2016, you've been a ball

Dear 2016, you've been a ball.

I'm sure I'm one of the rare ones who say that. Everyone's thoughts one twitter and such have been the complete opposite but hard as I try, I really can't dampen my enthusiasm and relate. Because for once, I actually understand when people say they had a great year. That was 2016 for me. I absolutely adored this year and lately it's all I can think about, how bloody fantastic this year has been for me! And no, I'm not one to exaggerate and look at everything through rose-tinted glasses because sure this year hasn't been perfect, of course there's been some low points too, but does a completely perfect year even exist? I'm just weighing the pros and cons and even at this moment in late December, I can barely remember all the low points because I've had way too many great moments in 2016 that outshine them. I can't help sounding overly enthusiastic so I'm sorry if this posts rubs you wrong or even comes of as bragging because that's not my intention with this. Blogging has always been my writing escape, a community I love being part of but most importantly, my virtual memory box. I document these moments because I don't want to forget them and I don't want to miss how I felt in that moment and place. So for this posts, I'm going to round up all the best parts of the year and to reflect and remind myself how grateful I should be to experience all these amazing opportunities.

The Girl on the Train

I haven't had the time to pick up a book and sit down for a good read in agesss and I quite miss it. Honestly, who knew uni life was going to be so hectic. I've had this book sitting on my bedside table for months and just never had the time to finish it. With my first semester of first year over, I figured our short family trip to Phuket would be the perfect time to crack it open again. It was such a big hit when it was released, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it and understand what all the hype was about and with the movie coming out, it sorta fuelled the urge. I have to say, I'm not sure exactly what my expectations were but the storyline definitely wasn't what I expected from the title. It's a psychological thriller to say the least and a pretty darn good one at that. The protagonist is a troubled woman named Rachel, aka the girl on the train. Basically, she gets tangled up in a murder investigation during a vulnerable stage in her life. She commutes to London for work every morning and while on the train she observes a couple who lives in one of the houses the train passes by daily. So she begins to create this imaginary ideal reality for said couple (whom she's never met) where they live this happy and perfect life until she witness something that shatters that illusion. The story is narrated from the point of view of 3 women, Rachel, her ex husband's wife and the female half of the "happy couple", Megan. Personally, I find Megan the most interesting character in the book. Her personality is so complex and at times the author has managed to capture certain thoughts of mine in Megan's own feelings. I sorta related to the way she thinks on a very minimal level but that sort of sparked my interest in seeing how her role plays out. The ending was definitely unexpected and was what put this book in the thriller category for me. I can't say I was blown away by this novel but it did make me think quite a bit after I put it down which is something I always appreciate from a good book. Themes of the novel include romance, treachery, murder, adultery and addiction. Not usually the sort of books I tend to gravitate towards but I think I might just pick up a couple more thrillers after this. Overall I give it a 6/10. Just because I expected a lot more from the huge hype surrounding the book. If you've read it, what are your thoughts on it?

Talk soon xx

College Abroad

Well, I can't believe it's already time to do this post. I planned to a couple months ago mainly to sort of reflect on the past months and to keep this little post handy in my virtual memory box. 8 months went by a lot quicker than I expected. I still remember how doubtful and nervous I was about doing college abroad and taking the foundation programme. It didn't fit in with my post-highschool plan. I was meant to do college for a year at home with the SAMs programme and then apply for a university in Australia. Exactly what my sister did. A safe, secure plan.
Except, my mum heard about St Andrew's foundation programme and asked me to apply. Thinking I'd never get in but I'll just do it for the sake of pleasing her, I sent out my application. Surprisingly enough....I got in. I still remember receiving the call while we were on a weekend vacation in Penang Island. Basically, my reaction was "well shit".

Coldplay | 2016

Yes, this is not a drill people. I actually saw Coldplay perform live.

That sentence still seems particularly unreal to me. Coldplay is one of those bands that I've always grown up with. Yellow, Fix you, Charlie Brown to name a few, are some of the songs that always managed to speak to my (supposedly) teenage angst ridden soul. Even in their MIA days, you would still immediately recognise their old songs whether you're walking around in the mall or you hear the instrumental version in some sort of advert and start jamming out. I never thought I'd able to go for one of their concerts because their tours never did reach Malaysia. However, when my friend and I heard about their A Head Full of Dreams tour....we freaked to say the least. We're both from Malaysia but she was studying in Sheffield while I was studying at St Andrews at the time. With all the rumours floating about that this may be their last album/tour (I have no clue if this is true, don't quote me on this) we were desperate to catch them live. So we hurriedly made plans to catch their Wembley show in London, a week after my Spring Break. 

One word. Incredible.

Kat Von D: Lolita II

Honestly, I've been trying to find the perfect terracotta (brownish-red) colour for my skin tone for the loooongest time. I absolutely adore this shade of lip colour and I really wanted one for myself. But eyerytime I come across a lippie with this sorta tone, it's always either too pink/mauve or a little too dark. When I saw Lolita II from Kat Von D's Everlasting Liquid Lipstick line, I thought yes finally!! A beautiful brick red/brown shade, it's a little lighter than I originally wanted but I was still obsessed with the swatches I found online. So today when I was browsing Sephora with my friend, we debated so long over whether to get Lolita or Lolita II. Both were beautiful shades but I feel I have quite a few lippies in my collection in similiar shades to Lolita and immediately after my friend swatched Lolita II, she fell in love. So we both bit the bullet and bought it. I have to say the colour didn't come off exactly how I wanted it to. It looks a lot more pink on me than the reddish tone I wanted. On other people and on my friend who has fairer skin, it looks more terracotta. This happens SO much to me, it's annoying. Though,  a little tip I found that helped was adding concealer to my lips before applying the lipstick. The concealer canceled out my natural lip colour and allowed the reddish tones of the lipstick to come through. I think this is a great tip for girls out there with more naturally pigmented lips. The formula is amazing. It actually feels pretty comfortable on my lips for a liquid lipstick, not as drying as I previously found from other liquid lipsticks. It doesn't dry sticky which is something I love. I never use lip glosses because some of those tacky/sticky formulas make me cringe. Lolita II does settle into the fine lines on my lips a little but that's something I could easily fix with some balm. It lasts amazingly well. I wore it all day out with my friends and barely did any touch ups, it lasted even through eating or drinking. When it does fade, it leaves a pretty light pink on your lips and it isn't too patchy either. Overall, it is a pretty pricey liquid lipstick but you definitely get your money's worth. What are your favourite colours from the range?

Talk soon xx

Barcelona | 2016

Update #8

It's already July....wow. This year has gone by insanely fast but I'm starting to think that's just time in general. I should be researching my biology essay or preparing a presentation on a famous artwork but I decided to procrastinate a little and write this post instead (what's new). The past month has been pretty hectic but in the best possible way. It began with my amazing trip to Barcelona for my summer break. I had the best time ever with my friend in that week we spent in sunny Spain. Then the week after, I headed down to face the opposite on the weather spectrum. Cold, rainy London. For good reason though, I made plans with a friend of mine from home to catch Coldplay live at Wembley Stadium. It was absolutely brilliant. It was one of those bucket list things for me and I still find it surreal that it happened. Like damn, I saw Coldplay perform live.