Sydney Travel Diary || Day One || Part 2

Previously on my Sydney Travel Diary, Day One.....

And I don't know why I read that line in my head with Vincent Keller's voice. *heart eyes* This just proves that I've been binge watching Beauty & the Beast too often and also have repeated the series way too many times.

Anyway, we went to Bondi Beach where they were having the show of Sculptures by the Sea. Apparently this exhibit happens once every year where different artistes (from all over Australia and other countries as well) showcase their work. So happens we were there in time to catch it right on the very last day too.

While the best friend was getting some work done, I took the opportunity to take as many pictures as possible. After all I probably won't be getting the chance to do so anytime soon or ever. So I must make the most of it when I can.

Plus Fina was nice enough to take super nice photos for me so it was major win.

I could definitely get used to living with a view like this.

And the weather is absolute love which makes leather jackets a staple in your everyday wardrobe.

That's kind of ironic because it is supposed to be Summer when we arrived at Sydney and a friend that stays there told me to bring lots of shorts + light clothing since it'll be hot. Rumor has it that the heat wave in the land down under is far worst than any that we've had to endure in KL so I went prepared.

But.... WHAT HEAT WAVE?! -.- The weather was cold and chilly almost everyday although there's sun most of the time which isn't something I am complaining about. Just.. you know, putting it out there.

Decided to stray off the path cause there was way too many people - and dogs that gave the best friend a mini anxiety attack every time one would walk by. Plus the views were just a million times better farther out which we had to indiana-jones our way over.

So this isn't a picture of a sculpture or anything artistic....

But I found it funny that these two guys climbed up to that little alcove to chill and one of them was happily playing a ukelele too. And he some more can smile when I took their picture. So cute.

Standing right in front of the Pacific Ocean. 

For this view and picture, it was worth the trek even in my shoes that was not at all designed for adventures like these. Aesthetic-wise it is perfect. Kinda like the wind in my hair... #Narcissism :3

While we were all just doing our own thing and me taking lots of selfies, I saw a something run past me out of the corner of my eye which made me jump. But when I turned around I didn't see anything except maybe the best friend panicking just a little bit and there was me laughing. (Sorry beb, love you long time tho) 

Turns out that the culprit was this golden retriever. It just bolted from behind us and headed straight down to the cool waters where it stayed there happily waddling about just enjoying its day.

That moment when a dog's life seems better than mine.

And then another pretty fairer Retriever joined the tanned on. At first I couldn't understand where they come from or where their owner was but then he appeared, walking along the rocks also.

When he got a little further he called for the dogs and they took a while before going after the owner. Especially the lighter blonde one that just continued sitting in the water stubbornly. Flip me it was so cute. I don't know why but most of the dogs I've seen are super well behaved whether they were on a leash or not. Most of the pooches walk without it.

After getting enough video contents and pictures, we ventured on to actually see and learn about some sculptures.

Which brings us to this little hilltop where there were plenty of..... Humans. Many of them walking about as they take pictures of the many different kinds of art. We are doing the same thing except the best friend is extra special, so we have a full camera crew with us and two guides.

We met up with a guide who explained what the entire event is about, which artist did what and the story behind each piece. Truth be told I kind of zoned out after a little while and just enjoyed the nice sea breeze plus the scenery.

The whole art thing is probably quite fascinating to a lot of people. But I'm just not one of those and do not find anything too interesting about it all, maybe because I don't quite understand most of it so my mind just wandered.

Except when it came to THIS. The art that the best friend is pointing at is possibly one of the creepiest thing I have ever seen up close.

Basically this is what's left of a tree bark that had burned from the inside out. Apparently this is quite normal during summer because it is so hot there then came along this artist that decides to take advantage of the dead tree.

Faces. Lots and lots of faces.

This looks like something right out of a horror movie. No jokes, I think this is what nightmares are made of and coming from a person like me, this shit is legit scary.

Finally we were all hungry and ready for something good to eat so Duglass led us to the restaurant which we'll be dining at which will be somewhere along Bondi beach. Also known as surfer paradise. (;

Usually I'd be internally screaming at the thought of walking more than two feet especially outdoors. But this time I didn't mind and the reasons are pretty obvious, pretty view & also amazing weather.

