2016

First things first: Happy New Year 2016! (we are still in January so this still counts)

From the last post, I've mentioned that I'm taking a Gap year but surprise, surprise after months of wearing aprons and spilling coffee everywhere I am now 'seriously' working. It was rather a shock to the system as I was getting too comfortable with the non-serious working life.

I had a thought that I wouldn't be able to spend as much time with my friends when I start work so I've arranged a mini friendsgiving tea cum photo session with Qush behind the lens just last month.

These girls are everything. Hope you too have friends who are just as supportive as mine are.

love, 

Gapper Journey so far

I've been meaning to write something personal for quite some time and I do apologize for being idle. Five months ago, I've made the decision to stay in Brunei and defer my Bar training until the next academic year for several reasons. After a failed attempt to work part-time at a law firm, I thought of taking up a fun job which I eventually did just to give myself a break. Other than that, I've also been occupying myself with rugby (a lot of it). I don't know many who have tried taking a gap year as most of my friends are on a quick pace to move on with their lives and some choose to continue their studies. So the past few months have been a soul-searching journey for me because I've been questioning my intentions to join the practice in the future (I do, but not right now).

At the time being, I'm happily making drinks at a newly opened cafe. It's also overwhelming when some of the customers have recognized me behind the bar. Many have even asked why I decided to work there and my only intent is to fill up my time doing something different for once as I've worked as an office girl once whilst I was still studying and I didn't appreciate sitting behind the computer and 'makan gaji' for the whole two months. I do believe that everyone should have a shot in working elsewhere before diving into their real field. It is a great opportunity to value work and to create new friendships. 

After being in the education system for so long, I've finally got some time to take a breather and appreciate new things, sans exams. These days I've been pouring creative energy into life and I feel excited to partake on new creative projects and slightly nervous to be paving my own career pathway. 

Forever learning,

ps: I do hope my young readers are always learning too

{OOTD}

Undoubtedly blue is my favourite perennial colour especially being back in Brunei I find myself picking out hints of blue for my everyday wear. Perhaps it's the longing for clear blue skies because we are currently experiencing bad weather down here, or the bodily confusion that I should really be by the sea at this instant.

In all seriousness, my good friend Mu'izz has invited me to write a post for a blog that he shares with three others at Wearrior Instinct (which will be posted soon but do check their site out!). I've increasingly been out of the loop when it comes to the art of dressing so this was a bit of a challenge for me. Although it didn't really hurt to do a serious purge on my aunt's closet and singled out an outfit that is both comfortable and makes some kind of statement. 

Lastly, this wouldn't be possible without my friend Daiy for his time and effort to come all the way to Bandar yesterday. He has a keen eye for beauty in the mediocre so I trusted he could take these pictures. And to Aaron for being my everything.

love,

Advice from a mediocre law student to another

Whilst we have all made quick judgements about studying law through our peers and TV series, it is difficult to know what it really does involve – and there’s no shortage of stories out there, from the mostly accurate to the utterly fantastical. This post should debunk a few myths and confirm a few things to ensure you that you are doing the right thing before you send in your application.. but first things first, law is a great subject albeit it is VERY challenging I have not made any regrets of accepting Leicester three years ago to read the subject.

1. There's too many readings

Getting past the cliche first, do not expect to get out of tutorials alive without doing the required case readings. Tip: you don't have to read the subject like a novel as this will save you from all-nighters (although this is still nevertheless inevitable)

2. Everyone in your class claim to have brains with bulging IQ points (except for maybe one or two)

There's a rat race and guess what? you don't really have to join in! They’re big fish rearing for their chance to rush into the deep blue ocean and overachieve on a yet grander scale and yes, they’ve already done the readings. 

3. You will find yourself doing pro bono work for your friends

Whilst you would happily explain your knowledge on land law to your friends, you can't help but repeatedly telling them that your best legal advice is to obtain a legal advice from an actual lawyer. 

4. Apathetic half way through the semester? That's normal.

The idealism often fades.. On the very first day of law school, you want to change the world.. Halfway through your degree, you couldn't even care less. I find it very helpful to watch Ted talks and films that help remind me why I'm passionate about justice in the first place. 

