Street art is a common sight in Wellington if you open your eyes to spot them, some are quite clever with a hidden message, others look really cute or funky.

Hidden in this quiet lane, just off a path to the side of a public carpark, lies walls and walls of Graffiti and it was here that I did my very first #OOTD series in Wellington, New Zealand.

Jersey Halter Knit Top - Wardrobemess

HEATTECH Crew Neck Long Sleeve T-Shirt - Uniqlo

Ceci Pleated Front Trousers - Zalora
HEATTECH Leggings - Uniqlo

Fall Over Border Coat - Zalora
Red Possum Wool Scarf - Hand-knitted by BF's Mum
Black Sling Bag - Bought by my mum from Hong Kong

Wendy Oxford shoes - Schulicious

Now, what most of you may not be able to tell was that I was pretty high up for these few shots of me with the yellow street art behind me and all that I have to stand on what this metal structure. Why did I climb so high up? I guess I was influenced by the rebellious vibes of the place and I wanted to show off my oxford shoes from Schulicious! It's been awhile since I last owned an oxford, and this one is just classic~

On a whole, on my first day back in Wellington, it's still as windy and cold as I remembered it to be but it was made warmer with my dearest who brought me around and showed me the quirky side of this "supposedly" quiet and dull town.

Like the famous Bucket Fountain that was created in such a way that the buckets regularly tip the water out onto the pavement, rather than into the buckets below and the pipes that fill the top buckets were deliberately made short so that on windy days a lot of water gets blown away before reaching the buckets.

Just to clarify, I did not get wet but I was very skeptical when Jonny asked me to stand nearer...

Oh! And I want to rave about the coat of this OOTD, because I got it at a good bargain with the use of a discount code for Zalora purchase! It was really hesitant to get a coat from Zalora because most of the apparels are catered to Singapore's climate and I was quite doubtful of this coat's ability to keep me warm. But the description stated that it would and it came with a hoodie, so I took the gamble. 

In short,

best shopping gamble ever!

This post has been brought to you by Cuponation, the site that brings you the best deals and coupons in Singapore, and Schulicious, an online shoe store that offers uniquely designed and well-priced shoes that were specially handpicked.

Back in my Uni days, I tend to travel quite a bit and it was from those experiences that I've honed my luggage packing skills. I could pack a luggage for a trip in less than 45 minutes, and I'm talking about a well-organised bag for more than a weekend getaway.

So, what's my secret?

Travel light.

Now, I guess it's a Singaporean's mentality to pack for the worst case scenario but that usually means that you end up bringing more than you really need and will actually use. 

What with this month being June and the fact that more long weekend holidays are approaching, I'm going to reveal my list of what I think are the basic outfit items to bring for a summer vacation. The reason why I'm focusing on outfits is because more often than not, people tend to bring lots of clothes only to realize by the end of the trip that they didn't even wore them (happened to me before)! And that's all that extra space that you could have for your new hauls!!!!

So, let's get started:

Now, let's assume that you are going off overseas for a short getaway with plans to relax during the day and party during the night.

FOR THE BEACH

1. Bikini Set- Bella Kini 

Whether you are going to throw in some exercise during your vacation by swimming, lazing around the pool or surfing the waves, you can never go wrong with a swimwear item in your bag.

I personally prefer bikini because it allows me to head to the beach whenever I want and it gives me an option to use them as an undergarment if I run out of any clean ones. Heh.

2. Bali Beach Bag- Makaron

I always bring a beach bag along with me when I travel, because it gives me an option to have a bag big enough to carry my toiletries, towels and fresh clothes or~ my shopping haul!

3. Off Shoulder Large Floral Lace Double Layer Dress- Goddiva

You can never go wrong with a girly-flowy dress, it's great for both day and night.
Wear it over your bikini and you can still walk around for sight-seeing, shopping or meal time while always being ready for the beach.

4. Solar + Salina T Bar Sandals- Melissa
Footwear comfort is very important to me, especially when I am travelling, so I will always throw in a pair of sandals into my luggage. They are great for beaches and sight-seeing, because they allow you to air your feet and prevent foot fatigue with the straps around your ankle for support!

The only thing you have to worry about is cracked heels, so do pamper your hardworking feet by the end of the day by rubbing them down with some moisturizer.

FOR THE CITY/NIGHTLIFE
Now,  I'm assuming that for this short getaway~ We are simply going to a country that has a very similar climate to Singapore. 

5. Jaquard Binded Cropped Top- Something Borrowed

6. Leafy Shorts- MDS Collections
So for a night out, this outfit pairing would be great!
It's chic and it covers just the right part of your body, so pair it with a pair of heels and you are ready to party or wear it with flats and you can still use this outfit for a day out in the city!

