The summer list

An Ode To Summer

A Sea Chant production for Kinfolk

It's kinda sad to think back of how I've wasted my first 2 months of summer upsetting about not getting a new part-time job, envying with anyone who gets to go back to motherland, complaining about the weather, stressing over my visa... In short, feeling like everybody is having a better vacation than me which now looking back, is not really the case. Yes, it hasn't been easy but good things did come in my way : a wonderfully unexpected trip to Barcelona; turning 19 in good company, delicious food and lots of love from family and friends; knowing that I successfully passed all my exams with a result that I can be proud of and resolving most of my paper issues. Probably due to my perfectionist nature, I was too exigent of how my summer should be. And when things didn't go as the way I planned it, I got sad and possibly became unbearable to others. Or I can just blame it on the rain and lack of warmth Paris had been experiencing for the past 2 months which turned me into a depressing person...

Hmmm, no, I should take responsibility.

Things have started to look up since last week, especially when I made new friends, laughed a lot more and the sun has finally come out. I still have two more months of complete freedom before school starts again and I really don't want to  waste it by sitting all day in front of my computer and beating myself up later for doing nothing. So here is the list of things I want to accomplish before summer ends. Another list seems somewhat controlling again but this time, I don't think I would fall back into the hole because my former aestival plan depends too much on other people, which was inevitable for some activities. But now, I just want to focus on what I can do to make the most out of my summer. 

• Practice ukulélé regularly
• Try out new recipes
• Host dinner parties/catch up with friends
• Blog often with more informative posts 
• Don't give up on applying for a new job
• Go on picnics 
• Wander and discover new crannies of Paris
• Read
• Learn more about Buddhism
• Enjoy some do-nothing/drama-marathon time because I would rarely get to do it when school is back. 

Will probably update this list later. 

Have fun in the sun, guys! Until next time ;)

Ridin' roun town

Source

Reposting this from the old blog because it's still accurate.

I think every Facebook user is familiar to this type of photo by now, but I can't help blogging about this because it really depicts at the same time all the clichés and the reality about studying in Paris. I could go on and on about this topic but in this post, I want to focus on the last picture: "What I actually do". 

I laughed so hard when I first saw this but now that I actually put some thoughts into it, I can totally relate: I've been spending a lot of time running, waiting, hustling for/in public transports such as train, tram, métro and bus ever since I got here. And I believe that is the case for not only students but also working people in Paris. If it takes you less than an hour to get from home to school/work, you are lucky. Some of my friends live so far that they even spend 3+ hours daily in public transports. 

Regardless of the fact that I hate wasting my time in wagons, the transportation system here is incredibly convenient and helpful for moving around and especially for someone who doesn't want to learn how to drive like me (I will very likely be hiring a chauffeur in the future, haha... or be content with walking and biking and riding buses and trains). This is seriously one of my criteria when picking a country to study abroad, to visit or to live. You can easily get to every nook in this city and possibly this whole country. 

Comparing to Singapore MRT, the Parisian métro is way far behind in term of cleanliness. In the south east asian country, you already get fined heavily if you drop litter and it is prohibited to eat and drink on the train and in the station. Here I guess it's just way too crowded to control so I wouldn't say the métro is the best looking or... best smelling place but at least some of the stations have very unique design like Cluny La Sorbonne, Franklin D Roosevelt or Saint-Germain-des-Prés, to name a few. 

To end my blabbing about public transports, here are some tips or rather remarks in order to have a good time riding around town:

• Say "Bonjour!" to the bus driver. 
• Carry a book/magazine/newspaper to read while waiting but please don't get lost in it and blame me for missing your train or your stop. 
• Good music.
• If you're using a smartphone, the SNCF app is pretty handy to check what time your train arrives. Be on the platform 1 minute earlier. Trains here, even buses, are incredibly punctual.  
• Wear something you can run in. But never attempt to run when hearing the doors-closing beeping sound. Be a person, not a sandwich. 
• Admire but don't stare, I know he's cute and her coat is to die for. 
• Hold on tight when standing because it can be one bumpy ride and trust me, you don't want to be pole swinging and end up on someone's laps or in someone's face. 
• "Excusez-moi. Merci!"
• Hold the door for the person behind you after validating your ticket. 
• Be polite and enjoy the ride. 

Crisp

As much as I love shirts, I prefer them on other people, not on me. It's rare that I find shirts that fit me well except for my high school uniform ones which have short sleeves and navy trimming (a more detailed post coming soon). Other than that, I feel as if they make my petite frame even smaller, my already-voluminous-with-all-that-hair head even bigger, therefore I look like an ice cream scone which is not something I'm going after despite my love for ice cream (fun fact: I once went to an ice cream buffet and ate 20 scoops hehe ^^). And I also find that it gives me too much physical matureness than needed. Or is it just my imagination? Hmmm.

But the crisp white shirt. 

Ahhh this famous classic staple, when nicely done in the material and cut that suits your body and taste, can really do wonders.  

