and the only one responsible to make them come true.

Yes, keeping in line with the idealistic self in me, and thankfully still am at the young but not so tender age of 23, I still believe in having dreams and ambitions and making them come true.

It’s true. When you’re working for someone else, you’re working and helping them make their dreams come true. Unless your dream is to see the team and company succeed, then it becomes your dream as well.

But what about your dreams and ambitions? The truth is, no one else but you will be responsible for making them come true. If you don’t work on making your dreams come true, chances are, no one else will.

I’ve had a wake up call just recently, on one of the past day this week. I love what I’m doing now but being realistic and wanting to get on faster in the professional life is pointing me to another direction in life that I’ve previously turned down. Anthony Robbins once said, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve gotten.” And thus, to get what you don’t have, you’ll have to do what you’ve never done. And that my friends, is my wake up call. I want so many things in life, and I know that I have the capability to do so, but I need to take that big step and do it.

Cheers, to life, to knowledge and taking action!

Post Graduation Advice by Diane Pauley (lyssawinograd.wordpress.com)
20 Things I Wish I Had Learned in School (lifehack.org)
Why talented creatives are leaving your agency (creativereview.co.uk)

Beauty, Business, Fashion, Inspiring

My Business Ideas

August 22, 2013 Ena Teo 1 Comment

It’s no secret that I aspire to be an entrepreneur some day, and hopefully soon.

Here are some ideas that I was telling, albeit jokingly with my tummy/PPG aka friend Sandy after dinner while shopping around Marine Parade, on Tuesday night.

1. We walked past this Chinese pastry shop at the basement of Parkway Parade right at the entrance of the Food Republic and I bought a red bean pastry which is relatively tiny at $1.60. So I said in future I also wanna open a pastry shop and asked Sandy, who is great at contemporary designs, to help me design the store.

This one: Traditional Teochew bakery Thye Moh Chan

2. Then I also mentioned to her that I always wanted to open a cafe and a tuition center.

Kiasu Parents + Competitive Culture = Money Making Tuition Centres, seriously.

3. So maybe I will open a designer cafe that sells Chinese pastries for parents to eat and chill while their kids are studying or having tuition at the tuition center next door. Idea? 😀 Of course the kids themselves can use the place to study and chill.

Light-Bulb — Chinese Pastries + Cafe + Tuition Centre = Innovative IDEA

4. Then while waiting for Sandy when she was in the rest room I took a look around the Étude house shop which is a permanent stall near the atrium and I had SO MUCH FUN testing the lipsticks and pore eraser gels and blushers and what nots.

I want to buy them all!!! I want to be able to wear a new lip colour everyday, seriously.

Lip Colours — I tested more than these. TOO MANY COLOURS. A girl’s spoilt for choice!!!

Etude House Lip Colours — Grabbed this off somewhere else online, pretty sure they have like at least 3 different series of lip stick colours in store, 5 if you count in 2 lip gloss colour series. #Mindblowing #TooMuch #ConsumerismCulture

So I also wanna have my own cosmetics line! 😛

A girl's dream — A girl can dream, right? 😀

We also went shopping at Marks & Spencer and I discovered that they now have much nicer and younger stuff under the line “Per Una” and some of the perfumes smell really good!

Per Una Birds of Paradise — This one is sweet but not sticky. Surprisingly affordable at S$25 for smaller bottles/vial, might also make sense to get a smaller bottle since perfumes take super long to finish.

5. The last business idea I have is one that I’ve thought about recently and wondered if I should really just give this a shot, which is to start giving small and casual talks on personal grooming and fashion tips since I graduated with a degree in Fashion Media & Industries (read marketing & management). It is definitely a topic that I am enthusiastic about and would love to share about it naturally and it also seems to be like a ready market where people would like to learn hands on and practically how they can improve on their personal style and pick up some fashion tips, right?

Fashion Styling & Grooming — Will you trust me to dish fashion styling advice & grooming tips?

MAC-by-Carine-Roitfeld-Collection-1 — Can I be the next Carine Roitfeld?

anna-wintour-1 — Or Asia’s Anna Wintour, maybe?

So with 5 good business ideas and the first three can be related…

Does anyone want to open a business with me? I do not have capital to offer but I have many wonderful ideas, an energetic youthful passion and a believe that with excellent products and stellar marketing, we can change the world (see Apple).

You may email me at enabalista@gmail.com, for serious offers only please. 🙂

Call me — I’ll be waiting for your email. 😉

P.S. I’ve been writing blog posts while ~~traveling~~ commuting, can’t wait to share my other posts.

Is your crazy new business idea a home run or a dud? (theglobeandmail.com)
A New Fashion Video Platform (enabalista.com)
Feisty Enterprise Tip #13: Kick Ass Before You Start – Tone Up Your Mind, Body and Business Idea (sme-blog.com)
Business Idea (corporatetips.wordpress.com)
How to Turn Your Business Idea into a Business Model (entrepreneur.com)

Fashion, Inspiring, Travel

London Sights & Food! :D

July 6, 2013 Ena Teo 4 Comments

Hello!

Today I’m blogging about my London trip in early May! 😀 My family went over to attend and celebrate my 2nd sister’s graduation from Imperial College! 🙂

So my family stayed at Ibis hotel, Shepherd’s Bush branch. I think it’s a good and convenient place to stay, as its less than 5 minutes walk from the tube station. 🙂

My angel & elder sister chilling in our room. We really enjoyed chilling in London, after my final semester from school and her taking a respite from her busy work schedule.

The TV area and mirror.

Upclose picture of the room, beds and table area.

Toilet! The door has no twist knob, it’s just push and pull and makes a mighty bang noise whenever you open or close the door, haha!

Cool looking app Sleep Art app where it supposedly makes art when you place it on your bed at night when you sleep, but it hanged when I used it twice. HAHA.

DAY 1 ! 😀

Hello good morning ya’ll! 🙂

View of St Paul’s cathedral from the outside.

We came to the Millennium bridge, walking from St Paul’s towards my favourite London museum, Tate. It’s the one with the long chimney looking structure. 🙂 It’s my favourite because it has soo many amazing art works from Pop Art to Surrealist Art, artworks and artists which I read and studied about from my JC days! <3 We didn’t have time for me to pop in this time. I visited it the last time I was there about 3 years ago.

View from the bridge, over River Thames. It’s beautiful.

So the first day we went shopping with my sister to get her stuff ready for her graduation.

We bought cosmetics, I got this Maybelline Colorsensational lipstick in 902 Fuschia Flash. It’s a hot pink colour. I love it!

London, the land of Topshop!

Then we came to the market and saw cool stuff.

Like refillable wine. hahaha.

Then we came to South Kensington, or affectionately called South Ken by the locals.

To have lunch at Comptoir, for fantastic lebanese food! Someone should bring this to Singapore. 🙂

My lovely sisters.:D

My Mamee and Papa. 😀

Sisters4life!

My eggplant dish!

We came to Selfridges…

Where people in love with fashion come, where people come and fall in love with fashion. It’s fantastic inside, looks more like a modern fashion museum, but I don’t think photos were allowed. Go visit when you are there. Or better, shop if you can afford. 😀

They have really cool and awesome, attractive window displays.

MY LITTLE PONIES! I WANT. <3

More windows! And a black london cab!

Day 2!

In the morning we passed by cool places and sights.

Like this wooden gate that opens into a secret garden. Not that it does, or maybe it does but I won’t know because I didn’t get to enter. 😛

And like pretty flowers!

We headed to Brighton village & market row to check out Honest burgers for lunch!

Honest Burgers.

Menu on the walls.

My burger!

With trees that are flowering in spring. 🙂 Family shot! My dad, sisters and my mum. <3

Another one!

Cute dog riding in style!

We came to the park…

The view is amazing, Like a work of art. <3

Family pic! With me taking the photo. Kekeke.

We came to the Queen’s garden.

Rolling green.

And a scene out of a painting with a little cute girl running across the park. <3

Day 3!

We came to Stratsford city, wanting to visit the Olympic park….. but *deng deng deng* it was closed. >.<

We had lunch, fish & chips at the mall. It was so-so. :/

We checked out Primark! We love it. It super cheap lah. But ok, sustainably wise, it might not be a good thing to buy so many cheap clothes and maybe at the cost of some labour issues. BUT still. Cheap clothes. HAHA. Ok. moving on.

After a non-Olympic park morning and just walking around Westfield Mall at Stratford city, my parents and 2nd sister headed back while my sister and I went shopping! At Oxford Street and Bond street! Yippee!

Oh yes, I love the sensibility of British fashion.Eh forgot what this brand is, sorry! 😛

Me and the “wrong” side of Star Wars trooper. HAHA. This was at Hamleys! Famous toy shop. 🙂 Umm ok a little description of what I am wearing. Jacket and shoes from HK, you also saw during my Japan trip. Socks from Uniqlo, Japan. Don’t think it sells in Singapore cause they are long thick socks. I’ve been searching for them for ages until I found them in Japan, yay! Chambray top and red leather skirt from Bugis street, Singapore. Purple cardi from Mango. 😀 I love this look and it’s not something I can wear in Singapore. So I like to be dressy and layer while I can abroad. I was also wearing nude coloured stockings so I won’t get too cold incase the weather turned chilly or when the wind blew.

Weather actually turned pretty warm while we were window shopping… and Tea-shopping. My sister bought lots of Whitard tea back as souvenirs! Heh. Anyways here I am posing with the billboards but the bus came and yes I do look like I’m having a 1 million pound moment HAHAHA.

With my elder sis!

Man skirt! Cool. 😀

Hello Kitty is EVERYWHERE. Kekeke.

Our sausage bread!!! <3

And our snacks and dessert SPREAD back in the hotel. <3

Day 4~! aka Sister’s graduation day!

