Blue Mosque

Taken in the Blue Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey by Anamitra Chakladar

Bush Flowers

These beautiful yellow flowers are probably weeds, but they grow prolifically next to the roads in the rural areas of KZN, South Africa. Taken by PaulO

Trio

Glass, water, plants and mirrors - found in a hotel room. Taken in Dubai by maistora

The Light House

Taken at Lake Reams, Windermere, FL, USA by Saud Al-Mogahwi

"New" Vintage Stuff For Sale

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The Job Search

It's been almost one month since I've come back home to Toronto, Canada. And, I've been sick for almost three weeks of that time with a cold in my throat that just would not go away. It's, thankfully, almost gone now!

But, I've not been lazy either as I've been searching for a new job for the past three months now; for a couple of months before I left Korea and for the past month since I've been back. I've also been working freelance for the wedding photography studio that I used to work for before, too. They have some urgent post processing work that needs to be done. I'm still there for about another week and a bit, I think. Hopefully.

Anyways, the results of my job search have not been good. By this time, I am about ninety job applications into the search; about a dozen to Japan, about a dozen to China, about a dozen to Taiwan, about fifty to Korea and the remaining approximate dozen in Toronto. To wit, I have had a grand total of four interviews and possibly one bogus job offer from China that did not even have an interview associated with it. They also never supplied any current employee contacts that I requested either. Hence, the bogus job offer conclusion. Of those four interviews, three of them were from Japanese companies and one from a Toronto company. I have another one in Toronto tomorrow, too. Wish me luck!

If you do a simple statistical analysis on those numbers, you would think, all things being equal, that I would have gotten the most job interviews from the Korean companies. But, no. I had none, Zero. Zilch. Which leads to the inescapable conclusion that, as it is well known around the internet community already, English teachers teaching in private schools in Korea are for non-Asian English teachers only. Period. If you want a good teaching position in Korea as an English teacher, you cannot be of Asian decent. It's as simple as that. I won't belabor this point anymore as an internet search will get you all the information you will need on the subject. Suffice to say that, for the present time, I am no longer looking at English teaching positions abroad. For the time being, I will stay in Canada and find work in Canada, whatever that work happens to be.

As a very good friend of mine said to me recently regarding this predicament, and other related matters; "there is no place to run!"

El Hemisfèric

"Part of the city of arts and sciences in Valencia, Spain... Nostalgic. yes, i am...". Taken by Socceraholic

The Girly Advantage: Periods

WARNING: MAY BE INAPPROPRIATE FOR MEN. CLOSE THIS PAGE AND GO WATCH SOME CAT VIDEO ON YOUTUBE.

And if you're still reading, you're either eligible to read or some guy who has nothing else better to do.

I don't know what's the big deal about having periods. Its just the natural process of every girl's life and I think it shouldn't be a taboo subject because there's nothing to hide. It's not shameful, its normal.

A lot of girls I know would complain about it when the time of the month comes. Sure, you'd get the pimples, the mood swings and probably the occasional cramps. But I think having periods is a great advantage! How can you not love it?

For one thing, whether you have your period or not, its the perfect excuse to get away from anything!

For example, you can use the period excuse to:

1. Skip gym class

Ooh! Sorry teacher, but I have period cramps. Cannot run today.

2. Not go swimming when you don't feel like it

Works every time.

3. Avoid any unwanted dates

And they would leave you alone.

4. Be late and blame it on your period

Sorry, but we can't help it ;)

5. Leave unexpectedly 

You know, during some boring lecture or some unpleasant stuff that you wouldn't like to be involved in. Because of your period.

And many, many more! Its the perfect excuse, and nobody will question you especially guys. The moment you say the 'P' word in front of them, they'll get really uncomfortable and leave you alone. Immediately. Great stuff. Unless of course, they're clueless about it.

Which reminds me about that one time I met this guy at camp. He was 18 then and guess what? He had no idea what is a period and how do us girls control it. And so, at the age of 13, I had to give an 18 year old guy 'the talk' about girls. Poor guy, he looked pretty... amazed and err... enlightened when I told him about it. He should really get out more.

And don't ask me how the hell did we eventually get to that talk.

But on medical terms, having periods isn't such a bad thing because it helps slow down the ageing process and somehow, after the period is over, you'd feel happier and prettier. Don't you?