I mean look at this. Even though the sky was a little bit gloomy, I think it's perfect and couldn't take enough pictures to keep for myself.

Photography skills win. Actually not really. This is mostly nature and maybe little bit of photoshopping as well. :3

So the restaurant that we will be dining at is somewhere at the beach which you can't even see in this picture. Just imagine how far we walked that afternoon. Though, I actually didn't even notice until now. I was too busy taking pictures & enjoying the super nice weather.

Awkward hands to keep the hair from our face. When the wind is working against you instead. 

Another picture with the best friend as we made it up to the top of another hill and are a little over halfway closer to restaurant. I'm pretty sure at this point I was near starving but still took a moment to have a picture with Bo cause we don't have that many together.

Which is kinda weird thinking about it since I spend quite a lot of time with her hahah.

Then we found this little gem. It's kind of like a clubhouse where you can go, pay a small fee and use their facilities.

Look at that swimming pool that's right by the ocean. Just watching the waves crash against the structure was super therapeutic and makes me want to jump into the pool, stay there for the entire day just staring out at the clear blue waters. I don't even care if its too cold for that - fuck the cold.

WHY DO I NOT LIVE HERE. ;-;

The famous Bondi Beach.

And finally after walking for what felt like almost an eternity (big exaggeration right here), we reached the restaurant which we'll be dining at. At least there's a freaking gorgeous view or else I'd be grumpy the entire way.

North Bondi Fish; where seafood is their expertise and you get to dine next to an amazing view of the beach. What's not to like about that?

I quite like the interior of the restaurant. There's nothing overly fancy but yet pretty enough for me to imagine the Sex & the City girls dining there for their usual get together.

But of course we decided to sit outside where we can enjoy the nice view plus the cool weather. It isn't often we would get to say that we had an amazing dinner by Bondi Beach and plus, I know that I'd never choose to sit outside back in KL. So when in Sydney........ :)

Just a simple and straightforward menu with produce from sea and also land. Took everybody a while to decide on what to order but

We decided to order some cider to sip on while we wait for our food. This Cloudy Lobo Cider was pretty good cause it was more fruity than the other ciders I've tasted before. Plus I like the bottle and label.

This is my pretty best friend with the view as we buy time & wait for our food to arrive. Taking pictures helps to distract ourselves from our starvation.

Here's my make-believe candid shot which bo took quite a few of before getting the right one. And therein lies the elements of irony. No 'candid' shots are truly as we think but I guess the end results makes it worth it.

And then there's this when I was trying to fix my hair for another picture. Or at least that was the idea until our starters arrived and immediately my stomach took control.

Picture stolen from the best friend. :3

This was the lobster roll which the best friend ordered which comes with a side of chips. As in literal potato chips and not fries which we associate 'chips' to be. THIS LOOKS SO GOOD, but I didn't try it other than stealing a chip or two.

And then there was my freaking awesome slider with my face next to it cause why not. Am I at a blogger's level of vanity yet?

I got the Alaskan King Crab slider as a starter and hell it was amazing. The patty was deep fried to perfection and the meat inside was surprisingly still juicy. Both buns toasted with butter, hen topped with some aioli and a crunchy piece of lettuce.

This, I miss. The burger patty wasn't damn yums cause inside, the meat of the king crab was in chunks and damn juicy. I want ten more of this right now. ;-;

For my main dish, I got something from the land portion of the menu - lamb cutlets with chimichurri sauce. As expected this was also very yummy.

Then because I'm a carb-oholic on a holiday, french fries with aioli is a must and these were really damn good. Trust me when I say that eating fresh-out-of-the-fryer fries on a cold day by a picturesque beach is amazing beyond words.

We also got two different kinds of salad - there was an asparagus mix & another is I cannot remember what. Proves that I wasn't very interested in them because fries & lamb are the perfect combination. :3

Picture may or may not have been from the best friend. :3

This was linguine with bugmeat. That sounds quite weird but it's just a kind of prawn that the Aussies are quite used to eating & the best friend really wanted to try so this was her main. I tried some and liked how it tasted cause it's kinda lemony. Refreshing.

For our first dinner in Sydney it was amazing and then came time to make our way back to the hotel. Except Emily started talking about getting some ice cream which brings us to.... Dessert! 