Good morning~ Umm yes I look tired. HAHAHA.

My dad! <3

BTS. Getting my sis ready for photos…

Smile! That’s my sis’s friend, Han Teng. Helping out as photographer of the day!

Happy Graduate!

This one’s cute. With Lion!

My 2nd sis & I! Outside the graduation hall, Royal Albert Hall.

Inside! Lovely isn’t it?

Then I took a very quick visit to V&A. Victoria & Albert Museum. Only caught the sculptures and fashion wings. Which I think I saw when I as there the last time. Just nice to revisit. But too little time so I didn’t take many photos.

Naked torso sculptures. Heh. Anyway check out this link of dressed sculptures looking uber hippy. Very cool and funny.

Emo death related poems. HAHA.

I can’t remember if we came to Whitleys on which day. Anyway its a mall with Marks and Spencer (ok they are everywhere) and i just thought their ceiling was very nice.

So you get ceiling shots.

And another. HAHAHA.

Then we had famous duck and roasted meat rice at Bayswater, Gold Mine restaurant. Reasonably priced. Yes its delicious, so go there if you can!

After dinner, my sister and I went to walk around Westfield Mall at Shepherds bush.

M&S really is everywhere. 🙂

Dalmations! Hehe.

Really cool shoes at New Look.

Love the fashion books at the bookshops!

Day 5!

Last day of sightseeing! How time flies! So I took the liberty to walk around our hotel on my own before heading out with the family.

Ibis hotel is along Rockley road. It’s a lovely place to live in.

We visited the Buckingham palace park. We didn’t go in the palace.

Tulips, tulips everywhere! 😀

More park views~

Squirrel!

Hehehe Cover Squirrel 😀

These cool statues were in front of the Buckingham palace.

I think the branch in the hands means peace. Don’t quote me on that tho! Heh.

I can’t tell what this is. HAHA. Maybe you can enlighten me? 😛

We came to the famous Trafalgar square, where a Bollywood dance was going on. FIlming was taking place! Cool.

We came across many many british memorabilia shops. Here are some British dolls!

And bookshops! Read the quote. If you borrow from the library, it’s zero cost! Heh. 🙂

Then we came to Green Park area for Burgers & Lobsters. While waiting, you have to queue to get in, I went to walk around the area on my own and found this gem of a bookshop! G. Heywood Hill Ltd. They have a 100 books selection wall with recommendations of books by 100 famous people, including Anna Wintour and the Pope! I was too shy to take the photos in store but I thought it was really really cool. #geekinme 🙂

PLUS Nancy Mitford a famous English author worked here! I mean how cool is that! I have not read her books before, but I shall take note to check them out the next time I am in the library.

Wait is over! Here it is and here we are! Burgers & Lobsters!

We ordered this 70pounds +++ lobster for the family. I don’t eat prawns or lobsters as I am allergic so I had burger!

Yes it was great. But I don’t think it’s justified to pay 20 pounds or 40 sing for it tho! Ok if you don’t convert, it’s worth it,lah. 😛

We came to the Marble Arch!

And visited a rather newly erected Bombers memorial hall.

Han Teng the history buff shares interesting stories and history with us!

“The fighters are our salvation but the bombers alone provide the means of victory” Winston Churchill, September 1940.

“To remember HOW they lived and more… Remember WHY they died” Kathleen Partridge August 1945.

It’s like visiting a museum and artworks understanding about history, wars and their significance. I like it.

Spot Singapore! 🙂

A little further down, also recently erected Memorial Gates. To remember the troops fought alongside Britain & vice versa during major wars.

Day 6! We leave for home 🙂

Comptoir, at Westfield Shepherds Bush!

On our tube ride back to Airport. 🙂

HAHAHA Bad lighting. But with Harrods bear! 😀

All the chocolates we bought back!

And bye bye London, till we meet again! <3

I didn’t have time to plan for this trip at all because I was busy rushing my school submissions till the day we left. I packed like 2 hours before we left. I want to thank my sisters especially for funding me their student sister for this trip. HEHE. <3 I love London for its rich heritage, culture and fashion. Some people are impeccably dressed and chic here and it’s hard not to fall in love with the people and place. There will definitely be another time to return and I hope to check out different places and perhaps less touristy/shopping places and more food places ! Haha.

<3 Ena

–

London Eye (prksturner.wordpress.com)
A Guide to London’s Most Beautiful Gothic Interiors (epicatravel.com)
Bicycles Tours of River Thames in London (termonenida.wordpress.com)
St Paul’s Cathedral (matthewtrainphotos.wordpress.com)
London: Day 2 – Bubbles on the Bank (euroadventure2013.wordpress.com)

Ena Vlogs, Inspiring

Ena Vlogs | Job Search, Inspiring My Shocking Stories & Tao Kae Noi Founder

July 4, 2013 Ena Teo Leave a comment

I didn’t expect my job search process to take so long. I didn’t even expect myself to go through this process because I thought I would go straight into full time Real Estate salesperson work since I got my license last July. Nonetheless, I began this journey, and am now still deciding if I want to enter the Fashion related industry or go back to Real Estate… It will more or less depend on what the results of my last interview is, in two weeks times. I still continue to trust in God to provide the best way and career for me. 🙂

I have been home most of the time during this holiday, if I am not out meeting my friends for lunch, coffee and movie or church related activities.

Recently I began to watch documentaries on Youtube channel “My Shocking Story” and have been so inspired by the families and individuals who didn’t let their handicap or disabilities let them down! I am so inspired to want to live my life to the fullest as well.

I have also been doing a fair bit of reading. I’ve finished reading and or gleaming through a handful of books on Emotionally Intelligence. Did you know that we first FEEL in our brains before we THINK and rationalize? That’s why every decision we’ve ever made was first based emotionally before rationally. And therefore it is important to let ourselves cool down and take time to think through before we make big decisions in life. Also, when we are in conflicts, to breath deeply to allow our rational mind to think clearly before we act or react based on our emotions which often can be reckless.

Recently finished reading this handy book based on the life of young Thai businessman who is the founder of Tao Kae Noi, a famous fried seaweed brand. The book and his life is inspiring because he is innovative, saw every problem as an opportunity to overcome and develop his business to become bigger.

It is stories like his that inspires me.

I want to become someone like Tao Kae Noi founder, but there are also many things holding me back, fear of failure, lack of resources, fear of lack of discipline, consistency and perseverance. That is why I want to first overcome all these fears with work experiences and gain the network and experiences and successes before I will embark on my own business and projects with hopefully the right partners that God will send.

That is all for now!

Be Beautiful, Inside & Out. 🙂

<3
Ena

Story of The Founder of Tao Kae Noi – Chapter 3 (improveonepercentaday.wordpress.com)
The Billionaire (thesubtlelessons.wordpress.com)

Inspiring

Hello July

Image July 1, 2013 Ena Teo Leave a comment

Hello July~!

& HELLO my dear readers! 😀

Ok so, this post is gonna be another one of those long rambling-ish thought post.

July is my month, my birthday month! So I am very happy! 😀

But I am also not so happy because I have not received a favourable reply from the company that I would like to work with… I have not received a confirmed YES or NO reply from them.

But I feel that I need to document this moment down, this state of – uncertainty, not knowing where exactly I am headed towards, what step I am going to take next.

And the reason is, I am not worried, I am assured that I WILL have job. Not only I will have a job, but I WILL HAVE THE JOB THAT GOD HAS PLANNED FOR ME. AMEN!!!

Ok so, this post really is just a declaration of faith, that I am ready to receive the next step of my career, my life direction from God… 😀

And I hope this post will encourage you, if you are feeling lost, don’t know what to do, just pray, declare out loud that you are ready to receive what God has in will and plan and mind for you!

Now go and enjoy your July, my July, our July! And I will update where I am headed to next when I know it! Like soon!

Be Beautiful, Inside and Out!

x
Ena

Hello, July! (airashayne.wordpress.com)

Inspiring, Travel

Ohaiyo Japan (5) Tokyo Senso Temple & Asakusa

June 24, 2013 Ena Teo 1 Comment

Ohai~~~~

It’s the last installment of my Japan trip blog series!

Without further a do~

DAY 9

Our breakfast at Tokyo Grand Hotel. It’s buffet as usual, and here’s what I picked out. ^^

I find myself fascinated when staffs are suited up! So… classic and professional. 🙂

Our Lasalle table, where we are busy filling in our thoughts and remarks about the last 8 days of Kizuna project.

Our final day began with an art exhibition commemorating the earthquake and tsunami disaster in an art gallery 3331.

I was curious what 3331 mean and the staff explained that it is the rhythm or claps that Japanese traditionally end their meetings.

It goes:

Clap x3, Clap x3, Clap x3 and Clap! Thus 3331. Cool huh! 🙂

It’s an art gallery housed in an old elementary school.

We were introduced to the current exhibition titled “Making as Living” which talks about how artists began socially enterprising businesses and artworks post disaster. It’s when the Japanese began to realize that when there’s nothing else you can do, you begin to make the best of what you have, you make, like how they start to make use of the wood from broken houses to rebuild things and thus Making as Living. It’s very inspiring.

A huge wall cover of a scene of Tokyo from the birds eye view. Very organized town planning as you can see, in a grid system.

This art work is a series of 3 long panels which showed the number of artworks, songs, shows. documentary about earthquakes and tsunamis since the 1950s or even before.

Then we came to this Indian restaurant for lunch near the Asakusa area! It’s very interesting eating Indian flavoured cuisine with Japanese ingredients like vegetables grown in Japan. Very fresh, unique taste. No photos but the food was good, tasty and authentic.

A pretty flower along the streets!

We came to visit the famous temple at Asakusa.

It’s said that the smoke gives you good blessing.