Besides, I think it sucks if you don't get your period as a girl because you won't feel like a girl without it. 

Well, I'm glad we've had this girl talk. I think its good to share our thoughts about womanhood with one another. Good luck and have a great life.

And if you're a guy who have just completely ignored my warnings, screw you.

  

Mirada

Mexico. Taken by amilcar muñoz

Taiwan :: Taichung :: Hohuanshan

Taken by Clementqc

Boracay Sunset

"Sunset on Boracay Island, The Philippines". Taken by farid samara

Essentials in Nail Art

If you know me well enough, you would've known by now that I am a HUGE fan of nail art. Some people would ask me how I do my nails, so I thought I'd share with you some of the must-have tools when it comes to nail art. To take a peek at some of my creations, visit my nail art page here.

First off, here are the main things I use to create my nail arts:

These are the tools I use when it comes to painting my nails and creating patterns. Lets take a closer look, shall we?

Here, we have the best and most useful tool of all when it comes to nail art. Its light, disposable and its SUPER easy to create nail art with these babies. Yes, I'm talking about toothpicks.

What you can do with them is to create little dots or easy patterns with them. You can even control the size of your dots by either using a sharp toothpick to create tiny dots or squeeze the tip of the toothpick down to make it blunt to create bigger dots.

Here's an example of creating dots using toothpicks:

Awesome eh? Gotta love the power of the toothpicks! 

Next we have the bling bling. A.K.A, nail jewelry.

Obviously, you can use these shiny things to brighten up your nails! Just use some clear polish and apply it on your nails as glue for the jewels and stick it on your nails immediately. Or, you can just stick the jewels on your nails right after you have just painted your nails.

I prefer to use nail jewels that are neutral in color because it can match with any color you own like this nail art:

Once again, toothpicks are awesome because it helps to apply nail jewels on your nails! Just dip your toothpick it a tiny bit of clear nail polish or water and it can easily get a hold of  the jewels for easy application.

And then we have the Konad stamp.

Notice the little prints engraved on these mirror like objects? This is just like a print and stamp method of creating a nail art. Awesome stuff. Here's a demo video on how its done:

See? Its that easy to create professional looking nail art even if you're a noob! Unfortunately, I haven't found that special nail polish for this Konad stamp so I can't use it just yet. Anybody knows where I can find it in Malaysia?

Moving on, here we have my brushes!

Obviously, I use them to create different patterns using different sized brushes. Its exactly like painting a picture. The only difference is I'm just painting a really small canvas.

Ok, this is definitely my favorite way of creating a really quick nail art;
OPI Black Shatter nail polish!

Its one of the most simplest, super, super easiest way of creating a beautiful nail art. For those who don't know a shatter or crackle nail polish is, its a kind of nail polish that cracks up as soon as it is applied onto another base nail polish when it dries up, giving it a 'shattered' look. Its so cool to watch it crack when it dries, I love it so much!

All you have to do is to pick a base color and you paint the black shatter nail polish all over your nails as usual and watch it crack!

For this nail polish, I recommend using a Gold nail polish as your base to give your nails this rustic look:

After applying the black shatter nail polish, apply a top coat for a shiny finish and to make it last longer.

Of course, we can't forget about the glitter and the shimmer!

You can use glitter nail polish to give some bling to your nails. If however, you're not the glitter type of person but would like some shine nonetheless, you can use a shimmery nail polish as its not as harsh as glitter.

You don't necessarily have to apply glitter all over your nails. You can apply it at certain areas just for emphasis on your nails. Like this one:

I added a little bit of glitter at the tip for that shiny finish.

If you like doing things manually, then try looking out for these kinds of nail polish.

Its just ordinary nail polish, nothing too fancy like the Black shatter. The only difference is its brush; its very, very thin!

See? What I love about this brush is that I'm able to create thin lines and curves using these little brushes. And its not very hard to use either! With one quick swipe, you've got yourself a perfect line! Here's a design I created using these nail polish:

Its one of my favorite designs! Unfortunately, it was short lived because I had to go for an interview the day I created this design and so I had to clean my nails before I left :(

Well, you couldn't possibly create long-lasting nail art without clear polish, can you now?

Most people don't realize that a base coat for your nails is important because it helps to protect your nails from being stained from the colored nail polish especially the red ones. If you keep painting your nails without a base coat, you will notice soon enough that your nails will turn yellowish in color. A top coat is also just as important to protect or 'encase' your nail art so that it can last longer!

