New Years Resolutions for 2013!

I didn't make a NY Resolutions this year - how sad :(

So I decided to make some resolutions and (hopefully) complete them by the end of 2013.

• Travel - It doesn't even matter where as long as it is outside Perth. However, I hope it is somewhere besides Australia because I want to see other countries and learn different languages and cultures. 
• Become a more consistent blogger - I have done a better job at blogging this year than last year and made more quality posts but there's always room for improvement. Hopefully I can blog more this year.
• Improve YouTube channel - YouTube does not necessarily mean success but it means I can make more friends online and possibly learn the ways of a filmmaker (maybe) such as filming and editing videos like a pro. Hopefully I can get at least 1,000 subscribers by the end of this year. 
• Get a part-time job (no fast food) - Get a good paying part time job which can support your rich lifestyle of buying Lush products every week. No fast food jobs like McDonalds or Hungry Jacks because they don't count. Improve resumes as well.
• Become more STYLISH - I have been so slack and haven't been buying any clothes at all. I have barely any clothes I can wear for winter except for my pyjamas. So I want to become more stylish and have my own style of clothing that defines who I am.
• Perfect my skin and makeup (Be more pretty) - Take better care of my skin and learn how to apply makeup so instead of making me look like a drag queen, it'll actually make me look better. Learn how to do a PERFECT winged eyeliner.
• Have penpals and send gifts to them! Have friends/penpals from across the globe and send letters and presents to them.
• Become a better student and stop procrastinating - I should have studied more this year but oh well, I'm happy with my result even though I didn't even study that much this year. NO! I MUST motivate myself to become a better student and at least get B's. NO MORE C's - aim for at least B's and 70% +
• Start cosplaying properly - Make more friends at conventions and hopefully find friends who are interested in cosplaying/anime/manga so that you won't be a loner at conventions as you don't have any friends who are interested in that anymore. 
• Get drivers license - I still haven't received my license yet. 
• Read more books and become more intellectual - I have actually read a lot of books this year  but I'm going to keep track with goodreads.com and manage to finish at least 20 books this year. As opposed to 10 (which I didn't complete). 
• Have more hobbies - So that I become a more interesting person and more all-rounder person. I have so much to say about sims 3, k-pop, dramas, anime, manga and what not but that's about it. I should have more interests and topics to discuss about so I can make more friends. 

[Review] Skin79 Absolute Total BB Cream Diamond

The BB cream has triple functions of whitening, anti-wrinkle and more intensively protects exposed skin by blocking UV ray A and B by keeping skin beautiful and healthy through offering brilliance of a diamond and vitality of just blossomed floral. 

Shiny compact packaging FTW *0*

Pump for more ACTIOn

The actual product

Spreading it out on my skin

Blending out

Blended! Can you tell the difference?

Packaging

3.5/5

The packaging comes in a hot pink cardboard box which I thought was quite nice as opposed to the rather larger packages BB creams come in.

The actual product comes in a pump protected by a hard oxblood coloured, gradient plastic box. The actual product is protected by a metallic tube thing. I really don't know how to explain this but it's 15g . I like how it comes in a pump as it is more hygienic that way but will be rather hard to pump out the excess product once its nearly empty!

Coverage

2/5

Oil Control

3/5

Not the best but not the worst either! I thought it would be much oilier than that but it's been 3 hours since I applied it and I haven't got an over-oily nose or T-zone...yet! However, I find that it works well with powder and it instantly covers up the oil anyways so that is okay!

Texture

4/5

Overall

3/5

I wouldn't say it's the best but it's definitely not the worst either. It doesn't have enough coverage that's for sure but I love how lightweight it feels on my skin. This is good for me because I find that my Missha BB cream is so heavy and makes me feel like a cake face but this is so lightweight that I can't even feel it and it blends in well with my skin as well! It's almost as if I'm not wearing anything.

However I can't find a specific day I would want to wear this since during Summer it will be too oily and I can't wear it for formals as it doesn't have enough coverage. I would choose my Skin79 for days I need more coverage. So I can't see myself using this product that often.

Would I recommend buying it?

If you have drier skin, yes. If you want something that's lightweight, yes. If you're a BB cream junkie, hell yeah.

