August this year felt heavier than ever before. It took me some time to reflect and think about why I felt the way I did. I’m writing this blog post now in October with some more clarity on my feelings. But as always, these were my outfits during the month.

Outfit

August 10, 2019

Top: Ninety-percent Tee via NAP
Shorts: AGOLDE
Shoes: Chanel Espadrilles
Bag: Céline

Photo by Shun S.

Outfit

August 13, 2019

Top: Verge Girl
Pants: AGOLDE
Shoes: Common Projects
Bag: Loewe Puzzle Bag 'Stone Blue'

Photo by Shun S.

Outfit

August 16, 2019

Dress: Preen Line Floral Dress via NAP
Shoes: Common Projects
Bag: Chanel WOC

Photo by Shun S.

Life

Homesickness

It took a while for the homesickness to kick in for me. And a couple of months after the fact for me to figure out that I just missed my mom and sister around. I always kind of thought that I'd be okay on my own, without being a burden to my family by waking up them up at 3/4 am when I'd get home from dinner/drinks some nights. I thought I'd have better peace of mind knowing that I'm not bothering my mom to do my laundry on the weekend, and each article a certain way. I definitely took her sunny-side-ups and already made coffee for granted. I appreciated them, but not the same way I thought I did, now that I can barely bother to heat up the water in the morning.

It felt strange, the weeks leading up to my actual birthday. In previous years, I would have already started celebrating days in advance. At first, I blamed the sadness on the fact that it's around the same time that my grandfather passed away last year. My thoughts about life as much as dying really started to weigh me down. I think it's still making me a little sad typing this out, but the events last month and recently are keeping me afloat. For now, I'll leave it at this - but I'm sure I'll revisit these thoughts somewhere down the line and continue sharing my sentiments. I'm kind of bummed that I can no longer blame my antics by calling it a quarter-life-crisis anymore. Here's to 26.

Outfit

August 23, 2019

Top: Ninety-percent Tee via NAP
Pants: Petar Petrov 'Colorblock Linen-blend Pants'
Shoes: Common Projects
Bag: Chanel WOC

Photo by Shun

Outfit

August 28, 2019

Blazer: JP (similar linen one here)
Top: GAP
Shorts: AGOLDE
Shoes: Common Project

Photo by Shun S.

Wearing

All pieces in this post

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Lots of Love / 022019

It might be a little too late to even write this now, but I'm forcing myself to press a few keys to make a few sentences so that I can put together this post that's way too overdue. The past few weeks, actually months - has been a blur. A good blur at least. I'm finally starting to feel more settled now, emotionally and physically.

February was such a love-filled month spent with Shun. It actually makes me take back everything I've thought about dating long distance the previous few years going through it.

Below are just some of the few outfits that I've worn during the month of February hoping that by documenting them, I can look back next year and see if I'm able to restyle any of the pieces I've worn here.

Fashion

February 6, 2019

Coat: Mute by JL (oldie)
Sweater: via Shopbop
Pants: Uniqlo
Shoes: Common Projects
Bag: Proenza Schouler PS11

Self-portraits

Fashion

February 8, 2019

Coat: Maison Margiela (similar)
Top: Gap
Pants: GRLFRND
Belt: B-LOW The Belt
Shoes: Common Projects
Bag: Staud

Photo by Shun S.

Fashion

February 16, 2019

Top: Destroyed Knit
Skirt: Similar Leopard Skirt
Shoes: Acne Studios
Bag: J.W Anderson Pierce Mini

Self-portraits

Fashion

February 17, 2019

Working with Everlane has been something I wasn't expecting to happen while I was in Tokyo. But I'm so glad I got this opportunity. More on this outfit in a separate post 'No Grey Days'.

Coat: ASTR the Label via Shopbop (on sale)
Top: Everlane (c/o)
Pants: GRLFRND Denim
Shoes: Everlane (c/o)
Bag: Loewe Puzzle Bag (Stone Blue)

Photo by Shun S.

Wearing

All pieces in this post

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Springing / 032019

It's better late than never, is not one of my favorite sayings, but one that I use pretty often on this journey of trying to document my life in a series of monthly blog posts. Here we are in June and I'm embarrassed to say that these are the things I did, wore, and digitally collected back in March. I'm not sure what exactly happened to most of my motivation for keeping these things consistent, but somehow I'm where I am now - and all I can do is try and catch up. With that said, I hope April and May's posts are coming soon to a screen near you.