As if it wasn't already cold that evening, we all went to get some Ben & Jerry's ice cream because why not.

While we only have Haagen Daaz & Baskin Robbins outlet stores, they one-up us by having the famed duo which I hear a lot about when watching US movies/tv shows. And the flavour that rings in my mind the moment B&J (*childish giggles* GEDDIT GEDDIT?) is mentioned is the popular chocolate chip & cookie dough.

Lo and behold, they had sooooooooo many other kinds of flavours there. All the nutty kinds or odd combinations for you to try until you find the one that you like the most. At first I was too full for dessert though I was actually really into the whole cookie dough ice cream idea, but I didn't get that.

Instead I got a single scoop of Berry Sorbet. And yes, that giant lump is ONE scoop which looks more like a double of what we'd get back in KL. In my head, this is 'healthier' cause its basically just fruits rather than cream and the sorbet is actually nice cause it's sour. 

I actually really like the sorbet but then it made me feel even colder than I already was. Plus it's way more than what I wanted since I was already quite full from our dinner and also hella sleepy. So I didn't finish it.

Bye bye Bondi Beach. 

And then proceeded to fall asleep like the fatty I am. I honestly was so tired after a sleepless night on the way to Sydney and then spending a whole day out. Usually I never sleep in car rides whether its a long or short on. But Bo and I zonked out completely. 

Actually it was quite funny cause she was still holding onto her sorbet when she fell asleep and accidentally spilled some on herself & my bag, then proceeded to freak out that lead to me waking up. Which made me panic also. But after all of that, it was back to our rooms to just sleep which took me like two seconds to knock out when it would usually taken me few hundred years to. No Atarax needed. 

And that was the end to my first day in Sydney. It was pretty eventful but there's even more in the next few days which will seriously surprise you since it certainly did surprise me. Bye!

What happens when.....

I can't believe that I'm saying this but 2016 is actually going to be a year of change for me. A big one too and I really don't know how to feel about that just quite yet.

Honestly I'd rather not think too much about it or else I'd have a stupid anxiety attack in the middle of the day. And the night before, I was laughing at the best friend when she had one out of the sudden. INSTANT KARMA. I'M SO SORRY BEB. ;-;

But anyway, what I was trying to say is...

Every beginning of the year or maybe even the few days before, I'd see people posting things everywhere about new resolutions, or looking back on the highlights of that year and then moving on to say how much their life is going to change. My immediate reaction every time is to roll my eyes because I personally think it's damn fake.

Though I think it's cause I never really cared to reflect on these kind of things. At least not for long because well...

1. Over the years my new year's resolutions are almost ALWAYS never kept. After January it all gets forgotten even if I make the same ones every year. So I think, what is the point?

2. And I don't list down all the good things that happened in the previous year because... There's no other way to put it other than I've forgotten most things that has happened after the past 3 months. If I list down the few things that I'm really grateful for then I can't help but feel guilty cause I know I've forgotten a whole lot of other things.

3. It's not like I'm some celebrity or something so who the hell cares about shit that goes on in my life other than a few really good friends. Who I will talk to over whatsapp rather than publicize shit over Facebook. Unless I really want people to say things like 'oh im so happy for you' (read: fake wishes) and if not, then anything I doesn't matter at all. 

4. Nothing really changes with each new year with me anyway. Seriously, my life is so uneventful that it hardly warrants a loooong reflection post before moving onto some new phase. 

That was until the end of 2015. Anyway, I'm probably ten thousand years late to this whole new year crap but.. Eh, I follow the Chinese calendar (like never cause i dont understand) so I'm quite on time. At least in my head.

And this isn't some self-reflective post where I would be apologizing for all the shitty things that I have done or something like that. Nope, there is going to be none of that here. 

Basically.

Honestly I'm writing this blog post to gloat about the fact that I got a new job! While I'm not 100% sure that this is the correct path quite yet but it's definitely a start to something new & exciting. Actually I think anything is better than my previous job that is boring as heck and was actually getting a little too frustrating to be at everyday.