I've always loved the look of a boxy, well-fitting white shirt especially when paired with denim or cigarette pants. It gives off a professional but still very relaxed and fresh vibe. But it's really hard to find a simple white button-down that ticks all the boxes nowadays, at least for me, particularly one that is not sheer and that doesn't have any ruffles and that is not from the men section because let's face it, even the smallest size looks like a dress on me, or worse: I look like a walking version of my 25 kilos rice sack. But I must admit, I love to wear men shirts to sleep or to lounge around the house, hoping I would look like this. There's something very sexy about them that I cannot resist. Anyway, back to the subject... I am now the proud owner of this timeless piece of clothing. Boxy but still very feminine, just how I want it, not to mention the student-friendly price, especially at 40% off :)) Monoprix has a lot of nice stuff if you try to look and dig around. In terms of quality, we will see but I hope this one is like the shirt I bought there last season during the sale because for 4 euros, it still looks impeccable after numerous washes and the organic cotton stays very soft and new.

Shirt, Monoprix - Pants, Benetton - Ballerines, Mango

My sister said I looked like Kim Ha Neul in A Gentleman's Dignity from the back in this outfit which is flattering because I absolutely adore her character's style: simple and elegant with interesting but very subtle details.

Euhhh, I think I should go to sleep now before I start my *fangirl* moment so my sister wouldn't yell at me again for staying up so late these days. Until next time, night night!

Quatorze Juillet

Bonjour,

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend, especially those who participated in the celebration of the French National Day: 14th July! As for me, I had a super fun, unexpected outing with my sister and her friends. Sometimes, things don't go according to plan for good reasons. 

Here are a couple tidbits of my eventful Saturday. Made new friends, laughed a lot and life is good even though the wet and cold weather is creeping in again (15°C in July?!). 

View from Alexandre III bridge. Rainbow after the rain.

Uniforms. 

In front of Invalides

Left: Being smiley at Jardins des Tuileries after my 3rd time visiting the Ahae photos exhibition.
Right: Being jumpy in front of Invalides.

Waiting, two hours before the fireworks at 11pm. So glad it didn't rain.

Show time!!!

Disco fever

This year's theme was Disco with a good selection of songs to accompany the fireworks. Sadly the music mixing wasn't very smooth and upbeat enough. The crowd around us was quite calm which made my sister and I look pretty ridiculous screaming while shaking to It's raining men, Can't take my eyes off of you, Survive... Loveee the La vie en rose part but wish it had more french songs though. Ah well,  I still enjoyed it very much, so glad I went out! 

That's it for now, until next time mes amis ;) Bonne semaine! 

Stripes on camel

One of the most comfortable outfits I've ever assembled. The marinière has been worn every week since the day I got it back in January and it still stays just as new, only softer, which proves to be a very good investment. I had to go 2 sizes up because french sizing is kinda unusual (or is it just Saint James?) and I prefer it loose and not too cropped. I've created many ensembles using this classic piece and I'm still excited every time I pull it out, thinking of what new combo I can come up with. 

My sister gave me this tote last month but I've never used it until today to go meet up with a friend.  It's from the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle. Lately, I've been preferring small cross body bags but lurking a camera around town requires bigger volume so this tote comes in handy. I can tell I will get a lot of use out of it in the future, especially when school starts again. And how cute are the dinosaurs skeletons? (There are 3 of them ^^)

I acquired these ballerines last week during the sale. They are ridiculously comfy and have a nice sheen to them. Last pair in black, so glad I tried them on because they are one size smaller than my usual size, I was bored waiting for friends so I figured why not?

Marinière, Saint James - Pants, Maje - Ballerines, Mango - Tote, gifted 

As for the pants, I got them from the Maje outlet, 30% off. They are so incredibly comfy, 2 plies of pure cotton softness. It's something I could wear to go to bed at night and straight out of the house the next day - my definition of a good piece of clothing. However, they are a pain to take care of, super delicate so I have to hand wash them and be very careful of how I walk or where I sit in order not to ruin them :|

Prune and cherry

H&M shirt + thrifted bag, borrowed from sister - Shorts, Nafnaf - Blazer, AA - Boots, Benetton

Wore this outfit to lay on the grass at the Luxembourg Gardens more than one week ago with my sister and her best friend on a dry sunny day but it was still a bit cold so we didn't stay very long. I really like the color of the shorts and the bag, how they surprisingly work well together and with other garments in my wardrobe, how they make this outfit interesting without being too much. Hmmm, new neutrals? Possibly.

Since the whole chill-on-grass plan didn't work out but it was still too bright and nice to go home, we picked up some Dalloyau macarons and sat at a café named Le Rostand near the gardens to chat and people watch. At first, we thought the waiter didn't approve of us bringing food from outside because he looked super serious... until he jokingly stole my bag of macarons and smiled. The three of us couldn't stop giggling after that, especially when we saw written on the receipt ''Votre serveur: Garçon 4''. We're such grown ups, I know hehehe ^.^