7. Porttt Pointy Heels With Ankle Strap- Steve Madden
I love heels like this because they are such classic, making it easy to pair them up with any outfit.
I shall leave it up to you to decide if you would like to bring a pair of heels with you, but what I've learnt through travelling is that looking good never hurts~ especially if you are out to visit classy places.

8. Metal Trim Asymmetric Clutch Bag- River Island
And in the event that you want to travel light for the night, it's always good to have a clutch for your makeup, wallet, phones and bandages!

9. Yaesa Sunglasses- ALDO
Last but not least, I always travel with my sunglasses!
Don't belittle the uses of this accessory. I use my sunglasses to shed my eye bags and dark circles after a night of partying; to protect my eyes from harmful sun rays; to keep dust and sand out from my eyes; to prop my hair up and away from my face as a hairband; and to have it as a fashion statement.

So pick a pair of sunglasses that says something about your style, I personally love this pair from ALDO!

That's the end of this post!

But before I go,

Zalora.sg has teamed up with Jetstar to bring you the most Epic Summer Vacation Ever~!

Get up to 50% off Zalora Travel Edit Items and find fares starting from $64 with Jetstar Promotion happening right now!

Psst,

you should really check out the link of Jetstar Promotion if you want to stand a chance to win a pair of Return Air Tickets to a Beach or City Destination! Simply head over to the link to find out more.

Good Luck and Happy Holidays!

This post has been brought to you by Zalora.sg, the largest online fashion retailer in Singapore that makes shopping fun and easy.

“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, "This is what it is to be happy.”
― Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

Hey, I have finally got around to start writing about my 29 Days Solo Trip to Europe (5th Oct to 2nd Nov) and I did in all under SG$5000!

The whole trip was planned with only 2 return flight tickets booked, one to take me Switzerland and another to take me to Oslo, Norway. Everything else was based on chance and on the concept of "wherever the wind takes me".

Day 1

ZURICH, BONADUZ

I arrived at Zurich Airport and prayed that my Swizz friend, P, was waiting outside for me. He was (phew~) and so I start my adventure with him driving us all the way back to his home town: Bonaduz. The ride alone was about 1 and a half hours long, but it was a good time to bond.

I loved the moment I was out in the open, my lungs knew that there was something different about the air. It was sweet, clean and fresh! And the scenery is just breath-taking, it has the perfect combination of blue skies, mountains and greens.

To be honest, after close to a 24hr flight from Singapore to Switzerland, I didn't do much on my first day. It was pretty much a matter of getting over my jet lag, having a good shower, having a home cooked meal and chilling out with my friend.

Day 2

ST. MORITZ & CHUR

For Day 2, we decided to travel by train up to St. Moritz!
Heads up, train rides in Switzerland are quite expensive. So it's important to plan ahead and make use of deals on their web.

Luckily for me, I got a local to bring me around and P got me a great deal for the train ride (CHF42 for the whole day).

It was a pretty chilled ride, with view of different towns and endless scenery of trees, mountains and blue skies.

Personally, the whole experience of being the only Asian on the train was a very... interesting. Some adults will look at me occasionally, and kids will just fix their gaze on me to the point where I recalled a parent gently remind the kid not to stare. P thinks the whole thing is amusing, while I didn't really mind the stares. In fact, we ended up interacting with some of the kids and they would part from us with a bye, a wave or a smile.

Besides that, the highlight of the ride was that we were on the UNESCO World Heritage Rhaetian Railway track, a masterpiece of railway engineering! I have a video of it somewhere... I have yet to edit the films. Heh.

And after a morning's train ride, we reached our destination:  St. Moritz.

So, I was informed by P that this town is a popular destination of the rich and famous, and it has one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world in the area. Walking around the town, it's not hard to see why the rich would gather here. There are all the big luxury brands around and the architecture of the buildings in the town is just beautiful.

And I've got the most random friend ever (hahaha!), but I guess that's why I hang out with people like P. Their spontaneity is infectious and it just adds a whole new meaning to what experiences are: For him, it's doing things that pushes the boundaries of what is safe. Haha!

"Never try, never know", that's what P always say and in a way, it breaks the conventional and I've got to say~ travelling around with him was fun.

And yes~ I love views like this!

After an afternoon walk around St. Moritz and getting chilled to my bones, it was time to head back and we had our meal in the train... that was another new experience for me.

It was just bread, cheese (swiss love their cheese) and ham, prepared with a swiss knife!