5. Save your arguments for your tutorials and essays

It will become a common occurrence where you always find yourself in arguments over petty things with your friends and like any law students, we always try to sound smart to win arguments... here's a tip: bite your tongue and walk away because that is the main reason why you're not invited to dinner outings.

I had my share of late nights and sacrificing my social life but I can honestly say that studying here for the past 3 years has been well worth the effort. I never thought I could even make it to this far so whatever shit your degree may throw at you just make sure you battle on.

love,

Personal

Before the internet ever existed in my childhood home, we had coffee tables and magazines. I was only in primary school and I was obsessed with crafts and cutting pages from my parents' home-decor magazines. My exposure to art came only about as I started high school where I finally sat for proper lessons to paint and experimented with different medias, and yet until now art has always just been a hobby. 

What became very clear was that: I love to be around beautiful things, I paint from time to time, and I am a self-proclaimed arbiter of beauty (with substance, of course). I even get asked a lot if I could post more of my works here and where I get my inspiration from so I'll do a separate post on that in the future :) 

Counting the days

In less than 3 weeks time, I will be en route to Spanish's White Island a.k.a Ibiza with a good friend of mine. Forgetting the singularity of Ibiza's party reputation, I've made a couple of mood boards of what I've envisioned Ibiza to look and feel like: tropical, fresh, vibrant, warm and anything but the bubble-soaked parties I've been hearing about. I am seething with excitement and I'm really hoping to finally have my much needed break (maybe rejuvenation is a better word for it) from all the University workload. Packing days are numbereddddd!!

25 things to do before I'm 25

Having just turned 20 a few months back, marks the first year of my twenties. I for one firmly believe by the mantra that life is what we mostly make it to be. For me, I believe that a well lived life means pursuing big dreams and placing an emphasis on daily small pleasures along the way. I do not ever want to turn old and tell people, "I've always wanted to do X and never got around to it!"

I've decided to take this milestone of having entered a new decade to make a list of 25 things to do before I turn 25, and attempt to tick them all over the next 5 years (in no particular order). Some are grand lifelong dreams, others are continuation of things I'm already enjoying, others are silly and frivolous but happiness-inducing all the same. I won't bore you with the whole list of 25 (some are too personal!), but here are the 10 items in the list that I'm particularly looking forward to:

1. Graduating from University. Needless to say, with countless essays to go through the next 15 months I simply can not wait to see what I'll be pursuing next.

2. Set in motion concrete plans to live in New York for a month (or a week to be more realistic). Rent an apartment, and spend the afternoons exploring the city I've fantasised about since forever.

3. Hosting a party. The kinds that are so elaborate that they belong in a Fitzgerald novel.

4. Making an investment. I'm not talking about buying a house (I'm not that far ahead yet!) but I do need to start saving to thank myself later on in the future.

5. Travel. A cliche but, I came across a quote by Saint Augustine which said, "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page," which makes me want to step out of reality and into someone else’s perspective of life.

6. Spend a summery weekend in the glorious English Cotswold. 

7. Visit the mediterranean - for a dose of delicious azure waters and vitamin D.

8. Volunteering. Much akin to travelling, volunteering does change your perspective in life and I'm looking forward to do more volunteering jobs over the summer holidays.

9. Buy my first Louboutin. (see point 4)

10. Learn how to make a proper Thai meal.(Pad thai, mango sticky rice and Khao Man Gai are probably my favourite food group and I still think Thailand is the best country after Brunei hehe)

Love,

Countryside escape

Just before the holidays have started I found myself soaking up to sappy Christmas movies- generally one that involves the gorgeous Jude Law and a cute cottage, that made me thought of this time last year where I spent a few days with my family-friend in Lincolnshire. It was lovely making most of the countryside especially snuggling next to the warm fireplace gorging on toasted marshmallows whilst the adults were exchanging stories over glasses of vin. So I thought of doing it again this year and I chose to stay at a tiny hamlet in South Petherton of Somerset for a few nights.

