oh hi again

I just started this blog and I am already proving to be extremely lazy and disappointing in my consistency of posts.  I'm sorry.  It's sort of not my fault though, my computer took a dump on itself in Thailand and I was therefore left to ignore my blogious duties and focus on more important things.  Like walking through jungles and sipping coffee.  And getting more massages.  And for that I am truly apologetic. You can stop crying now though, I can see those snot bubbles forming.  Your dear friend is back with a working computer charger. 

I'm back in Singapore now and happy to be, because I no longer have to worry about applying dubious amounts of mosquito repellant on all parts of my body just so I can sit on the couch.  I kid you not, I have about five mosquito bites on my face right now, two on my neck, and maybe seven on my body.  THAT I CAN COUNT.  It's a miracle I haven't come down with some kind of tropical disease yet.  Now I'm just sounding like a snotty Westerner so let me tell you about how awesome Thailand is and how I really do miss it already.

Whenever I travel to Asia, I always go to Thailand, and whenever I go to Thailand, I will most likely be in Chiang Mai.  It's like my second home.  It's definitely my favorite place in the country, although I haven't really been to other places out there except for Bangkok.  But because I'm so sure of myself and I know everything I know that Chiang Mai is the best place and I know you would think so too. 

Chiang Mai is a city in the north that seems like somewhat of a clash of the old and the new.  There are still sprawling lots of green forests and rice fields, and beautiful water falls and other wondrous nature-y stuff.  But then there's also hip hopping and happening urban areas that cater to a big population of university and international students, as well as lots of young tourists.  In between you have your Buddhist temples and those are pretty neat because they are really gold and consist of lots of little artisan details that you can tell took tons of time and effort.  And there's monks on motorcycles and old people doing tai chi at sunrise and oodles of noodle shops and the beer is cheap and plentiful.  Oh yeah, and the food and coffee rock too.

If that doesn't sound like an amazing place to you then you don't know what enjoying life is.  Go back to eating mustard on pickles and riding roller coasters.  I hate all of those things, FYI.

 Here's some outfit photos.  I unfortunately only got to properly shoot just one outfit, which is excusable since I ended up wearing just a variation on the same one just about every day.  I picked up this dress in Bangkok among many others like it.  I think I may have gotten multiple dresses of the same style, just different prints.  I can't help myself though, it's so hot out here and these kinds of dresses are just necessary.  I can't layer as I love to do normally, unless maybe I want to suffer from heat exhaustion, so wearing something with a good print and shape overrides my layering lust.

 dress- from thailand; socks- tutuana (japan); shoes- thrifted

I hope you enjoyed hearing from me again, because I sure do enjoy blabbing to you about every single detail of my life.  Because we are best friends and that's what we do.

See ya soon ;) 

One night in Bangkok

And you end up with your legs in a constant state of itchiness, due to being attacked by mosquitoes. Seriously, is it like I was the only one all of the mosquitoes in Bangkok noticed, because it looks like my legs were attacked by an army of insects. What can I say though, I know that I'm naturally irresistible, to insects and humans alike. That was a joke, of course.

The above complaint is just about the only downside of Bangkok.  The constant and sometimes overpowering smell of sewers is also pretty offensive, but that's something one could get used to.  I know there's a lot of other things that our first world brothers and sisters could lament about in Bangkok but there's something so mystical and baffling about this city.  I can't really put my finger on it, but I think just the fact that it's a million worlds away from suburban Southern California is what makes it so incredible to me.

Besides being eaten alive by Bangkok's entire mosquito population, I've spent my first day and a half in the land of smiles eating spicy food, shopping until I am about to pass out, getting foot massages, drinking tea, breathing in massive amounts of pollution, and dodging cars as well as my own death whilst I walk down the street.  Sidewalks don't really exist here.  Due to the fact that my legs look like they might have some sort of rare and infectious skin disease on them I opted to wear pants today that I bought in a boutique last night.  Ignore my very one dimensional expression.  This is a state of total relaxation and being on the verge of passing out from heat exhaustion.  Interesting combo, no?  I just came back from a foot massage and at that point my legs felt like jelly and just walking was a laborious task.

 shirt- forever 21; pants- lyn around; shoes- thrifted; backpack- fjallraven

So then I found a bus that served alcohol.  I felt normal again.