And so is the water from this fountain from what seems like a warrior from the olden days. 🙂

A sneak photo of Japanese ladies decked out in their traditional kimonos. Very pretty! 🙂

Another sneak picture of more Japanese girls. Sorry I am so sneaky but I don’t dare know know how to approach them to ask for a photo. >.<

The food stalls with very Japanese style lanterns and banners.

Cute bags of cotton candy with cartoons which I like, Hello Kitty and Marie! 🙂

Des, Calli and Ying looking, choosing Choc-coated Bananas. 🙂

Grego feeding Des? Heh.

Happy Des.

Cute dog along the road! Japanese dogs are so pretty! 🙂

Not sure why I was giving such a spastic face! And it was really hot here, like almost 30degrees! We were perspiring…

With Yings! 🙂

With the whole super gang!!! ^^ So much love.<3 <3 <3

Cute cartoons on vending machine.

Ice cream dispensers!

Amazing rickshaw pulley who is soooo skinny. >.<

Cute Yings with a sign that says “Get down the horse” kekeke.

Our dinner bento before we left for the airport!

Here’s a pic w our Super leader Ginette. 😀 She posted on FB saying she travelled to HK and Jpn with me. So blessed! :’)

A farewell pic with some of our fave people from the trip! Jacq, Beatrice, Dylan, Dominique , Myself and Ying. 🙂

We bought Tokyo bananas from the airport. Here’s the giraffe patterned, caramel flavour, its better than the original! 😀

And my goodies loot which I bought back for self, family and friends. 🙂

I am super thankful for the chance to travel to and experience the beautiful country of Japan. It was an awesome cultural experience and I love that the Lasalle group of us had so much fun together and even got together to finish the Kizuna10 project! May God bless the country and people of Japan! We love you Japan! Lots of Love from Singapore! 🙂

Ena

Ohaiyo Japan (4) Isohara Seaside & Tokyo Tower (enabalista.wordpress.com)
Ohaiyo Japan~ (3) Traditional House Tour and Glass Frosting Workshop (enabalista.wordpress.com)
Ohaiyo Japan~ (2) (enabalista.wordpress.com)
Ohaiyo Japan! (1) (enabalista.wordpress.com)
What’s Kizuna 10? (enabalista.wordpress.com)
Asakusa Day Out! (cosmiccheeseburger.wordpress.com)

Fashion, Inspiring, Travel

Ohaiyo Japan (4) Isohara Seaside & Tokyo Tower

June 21, 2013 Ena Teo 2 Comments

Ohaiyo~

And I am back with part 4 of Ohaiyo Japan! 🙂

Another day of pretty breakfast at Isohara Seaside Hotel! You know I don’t think anyone can possibly tire of looking at how beautifully Japanese presents their food! This is my type of meal, with meat, eggs and vege!

A breath-taking panoramic view of the seaside from our room. The hotel is designed so that every room has a seaside view, brilliant isn’t it? 🙂

We took a walk down to the seaside for a closer look! Look just how serene the place is. 🙂

Another awe-inspiring panoramic view of the seaside. Click the photo to see an enlarge version!

An obligatory touristy pose with the iconic “rock” on Isohara beach! It’s not actually a rock but rather a tiny island named Futatsujima. Meaning two-island, Futatsujima is a famous coastal landmark reflecting contract.The north island,with high steep slopes,is covered with grass and visited by thousands of birds at nightfall.The south island is small, and continuously washed over by the sea’s eroding waves. Credits here. Little Futatsujima island used to be covered in green trees and plants but unfortunately was washed away since the 2011 tsunami and has not yet since grown back.

We then proceeded to the Honda Civic Center for our presentation preparation and practice sessions in the day and early afternoon!

Here are our lovely hand drawn props of Singapore iconic landmarks, by Ade and Xav! 🙂 Merlion, flyer, Esplanade, CBD area and a hint of MBS! 🙂

Our group, split into the “actions” team and the “singing” team as we present the song “Singapore Town” ^^ The action team and their props. 🙂

Our two cute representatives, Beatrice and Dylan, smiling for my camera in between practicing their script for the powerpoint presentation.

We took a break for lunch and here’s a series of selcas with Ying! 🙂 I love how well lit the place is and how lovely the photos turned out, taken with my Iphone and no filter or post processing at all!

🙂

😀

Our sandwich lunch box! Mustard sandwiches, Pumpkin sandwiches, Croquette in bread and fruits!

After our morning and afternoon practice sessions, we took a short break at the plaza for #OOTD.

Thanks to styling and photo whiz Greggy for capturing this photo!

Anddddd somehow Ginette cajoled Ying and I to take this action photo after we did some jump shots! She used an app to create this dramatic effect! 😀

Next up, we came to “Wedding Place Bihou” which is basically a beautiful hall with a restaurant for weddings. But we were using it for our thank you, farewell and cultural exchange dinner with our hosts from Ibaraki region, meaning all the hosts we’ve met at all the places we’ve been in the Ibaraki region came down! )

Before the event, the 4 groups took turns to practice our short 5 minutes item on the actual stage, so that allowed the other groups to venture the place.

So here’s another photo! Heh. 🙂

And another with Ying 🙂

Naturally the spread and the atmosphere of the dinner was fantastic, but as the indoor lightning was dim (intentionally so), so I didn’t manage to capture nice photos. We managed to speak to the managers at the previous Ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel) to thank them for their warm hospitality. 🙂 It was also a great time where we presented our items and enjoyed watching others present theirs. What’s more important was that the Japanese hosts seem to be really delighted by our presentations and we also enjoyed ourselves a lot too. 🙂

An commemorative photo of the Lasalle aka SUPER gang: Greg, Des, Ade, Xav, Alex, SJ, Myself, Ying and the elusive Callison (Not sure where he is in the photo lol)!

Day 8 !

Final breakfast at the Isohara Seaside Hotel, this time with fried fish, meat, pasta and a soft bun. 🙂 Blogging about Japan trip has made me constantly hungry, seriously! >.< 😛 All these fantastic looking food makes me crave for meat and carbo, which I love!!! 😛

Thought I’d capture the bedside table which felt pretty old school, with the clock, phone and what seems like a radio. Heh.

It’s our last day in Isohara Seaside Hotel and the region of Ibaraki region as a whole, so Greg, Ying and I quickly grabbed the last chance to take our #ootd at the seaside after breakfast.

The same Isohara seaside, but a totally different feel isn’t it? 🙂 The weather that day wasn’t as great as the day before, it was slightly gloomy and definitely much colder.

This photo gives you an idea of how cold the place is! Haha, me freezing away with hands tightly tucked in my pockets. Photo & memories > important than being in the cold! 😛

Another series of #ootd:

Let’s just say I’m not that skilled in channeling badass. 😛 I’m out-fitted in a Mango plaited top, with a floral and denim vest, grey leggings with a skirt attached, the usual blue coat and brown boots. It’s a country singer inspired look, which is easily created with key items such as plaited top, denim vest and boots! 🙂

Quickly breaking out into to a smile. 🙂

Caught with my eyes closed! 😀

Shortly after, we boarded the coach for our 3 hour ride back to Tokyo!

The very hospital Isohara Seaside Hotel staff and our Kizuna project hosts waving back to us. We were really very sad to part. :'( We don’t wanna leave!

Anyhoos, by 3pm we reached Tokyo for lunch and after, we proceeded to Tachikawa Life Safety Learning Centre for a very engaging time of fire fighting and earthquake reaction workshops!

Here our Life Center guide is telling us the varying earthquake degrees and how to react at home/indoors when we experience a severe 7 shindo scale earthquake.

When earthquake strikes, it’s best to seek shelter under a table where we would be protected by any falling objects.

I have a video for this, where we took turns to experience what it’s like during an earthquake on the simulation stage. We were laughing a lot but of course when it happens for real, it’s not funny at all! I will upload on Youtube and update the link.

Then we proceeded to fight fire! It’s important to know how to, since the second major issue after earthquakes is the fires that erupt due to the earthquake, from houses with the fires left on and unattended before they could be turned off when earthquake strikes. 🙁 Seriously, we are SO fortunate in Singapore that we do not experience earthquakes and I am super grateful for that!

Check out Xav, Ying, Ade, Alex and SJ all so excited! 😀

Look at them valiantly picking up their water based fire extinguishers and vanquishing the fire on the screen! 🙂 We all took turns, but I didn’t pose for a picture, heh. It was definitely fun and not difficult either. Now we are fire-proofed!

After the workshop, we headed to Tokyo Tower for our dinner at about 7pm!

Though not as famous as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, the Tokyo Tower is definitely a famed Tokyo tourist site!

Look how the tower is reflected on the buses! Heh!

Ying and I decided to skip the buffet dinner catered for us/the group and with permission, we headed to eat the local Japanese ramen within the Tokyo Tower!

Sorry I have no idea what this stall is called, so you will have to rely on the photos, but I highly recommend you to eat from here given the chance you are visiting Tokyo Tower! They adopt a vending machine ordering and payment method and they will pass you a buzzer for you to collect the meal when the buzzer lights up.

The collection point.

My tasty, pork Shoyu (I think it is, keke) ramen.

My super satisfied face! The photo is not edited but the light behind creates a heavenly effect which I sure felt like I was in ramen heaven! Heh. ^^

After our dinner, we shopped for souvenirs and Tokyo banana ran out of stock! Haha.

We also bought tickets to go up the tower, which costs about SGD$8/9, if I remembered correctly, for entry.

A panoramic view of Tokyo, from the tower.

Small wooden cut out panels of writings by lovers and well wishers to make and leave their mark upon the tower! How romantic! ^^

I thought the viewing gallery on the tower was very lovely…

A last photo of the Tokyo city. I love the city, not just Tokyo but the proverbial city, with its bright lights shining in the dark. <3

We got back to the hotel about 9pm and we promptly made arrangement to sneak out beyond our 10pm curfew (oopsie!) because we HAD to explore the Tokyo city beyond the hotel and tower, right?!