Somerset is a hard place to encapsulate in mere words but in the end of the day I've agreed that as grim as the weather goes by here (especially at this time around), there is sunshine in the UK after all!

In England, by all its great virtue, is not so blessed with amazing weather and although the temptation of being in a beach ten times warmer than the monsoon outside is second to none - curling up in the sofa of an idyllic cottage, listening to the crackling sound of the log fire, roasted chicken in the oven- is unbeatable. 

A wintery mini-break is a wonderful excuse to leave one's cosy cocoon and explore an entirely new place through the glittering lens of the Christmas period. And truthfully, it couldn't have felt more perfectly wintery and wonderful.

Trapped in the little hamlet is a cute little gem called the Provender which is made for wintery afternoons spent on long conversations over their flowering tea and my beau's personal favourite-the sticky chocolate pudding.

And with that I wish you a very festive season (whatever you celebrate)!

New home + new treasures

For every renegade in the blogging world there is a debunk to  these classic behavioural stereotypes and I have every reasons to justify my absence hehe.. A classic testament to this is me working endlessly yearning to see the next ray of sunshine everyday since the start of term (Just check my twitter rants for the past few weeks for proof). My days are now occupied with an accumulation of cases and statute readings, assignments and society related work. Then there's the case of the mundane of having nothing to blog about. Which is partly true, because I haven't been going away nor have I bought anything new (not quite true) that is worth to blog about until my short trip to LDN last weekend.

Welcoming the crisp days of winter with new things (just because):

My kind of winter would see an abundance of colour and sparkles so this ASOS bag would be put into good measure.

Walking pretty with these pair of studded heels from Forever 21 which will hopefully work with most of my outfit

Ok after my Rome trip I was supposed to go into a frugal, necessities-only saving mode but this was too ambitious of me. Ever since I've lived under the same roof with with Amal R who is crazy for makeup, it's safe to say that I am slightly obsessed (but less crazy) with makeup as well.

And the wildly excessive list of new makeup I got since last month:

Naked 2 palette (£36),  Bobbi Brown shimmery brick (£32), NARS Desire blush (£21.50), NYX Black Label lipsticks in Chocolate and Princess (£4 each), NYX Burgundy gloss (£4), Sublime de Chanel mascara (£24), Smashbox baked stardust highlighter (£23), Benefit Brow Zing kit (£23.50) , YSL lip stain in No 6 (£23.50), YSL Palette City Drive Classy (£42.00), Revlon Black Cherry (£7.49), Revlon Lip butter in Juicy Papaya (£7.99), Maybelline matte mousse (£7.69) and Revlon Nearly Naked pressed powder (£7.99)

And more pictures from my LDN trip:

Until then!

love,

{LAPIN}

In my opinion, one of life greatest pleasures is having little things to look forward to; and in this instance it was having this beautifully handcrafted poem that I have ordered a month ago to be in the safe hands of my man. 

Lang Leav is a talented soul from Australia who tames the alphabets into creating such beauties like the poem above. For those of you who are interested in sending one to a friend, she handcrafts all of the poems to make them extra special and beautiful.

So much love on a Monday,

Style profile {Nadyne}

For a bona fide fashionista mother who is more accustomed to singing Manolo Blahnik's praises than singing lullabies comes along a daughter who looks like she will grow up into becoming the fictitious Rebecca Bloomwood. And this mother that I'm referring to is none other but my aunty, Babu Har who is a Stuart Weitzman brigade with one arm toting a designer bag and the other toting her precious daughter, Nadyne. 

Only a year and a month old, Nadyne is already a proud owner of 5 handbags and a LV Speedy bag. Yes, I know what you guys are thinking but she has not used it obviously. (And I might have borrowed it once or twice.) Her wardrobe veers towards Upper East preppy, favouring navy cropped blazers, tulle dresses and adorable ballet flats. 

Quirky is another side of Nadyne, favouring this gorgeous Bubble Girls by Sebastian Gunawan batik blazer which she would pair it off with her sleveless orange cut-out dress and her glittery flats to make her feet look like tiny presents.

This one is for you Nadyne. Missing you little gem.. We will see you in a week!

Love, 

(kaka)