And yes, we ate with bare unwashed hands. It took me a few bites to ease myself into the whole concept of eating like that. And with each mouthful, I relaxed with the scenery.

~~~

CHUR

Then P had to leave me for work, and so, heeding his suggestion~

I continued by journey to another popular town, Chur.

By the time I reached Chur, it was evening and I thought that it was very entertaining that there was a dog training session going on at the station.

I stayed around a little to see how they conduct their training before leaving to venture out into the heart of Chur where the oldest historical buildings are.

Most of the stores are closed, and there were hardly anyone around (and yes, the thoughts of the dangers did past through my mind) but the quietness of the night brought out the beauty of the stuctures.

The old part of Chur is like a maze, yes... I ended up being lost after a few turns but that's how discovered what I shot above and in a way, the whole experience was very empowering. I managed to find my way back after, boarded the right train back to Bonaduz (there were so many different trains!) and walked back home to P's place.

Then I ended the night with a nice warm shower, a simple meal of cherry tomatoes, sandwich and water, headed to bed :)

“Getting lost is just another way of saying 'going exploring.” 

― Justina Chen, North of Beautiful

For the last day of 2014, I spent the day on St John, Lazarus and Kusu Islands!

And it's funny how I have been spending the eves of festive days on the islands around Singapore, but it has been very refreshing to get away from the city.

The last time I was on St John Island it was so long ago, I couldnt even remember what it is all about or how the island is like. So, when my guy suggested an outing away from buildings, we saw it as an opportunity to explore. And this time round, we were not alone! My brother joined us as well with his fishing gears. 

Upon arrival, you will see the usual stuff... jetty, "St John Island" signage, and buildings but we decided to head towards the quieter Lazarus Island for the first part of our exploration. It wasn't hard to explore, there are decent paths everywhere that links you to the places you need to go and the thing about the beach there... 

This is towards the right of the coast.

Yup, it's pretty much true. Super fine white sands with foamy warm turquoise waters that whisper "paradise", the only annoying thing were the flies around certain part of the beach. 

If you want to locate the the super fine white sands portion of the beach on Lazarus Island, head towards the left... the sands on the right are coarser and more ordinary.

We took a break by that beach to enjoy a few slices of our sandwich and the waves before heading back to St John Island to rejoin my brother in his fishing adventure.

Only to find out that he hasn't been very lucky with the fishes, so we ended up setting our mats among the trees for a picnic and a nice long nap :)

I woke up to white fluffy clouds and the rustling of pine leaves with the scent of sea breeze. Then, I joined my brother and tried to cast a few times.. caught nothing but seaweed :( before I got started on the picnic food of pressed sandwich, thai salad and infused water.

After lunch, we burnt off the calories by doing random stuff like "sword fighting" with branches, catching grasshoppers, drawing on the sand, tossing rocks and skipping stones. Basically, we were restless... hence~ the random activities that followed through naturally. Once we had enough, we packed up our stuff and continued with our exploration around St John Island.

And along the way, while my guy was busy photographing a cat among the mangroves (because it's interesting)... A dad stopped by the area that we were in and started digging the sand for tiny crabs to show his daughter. It was kind of heartwarming to see that, because, that was something my dad did with us. And the sweet thing was seeing how excited and curious his daughter was after her dad showed her the crab and how she wanted to dig one out herself. You've got to like a kid who isnt scared of getting down and dirty with nature~

Heck~ I got curious too and eavesdrop into their conversation to learn what to look out for and how to dig the crabs out. Heh. And tadaa~ here's the crab:

I'm guessing that my crab is a female while my guy dug up a male, judging their pincers' size. These crabs werent the only marine life we saw, there were also other species of crabs and even sea stars! It was awesome. But if you aren't into sea creatures, fret not, there are heaps of cats on the island.

Some of them have the most interesting eye colour and gorgeous coat with the sweetest temper. All cat lovers, forget about all the hype with cat cafes~ St John's the cat island! We spotted more than 10 cats during our time on the island but I believe that there are more.

It is kind of cute how Pulau Ubin is the island of dogs and St John is the island of cats.

Overall, the whole experience on the island was quite relaxing and interesting, especially when we were exploring around. Besides the creatures we encounter,  if you open your eyes and look around, you will find fragments of glass, bowls and pottery around. I'm talking about bowls and pottery that belongs to the older generation. It makes me wander about the history and I thought it was interesting when my guy made a comment that there is something very strange when a basketball court is fenced up with barbwire on the top and how the odd thing about the buildings or chalets are that they are all fenced up with barbwire etc. 

He isn't local, hence, the history of the island is unknown to him and I kept quiet about it. Because, it's good to have a little mystery.