A really orderly subway!

A very tired Ying and I. >.<

We may be tired but we’re happy! 😀

My first Japanese subway ticket, it’s printed on a material that seems like a very thin and bendable magnet.

Super cute ad in the subway. Not sure what it’s selling but so cute!

Here we see (I presume) the top three cities that Japanese would most like to visit! Singapore, London and New York! 😀

Spotted: Japanese women decked out in cute My Melody (Sanrio cartoon character, like Hello Kitty) bags and luggage!

We arrived at Shibuya, one of the chic Tokyo area!

Hachiko the dog says hi! He is famous for being an extremely loyal dog. Check out his wiki page here.

Japanese 7/11 sells packed ramen! Umm, didn’t get a chance to try it, but fascinating to see!

We could not decide where to eat or what to do and after a longgggg walk, we finally decided on checking out this ramen store! It was actually quite meh~ (read: so-so) in terms of the food and the drinks served. So Ying and I were glad we ate the one at the Tokyo Tower. HEH. 😛

The ramen food place. Click for a bigger version.

Ending off the post with a goofy Desmond grin! 🙂

One more installment to go~ It won’t be long before it’s up so watch this space! Heh.

Leave me your thoughts and views of Japan, whether you’ve been here before or not! 😉

Ena

Ohaiyo Japan~ (3) Traditional House Tour and Glass Frosting Workshop (enabalista.wordpress.com)
Ohaiyo Japan~ (2) (enabalista.wordpress.com)
Ohaiyo Japan! (1) (enabalista.wordpress.com)
What’s Kizuna 10? (enabalista.wordpress.com)

Inspiring, Travel

Ohaiyo Japan~ (3) Traditional House Tour and Glass Frosting Workshop

June 20, 2013 Ena Teo 3 Comments

Hello!

Today I’ll be bringing you Ohaiyo Japan 三 , pronounced san in Japanese which is exactly the same as in Mandarin! 😉

I left off at the end of day 4, where we arrived at the beautiful Isohara Seaside Hotel.

So now for…

Day 5! ^^

Very tasty looking breakfast which I enjoyed a lot. Chicken, egg, wedges and banana.

A basket of really thick toast for sharing. The morning light is so lovely eh? ^^

Isohara Seaside Hotel’s entrance, taken from the coach.

And off we go for our first activity of the day, visiting students at Higashi elementary school of Takahagi City, Ibaraki Prefecture.

Guess who we saw from on the coach? Mr Green Bird! Kekeke. He was the mascot that joined us while we played with the children during our short visit..

Picture of the field where we lined up to wait for the children to join us. No photos allowed with the children, though we did take a few towards the end, but I won’t be posting here.

Another clearer picture of Mr Green Bird, that the children LOVED and bullied endlessly…… Kids will be kids, no matter the nationality! >.< Some tried to climb on his back, some tug at his legs (!!!) and some pulled his little tail endlessly. I felt so bad for him.

We were very very sad to part with our elementary school friends, each pair of us were grouped with 2-3 children and we transferred 3 pots of flowers into the planters that we made from the previous day.

After our elementary school visit, we came to tour a traditional Japanese house, the Hozumi Family Residence.

Signboard pointing us the way from where we alighted from the coach.

View of the grand house upon entrance. It reminds me a little of the traditional korean houses I watch on dramas. 🙂

Vintage photos of the house, its garden and its owners.

A drawing of the house, and it really still looks pretty much like this!

Photo of the current kitchen, which is updated with modern day sinks.

Television corner, where a sign says “No smoking.”

The tea corner, with tatami mats and traditional Japanese interior.

The same tea corner, but from a different view.

The fire place and an example of how the kettle is hung! Here I am excitedly standing under a plum tree that’s flowered in early spring. 😀

The next stop was Otsu port, where we observed and heard first hand experiences of the fishermen / staff of the Otsu port.

Here the two Otsu Port fishermen standing in the middle are sharing about how the crack in the ground where they are standing on, came about after the tsunami and earthquake.

Here we see where the arrow is placed, the height of the flood brought about by the tsunami back in 2011!

With Greggy, Ginette, Ying, Dez and Myself. ^^ We were FREEZING in the cold! Heh.

A castaway starfish on the gravel. This starfish has unfortunately dried and died. Reminds me of the inspiring story of the old man why the young boy why he is picking up starfishes along the beach and throwing them into the sea when it is impossible for him to clear all the starfishes on the beach. The young boy pondered for a moment as he threw in another and replied, “Well, I made a difference to that one!” The story is adapted from The Star Thrower story written by Loren C. Eiseley and it speaks of the idealism of children and youth that can change the world. :’)

The HUGE seagulls that were about the port. You can’t tell from this photo, but they were roughly twice the size of an average mynah or crow in Singapore. Probably because they thrive on the rich seafood in the area!!!

Here we see workers methodically packing away fresh octopus right from the buckets into styrofoam boxes with ice.

A boat docked along Otsu port, in the setting sun.

Then we headed back to our hotel for dinner!

A panoramic shot of our dinner venue in Isohara Seaside Hotel.

Tuna and mushroom pasta which was super yummy! I am not a fan of tuna but I am a fan of this dish. Infact I am a huge fan of Japanese and Western fusion pastas, like Spaghetti Goemon restaurant chain in Singapore. ^^

Not sure if this is a Japanese dish, but it sure looks and tasted like the Vietnamese rice paper spring rolls!

And yummy tempura fish with a very generous helping of tar tar sauce for sharing.

Super yummy cream puffs! 5 to a table, each of us took 2-3 and finished the entire plate. 🙂

AS IF we didn’t eat enough. 😛 We headed out because we wanted to try the sashimi plate at the neighbouring restaurant but we were a step too late as they closed at 9pm so we headed to nearby local Japanese fast food chain, Sukiya.

The boys, Greggo, SJ and Alex.

Adeline, me, Xav and Desmond. We look tired because we probably were but we didn’t want to waste our time sleeping in our rooms and wanted to experience more of Japan instead! 😀

Obviously we were stuffed from the spread at dinner, so we shared this one beef rice bowl with raw egg dip! 🙂 You can choose to mix it into the bowl or take the beef, dip in the egg and eat it with the rice, we is what we did instead!

Day 6

Our first activity of day 6 was to visit Glass Workshop Silica and attend a workshop to design cups that would be frosted!

The beautifully designed Glass Workshop Silica, with a modern, futuristic architecture.

My design, with a four leaf clover inspired design and “爱“ which stands for love, both in Japanese and Mandarin. The cups we design and frosted would be sold in the workshop and funds would go to the Kizuna Bond Project.

Here’s our group’s resident quirky girl Beatrice while she’s intently at work!

Here Dylan our fashion design extraordinaire is designing his cup.

And not missing out our super stylist Greg or aka Greggy Woo with his paisley inspired design. They were all too busy to finish up in the all0cated 45min to look up at me for the photos! 😛

I had minutes to spare so I walked about the workshop and snuck this photo with my #ootd and the simply breathtaking background scenery. :’) I would LOVE to wake up to a scenery like this everyday!!!

For lunch, we came by to this place Ichiba Shokudou which is located right next to a fish market.

It was a super Tempura spread!!! Xav, standing up with the other seated Temasek Poly (TP) fashion design girls.

Omo, omo!!! Fried wedges, fried CHEEZBALLS, fried fish!!! <3<3<3

Then we took a quick walk at the fish market and here’s a snap of fish sashimi for sampling! Thumbs up for fresh Japanese seafood!

Before our 1 hour lunch break was up, Ying and I snuck to this beautiful vast plain field for a quick #ootd shoot. My outfit’s inspired by Japanese school girl uniform, hence the school girl skirt, Peter Pan collar top, layered with a red cardigan with matching stockings. Finishing the look with my trusty coat and boots which I wore for everyday of the trip. Both the coat and boots I bought from my HK trip at Mongkok, Argyle shopping center for about S$20 each. ^^

After the workshop, we headed to Hitachi Civic Center to prepare for our presentation. No photos for that today, but there will be when we are back again on day 7.

Dinner time!

Delish fried fish and cookied veggies~

More tempura fish, mushrooms and sweet potato.

Chilled soba (Japanese for noodles) with soba sauce!

On this night, the group of us managed to make it on time to the restaurant next door for a platter of sashimi for sharing and ice cream! But I didn’t manage to capture any flattering photos as I was more caught up with eating. Heh.

After our 2 rounds of dinner, we headed back to our room, specifically the one I shared with Ade and Xav for our group meeting sesh where we prepared slides and props for our presentation on what and how we plan to share our trip in Japan when we get back to Singapore. That’s how Kizuna 10 came about! 🙂

And with that, sums up Ohaiyo Japan (3), days 5 and 6!

We’re more than mid way into our Japan trip, this series of photos are taking a lotttt longer to edit and caption than I’d expected! AND i am gaining weight while preparing because looking at all these mighty delish food keeps making me hungry and snacking. 😛 Hope you are enjoying it! ^^

Ena

Ohaiyo Japan~ (2) (enabalista.wordpress.com)
Ohaiyo Japan! (1) (enabalista.wordpress.com)
What’s Kizuna 10? (enabalista.wordpress.com)

Inspiring, Travel

Ohaiyo Japan~ (2)

June 18, 2013 Ena Teo 7 Comments

Hello~

And YAY! For ROUND 2 of updates from my Kizuna Japan trip! ^^v

Ready or not, here we go~!

DAY 3

I left off after we checked in and spent a night at Hotel Omoide Roman-kan, Daigo Town, Ibaraki Prefecture.

This is just round 1 of my breakfast serving! It’s an international breakfast spread with traditional japanese food like porridge and side dishes which I took in round 2 but not pictured! 😛

We woke up to this BEAUTIFUL scenery. After breakfast, Ying, Greg and I decided to go for a quick walk and snap some #OOTD (means outfit of the day, for the uninitiated).