It would be damn bad of me to just go on complaining about everything that was wrong with the old company that I had been working with. Trust me I can go on for days just talking about all of that but then that would be unprofessional and I can't. Though, maybe ask me in person and I might tell you some of the crazy things. (;

I learned quite a lot in the past two years in this company and am quite grateful for all the care that was given to me. Seriously I am so spoiled there cause I'm the youngest one there so most people looks out for me, till a colleague of mine brings me bird's nest dessert every now and then. Lucky or what?

But I think it is time for a change, career-wise which would lead to lifestyle as well I presume, even if I am terrified of the thought of one. I have grown far too comfortable in my current office that there is not much of a challenge anymore hence I do not have much to grow, career-wise.

And since I am lucky enough to get this opportunity, it would be damn stupid of me to not accept it just because I am scared. So yeah, there's going to be a big change for me this year and starting now. I can only do my best and fingers crossed that everything will turn out fine too - even if I'd be complaining like crazy for the first month.

So to my friends, please completely disregard everything I say for the next one or two months and I'm sorry for the incessant cussing & complaints that are coming. Also don't forget to remind me what a great opportunity this is and that I should be grateful. Yep. Thanks.

Such a beautiful feed and sight to look at.

This is just a glimpse of what my future is going to be full of and also, just to make people jealous a tiny bit. Yes, I love to gloat when I can because I can now safely say that I am working the dream job. Or at least as close to it as I can get at the moment.

Wish me luck!

Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.

― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

Sydney Travel Diary || Day One || Part 1

In November 2015, the best friend struck a deal and was offered to travel to Sydney for work in collaboration with AirAsia X & Destination New South Wales. Although the operative term is 'work' when they're basically offering her a free trip to experience the best that there is in the capital city of Australia while promoting it at the same time.

Long story short, something had happened which allowed her to bring me along on this work trip, as her personal assistant. Literally a struck of dumb luck and maybe because I'm a damn good companion, so I went along. This is the perks of being best friends with an awesome celebrity that loves me enough to bring me on the holiday work with her. :3

======================================

Anyway, I have been looking forward to the trip ever since I was asked at 1am. Then the day finally arrived and while waiting at the departure lounge, it finally sunk in that I'd be going on a 'holiday' with the best friend. To Sydney no less, which I wanted to visit for a while now.

Mugshot taken from snapchat. 

This was us while we waited at the departure lounge. And yes, this is one of those rare moments where you'd see a picture of me in my glasses cause I look horrid in them.

But my contact lens get too dry in the plane and I can't be bothered to remove it by the time I'm already settled in my seat. So yeah, my motto is to be as comfortable as I can during the night flight so I can sleep the whole way and that usually means glasses is my choice. The quicker & longer I sleep means the sooner we arrive.

Lo and behold, I didn't sleep very well.  In hindsight, I should have just gone with my initial idea of getting my Atarax & taking it before departure. Damn it - shoulda, woulda, coulda.

Finally got to use my VS passport holder. Though it gets pretty annoying when customs demand that you remove it. -.-

Honestly, there are no words to explain how much I despise long flights or being stuck in an airplane in general. The control freak in me cannot stand the thought of being thousands of feet in the air without any form of...... I can't think of any other words aside from control.

So imagine how relieved and excited I was when we landed in Sydney after a 7-8 hours flight where sleep was not a friend.

We didn't get much time to really catch a breather because after going through immigration (which was quite the nightmare) and collecting our baggage, we had to meet up with our tour guide & driver. That's when our 'work' day actually started as we had an itinerary to follow.

So Duglass, our tour guide who I will occasionally refer to as Dug, literally she is AHMAZING. Anyway, we went from the airport straight to the hotel to check in and freshen up. I was in for a nap but there is no time for that.

Our first hotel was Novotel Hotel at Darling Harbour. Not gonna lie, the first impression of it when we saw a pink building approaching wasn't exactly the most enthusiastic one. Here's how the best friend's and my reactions were..

"It's pink."

"Huh? Oh....."

A very somewhat disappointed 'oh...' to be honest. Which I am quite guilty about after getting checked in because the hotel was actually quite nice especially the view I got from my room.

Did not exactly take too much time to settle all our checking in business. And I'm saying that because Dug handled everything for us and all our rooms has been pre-booked already thanks to DSW. So I was on my way up to the room and waited for my luggage to arrive before getting changed.

