Buddhist Caves and Statues

Ever since I was little, my family has made it a point to visit Buddhist sanctuaries whenever we traveled.  I didn't understand what I was doing at those places when I was younger.  I didn't know why I had to kneel or use incense, who I was praying to, what I am suppose to be thinking or feeling.   Now that I am older, I want to go back to those places, as well as new places, to really see and feel what was surrounding me.

Below are 2 places I'd like to visit.

Troglodyte sanctuary near Tam Coc. near Ninh Binh, Vietnam

Buddha statues left by pilgrims in Pak Ou caves. Laos

  

Fashion Illustration (II)

First, look at my cutie pie. hehehehe.

Below are some fashion designers/illustrators i like.

Doo Ri:  So incredibly cute!
Gary Graham
Peter Som ( I love him more now that he left his financial backers)  His designs for this F/W 09 is sooooo spectacular.  Maybe it's him being himself now that the corporate side is gone and he has freedom to design as he pleases!  Go PSom!
Rodarte: I love them! 

Gilles Rosier: don't know his work as well, but do love his illustrations

the Twitch

A couple of days ago, I went to Mojave, my local Mexican Restaurant, with Mori.  The first thing my waiter did as I walked in the door was say hi, followed by a wink.  Mori was still outside the door using the phone.  As I walked to the table, Mori came in and followed.  Every time we made eye contact whether it was him telling us the menu or me saying thank you, he winked.  Now, I'm pretty sure he wasn't hitting on me.  In fact, I believe he was not into girls.  But what annoyed me was how he kept winking!!!!  I feel like winking is reserved for very special moments.  It's not something you put out there every 5 min.  I find it extremely odd that he would wink and smile really big often.  Does it make him feel cute? sexy? Does he feel more of a connection with his customers? Is it for tips?  I don't get it.  It actually would've made me give him LESS tips b/c it was so odd...but I didn't pay.  And I didn't bother to tell Mori his twitching problem.

Behind the Scenes

Last week, AIRA had our S/S 2010 Lookbook shoot.  The location was my old Wedding Photographer boss's studio in Long Island City.   A lot of emotions ran through out the day.  One hour into the shoot, I realized I forgot a skirt at home so I had to go all the way home and back out.  (secretly, I knew that was going to happen).  Then as we were lining up the order of the looks, one of the pieces was missing.  It was still at the factory!  Then, the fuse blew out b/c we had too much electricity running in the studio so we had to turn of the A/C while all the photo lights were lit.  Thank goodness everyone involved was a good sport, especially our model Alisa.  I didn't realize how hot it was standing behind all those bright lights.  But after we started getting the hang of it, the shoot went really smoothly.  We even finished early!

Below are some behind-the-scene shots.  

                                             Meet our second model, DONKEY!
                                             Tsuyoshi and Alice
                                             Annie the camera women
                                             Tsuyoshi was practically wherever Alisa was.

                                             ...always touching up.


                                             I am opening the welt pkts on the bomber.
                                             The crew.  The shoot would not have been 

                                             possible without all these awesome people!

                                             Andrew, Tsuyoshi, Alisa, AIRA sisters, Alice

Bye Bye Tequila.

Tequila is officially off my list.  

Ever since my birthday in March this year, I've had second thoughts about Tequila, especially Patron.  For the longest time, Patron was my liquor of choice.  It is the only liquor in my freezer; It is everything I loved since college; It is good, clear, and strong; It is what they make Mexican Martinis in.  During the June visit in the Bay Area, I again encountered and chose Patron as my shot to take, but little did I know, that was the last time I'd touch Patron again.  Patron and all of the Tequila family has officially been black-listed.  This past weekend, I was in Puerto Vallarta, where tequila was the main liquor for the city, the state, the country.  Every famous drink they were good at making practically had tequila as the main liquor.  The smell of it alone makes me want to gag. (Oh, trust me, I tried to sip a margarita and it was a no-go.)  Vodka is now my next liquor of choice.  I abused it on Saturday,  so I hope it doesn't bite me in the ass and induce vomit the next time I try to swallow. 

Leaving Tequila is very sad for me because I can never have another Mexican Martini....

Bloodcurdlingcreams!

If I wasn't a fashion designer, my other dream job in this world would be a fashion illustrator.  Even though many people believe that sketching/illustration is not required to be a fashion designer, I beg to differ.  Drawing is a medium that allows your imagination to go beyond reality. For a designer, to make that sketch come alive is the challenge, the art, the beauty of fashion.  Although the end result might not always be visually pleasing in fabric or wearable, the process of sculpting your mind with the lending of your hands is beautiful.  Many of the renown fashion designers have wonderful sketches (that'll have to be another post).  Karl Lagerfeld is known to sometimes not even touch the fabric!  He sketches, and his team of couture seamstresses make it come to life.   

Below is an illustrator I found on deviant art that I really really love.  It's inspiring and the lines are beautiful.  hah, I know I've said beautiful a millions times, but I really think Illustrations are beautiful, especially when you feel you can get a taste of what they're like in person.

Enjoy!  His full gallery is at http://bloodcurdlingcreams.deviantart.com/gallery/.

I cheated.

Yesterday was the AIRA s/s2010 lookbook model casting.  The model we picked had incredibly cute hair.  It was short with soft curls.  She must've done something subconsciously to me because this morning, I woke up with the determination to perm my hair again.  The last time I permed it was in Taiwan and that was 7 months ago.  It's time again.  Since Tomo, my regular hair stylist, is currently in Japan, I cheated on him.  I found Mei.  She's pretty awesome.  I think I might make a permanent switch.  Tomo's been doing my hair for the past 1.5 year and I did stray once in awhile, but always came back to him.  I think I'll have to break up with Tomo for good this time because I LOVE MY NEW DO!!!!!  Mei said my hair is quite damaged...oops..  I mean, i haven't seen my real hair color since 16, so I figured it is not in the best condition.  She recommends that I really put protection on every day, so I guess I'll make the conscious effort now.  The good thing about damaged hair is she says my perm will stay extra long...3 months! So it's NOT all bad. The perm also lightened my hair color, which is an extra bonus for me because I wanted to go much lighter before summer ended.

Tim Burton x Johnny Depp Again!!!

I cannot wait until Alice in the Wonderland comes out!  Why is he sooooo wonderful in every way? Both of them?!  They must have a thing for each other as this seems like their 100th collaboration, but who else can pull off this wonderful world of Tim Burton but Johnny Depp??? And I must say, Helena Bonham is perfect for Burton's world as well.  I feel that she has been type-casted over the years to play awkward, ghoulish, fantasy, dark characters.  As an actor, I wonder if she feels frustrated or happy?  Although, I am a little scared that I'll be disappointed like I was with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Nevertheless, I am excited as ever.