Cute plants, what do you call this? ^^

A candid photo of Greg shooting Ying’s #OOTD, using my camera’s miniature mode.

Our lunch bento box!

After lunch we also went for a walk around our hotel! 🙂

And we saw little birds lined up on the cables/wires. How cute!

We also saw red berries along the way… Not sure if they were edible or not! 😛

The view of Daigo Town, just behind our hotel! Lots of restaurants that seem to thrive from the tourists and also visitors that drive along the road.

A closer look, the poster seems to say that the noodles are 100% handmade! 🙂

After lunch, we headed to Oku-kuji Recreation Forest area where we made wooden planters to show support for the reconstruction of the affected areas, as our wooden planters will be used in the elementary school which we were visiting later during our trip. 🙂

Materials for our wooden planter! Pieces of wood, nails wrapped in the newspaper and wooden hammer.

A quick shot of our Lasalle team ^^ You can also see the place where we were, it’s all made of wood and a very beautifully constructed place!

My buddy Ying very focused in putting the planter together! We took turns to hammer the nails in. 🙂

Us with our constructed planter! ^^ And pardon our frizzy hair-dos that got all frizzed up in the high static environment, heh!

Now you see us, now you don’t! >.<

We also wrote encouraging messages on our planter! 🙂

A shot of work that is still underway around the Oku-kuji forest area, taken from the coach, hence the blurry effect.

Then we came to Fukuroda Falls! It’s one of the top 3 falls in Japan, with a different look each season. 🙂

Us again! This time in our coats as it was pretty cold! 🙂

There, thought you’d like to see the view of Fukuroda Falls in the 4 seasons as I do! ^^ Ok I think it’s just Summer/Spring, Autumn, Winter and then a view of the lake during summer/spring.

Sadly it’s end of winter so there was only a hint of green and not a very welcoming view but nonetheless you can see the the falls!

Another view of the falls, this time with the top of the valley in sight.

And another! heh.

Me and what seems like the mascot of Fukuroda falls! SO CUTE RIGHT. (Mascot, not me, in case you think I’m praising myself, HAHA) I just noticed the falls is pictured on his hat! Mad cute! Basically it says 大子町 on the hat, which is the Japanese name of Daigo and the apple and fish are produces that the town is famous for. Cool huh! 🙂

A beautiful shot of the group while we walked down from the falls… 🙂

At the base of the falls were a slew of souvenir shops and as were early in the trip, we didn’t shop intently for souvenirs but we sure did try out the snacks! Here’s a caramel mochi (japanese for rice cake) which is sticky sweet!

This is the pretty amazing little stall that was barbecuing the rice mochis.

Then the ice cream booth caught our eyes! Many flavours but only apple and chocolate left by the time we bought.

Shot of my apple ice cream! I cannot emphasize how delicious it was, it has apple bits in it that I LOVE. Why can’t Singapore have this? >.<

Our ice cream and our thoroughly satisfied faces! ^^v

Day 4

After breakfast, we made our way to Kami No Sato a local craft workshop for a class on handmade Japanese paper, known as Washi.

This is our workshop tutor, pictured with the frame where he sieved the fibre from the pool of fibre in front of him.

He then showed us how to make markings on the Washi in the frame.

And quickly proceeded to fill the markings in with coloured fibre, in this case, red for the apple and brown of the stem.

The various buckets of coloured Washi fibre where we scooped from for our artwork! 🙂

We didn’t have to do the sieving of the Washi fibre, so we just made the markings and filling in of the colours.

My completed Washi paper decoration! Our works would be sold in the paper shop and funds would go to supporting Kizuna project, which creates awareness of the reconstruction efforts in Japan since the major disaster happened in 2011.

Close up of my Washi paper, inspired by Japanese patterns and the produces of Daigo town, which is red apple and green tea. 🙂

The lovely ladies at the paper shop where we bought ready Washi from! Can you see the beautiful paddle pop coloured papers which were used to wrap the items? Gotta love Japanese packaging! 🙂

“色即是空” Japan is a largely buddhist country and this is a famous buddhist saying that means what is visible is empty, but an illusion. I don’t subscribed to buddhist teachings, but I find it interesting as it explains the Zen concept which Japan is famous for. You can also see a bit of the ceiling of the paper shop, which is entirely plastered with writings!

How the shop front looks like.

How the Kami No Sato paper shop looks like. It also has a small area for a museum of antique Japanese paper and books. Washi-making is a dying art and I am thankful we could experience something so uniquely Japan and culturally enriching.

Shot of the road along the paper shop and workshops and a photo-ception with SJ in the picture!

Activity 2 for the day, which we were very excited about, visiting Setsuko’s strawberry farm to pick and eat strawberries!!! ^^V

Mr Setsuko, the farmer and host telling us his experience of the disaster 2 years ago. He lost many customers as they stopped buying strawberries from him because of harmful rumours and they feared radiation but his produces have been certified to be healthy and fit for consumption. Thankfully his business has began to pick up and has reached 70% of customer support since the disaster struck. 🙂

We took a walk through his tomato farm. The greenhouse technology is imported from Netherlands and Mr Setsuko expressed thankfulness that the structure and glass was very strong and withstood the severe earthquakes then.

A happy looking tomato! ^^

The greenhouse under the beautiful skies.

Plum flowers along the road outside the farm.

And a picture of us Lasalle girls, from left, Ade, Xav, me and Ying with the flowers! Credits to Xav’s from her FB ^^.

We then arrived at our final destination of the day, which is the next hotel for the trip!

ISOHARA SEASIDE HOTEL. *Mad love*

2550 Futatsujima Isohara-machi, Kitaibaraki-shi,
Ibaraki 319-1541 JAPAN
TEL:0293-42-0213 / ( from overseas 81-293-42-0213 )
FAX:0293-42-0536 / ( from overseas 81-293-42-0536 )

Website: http://www.isohara.co.jp/lang/English1.htm

This time I shared a room with Adeline and Xav. 🙂 The view of the pretty room from the entrance.

The beds.

THE VIEW of the seaside! SO NICE. *faints*

The toilet!

That’s all for now, till the next post!

Ena

P.S. Haze in Singapore is getting REAL BAD. Please take care guys! <3

Ohaiyo Japan! (1) (enabalista.wordpress.com)
What’s Kizuna 10? (enabalista.wordpress.com)

Inspiring

3 Ways we can smile at the Haze

June 18, 2013 Ena Teo 4 Comments

By now you should probably be aware of the haze situation that Singapore is in, with smog that comes from forest fires in Indonesia, as Indonesians choose to clear their forests by burning.

Yesterday it reached unhealthy levels of PSI (stands for Pollutant Standards Index) 155 at about 2pm.

Today the haze PSI stands at 115.

I know it’s really bad when I couldn’t sleep late Sunday night because I felt like I was choking instead of breathing and had to turn on the air conditioner.

I know it’s really bad when my family and I choose not to open our house windows because we didn’t want to let the smoke outdoors pollute our home indoor.

I know it’s really bad when I went out Monday evening (last night) and thought if there was any day I were to wear a mask out, it’s not because of H5N7 (new strain of avian flu) but because the haze is getting that bad.

I know it’s really bad because people are starting to curse on Facebook.

You get my drift.

So enough for how bad the haze!

Since the last weekend, I’ve been seeing some really creative and funny ways my friends / subscriptions have reacted on social media! So partly inspired by them, I’ll be sharing 3 Ways to smile at the haze. 😀

1. It’s time you can take memorable smokey and cinematic photos around Singapore, without actually having to lug a smoke-machine around because it’s actually there, and free! We know Singaporeans love a good freebie! 😀

Examples of creative smokey and cinematic photos around Singapore:

Okay, this is probably a photoshopped picture and not actually in Singapore, but it’s a creative inspiration! credits: igsg instagram

I didn’t get the #TVD (The Vampire Diaries) reference, but a quick google reveals that Mystic Falls is a place featured in the TVD drama series. Told you the haze makes cinematic photos right? ^^ Credits: jovial_jj instagram

2. Imagine you’re in a scene of Harry Potter / Your favourite movie scene which includes some copious amount of smoke. 🙂

Harry Potter, Smokey, Movie Scene! Image credit: here

3. Last but not the least, make all the Haze jokes while it lasts!

Hehehe HEYZ! 😛 Credits: Sudy on Twitter

LOTS of creativity on SGAG’s FB!

Hope you’ve found a reason to smile at the haze now! ^^

x Ena

P.S. Let me know in the comments, on twitter or FB if you’ve got any Haze jokes to share! 😉

Fashion, Inspiring

Fashion Stylin’ | How to pull off Maxi Skirts effortlessly

June 16, 2013 Ena Teo 2 Comments

Just this week, I had a fashion conversation with a close friend, Joey about how to wear a Maxi skirt.

She told me that she doesn’t venture to wear Maxi skirts because it’s hard to pull it off as it may back fire and make the dresser look short and stumpy instead. She also asked, should wearers of maxi skirts reveal their ankles or wear a maxi that touches the ground and cover their feet completely?

I don’t have a concrete answer for whether the Maxi skirt/dress should cut off at the ankle or not, and my answer for her was that dressing is about proportion. If you’re not too tall, like I am, I usually don’t venture to wear maxi skirts as well as they overwhelm my petite frame and just isn’t as flattering as if I would wear short skirts. But when I do wear long skirts, then I always ensure that I’m in heels or wedges and that the skirt is highwaisted and usually belted, so that the overall look is elongated, cinched at the right place and looks proportionately balanced.