We weren't given much time so it was a mad dash the moment the bags arrived. Though I did have enough time to have a mini room tour because I don't see why not and it was better than me getting all comfortable on the bed. Chances are I'd never get up.

This is the bathroom.

Simple and chic which is good enough for me, especially with the giant mirror with sufficient lighting to do my make up. Though truth be told, I never like doing that by the sink that's usually wet. Grosses me out which just makes my OCD go a tad bit insane.

And there's a bathtub which is a major plus. But then there was no time to use it during my short stay at Novotel.

There's also two beds. One for me and the other for all my crap that I can't be bothered with putting away nicely after a long day. Genius.

There's two queen sized bed, an extra sofa at the corner of the room and a desk for people to do their work on. Plus oddly and luckily enough, a mirror right by the tv for me to do my makeup in natural lighting.

To be honest, it's a pretty big room for two people and could fit a small family of four. But yet I got this room for two nights.

Darling harbour right outside my window.

AND JUST LOOK AT THAT VIEW. Imagine waking up to this on an everyday basis and working right in front of such a sight. Find out more about Darling Harbour and the happenings around there here!

Anyway there was no time to aimlessly stare at the view cause we were pressed for time. After a change of clothes, my make-up done up, we left the hotel with food that was nicely packed for a very hungry group by our tour guide. Told you she is awesome.

So she brought us to this place called Newtown where they coincidentally had a festival going on that very day. For more details about this quaint little place, check out this site!

Apparently this festival happens only once a year where the entire community comes together & enjoy the festivities. I am not kidding, it literally is like a Coachella festival or something filled with lots of music, different kinds of stalls that sells all sorts of cute cute things & also food.

Did I mention that it is completely free entry?

This is one part of the entire park which is bigger than it looks. Already you can hear the music from local bands and everyone just sat around enjoying the nice weather + food + good company + nice tunes.

Seriously if this was back in Malaysia, it will be completely chaotic and also crazily hot. Imagine all the gross sweaty people brushing against you every now & then, plus the grass will most probably be all muddy or filled with trash. *shudders* Just thinking about that makes me cringe.

But nothing like that in Newtown. Or anywhere around Sydney for the matter.

VEGAN FOOOOOOD. My first time seeing an actual vendor just for this kind of diet and the menu is actually quite intriguing. Too bad I already ate before arriving to the festival.

And another thing that is kind of awesome about this country is how easily you can get healthy food. I saw it being sold at a rest stop rather than like instant or fast food. Plus it never is like super crazy priced just cause it isn't high in fat or calorie content.

Humans - both adult and tiny tots were wandering about. Then there's also dogs which were mostly kept on leashes but also doing their usual thing as they sniff happily at everything.

To the best friend's dismay and also mine a little bit, only because she would push me in front of her. Yes, expect the tiniest one of the group to protect you and that'll work perfectly well. Hahahah. But it was fine since all the dogs were super tame and calm in comparison to what I've seen back at home.

Here's another section of the park with a larger field and different kind of music. Honestly it does make me think of a Coachella event or something. Except less crazy and not everyone was dressed in a half-naked boho fashion.

By the time we walked a round of the festival, Bo & I were ready to move onto our next agenda. We both do not do well in the midst of crowds which is quite ironic considering how much we both like going to pasar malams. But then it gets too overwhelming at some point, except here the weather was soooooooo nice despite the sun.

I would walk however long in this weather and have no complaints.

And patiently waiting for us on a random street is our driver, Frank. I don't know how he's still driving when he's about eighty & can still lift our luggage easily, especially when they're not exactly the lightest.

Plus he's very nice and never grumpy looking as he waits around for us to get done with all the filming and visiting. Actually I think he really enjoys being a tour guide driver more than anything. Why he so nice omg.


Happily he drove us through the city and many windy roads to here!

Already I could see the ocean and feel the breeze which made me super excited. And even though it was supposed to be summer time when we were in Sydney, the weather is more cold than hot. It was already slightly gloomy when we reached Bondi Beach for......


Sculpture by the Sea!

Apparently Ruby Rose was there too but I'm not sure if she was there a day before or after us. Which breaks my heart cause I could've met her. ;_;

Doesn't this look like a desktop wallpaper already?