Sims 3 & Team Fortress 2!

I haven't been filming YouTube videos or blogging that much as I have been playing Sims 3 and Team Fortress 2 now that exams are all over!

If you have a steam account please add me HERE I'm cyndork. I mainly play Team Fortress 2 as Engineer or Pyro ~~ Woo! Although, I'm still a n00b T__T I still need to play more but I'm getting better (I think?). I usually just attack them head on and so I get killed really quickly har-har...

The other game which I've been playing is Sims 3! I've always been a fan of Sims 3 but recently I got Sims 3 Seasons which is the latest expansion pack!





























I've been sticking with this one family ever since I installed Seasons! I started off with Blake Windswell and Jordan Windswell. Blake married Gobias Koffi and they both passed away recently :( Jordan married Kaylynn Langerak and they have three beautiful kids!

Aliens in Sims 3 are really freaky. I don't know why they keep popping up and abducting the women o_O

Bella Bachelor and Jordan Koffi building a snowman in Winter!

Look at how adorable that snowman is!

They fell down on the ice-skating rink

Grim Reaper likes cats ~ He was hugging it and everything

Kaylynn Langerak vomiting coz she's PREGGGNANT with the third child

Reira Koffi (Gobias x Blake's child) and her niece/nephew Daisy and Caleb having a pie eating contest during Fall!

I swear I took more snapshots but this is all! I really love playing Sims 3 *A* but there are so many glitches D:

The Perks of Being a Wallflower Movie Review by cyndork

So I had the pleasure of seeing 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' by Stephen Chbosky this afternoon with my friend, Anaya. I know - I know - the film has been out for more than a month over in America; but it only premiered here in Australia yesterday!

I was sort of disappointed that there weren't as many people in the cinemas as I thought there would be. There were only perhaps 10 people in the room. They all sat in pairs and it was really quiet except for the laugh-able bits in the film.

Anyhoo, the film was great! It definitely represents the novel well and I loved it so much. It covered so many issues and was quite overwhelming towards the end but I loved the use of music/soundtrack to support the scene. As it is a coming-of-age film, I'll compare it to other coming of age films and in that aspect, it does quite well in spreading out topics like drugs, sex, love, friendships, growing up etc.

Logan Lerman really surprised me, as did Ezra Miller. When they were first announced as Charlie and Patrick respectively, I had my doubts but after watching the film - I definitely changed my mind. They WERE Charlie and Patrick. I loved Ezra's version of Patrick, I can definitely picture Patrick like that but maybe a little bit more quirkier. Emma Watson as Sam was also great! I really loved her acting, I couldn't see the Hermione in her at all. I pictured Sam and it was nice. Nina Dobrev also did awesome, after watching the Vampire Diaries the day before and watching POBAW, I have to say that Nina did a great job! Of course, TVD fans already knew that as she plays two different characters Katherine and Elena (spoiler alert?) realistically.

However, I wish some parts of the novel were included. Of course I am aware that a film is a film and a novel is a novel so a whole novel cannot be meshed into one film. Such parts include showing Bill (Mr. Anderson) and Charlie's relationship more, the poem felt like an importance but I'm sure it didn't need to be included, Candace's abortion, Aunt Helen's background about being molested so that the ending would make more sense to people who haven't read the novel! However, many parts of the novel were included in there which I would have too and which I thought were important. One last thing - I wish Charlie cried more because he cried so much in the novel and that they would've shown that Charlie was smart and not only at the beginning of the film.

The quote 'We accept the love we think we deserve' played a huge part in the film.

drifting apart

어떻게 하죠 우리는 서로

아파하네요 멀어지네요

어떻게 하죠 우리는 점점 더

슬퍼하네요 멀어지네요

—- 

What are we to do? We’re both in pain,

We’re both drifting apart. What are we to do?

We’re both becoming more and more sad,

We’re both drifting apart.

Top 20 Books to-read List

As it is drawing closer to the beginning of the very dreaded #wace exams, I have compiled a rather long list of books I must read before the end of the year. I will briefly summarise why I would read such a magnificent novel and why in such the novel intrigues me so (I'll do this later). I absolutely cannot wait until my exams are done. completed! FINISHED! so that I can devour my time with these books and enter into the realm of AMAZING GOODNESS or EVILNESS - either way, I will gladly accept.