So by now, you probably might know that I am quite an avid Pinterest user. I started my Pinterest account way back, almost 2 years ago and for a while after I began, I lost interest in it but in the past year I’ve kept returning to it because I find it an immensely inspiring and relaxing portal of fashion, food and lifestyle imagery and it’s completely easy for me to save / “repin” images I love to my own boards and Pinterest page.

So when I was browsing Pinterest today, I came across a slew of images with girls in Maxi skirts and reminded me of the conversation with Joey and I decided to write a blog post about my thoughts and tips for how to pull off Maxi skirt / dress effortlessly!

In the photo above, you can see that:

the maxi skirt is worn low at the waist,

paired with heels and the skirt is slit very high that the cut is placed at where a mini skirt would be.

The principle of balance is at play here where a relatively covered up knitted top is paired with a sexy and revealing skirt. Also the proportion is right with the heels, if she was in flats, she won’t look as flattering.

In this photo,

The same idea of balance is reversed when you see:

The wearer is wearing a laced top which has a peek-a-boo effect and also revealing her tummy area, which some people find very sexy and is definitely a trend this summer!

While she keeps her lower half all covered

AND revealing half her wedges creates a “pedestal” effect that perfects the look.

In this photo,

The maxi skirt is worn with flats but it’s proportionately flattering because

She wears the skirt above her waist so it elongates her lower half and makes her look like she has longer legs.

There isn’t images of maxi dress per se, but the same elements can be applied to the maxi dress, like cinching the dress at a high waist, if you have a shorter/petite frame and going lower waist belting if you are tall or have a longer torso!

Remember that balance and proportion is key!

So I hope you’ve learnt a thing or two about how to wear a maxi skirt and venture to wear one after this post, if you’ve never dared to before! And if you do, be sure to @ena_teo on twitter or post in on my FB page here, or leave the url of the photo of you in your maxi skirt in the comments below and i’d be sure to check it out! <3

Have fun! 😉

Ena

Art & Design, Inspiring, Travel

Ohaiyo Japan! (1)

June 11, 2013 Ena Teo 6 Comments

Ohaiyo!

Ohaiyo is the informal way of saying Good Morning in Japanese, the short form of Ohaiyo Gozaimasu. I won’t be teaching Japanese on my blog here, as I only know of a few casual phrases myself. ^^

Have you checked out our Kizuna 10 FB page? Check it out and LIKE it here if you have not!!!

Over this week, I’ll be uploading photos from the 10 day trip that my school mates and I took back in March. We were very generously sponsored and invited by Japan to be part of the Kizuna (Bond) project as part of 100 Singaporean students and tutors to visit and indulge in the rich Japanese culture and heritage! You can check out more of the Kizuna project here.

Without further ado, here are some photos from the 1st 2 days of the 10 day trip that my school mates and I took back in March! 🙂

Japan Kizuna Trip 11th March – 19th March 2013 (Arriving back to Singapore on the 20th March)

Pre-flight, with my lovely travel buddy Ying! 🙂

The view from the plane as we were about to land in Japan… It was the end of winter and early Spring, thus the brown fields.

As we near nearing, we can begin to see the plane’s shadow! So cute right? ^^

This is how they unload the cargo from the plane! Yes, I had a very good view from where I was seating. ^^

Our plane landed at about 4pm and we were scheduled to reach the hotel by coach at about 6.30pm but due to peak period traffic, we reach only about 7.30pm! 😮

Finally got the keys to our room in Tokyo Grand Hotel! I love how vintage the room keys are. ^^ The yellow book is our very detailed and informative handbook for the trip! My schoolmates and I were part of Group A with other students from Temasek Poly and Raffles Design Institute.

How the hotel room looks like! Small but well equipped. Beds were very comfy. Japanese style robes were laid on the beds for occupants to change into. The view from our room shows the office opposite and at 7.30pm we still saw office workers working away!

The toilet is clean and well equipped.

As we reached pretty late, dinner was prepared in very dainty lunch boxes. It was far too much rice for us to consume… Heh.

Post dinner, our first night’s activity began with convenient shops shopping! HAH. There were 3 convenient shops around our hotel and pretty much nothing else. We would soon realize that’s pretty much all the shopping we could do during this except for the last day at Tokyo. 😛 Here you see MUJI stuff at their convenient store! In Singapore MUJI shop has its stand alone boutiques in town, Orchard. The prices are definitely cheaper in Japan, almost 50%! ^^

This, my dear friends, is one of my favourite food in Japan. It’s sold in the convenient store and you pick out what you want and place them in the containers provided, pour a little soup in and pay up. I bought the sausage and vermicelli and they were AWESOME. Super tasty! ^^v

We were told that Tokyo Tower was a 10 min walk away, so the Lasalle group decided to take a walk out together! We came across a subway station and decided to take a look and “recee” for our last night when we get back to Tokyo. 😛

We made our way back to the convenient shops again! Check out the cup noodles from the land of Nissin! 🙂 Totally reminded me of my JC PW (for the uninitiated, stands for Junior College Project Work) where my group mates and I researched and presented on Momofuku Ando, the founder of Nissin cup noodles!

My supper for the night! Tasty sweet courn noodles with dessert!

Day 2~!

My outfit for day 2~

Selca with cutie Ying~

Candid of Lasalle peeps, Xav, Adeline, Alex and SJ, during our morning walk around our hotel! 🙂

Even the dogs in Tokyo are cute!

This photo commemorates our Lasalle hero, Alex who wore shorts out in the cool weather of below 15 degrees. *thumbs up* 😛

Our resident cutie Desmond, with his ice cream and Alex photo bombing. HAHA.

Billboard along the streets of real life Japanese criminal hunt list. :O It’s scary!

The use of order, pattern and symmetry is found practically everywhere on the streets of Japan.

Even the office workers smoke in an orderly fashion!

The flowers along the roads are happy. ^^

The waterworks covers are too cute! This one’s self explanatory, is for fire hydrant hoses in case of fire.

We had to attend a talk back in the hotel on Earthquakes in Japan, but I won’t be going into details about that. 😛

Our sushi packed lunch, rice and egg and seaweed.

After lunch on day 2, we had some free time so we took a walk around the hotel and we discovered this! The REAL Yakiniku (Japanese barbeque) which we often see in Singaporean malls!

Our brave tutor/supervisor/”SUPER leader” Ginette took the first plunge. HAHA. AND boy it was GOOD. 😀 So we all took turns to buy one stick and shared with each other. ^^

Here’s a random shot of Ying all happy and cute. ^^

Look, Ma! Penang restaurant in Japan! 😛

My buys of the day from convenient store shopping. HEH. Coffee, gums and sugarrr.

After attending the afternoon talk, we packed up and moved out on coach for our next destination for the next few days!

We stopped at a pit stop during the coach ride and LOOK WHAT I FOUND. A basket of cuties!!!

I simply couldn’t resist. So I brought one with me. ^^ It costs about S$6. And it has beans in the tummy! It’s happily on my desk now.

We arrived! At Hotel Omoide Roman-kan, Daigo Town, Ibaraki Prefecture! It’s a Japanese traditional type of hotel stay.

This is how the room looked like when we first got our bags in and trying to get them sorted~.

The balcony area.

The toilet area.

And I realize in Japan, the exit is called “非常阶段“ which when translated it means “not the usual steps” cool huh! 🙂

In case you were wondering, I can read and understand chinese characters and traditional Japanese characters use chinese characters. 🙂

We quickly got things sorted and went down for dinner! 😀

LOOK AT THE SPREAD YO. This one’s dessert cakes and the super yummy greek style yogurt in the steel bowl! ^^v

Tomato pasta!!!

Super yummy Japanese tempura (fried) sticks! An assorted choices of fishes and vegetables with the descriptions, if you can read, on the end of the sticks! <3

Along the walkway you’ll find many pressed floral art like this! So pretty! 🙂

When we got back to our room… IT WAS TRANSFORMED! 😀

We decided to try the tidbit offered in the room! It was complimentary. this one’s plum flavored soft pastry. Super nice, I bought 2 boxes back home before we left. 🙂

That’s all for today! Come back soon for my next update!

<3,

Ena

Art & Design, Inspiring, Travel

What’s Kizuna 10?

June 11, 2013 Ena Teo 4 Comments

Hi!

Check out this little video which I’m in, here!

With that, I’d like to introduce to you the latest project that my friends and I are working on! It’s called Kizuna 10!

Kizuna 10 – The Kizuna Experience

Today marks the first day of our project! It follows the day we flew to the land of the rising sun.

You must be wondering. What’s Kizuna 10 about? Read on!

From our FB info page here:

ABOUT: Hi! 10: The Kizuna Experience is the Facebook companion to the 10-day social media project of the same name. We’re a bunch of students from Singapore hoping to do some good with a little bit of our creativity, so why not check us out? 😀

DESCRIPTION: Hi, we are a group of student delegates from Singapore (3rd batch) who went on a Japan exchange programme – KIZUNA BOND PROJECT – from March 11-20, 2012. The Kizuna Bond Project is a youth-exchange programme launched by the Japanese government as part of its reconstruction plans after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.This platform is an initiative to reach out to the mass on the understanding of Japan’s revival efforts through recreating our 10-day KIZUNA experience. Day by day, hour-by-hour, we will update the site real-time, so that you, our viewer, will be able to walk with us through Japan.

Check out our tumblr page here!

I’ll be taking part in this project, but will also be posting my own set of photos on my blog, combining 2 days into 1 post. I’ll update my own blog post links here when I’m done. 🙂

That’s all for now, I’ll see on you FB and make sure you like our page here ya!

Ena

Credits to Callison Neo for the designs and Xaveria for the video!

Ohaiyo Japan Day 1 & 2

Beauty, Inspiring

Laneige, Korean Actress Song Hye Kyo’s Beauty Secret

June 1, 2013 Ena Teo 1 Comment

This is my entry for a Nuffnang & Laneige sponsored blogger’s challenge.

