Call me artiMystic: personal life

My First Halloween - A Lookbook

Happy Halloween! Yes, this is me being fashionably late making an October themed post in November. So sue me, Halloween was really lit, I decided to make a post about it shortly after. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I did promise you readers that I was going to regularly update my blog on my life abroad, and kick-starting this journey is my first actual Halloween celebration, which was top notch by the way.

Fun fact: I have gone to a Halloween dinner gathering with my dance team/ family back in Malaysia, where I just threw on a jumpsuit and some extra props to go as Samantha from Bewitched. That was great too; a simple celebration with good food and great company.

This time however, I decided to go as one of my all time favourite film characters- Morticia Addams. She’s truly an icon, as well as one of the characters I truly wanted to dress up as for Halloween. Also, my flatmates and I decided to have our respective costumes along with a flat theme- skull heads. And your girl was in charge of the face makeup holla! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ At the end of this post will be the full details about my materials, costume and inspirations.

Y'know guys, I honestly am grateful for a great bunch of flatmates. It makes my uni life experience much more enjoyable living with people just as quirky and fun as me. We spent the night in our flat with Cards Against Humanity and then heading off to Silk nightclub, ending the night with spirit, triple pun intended. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Hence, I could not resist featuring them in my Halloween Lookbook for 2017! Featured in this lookbook are also Belle and Keshana, my course mates and very dear friends here in university. We experienced our first Halloween together here in Edinburgh and they're also Malaysian ayyy!

So here you go readers, a lookbook of my first Halloween celebration. Enjoy the grunge aesthetics in my usually pastel-themed feed. ~(˘▾˘~)

MY SOURCES

Smiffy's Adult Women's Immortal Soul Costume
2 Large 18ml Snazaroo Face Painting Compacts Colors: 1 BLACK and 1 WHITE
Harry Potter Lace Choker - Primark
Note: It is only 2 quid in local Primark stores. I bought mine from the Edinburgh outlet.
Roxxsaurus Half Skull Tutorials (Bottom Half , Side Half)
Pinterest!

And there you have it! Shoutout to my flatmates: Constance, Tim, Hamish and Trevor for a great night and to Trevor for helping me with my skull makeup in return! Also shoutout to Belle and Keshana for joining in our Halloween celebration. I truly look forward to more festive seasons with this bunch.

Let me know in the comments what you dressed up as this Halloween, or what you would want to dress up as!

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19 Things I Learnt Turning 19

personal life 23:47

Phew, it's good to be back!

I'll be honest, the months before have not been my best times. Since it neared A2 examinations until about a few weeks ago, I have been focusing more on my personal development and overcoming some major struggles. It was a roller coaster ride. Yet with all the noise and madness, I was blessed with love, support and kindness. And now, I am happy to say that I am getting back on track with a fresh and determined mindset. I am ready for the next big stage of my life- university!

That's right, I've just started studying second year Actuarial Science in Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh! (fangirls)

I'm in bliss. It's a new chapter of my life, and I am starting it abroad! Living on my own, meeting new friends and experiencing a whole new culture. It's truly a magical experience.

More on that later. As much as I am super excited about sharing my life for the next three years here (best believe I will), I thought of talking about the things I've learnt; and want to share with the world. I was truly someone who had a good luck streak with my life where hardship did come but in minor blows. It was only until recently that I fully experienced somewhat "rock bottom".

And you know what? I'm grateful for that. You can choose to gain or to keep losing, I chose to gain. After some time struggling to get back up, I finally did. It's cheesy I know, because everyone goes or has gone through this stage. But that's the beauty of life isn't it? It's not the same for everyone, but everyone goes through some form of hardship. We are all in this together, and that's why I wanted to unwind by openly expressing what I have gained from this. And I know now, I can only gain more in life, which is now my university life.

So here it is, 19 things I learnt turning 19. Because right smack middle of this entire period was my birthday. Well, at least I got a gift to remember.

P.S. Here are some of my poems digitally designed which I wrote back then. I thought of sharing them as a part of the blog post. Enjoy!

1. Life, although carefully planned and executed, does not go the way you want it to. At all. You could have planned out five years worth of life goals, but it only takes mere seconds to destroy all that you have built.

2. If you slip in life, or hit rock bottom, that's totally normal and fine. All you have to do is make use of plan B or plan C or etc and give it your maximum effort. Your new path might just surprise you, even when your Plan A dreams were smashed to smithereens.

3. The harder you work, the luckier you get. Even when you are confident in your work, keep striving to make it better. You will widen your oppurtunities for yourself in the long run.

4. You cannot depend on anyone more than yourself to slowly get back on your feet. You are the one who makes yourself eat and the one who tucks yourself in at night.