My TOP 20 BOOKS TO-READ LIST

1. Looking for Alaska by John Green
2. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
3. Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
4. It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
5. Paper Towns by John Green
6. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
7. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
8. One Day by David Nicholls
9. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
10. 1984 by George Orwell and Erich Fromm
11. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
12. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F.Scott Fitzgerald
13. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
14. Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
15. The Future of Us by Jay Asher
16. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
17. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
18. Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
19. South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami
20. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy 

LUSH Wishlist

I think I am starting to become quite obsessed with LUSH products ever since it opened up a new store in Karrinyup. As I actually have exams coming up, I haven't actually had to chance to go shopping until today. However, I only took a quick peek as it was closing and I needed to go back home to continue with the dreadful studying, ugh. Anyhoo, I have put together a (long) list of products which I think would make me rather splendid and lush. (pun intended)

Shower Products

Soothing shower soap to calm red, dry skin. Dreamwash is a perfect smoothie for troubled skin. It’s incredibly mild and actively soothing - wonderful for skin with a habit of going flaky and red when you touch it with anything other than plain water. We mix chamomile with calamine, calming aloe vera, soothing rose, tea tree and lavender essential oils. It’s the dreamiest wash available for sensitive skin.

Dreamwash (Smoothies)

Our Sugar Scrub is hard, but a bit of a sweetie. Its no nonsense stance stimulates activity and tackles cellulite with fennel and ginger. Skin calming lavender has a balancing effect. Get yourself wet in the shower or bath, but don’t let the bar get under the running water or it’ll be lost before it can prove itself. Scrub, scrub, scrub and rinse away. It doesn’t waste any time getting down to business.

Sugar Scrub (Scrubs)

How to Study Effectively

Since it is exam week, I thought I would share on how I effectively study in three simple steps!

I am definitely NOT a Straight A student but I just really wanted to share on how I personally study and which way for me has been the most effective way. Please try this method out for studying to see if it worked as good as me!

Read (Eyes)

People usually assume that reading material and information is going to automatically make them remember but this is usually not the case for non-geniuses and non-photographic memory people.

What I mean by reading is that you simply read and the information given but at the same time understand it as well. If you don't understand the material, you simply will not be able to effectively apply it during exams. You need to focus on re-reading, breaking down the material, re-wording it to understand the material. If you don't understand a word - DO NOT hesitate to use the dictionary. It helps so much to understand what is being said. 

Once you truly understand the material, then you may move onto the next step. 

Speak (Ears/Mouth)

Speaking means reading the material out loud in short sentences and remembering keywords to help you remember. This is usually the most important step and helps a lot. Speaking is really important as you are not only using your mouth but also your ears to move the material into your long-term memory. 

E.g. I have been re-reading this sentence for my psychology exam:

'Individualistic societies see themselves as "entities" and autonomous containing significant attributes and largely detached from the environment.'

The shorter a sentence is, the easier it is to remember. So I would highlight - 

'Individualistic societies see themselves as "entities" and autonomous containing significant attributes and largely detached from the environment.'

This makes the material a lot easier to remember and the keywords would be 'entities', 'autonomous', 'attributes' and 'detached.'

As I said before, if you don't understand - use dictionary. After that, you should re-word it into your own words to make it easier for you to understand. 

Such as - 

Societies such as the U.S.A and most Western European countries are individualistic and have an independent view of self. This means that they see themselves as entities and autonomous (independent) and have important characteristics. They are also separated from the environment. 

I usually skip the above step but if you don't understand the original sentence, then you should re-word it to make it easier. 

The last step is to say the sentence out loud without looking at the material itself. 

This bit takes the longest for me but it is the most effective of remembering the information in my head.

 Write (Body)

My mum used to tell me that since during exams/tests you are expected to write the information down - it is always best to write down the material after you've remembered it so you know what to write during the actual test/exam. So I find this step really helpful. 

This step is fairly simple but can take a long time. 

You simply just write out the material after completely the other two steps. Once you know which ones you have trouble writing down, then you will understand which ones you don't exactly remember in your head that well. 

The other step with writing is to use mnemonics! Use acronyms and chunking and whatever helps you with remembering!!