I am a K-drama fan, and I have loved watching Korean actress Song Hye Kyo in dramas especially since her Full House days. I also loved watching her in the drama, Worlds Within, where she had spectacular chemistry with her co-star Hyun Bin, whom she dated for a while after the show.

Song Hye Kyo and Rain in korean drama, Full House

They had such good chemistry in Worlds Within, Song Hye Kyo and Hyun Bin.

Most recently, Song Hye Kyo starred in That Winter the Wind Blows, where she doesn’t seem to have aged and her skin is still flawless and fair…

With her co star, Jo In Sung and Song Hye Kyo, looking fine as ever.

The secret to Song Hye Kyo’s fair and bouncy skin is Laneige, being their face and ambassador, Song Hye Kyo has no lack of access to their very hydrating products that keeps her skin smooth and supple!

Laneige is introducing their new BB cushion which is a compact that contains a patented cushion filled with cooling air and BB cream. It is a unique type of BB product with 5 benefits; soothing, skin tone correction, SPF 50+ PA+++, brightening and sweat proof.

How the Laneige BB Cushion looks like!

Laneige is looking for 10 winner who will attend the make up session recreating K-beauty looks with the Laneigh BB cushion.

And thanks to Laneige and Nuffnang, the 10 K-Beauty looks will enter the Laneige Beautiful Blogger Challenge where a Grand Winner will be crowned through public voting. The lucky beautiful blogger will win a 1 year Laneige K Beauty Blogger contract & $2000 cash price from Laneige!

The question we are to blog about is:

Which is your favourite Laneige skincare & make-up product, and why?

And my answer would have to be Laneige’s Water Drop Sun Care!

And of the three above, I’d pick Sun Block Supreme!

That’s because I think the most important beauty routine is protection against the sun’s harmful rays to prevent pre mature aging (ugly spots!!!) and the Sun Block Supreme has powerful sunscreen and waterproof formula that resists water and sweat which would be the most suitable in Singapore’s sunny and humid weather! 🙂

If I am selected to be one of the top 10 winners, I would choose to re-create of my favourite looks from below:

1. Song Hye Kyo’s cute sexy looks in Full House

Cute floral inspired looks with pink and purple eye shadow and blush colours.

2. Son Ga In’s sultry sexy looks

I probably won’t go shirtless like she did… HA.

Edgy and rock chic brown and black eye colours.

Last but not the least I might also go for Yoon Eun Hye’s Pretty in Pink in her Missing You look:

In the show she gives off a feminine fashionista look often carrying very light pink lip colours and au naturel looking skin, lightly brushed facial foundation coverage.

If I were to be selected, which look would you like me to recreate? Vote below and I’d go with the most popular /voted look!

Ending off with a photo of what I’d consider a typical Ena make up look, bare face and dark eye liner! 😉

Ena

Art & Design, Fashion, Inspiring, Travel

Ena’s Hong Kong Day 3 & 4, visiting Lane Crawford and G.O.D studio

May 14, 2013 Ena Teo 3 Comments

Day 3

Mouse over the photos on your desktop to view my captions! Not sure how it works out on mobile, in case you’re reading from your mobile. 🙂

Ferry Ride, Lunch at Tim Ho Wan and HK Design Center

Shanghai Tang Maison Tour

Temple Street

Day 4

Breakfast and Lane Crawford Department and Office Tour

G.O.D Design Studio

Something different from how I usually update my travel photos! How do you find it?

Not sure if I like this way more or the usual one…

Till the next post~

<3,

Ena

Fashion Food Fun Ena’s Hong Kong Day 2 (enabalista.wordpress.com)
Let’s begin with Hong Kong! (enabalista.wordpress.com)

Inspiring

Beyond Boston Bombings, Love Will Keep Us Alive

April 18, 2013 Ena Teo Leave a comment

By now you should have read about the Boston marathon bombings that happened on Monday, 2.50pm in US time.

It saddens me to read of such news.

I remember I awoke on Tuesday morning in Singapore with thanksgiving in my heart, grateful for a loving God. I remember feeling very heavy hearted when I read of the news, on my way to school and wondered about how the victims and their families of the bombings would feel. I wondered why a loving God would allow such atrocity to happen to innocent people. I wondered how victims would struggle with God for allowing such tragedy to happen to them. The irony of my meditation of God’s love for man / me that morning was not lost on my train ride to school.

Then in class, for a presentation skills workshop, we were given 15 minutes to prepare for a 1 minute speech on any topic. Instinctively I wanted to talk about God’s love from the biblical passage 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. But in a tertiary education class of mixed religion classmates, I couldn’t just quote from the bible out of nowhere. So I decided to present on Love, namely Eros, Philos and Agape, a summarized version of information I took from The Seeker of Truth’s blog post here.

— My 1 minute speech —

Eros is known to be erotic love between man and woman. It is physical attraction where one finds the other attractive and is in love. Its disadvantage is said to be self-centered, because one party loves the other because it makes him or her feel good or happy.

Philos is known to be friendship, where two people meet and connect mentally. It is better for a man and woman relationship to begin as friends and get to know each other before developing the relationship further.

Lastly Agape love refers to love that is unconditional. It is likened to a Mother’s love for a child which is oft unconditional. However the true depiction of Agape love is divine and found in God’s love for us.

As a Christian, I believe that it is out of God’s Agape love for us that he sent his sinless, only son Jesus to die for our sins on the cross so that we may be saved and reconciled with Him. He died on the the cross and he resurrected three days later.

To give a deeper insight into Agape love, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 describes God’s perfect love as such:

^“4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.”

Eros describes physical love, Philos mental and Agape, spiritual and these are the fundamental make up of a man’s body, soul and spirit ways of loving.

— end of 1 minute speech —

It is by no coincidence that I meditated, shared and decided to write about love. I did so because I’ve been sad about a few things and I wondered why. And the more I meditated about Love, the more I realize, experience and believe the lyrics of Eagle’s hit song “Love will keep us alive” to be true. Although the song speaks and refers to mostly physical and emotional love, of physical shelter, nourishment, protection and companionship, I believe it rings true for Love in all forms.

As humans we are wired for love. We seek love, we crave love. Often a lot that we do, we do it to earn love. Whether it’s a baby’s cry for a mother’s hug, a toddler’s cry for a toy, no doubt selfish but the toy to the toddler means a parent’s material love for him/her. We work hard in school to score good grades to earn our parent’s approval, another form of love. Men work hard at work, to bring home the money for their families, as a testament of their love for them and also to earn their love.

And when we are in love, we can’t sleep because we want to spend time talking to the other party, no matter how late it may be. YET we can wake up early the next day just to hear from our loved one again. It doesn’t have to be a romantic lover. It works for close friends and loved ones. When you have love to look forward to the next day, no matter how late you’ve slept and how early it is you need to get up, you do. It works for love for work and school as well, to gain the approval/love of your tutor/boss/colleague/classmate/friends.

And that is why as I pondered about the significance and power of Love in my life, coming across the atrocity of the sudden onslaught of Boston bombing saddens me.

While I gave a speech on love, some of my classmates shared their thoughts on the Boston bombings. My classmate and friend, Malika shared that such bombings happen almost daily in Pakistan and Iraq in the Middle East region and it is just sad that one such case in US creates such huge media waves globally but we probably don’t know and care about those happening in the Middle East.

I read further about the Boston bombings, mainly from Daily Maill here and an extremely informative post from Mother Jones here. I cried a few times. I cried when I read about how hero Carlos Arredondo went down to help victims, seconds after the bombings went off. Despite the death of his son at the age of 20 when he served in forces in Iraq 2004. And his second son died in 2011, because he never recovered from his brother’s death. A man who has lost two sons and grieved, but he didn’t choose to live in despair, he went to help those who suffered and were in need.

Carlos Arredondo helping a victim from the Boston bombings. (Credits to SMH.com.au)

I cried when I read about the death of Martin who was only 8 and such a wonderful cute boy. His mother had to undergo brain surgery and his sister who is 6, lost 1 leg. His elder brother who is 12 managed to remain unscathed. And they suffered because they were waiting for their dad to pass the finishing line at the marathon. I cried imagining the grief that Martin’s dad has to go through, his younger son dead, his baby girl who lost one leg and his wife who had to go through a brain surgery.

Martin Richard holding up a message of peace which saddens us further considering how he died. (Credits CBSnews.com)

I don’t think I’ve ever posted on my blog about this before but the aftermath of war and related tragedy impacts me. Fortunately for me, I have always experienced peace in my life in Singapore, so the first time I remember feeling second-hand grief over war was during Venice Biennale 2007. I saw many artists’ works on the aftermath of war from the Middle Eastern point of view and the American point of view. The former artists painted and photographed the aftermath of war on their land. Buildings in ruins, after bombings and raids. Kids playing with humans skulls because that’s the few form of entertainment they have. Women in the typical muslim head covering, hijabs, photographed/drawn listless, fearful and lonely in bare hospitals. From the American artists, we see the entire gallery wall filled with tiny passport sized photos, each with the image of a soldier lost to war, dead. And that was only a portion from the actual dead count during a span of time which I can’t remember how long but it was relatively quite short and shocking to clock so many deaths. It is hard to describe and adequately convey the impact of these artworks individually and collectively, but I was deeply affected.

So I am decidedly anti-war and terrorism. I simply cannot understand why innocent lives must be sacrificed. I cannot help but feel emotional and tear when I see women and children helpless, suffering in the face of war, experience trauma and having to pick themselves up in the aftermath of lost loved ones, ruined lives, bodies and buildings. Let’s also not forget the war veterans, who return from war fields bearing physical and mental trauma as well.