Enough of me, here's some pics of Bangkok!  My father and Ronald McDonald also make a cameo.

I'll leave you to determine whether you find staring into my monotonous gaze or looking at pictures of Bangkok interests you more.  Whatever tickles your fancy.  And this is my cue to go to bed.  Because none of what I just said made any sense, plus I just started a sentence with because, that's wrong.  I'm delirious.  GOODNIGHT.

schlongapore

Sorry for the lack of posting in the past few days, I have been struck by deep waves of depression and crying spells as I reminisce of my dear Japan, which I left a couple of days ago.  Just kidding, it hasn't been that dramatic.  I've just been really tired and felt that there's nothing really that exciting for me to tell you about. 

I arrived in Singapore on Saturday morning, 4 am to be exact.  I'm out here visiting my main man, my dad, and I'm pretty darn happy to see him.  Singapore may not be as ridiculously cute or outrageously weird as Tokyo, but it's still a pretty interesting place.  I look forward to sharing some photos and outfits as soon as I can get over how hot it is outside and how jet lagged I am (STILL).

When laziness overcomes and words can't do much for me, I turn to music.  So here's a cool playlist for you of some stuff I listened to pretty heavily in Tokyo.  It's good music for riding on trains or walking down the street and looking at buildings or dreaming of people that you miss.

far east faves from jamiewayne on 8tracks.

Well I must get to packing, my dad and I are going to Thailand tomorrow.  I'll make sure to try and crank out some posts out there in between the ridiculous amounts of eating and shopping I will be doing.  Enjoy the playlist and your day my fwiends!

PS: Five million kisses and thanks to you if you have been reading my blog, I super duper appreciate it!!

Oh Tokyo..

I love you so much.  Today I just thought about leaving you and tears started to stream down my cheeks.  Why have you done this to me?  Why did you make me fall in love with you?  I know I'm just another girl to you, but to me, I will be in love with you forever.  You are so special and beautiful and perfect and amazing and like no other.  And you know I have to leave you in two days!  It's so unfair how you treat me.  And you know I would come running back to you with open arms if I had the chance.  You don't even care, do you?  Of course you don't, you are, like, a bunch of concrete and such, so you have no capacity to feel the feelings I have for you. You are a cruel, cruel, son of a bitch of a city.  Just saying.

Ok, enough of my cheesy sentiments.  Nina took me to Asakusa today, which is home to a giant temple and a walking street lined with tiny souvenir shops.  We checked out the temple and I stocked up on souvenirs for my loved ones.  Although the place was jammed pack with tourists, I couldn't help but be struck with the charm of what was once old Tokyo.  It was pretty nice to move from all of the neon lights and giant TV screens to incense-thick air and ancient architecture.

 jacket, shoes, skirt- thrifted; blouse- wego (japan); socks- american apparel; tote bag- violet & claire (japan)

Nina then led me to a tiny cafe that was tucked away in the walking street. I was immediately enamored with this place as soon as we walked up the stairs.  The walls were filled with books and there were multiple clocks hung up (none of them which even could tell the right time but who cares). The patrons were mostly, er..senior citizens, which I found really nice.   It was pretty adorable to see a group of old women sitting in the cafe and chatting amongst tea.  I ordered the honey toast that the cafe was famous for, and HOLY HONEY TOAST, it was fucking incredible.  Please excuse my French, but seriously, that shit was amazing. 