The mnemonic I used for this is:

For e.g. 

• Boundaries
• Emotional Safety
• Sense of belonging and identification
• Personal Investment
• Common symbol system

[Review] Lip Tints ~ Etude House & PeriPera

I did a Lip Tint post here and two years later my love for lip tints are still going strong. Day by day I am discovering more lip tints and falling even more in love with them. However, living in Perth - the only lip tints I could find are ones from Maybelline, Benefit and Revlon and to be honest - the colours didn't look too appealing and the major letdown was how EXPENSIVE they are. They are like $25+ so I couldn't stock up on lip tints after Sportsgirl stopped selling their lip tints. (That lip tint started to smell after a week YUCK!)

So I was really happy when  I stopped by my friend's SINI store/korean store. I found Etude House's Fresh Cherry Tint - not only is the packaging really cute but it smells really nice! However, it is pretty pricey at $18 but definitely a lot cheaper than the other drugstore lip tints. Then, yesterday night my mum and my sister came back from Hong Kong and my sister bought me these PeriPera lip tints! The packaging is just adorable (art by Mari Kim) and I so now I have THREE LIP TINTS!

I am going to do a review on three lip tints with photos of them. I hope you will find this helpful!

Valedictory Dinner & Last week of Year 12

I can't believe I'm graduating soon and taking all these exams soon which I have been preparing for since years! I don't know what to do, what I'm going to do and what I'm supposed to. I'm scared, excited, worried, stressed and a mixture of feelings about the future but I put my faith in God. I honestly put my faith in God about my future because I was just reading Joshua Harris' Boy Meets Girl and he tells us to let God take care of your future because his plans for your future are a million times better than the future we have planned for ourselves. I know I should plan it all our but for some reason, I have been contemplating picking Advertising, Marketing and Communication/Media Studies for my majors. Which I can't - because you can't do three majors and double degrees sounds way too much work. Though, hopefully I'll be able to get into the university (Curtin/UWA) I want so I will have the choice to choose.

The last week of year twelve went by so quickly; I still can't believe it's over. It hasn't properly settled in yet and there's so many things I want to say but I haven't or I still feel like we're still going back to school and spending our days in class learning but truth is - we're not and that still hasn't hit me yet. I don't think it will ever hit me until like next year. I predict I'll cry over how different everything is and wish that things were back to normal again. We cried when the last school bell rang and all of the year twelve girls cried and hugged each other all the while Birdy's Skinny Love was playing in the background which just made me cry even harder. :')

Here are lots of photos because they look preeeetttyy!

The Fault in Our Stars

I finished the Fault in Our Stars a few weeks back but I haven't had the time to really blog about it until this week due to the mass amount of assessments we have before we officially finish year twelve (eek!)

I cannot exactly explain how I felt about finishing the novel. I mean, I think Tumblr kind of spoiled it for me and I borrowed the book to my friend who assumed that I had already read it; so she sort of ruined it for me as well. So, the ending wasn't really much of a surprise. However - it was.



It's a book about cancer, love, family, friends, growing up in a non wish-granting world. I cried, I have to admit (I think it was the second novel I've cried whilst reading). It was horribly sad and I felt really sad. I think perhaps because Augustus Waters was just an overall well-liked person and  John Green made all the characters come true. Something which I still yet to achieve in my narrative writing.

The funny thing is, a few weeks before I had finished TFiOS, my step-grandmother passed away from cancer. I can't really say I was upset because I didn't know her that well to be honest and it's just so ironic how I can cry over this fictional character's fictional death and not even shed a single tear for a human being who I'm related to. I guess I can sort of relate to the whole cancer thing now, yes? It sort of helped me to understand because I guess I'm really afraid my immediate family will get cancer but I know God will protect us and even when the worst happens, we'll fight it through together as a family and support each other. Like Hazel and Augustus, I'll give them the best moments and memories in their life to remember.

“The pleasure of remembering had been taken from me, because there was no longer anyone to remember with. It felt like losing your co-rememberer meant losing the memory itself, as if the things we’d done were less real and important than they had been hours before.”

—	John Green, The Fault In Our Stars

Dear Friend: Always

Dear Friend,

The Great Gatsby

“There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired.”