This is optional, but if you like doing your pedicures as well, try using a toe separator.

This pimped up toe separator is a victim on one of one of my doodles. What? I get bored!

And there you have it! These are the tools I use to create my nail art. Its a fun hobby and it exercises patience and steady hands. If you have a lot of time like me, this hobby is surely your thing.

Good luck and have fun!

Panorama Riomaggiore

This village is called Riomaggiore and situated in Italy. Its one of the five 'Cinque Terre'. Taken by Ben Swillens

Mug's Angels

"Becstarr & Iris - Nice to meet you girls". Melbourne, Australia. Taken by Man Underground

Phone call on the 3rd floor

"I have this habit of walking around looking up". Paris. Taken by fredcan

Red Rock

"玩世不恭 (Cynicism) is the lead vocalist for Kunming based rock band 赵亚旭. Tight band, average singer, great poser.

500KM City Music Festival - Kunming, Yunnan, China". Taken by Expatriate Games

ALPACA

Israel, Negev Desert, at the Alpacas Farm. Taken by israel as i see it

Ceremonia del Fuego Nuevo

Ceremonia de encendido del Fuego Nuevo en Teotihuacan, Mexico para la Antorcha Panamericana que recorrera el pais previo a los Juegos Panamericanos Guadalajara 2011. Taken by i35mmporvida

Rukwila Cubs

The Sri Lanka Leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya) is considered as a Endangered Species. Taken in the Yala National Park, Sri Lanka, by Sara-D

Laughter

Times Square shopping mall, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, taken by Ross Hong Kong

The 7 Types of Blogs I Like

It has come to my attention that my post about The 8 Types of Blogs that Bugs Me has now become my most popular all-time blog post. Apparently, people do care about what others think about their blogs.

So I feel that after posting my negative views on other blogs, I suppose I should follow up with a post about my positive views about certain blogs. So here we go. The type of blogs I like are...

1. Informative

To be perfectly honest, I don't really give a damn about the ordinary lives of other people, strangers in particular. Like, some people will blog about how boring their day was, or how they bought a new phone and how much better it is than mine, etc, etc... I don't care! But informative blogs are usually the ones that captures my attention.

Blogs that do reviews of certain products, food or anything else will certainly get my views because I can gain knowledge from them rather than 'lala' blogs that post nothing but ugly pictures of people camwhoring in the toilet. Just saying...

2. Full of pictures

If I had to choose between a textbook full of dull texts or a textbook full of color and pictures, I'd definitely choose the picture textbook. Why? Because it makes things look a lot more interesting and it helps me to  have a better understanding about what the author is describing. No matter how boring the blog could possibly be, it can grab my attention if it has more pictures included.

Don't be the dull textbook, those are for serious (and possibly old) people.

3. Interactive

When bloggers interact with their readers, I feel that it helps create a bond between blogger and reader and I will surely come back if the blogger seems like a nice person after having a nice chat or even saying a quick hello. That's because it creates an interest in the blogger and I would like to get to know him/her better.

Don't be a stuck up snob towards your readers. Just by saying hi might even do the trick to bring that reader back for more.

4. Generous

You know, the kind of blogs that do charity or goodwill. And if not, blogs that organizes contest where they give away freebies to some of their lucky readers. Its fun, and both blogger and readers can benefit from it!

5. Humorous

Funny blogs are surely the ones I would visit the most to give me a boost of happiness and some bloggers are simply hilarious! Yes, funny blogs are the best blogs in my opinion.

6. Creative

Some blogs I've come across are very creative. For example, there are bloggers who actually take the time and trouble to draw cartoon characters of themselves while others take the time to photoshop images into ridiculous ones like this:

  Blogger Kenny Sia decided to to be 'lala' for a day and photoshopped himself as the Blog Queen XiaXue. I laughed so hard when I first saw this picture!

7. Interesting

But of course, the blog has to be interesting to capture anybody's attention. Weather its about your travels, your new muffin recipe or that girl/boy you've been stalking all month, it has to be interesting enough for me to come back for more!

Nobody likes to stick to a bore, be interesting! If you wanna be interesting, talk about things other than yourself. To be boring, talk about yourself. That's what I think.

Happy Blogging!