As much as I enjoyed the quiet time, I felt myself drawn once again to the craziness of Shibuya.  After a heaping and delicious bowl of ramen, I braved rush hour, packed myself like a sardine into the subway.  Call me cliche, but all I wanted to do was listen to My Bloody Valentine on my iPod and walk across the Hachiko crossing (totes Lost in Translation, duh).  I wandered around a few times and found some record stores and also found myself browsing the famed 109 building, gawking at the shops.  Once it turned dark though, I was gawking more at the scene of Shibuya in the dark.  I feel like this place is even crazier at night than it is during the day.  The lights are brighter, the music is louder, and there are tons and tons of people.  Despite the fact that I come from a place that is the polar opposite of Shibuya, I found some sort of peace and refreshment in it.  I made sure to take some pictures for you guys, and risked looking like an idiot tourist with a giant camera around her neck and standing in the middle of the street with tons of irritated locals bumping into her.  But that's how much I love you.

I still can't even believe I'm here sometimes, and I really feel that way right now.  The worst thing is, though, that I know Tokyo will be just a memory to me soon.  I wish I could stay here forever, but life sucks and people who live in Tokyo suck because they live on the best place on earth (just kidding to my Tokyo friends).  I feel like crying again just trying to fathom the fact that I'm going to leave so I'm going to stop writing and go cry and scream into a pillow.  Leaving Tokyo is way worse than a bad break up.  Seriously.

Goodnight :(

Ohayo!

But not really.  That means good morning in Japanese (I'm pretty sure) and it's certainly not morning but I just felt like saying it.  Anyways it's night time and I'm sorta pooped but I still have fathomed up enough energy to catch you up on all of my exciting Tokyo endeavors. 

Yesterday was quite a busy/tiring day filled with record shopping.  I trekked Shinjuku without getting lost (I know you are so impressed) and found Disc Union.  It's a big union of disks of all sorts and good things like really good vinyl for good prices. I climbed and sorted through six stories of goodness, although I have to admit that by the time I got to my favorite section, the indie pop section, I was so tired that I didn't even feel like moving my fingers to sort through the records.  But whatevz, I have more time for that.

Shinjuku was a lot less intimidating than I thought it would be, mostly due to the fact that the train station is pretty hard to miss.  I think I circled it a few times and I took quite a few pictures.  Never mind whatever I was wearing, it doesn't even matter.  Let's just say that I looked like a big, greasy piece of poop and that the city of Tokyo is definitely a lot more pleasing to the eye than I was at the time.  Here's some shots:

  Today my lovely tour guide/friend, Nina, took me to Harajuku.  We started at the most pleasant Starbucks I have ever been to.  It was set on a rooftop of a mall, with a wide outdoor patio.  We lounged on suspended wicker chairs and sipped on our lattes and discussed how pleasant the weather was.  Quite relaxing!

We then set off to eat and shop, the greatest pleasures in life.  If you think Harajuku is all about gawking at girls dressed in ridiculous outfits, or cosplay, think again.  This art of looking like a cartoon character isn't as prevalent anymore.  It's pretty strange, considering that it seemed to be one of the main attractions of Harajuku (think Gwen Stefani's Harajuku girls).  Nevertheless, I enjoyed the shopping and stuffing my face with a strawberry and cream crepe.

dress- asos; sweater, shoes, purse- thrifted

Later on, Nina had to head off and study for a mid-term, so I took to the streets of Shibuya for some more record hunting.  I stopped off at a few shops and searched for Violet and Claire, a small, independent, and incredibly adorable shop owned by Sumire Twee (who is incredibly adorable herself).  She signed my good friends, Sea Lions, to her label, and recently brought them to Japan for a tour.  I heard so many great things about her that I just had to visit her shop to meet her myself!  I walked into the shop and she graciously welcomed me and we talked about Tokyo and records and life and all of that fun stuff.  I highly recommend visiting her shop if you are ever in Shibuya, not only to check out her selection of records and clothing/accessories and curios, but just to meet the lovely woman herself!  She is just the greatest.  Anyways, I was so absorbed by talking to her and her shop that I didn't even think of taking any pictures.  But here is her website. Go look at all of her stuff and all of the cool stuff she is selling/doing!

 

pics from violet&claire blog

Aight, I'm off to sleep now.  Hope you all in cyber land are having a good time reading all of my ramblings.  Nighty night!