—	Nick Caraway, The Great Gatsby

Remember when I posted that I had bought 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald? Well, I finished it last time (actually I finished it at 2 in the morning).

The 2012 The Great Gatsby is coming out in Summer 2013 and Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby with Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan. I actually, whilst reading it, didn't picture Leonardo or Carey as Jay and Daisy. Especially with Nick Carraway - did not picture Tobey Maguire at all! But when I saw the AMAZING trailer, I thought that they suited the characters well. I'm sure they can pull it off and everything - I absolutely adore the setting, the props and the clothes they have. Just beautiful!

 

I honestly thought, before I finished the novella, that 'The Great Gatsby' would be about this guy named Gatsby who was this wonderful business man who did some sort of illegal business to get to this high position. Mind you, but I actually saw the trailer first, and I'm not American - so the Curriculum council didn't tell us to read this as it doesn't apply to our country, which is really a shame as I would have loved to read 'The Great Gatsby' instead of 'Of Mice and Men' as we did last year. They're both great books by the way, I just love The Great Gatsby more because it has romance in it!



Anyways, I thought the novel would just be about Nick Carraway meeting Jay Gatsby and it's set in the Roaring Twenties and it tells us all about how life was back then. I thought that it would be about this mysterious businessman named Gatsby and how the government and police uncover his illegal drug/alcohol business underground and he gets arrested and stuff for it and he's damn rich and holds parties while selling his drugs to people at the party. It would also be about a Jay Gatsby affair with Daisy Buchanan and how they would end up together (sort of like the Titanic). I thought Jay Gatsby would be this rich fellow who was wise, charismatic and just everything a rich person would be like.  That's what I thought it was all about.

Oh - how I was completely wrong and totally off the page (mind the pun)!! This novel made me cry at 2 in the morning! It made me so frustrated, sad, disgusted all at the same time. I couldn't even sleep after finishing it because I was so annoyed. I was so mad at all the characters and empathised for Jay Gatsby and everything was horrible. The novel was brilliant though - it just made you feel so many emotions after. I think I'll read it again tonight or tomorrow or whenever I have the time because I believe the first time you read a book - you receive some sort of magical special-ness and then the more you read it - the more you understand it.

I think I understand what the novel is trying to portray and I think I understand why it didn't get so famous internationally until after the Great Depression and after F. Scott Fitzgerald's death. During the 1920's - the American dream was the main thing. It was the thing to achieve; it was the dream of the Americans and everyone was trying to achieve it - even during the Great Depression. The dream took over their lives, it literally consumed the Americans and Fitzgerald understood the corruption of the dream but others didn't at the time until much later on. I honestly believe this is such a wonderful book and everyone should read it too! I find it fascinating after I read 'Of Mice and Men' and then 'The Great Gatsby' as it completely shows how quickly Americans went from having luxury to absolutely nothing. Completely two different centuries - the 1920's and the 1930's.



I found this link to a Great Gatsby game by the way haha:
The Great Gatsby Game

Bucket List

• Write a novel that will change someone's life
• Work at a bookstore
• Work as a barista at a coffee shop
• Read the Bible from start to finish
• Put on a different accent for a whole day
• Design and make a dress
• Watch a porno film with my significant other
• Meet my soul mate
• Swap clothes with my boyfriend while on a date
• Produce some good music
• Read books from my to-read list on goodreads
• Kiss in the rain
• Help build a charity foundation
• Get a tattoo
• Earn a degree
• Have my own home/house
• Fly first class
• Visit Tokyo
• Write an erotic fanfiction
• Go to a jazz club
• Learn a bizarre instrument
• Be fluent in a different language
• Have lots of pets
• 
  

Hale, TGG, TFiOS & Regina Spek

At 6 in the morning, I woke up, got dressed, ate and packed my bags to get ready for my Philosophy & Ethics excursion to the prestigious Hale School. We listened to two seminars by Juli Arliss who covered topics about religion, Plato, Aristotle and other stuff which I found pretty boring.  We roamed around Hale School during lunch time, mind you, but Hale School is AMAZING. Why in the world didn't I get enrolled here? The buildings, the uniforms, the whole system, the cafeteria, the lockers - even the GRASS is all so perfect and ugh, why?