5. Be your biggest fan and your biggest critic. Motivate as well as evaluate yourself. No one else can be both these things at the same time other than you.

6. So love yourself. They say you cannot love another without loving yourself first, and at first I thought that was bollocks, but it's not. Self love means you know your worth, your wants and your needs. Self love means you act upon those and stand up for yourself when shit hits the fan.

7. First love will hurt the most. Because first love is not the first person you love, it's the first person who breaks your heart.

8. First love most likely doesn't last, even when you are confident it will. That's also why it hurts so much, the expectations and you are shattered.

9. Any form of close relationship, platonic or intimate, is a two-way street. If you are not receiving or not giving with immense love, compassion and dedication, it’s not entirely worth it. You deserve to find people who you will feel absolute bliss and love for and be returned with the exact same feeling

10. Do not cling on to people that cannot benefit you in any way possible. As much of a good person you think they are, they will not be a great companion for you.

11. Do no harm but take no shit. Treat others as how you want to be treated, but also stand your ground when necessary.

12. Remember that in life, even with your family and your beloved friends, you come first. Just like how airplane safety guides tell you to wear your oxygen mask first before attending to others, make sure you put your needs and your comfort above others.

13. Don't have expectations for people or for situations. No matter how much you try, you cannot control circumstances and you cannot alter a person's personality. It would only hurt you more to try and move a brick wall.

14. Hence, accept that some things are not in your control, but you can choose how you react to them.

15. Mistakes are what make you learn. If you never did make the mistake, then how would you be able to grow and expand your potential?

16. Be fearless to fail. Life is not perfect, and neither is yourself. You cannot expect perfection in everything that you do, but do input maximum effort, even if the results do not turn in favour.

17. Every relationship will be a rollercoaster ride with ups and downs. Sometimes the downs are plummeting and harsh, but two people in a relationship who truly want to invest in each other will sort things out

18. And just like relationships, or anything big and beautiful, it takes time. Your goals, your spiritual growth and love, they all need time and effort to bloom and flourish. Give it time.

19. However, life is short. So love fiercely, laugh loudly, live freely. Give everything and anything you care for your attention, time and love. Life is not about quantity, it is about quality.

What are some of the major things you learnt in your life? Comment them down below!

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RECIPE REVIEW : A Sunday Lunch

personal life 21:10

So I spent a Sunday Funday with my girl squad a fortnight ago. It was truly one of the peak moments of my February.

We laughed, we played Mario Kart, and we cooked! (I HELPED COOK AND I DIDN’T BURN THE HOUSE DOWN YAY ME) It was a really good time both learning the ways in the kitchen as well as making obscure puns. I mean, if I’m going to study abroad later this year (fingers crossed!) I need to learn some basics. Cooking is no doubt one of them.

So for today’s blog post, I will be sharing the few recipes me and my friends used for our Sunday Funday lunch. We made three main dishes, all of which turned out marvellously (hallelujah), so here they are!

BAKED BUFFALO CAULIFLOWER BITES

Okay, so, this is BY FAR my most favourite appetizer dish ever. It tastes like buffalo wings, but SPICIER and BETTER. Plus, they’re dairy free and meatless! Perfect for almost anyone really.

The original recipe to this delicious appetizer is here, complete with picture guides and thorough instructions to make it. All ingredients are very easy to find in local grocery stores, so don’t fret! Be sure to use baking paper on your baking tray. Spray oil is also fine, but the cauliflower bites still stick a hell lot on the tray. Also, we used half the amount of hot sauce instead and it was the perfect amount of spice. If you use the recommended amount, it'll pack a punch and will be way spicier.

If you are interested to try a healthier alternative, check out a recipe here!

CHILLI LIME CHICKEN AND CHILLI LIME SHRIMP

This is just as savouring. As you can tell, we crave spicy food. Chilli Lime Chicken and Chilli Lime Shrimp are recipes we obtained from RasaMalaysia, and they are really worth the try! However, we didn’t completely follow the chilli lime shrimp recipe. Instead, we used the same marinating mix from the Chilli Lime Chicken recipe for the shrimps. It still tasted wonderful, so there is no need to do different marinating mixes for both of them.

The original recipe says to marinade for a couple of hours but we did it for 30 minutes and it still turned out fine. Also, butterfly the chicken pieces to marinade them easier.

BONUS SAUCE ALERT! So my lovely friend (and great cook) Safra made some sauce to complement both the chicken and shrimp. It’s really simple, below are the instructions!

Take the remaining marinade and put it in a pan on high heat.
In a small bowl, mix some cornstarch with some water and add the mixture to the pan.
Stir for a few minutes until it reduces and thickens.

The sauce will be a good addition to eat the chicken and shrimp with some rice. Plus the cauliflower bites and you have a great lunch prepped for you and your peers!