I don’t have the answers to the questions I pose. It pains me to know of people suffering, whether they are middle eastern or american, eastern or western, victims or aggressors(knowing these roles are debatable depending on the POV). Above these labels, I remember them as man and women, boys and girls, sons and daughters, family and friends. Each, precious and filled with beautiful potential. If war and terrorism can be avoided, if pain and suffering can be diminished at the hands of those who control it, I can only pray that it be so.

I don’t have the solution to obtaining world peace. Or a convincing reason why a loving God allows such suffering to happen. But to all those who are suffering in war and tragedies or the aftermath of it, I wish you Christ because He embodies Love to me and Love will keep us alive.

Love,

Ena

Art & Design, Fashion, Inspiring, Travel

Let’s begin with Hong Kong!

April 13, 2013 Ena Teo 3 Comments

Hello hello~!

It’s been almost a month since I last posted. 😛

So before the days pass to months and months pass to years, I’d better upload my travel photos from HK before they become stale! 😛

Together with 2 tutors and 9 other classmates from Lasalle, we went to Hong Kong (HK) for a 4 Days 3 Nights fashion exposure trip, to see their fashion stores, school and design studios.

For this HK trip, I decided to design a Travel Photo Album in vintage style because the photos are almost becoming vintage since I’m taking so long to post them 😛 and also because there’s a part of the old HK that evokes romantic vintage vibes. 😉

Personally I’m not a fan of vintage fashion or design but vintage design is a very rich style, with many fans and resource available online so I had a lot of fun in designing and putting together this album. I hope you will enjoy it! And if you want to know where I got the free design elements from, you may find them at the end of this post. Also, I’ve saved photoshop (PSD) templates of all my pages, so when I’ve figured how to upload them online, I’ll also post it up so it’s free for download and people can edit for their own trips! Cool huh? ^^

Without further ado, here are my photos from HK Day 1~!

How did you find this album? Post your comments below! ^^

That’s all for now, I hope to be able to bring the next installment next week! For the record, there’s 3 more days for HK and 10 for Japan. These 15 pages took me a whole day to edit… So wish me luck! 😛

Ena

—

Resource Credits to:

MaiaraMay (IGotTheLook on Deviant Art) for Photoshop Actions 27. I used action 2 for my photos. You can download the action set here.
Leather Textured Paper for my book cover by WebTexture. Available for download here.
DesignInstruct.com for Colored Vintage Paper: Texture Pack. Check them out here.
Hi-res Grunge Textured Paper used for my pages. Available for download here.
Polariod and Paperclips by ~atilazz on Deviantart here.
Free fonts: Pacifico and SeasideResortNF both available online.
All other design elements (e.g ribbons, stamps, etc.) not mentioned are found on google images and edited by myself to suit the design.
All photos and design credits to me, Ena Teo Jia En. 2013.
Software used: Adobe Photoshop CS5.
I was listening to this “Relaxing Playlist” on Youtube here while designing this. 😉

Now or Never // Super Seoul Day 1 (enabalista.wordpress.com)
Shopper’s Paradise // Super Seoul Day 2 (enabalista.wordpress.com)
Super Seoul Day 3 & 4 (enabalista.wordpress.com)

Inspiring, Travel

Japan, Japan

March 15, 2013 Ena Teo 2 Comments

Hey guys!

I have not updated for a long time and here I am in Japan!

Was in Hong Kong earlier, will update photos from that trip later.

Ill do up a more proper post when I’m back home next week. 😉

Photos from Japan now!

Fashion, Inspiring

EDD | Happy Chinese New Year!

February 9, 2013 Ena Teo Leave a comment

Happy Chinese New Year folks!

It’s been a long time since I last blogged. I’ve procrastinated a lotttt. ))):

You know how we fail at our new year resolutions after the first month?

But heck, CHINESE new year is coming, so I’m gonna have another go at being more on the ball and regular at blogging! HA. 😀

Anyway, some photos I took recently for EDD. 🙂

It was really cold and rainy on a recent Monday morning so I wore a layered look to school. BUT it wasn’t raining by the time we took these pictures in the afternoon, HAHA. x)

Thanks to my bestie Bini & her camera for the photos! 🙂

Wishing all of you a wonderful Chinese New Year season, may you be receiving lots of Ang Baos, enjoying lots of goodies and fun times with your family and friends!

The year ahead’s gonna be a blast! 8D

Ena

Beauty, Inspiring, Travel

Ena’s Thanksgiving 2012

December 30, 2012 Ena Teo Leave a comment

On the 2nd last day of the year, I’d like to recount a few things that I’m thankful to God for. 🙂

In chronological order followed by special people in my life.

Starting in January, I had a very enjoyable short stay at Avilion Cove hotel at Port Dickson, Malaysia with my sisters. You can read about the relaxing stay here.:)

My sisters & I.

Picturesque view at Avilion Cove.

Back in March, Bini and I went for a super last minute but enjoyable 4D3N stay at Korea. It was definitely short but a lot of fun. Check out the stay in a 3 part post 1, 2 and 3.

With Bestie Bini :*

Delicious, best Korean spread ever at Sam-chung dong.

🙂

The combined hauls from Korea. 😀

Unforgettable memories.

At Korean, in-cheon airport.

In May, I went to Philippines (just realized my typo in the banner and image below) for mission trip with my church. It was my second trip there and a lot more fruitful. The growth in the two years is remarkable and there is a lot of work still to be done. Praise the Lord. Check out my post on the trip here.

After I came back from Philippines, I had to immediately attend to Transmission Kaleidoscope exhibition and I am extremely thankful for the work that culminated into a beautiful exhibition, thanks to everyone in the Transmission team! 🙂 More details of the exhibition can be found here.

In June, I received an influx of product review sponsorships, from lip balms, sunblocks to skin care products. You can check them out here.

One of the product reviews.

In July, my birth month, I received two very big presents. The first is to be selected as Estee Lauder’s ambassador, to review and share updates on their latest products and events through the last 5 months in this year. It’s been an amazing journey thus far, one that I hope will continue through to the new year and beyond. I humbly believe that you my readers also enjoy reading the posts as much as I enjoyed the experiences and writing about them. 🙂

First bag of joy from Estee lauder, for reviews see here.

My #LOTD using Estee Lauder Fall Violet Underground collection, see here and here.

A second birthday gift was my license for Real Estate property, a culmination of studies and exams, plus I’m very grateful to pass on the first try.

My namecards & license tag.

The following thanksgiving are for groups of special people in my life, in no particular order.

YPM Benjamin cell group members hold a special place in my heart and will always be, as we spend every Saturday evening (I mean every single week) together, through bible studies, dinners and enjoyable outings.

Acting demure.

Really crazy. 😀

Claire & Xue’s baptism in April. How time flies!

The lovely girls in the group. Ming, Bernice, Claire, Xue, Vivian, Me & Hui Ting.

Our Luge outing at Sentosa. 🙂

I am extremely thankful for a wonderful group of girlfriends in my management class in Lasalle. I really love them, their fashion sense, unique styles, enthusiasm, joy and encouragements. 🙂 <3

Pris, Christabelle, Me.

Photo with the group at Holland V. (My first time there, LOL)

Bev’s 21st birthday with the cray-cray girls, post here.

High tea!

More photos with Bestie Bini, I’ve never had a friend who’s cared so much for me, through words, time, action and gifts and I’m really thankful <3

Together at Chanel Spring Summer show.

Photo with Bini back in Feb, also in a review written about New York Skin solution.

My secondary four classmates are another group of friends I am increasingly thankful for, as we stay together through each year, each month. <3

Celebrating Clinton’s farewell, see post here.

With bestie neighbour, YL, from our HerWorld day out outing.

View from our Flyer outing, after our Estee Lauder makeover experience.

With my mentor, at her surprise birthday party we threw for her in church. 🙂

I thank God for using her to be a blessing to me and many more in church! <3

With my tummies hunnies food date, a special group of us dear to my heart, friendship bonded through the May trip to Philippines! <3

Ena Thanksgiving Meet Michelle Phan copy

With Michelle Phan! One of the inspirational ladies in my life, to meet her in person is like meeting my idol, I have few in my life, hehe. Don’t think I blogged about the meet up when she came, but I have this photo on Instagram. 🙂

–

This thanksgiving post is definitely not an exhaustive one, I am thankful for each and every person I’ve met this year, whether they’ve been a blessing – or a motivation / learning lesson for me.

I hope this post inspires you to count your blessings and to give thanks for them!

Ena

Ena Teo | Enabalista

Category Archives: Inspiring

3 things no one told you before graduation

My Business Ideas

London Sights & Food! :D

Ena Vlogs | Job Search, Inspiring My Shocking Stories & Tao Kae Noi Founder

Hello July

Ohaiyo Japan (5) Tokyo Senso Temple & Asakusa

Ohaiyo Japan (4) Isohara Seaside & Tokyo Tower

Ohaiyo Japan~ (3) Traditional House Tour and Glass Frosting Workshop

Ohaiyo Japan~ (2)

3 Ways we can smile at the Haze

Fashion Stylin’ | How to pull off Maxi Skirts effortlessly

Ohaiyo Japan! (1)

Day 2~!

What’s Kizuna 10?

Laneige, Korean Actress Song Hye Kyo’s Beauty Secret

Ena’s Hong Kong Day 3 & 4, visiting Lane Crawford and G.O.D studio

Beyond Boston Bombings, Love Will Keep Us Alive

Let’s begin with Hong Kong!

Japan, Japan

EDD | Happy Chinese New Year!

Ena’s Thanksgiving 2012

Singapore's Lifestyle Blogger ☀

Related articles

Share this:

Related articles

Share this:

Related articles

Share this:

Related articles

Share this:

Related articles

Share this:

Related articles

Share this:

Related articles

Share this:

Related articles

Share this:

Related articles

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Day 2~!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Related articles

Share this:

Share this:

Related articles

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Singapore's Lifestyle Blogger ☀