I concluded that St John and Lazarus Islands was a nice getaway and one that was much needed.

To get to St John Island:

Take a ferry from Marina South Pier that is easily accessible via the MRT (Take Exit B).
At the Pier, head to the Singapore Island Cruise and Services counter to purchase your tickets, keep your tickets well.

The best days to visit the islands are weekends as there are more timeslots available (Ferry Schedule here)!
A round-trip ferry ticket to St. John’s Island then to Kusu Island and back to Marina South Pier (mainland) costs S$18 (adult) and S$12 (child).

I would also recommend that you bring food and drinks along for this adventure as there are no cafeteria on St John Island. That being said, you may purchase drinks from the temple on Kusu Island ($1.60 per can) or drinks and snacks at Marina South Pier.

I know it's 2015 now but I still got a few post to do to conclude 2014, so bear with me!

Because I feel like I have been writing too much about just beauty, I think it will be good to share what I did for the festive season to touch on the lifestyle side of thing!

For Xmas eve, while people were preparing for the night, I spent the day with my guy on Pulau Ubin. I think the last time I was on Ubin was when my age started with a "1", and I spent the time cycling around the island with my Rock Climbing juniors. This time round, I spent the day cycling with my guy.

It was a much desired trip as he has been wanting to get away from the city life. We were pretty luckily that it was cloudy for most part of the day, with a nice cooling breeze throughout our journey. To be honest... besides cycling, stopping for the view of the quarries and walking around Chek Jawa, there really isnt much to do. 

And the most interesting encounter we had were with the wild boars that were going through bags of food at the bicycle area. They are smarter than they look, they managed to tear through backpacks, open up chip bags and munch on the snacks. It was lucky that we carried our bags with us throughout the journey. Besides wild boars, there are also monkeys on the island and heaps of dogs throughout the area. The dogs are fine, they are well fed by humans but do watch out for the boars and monkey. They are pretty sneaky!

 For lunch, we stopped by the waters and had a picnic. We had salad in a jar, pressed sandwiches and infused water! It was my first time making infused water and I've got to say~ Now, I see why people are doing it! It adds an interesting flavor to the water, and it is definitely a much better alternative to soft drinks! 

To get to Pulau Ubin:

Take a ferry from Changi Point Ferry Terminal, and climb down the stairs to get to the bumboats.

This Terminal also serves those going to Penggerang, Johor so be sure to join the correct queue for Pulau Ubin. Simply join the queue and the boats will leave when they have 12 persons. 

If there are less than 12 persons, you might have to wait a little while until enough people turn up. We waited for about 10 mins. The schedule for the bumboats are pretty much free and easy but dependent on the number of people for each trip.

A round-trip ferry ticket to Pulau Ubin costs S$5 (adult/ child), SG$2.50 each trip. There are no tickets, payment are made directly to the bumboat operators with cash only! So make sure you carry some cash with you. There are restaurants on the island so you may grab food and drinks there. For the rental of bicycles, the prices do vary. So, do go around to compare prices and the conditions of the bicycles. 

“People want pretty much the same things: They wanted to be happy. Most young people seemed to think that those things lay somewhere in the future, while most older people believed they lay in the past.” 

― Nicholas Sparks, Nights in Rodanthe

I did it again~

I traveled, this time to Cebu.

It's a business trip and I tagged along with my parents because~

well, let's just say it was well timed.

We reached before sunrise and greeted the sun at the golf course.

I was pretty amazed by the number of golfers who were there soooo early in the morning.

Maybe there is some true to the whole "Early bird gets the first worms" thingy.

Throughout my travel, the view out of the vehicle is pretty interesting.

Nature wise,

Social wise,

and Cultural wise.

Despite it being a business trip, I got to say that the sight seeing portion was pretty awesome~

The first place we went to is Fort San Pedro and it's interesting to learn what took place here.

As usual, it's all about war and greed... ownership over something..

But what caught my interest is the structure itself.

Made with wood and coral stones.
That's interesting to me.

And this map of the area when the Spanish first arrived.

It looks like something out of a storybook because it looks almost whimsical to me.

For lunch,

OMG~

SOOOO MUCH FOOD!

And they were yummy...

and the pork...

OMG.

I think all of us had food coma after lunch, and I was so happy that we got to check into the hotel!

I didnt have much sleep before because it was a midnight flight,

and with all the yummy food in my belly~

I coma into a nap and work up dizzy~

Hahahaha!

That's why I can never have naps.

But waking up was worth it,

because this view~

I felt free.

And yes, I sat on the ledge because I can.

I know that I'm addicted to my gadget but this next photo below takes it to the max~

Hahaha!

We, Asians, really do love capturing moments digitally!!

The evening ended really well too~

With dancers and singers and...

Yup, more food~

Hahahaha!

Maybe wanting happiness is my flaw...

Maybe, I should just be :)

Because happiness lies only in the present.

Part 2 is my favorite part~

Keep an eye out!