Literally in awe as I stare at the Pacific Ocean. Fell in love with the scenery almost instantly and could barely pay attention to all the sculptures really. It's just not exactly my kind of interest.

Anyway, this has been a rather long post so I'll save some of the best parts for the second part to my first day in Sydney. Which means you, or whoever is reading this Sydney Travel Diary series, will just have to stay tune for the next post. ;)

Watercolour Workshop [Flower & Wreaths Edition] with Stickerrific

I'm starting to feel that attending workshops is my way of escaping reality. Not that that is really a bad thing considering how therapeutic I find these classes to be, even though I tend to get a bit flustered when I hit a roadblock. But it's good for stimulating my mind and I have no complaints about that.

The recent one I signed myself for is the Watercolour worshop [Flower & Wreaths Edition] with Sze Too from Stickerrific. I'll be honest and admit that this was something that I've been eyeing at for the longest time. However unlike her Food Edition workshops, this one is rare and hard to come around.

So imagine my response when classes were finally available for the flowers & wreaths edition. I wasted literally no time in booking my spot for the class, paid for it and also somehow managed to force persuade my artistic friend to come along. :3

Then it wasn't long before the day I had been excitedly looking forward to has arrived. And I should also mention that I have zero experience with painting, especially with watercolour as a medium.

Napping meow

You have no idea how crazy I went when I entered the store and saw this greeting me. And no, I'm not talking about the very simple but pretty set-up for the class.

*losing my shit right about now*

Say hello Chewie~

Sze Too is definitely a cat person cause she has three of them that just happily roam around the store. The pretty space is pretty much their territory which explains why I found all three casually lazing about at just any corner they liked.

This was on the table for all the students. It was a simple set-up but also very enticing and got me even more excited for the workshop to start.

What was provided to us was some watercolour paper (200gsm thick), a stencil drawing of a wreath with several kinds of flowers and then a set of flower themed stickers. Initially I thought that was a special gift for all of us that attended the class but it's actually for us to use as a reference when we paint later.

I still think it's a present and I like it.

"Go away, human"

I think I kinda woke this one up when I was taking pictures of it and gushing over how niap it looked. Can't help it. Anyway, time to talk about something other than the cat.

Once most of the students were seated then the class officially started. First Sze Too explained to us the very basics when it comes to watercolour painting like the different kinds of paper, sizes of brushes and also why some brands of paint costs more while some are cheaper. When I say expensive, it really is and can cost more than a hella good meal for three people.

I would explain it all but then this would be a hella boring post. It's better if you attend one of the workshops and find out for yourself. :3 Just know that there is a big difference between the cheaper and more expensive watercolours, more to do with the finishing and colour payoff.

You know, kinda like why some girls are willing to pay more for a make up product when there's a cheaper alternative. Same concept just different... Things and category altogether. hahaha. But the idea is the same la, cheesus.

The artist & her new batch of students

First thing first, Sze Too taught us several techniques which I think are the general basics and can be used in different ways to create different kinds of effect. These are the few that I remember clearly and I'll try to explain it as best as I can, but I might be wrong.

• Wet-to-dry method where you just pick up the colour you want and then painting it straight onto the paper. Simple & straightforward.
• Wet-on-wet technique which is as the name suggests; first you wet the paper with clean water first before dotting down the colour then just let it bleed onto the paper. This creates a very pretty effect. 
• Gradient style is pretty cool and very helpful in creating shadows. First you paint on a heavier colour in the beginning, then add a little bit more water after that stroke and gradually add a little more each time. I like this but it's harder than it seems.

There are still a few more but I can't exactly remember what they are exactly. So I guess that means you'd have to pay a visit to the workshop if you want to learn more. (;

My attempt.

This was my first try and I'm actually quite proud of myself. Until I looked at Bea's which is the one in the top right hand corner - that made me feel so loser-ish. -.-

Don't like that la. She's been painting for a long time and she's mad artistic ohkay, give chance please. I'm still learning and am making her teach me when we meet up for painting sessions. On top of girl talk of course, that's a big no brainer right there.

Tower of treats.

Refreshments and snacks are also provided for the students to nibble on during the class.

I wasn't too sure what the drink was exactly, but I really liked how it was super chilled and sourish. And the treats, I liked them all because they're all dainty looking but also very yums.

Leaves painting. Fail.

Then comes another interesting style of painting.

General idea is, the flower/tree/plant/whatever that's furthest from us will be lighter in color and the ones that are closer to us, the color will no doubt be of a darker shade. So this way, you can create an illusion of depth to your painting just by layering, creating very nice effects as many layers are added on.

Not as easy as it seems - especially the branches that takes a whole lot more control than one would think. Since the color has to be super light, your pressure on the brush can't be too heavy and you'd really have to get it done in one swift motion. It was a struggle for me at first.

I tried. It's the effort that counts.

Among the few techniques that we have attempted, I think this is one of my favourite. But don't take my word for it because I kinda like every style since it creates super pretty art and I am a big sucker for that.

The only thing is I am super terrible at painting so mine never turns out how I imagine it to be. Not without plenty of patience & practice till I get it right.

Taking a break. Flatlay FTW with all the colours & art. 

Here's Sze Too teaching us how to paint Peonies which she makes it seem SO effortless. Then the end result makes you go 'WOAAAAAAAAAAH!'. And it is one of my favourite flowers; real and art-wise so you could imagine how excited I was to finally be able to learn how to paint it.

Little did I realise until I tried the technique myself how flipping difficult it is.

Look who was trying to get in on the commotion. SO CUTE I CANNOT EVEN DEAL.

My finished results after a two and a half hour class

I'm just kidding. I took a picture of this to use as a guide for future practicing cause I have a feeling that I'd forget how some flowers are supposed to look like and how to paint them. Knowing me.

But I mean, I do wish that I could come up with something half as pretty as this and the amazing thing is, the artist painted these in a rush. However effortless it seemed, the results still turned out to look super nice. Though Sze Too did say midway through the class to not expect too much for now. After all she's got years of practice and experience in her brushes which explains why she's so good at her artworks. So it would be rather crazy to think that we would immediately be perfect artists after one workshop.

In other words, I need to remind myself to practice more and not give up even if the first few times are going to look absolutely horrid.

Even though you have not signed up for the watercolour workshops, you should visit Stickerrific's store. It is heaven for someone who is into arts & crafts or stationaries in general.

Though be warned, if you do not have much self control when it comes to spending then I suggest that you be very careful. Once you enter the store and see what there is to offer, you might just empty out every single cent in your bank account for all the things that catches your eye.

Especially if you are a sucker for pretty things like me.

They have all the things you need to either start your artist arsenal or add more to it.

Every corner is filled with different things and there's nothing you can't find here. There's a side of the store where they have all the important tools for calligraphy, from different coloured inks and many kinds of pens too.

There are even many types of nibs for you to purchase. I haven't quite tried my hand at calligraphy writing with pointed pens just yet and I'm hoping that's going to change as soon as I get a free weekend again.

But from what I could tell based on the examples given, different kinds of nibs gives you a different effect and also can tailor to suit what you're comfortable with.

Even if you have nothing particular in mind to buy, it's worth going there just to see all the cute stickers that are up for sale. Do not be surprised if you see that they consist mostly of cats, realistic looking and cartoon types.

Quite a number of them were very vintage looking stickers of flowers and food, very pretty and I was trying my best to not haul a handful of them into a basket. But I learned some self control that day. Trust me, you'll have a hard time resisting the urge to buy everything in sight.

Also, POSTCARDS, plenty of them. There are again the vintage themed kinds and some painted/illustrated by local artistes even. Very nice but I didn't buy any.

Say bye Luke!

Safe to say that I learned quite a lot about painting with watercolours in the couple of hours I spent at the workshop. First, I realize that I can't be a major control freak when it comes to painting and just.... Not overthink it too much. As much as I hate to say this, sometimes we all just gotta YOLO it and hope for the best.

Also, practice. Lots and lots of it to get better or else those few hours at class is just going to waste.

In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, 

which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love.

- Marc Chagall

Check out when Stickerrific would be having more watercolour workshops here, and also look out for the basic calligraphy ones too. Already am thinking of when I can join that after saving up a little bit more. ;)

Actually I don't even mind driving myself all the way to Jaya One to visit the store and sit there to paint all day. Who knows, maybe all the artistic vibes will motivate me to paint more rather than stare at my phone for long.