March marked my very first Spring in Tokyo official, and I was actually looking forward to experiencing a local cherry blossom season that I generally miss when I visited late April previously. It also marked the calm before the storm as the events leading up to April seemed heavily packed, physically and emotionally.

Outfit

March 16, 2019

Coat: United Arrows JP
Sweater: LNA via Shopbop
Pants: GRLFRND Denim
Shoes: Chanel Espadrilles
Bag: Chanel (similar)

Photo by Shun S.

Travels

Hong Kong
March 17-24, 2019

Shun and I did manage to take a quick trip to Hong Kong again (I know we said we'd be making the most out of our Asia location to explore other SEA countries, but we couldn't resist when tickets were dirt cheap last minute.) I've been meaning to put together a travel diary from our time there as well, but as you can tell- I'm in no position to make promises on when, or if that's even happening. It was definitely a much slower paced trip than our first visit a couple of years ago, and we also managed to finally cross off some photo spots that we skipped out on the very first time. Just writing about Hong Kong is making me crave a cup of milk tea from the grandmas and grandpa's shop on the corner. Oh ,and I definitely could go for another order of tea-smoked chicken from John Anthony's too.

Outfit

March 24, 2019

Coat: Mute by JL
Top: Uniqlo
Dress: Topshop via Nordstrom (similar from Réalisation)
Shoes: Common Projects
Bag: Chanel

Photo by Shun S.

Travel

Tokyo Roadtrip to Nagoya, Nara, and Osaka
March 28, 2019

Towards the end of March, we got a spontaneous visitor (my old friend Brian from SF). He came on a whim, and since the cherry blossoms barely bloomed in Tokyo, we decided that we would do a road trip from Tokyo all the way to Osaka to spot some in more quaint areas. It was only a three-day trip, but it really made me fell in love with Japan, and Tokyo even more. I couldn't help but feel super blessed to be where I am coming back from that trip. I mean, have you guys seen this photo that we captured of Mt. Fuji by a random lakeside (since we missed golden hour due to traffic).

Anyway, I'll end this month here since my thoughts are diluted by how long it has been since - but hopefully I'll be able to share more updated things from here on out.

Wearing

All pieces in this post

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December Again / 122018

It's December again, and so much has changed since January, despite this year flying by faster than a hummingbird. Actually, I'm finally writing this post 8 whole days into January of 2019 as if nothing has really changed for my procrastination habits. To be fair, I thought about laying this whole post out weeks in advance to make sure I can get it out first thing this year - but...

My resolution last year was actually to be better about my finances... which I'm finally starting this year. So that's progress somehow right?

Anyway, there's a bunch of outfits in this post for this month as I go back from Tokyo to New York to spend the holidays at home with the family.

Outfit

December 02, 2018

Sweater: LNA (on sale)
Pants: AGOLDE (similar boyfriend styles)
Shoes: Nicholas Kirkwood
Bag: Staud Clothing PVC Bag

Photo by Shun S.

Added to cart

Sweaters and knits

Outfit

December 05, 2018

Throughout the month of November through December, I really got the hang of self-portraiting on a daily basis again. To be quite honest, it's actually kind of therapeutic to pick out an outfit for whatever the day has in store, taking a walk to find a workable location, and solving the puzzle of how to place a 50mm-lensed-camera so that it captures my entire body without it being too obtrusive to the surroundings.

Some of my best-performed post on social as of late has been my self-portraits and it might or might not be due to the fact that they were taken without an actual photographer, but I'm really glad to know the efforts paid off somehow.

Double-face Beige Coat: United Arrows JP
Linen Blazer: Oversized Option
Top: Uniqlo
Pants: GRLFRND Denim
Snakeskin Booties: ATP
Bag: Meli Melo

Self-portraits

Outfit

December 08, 2018

Shearling Jacket: ASTR (similar option here)
Top: Pomelo
Olive Pants: JP Similar Style
Shoes: Common Projects
Bag: Chanel

Photo by Ryan C.

Outfit

December 24, 2018

Between the days or nights from Tokyo back to New York, I ended up catching the flu straight off the plane and was pretty much sick for as long as I could remember for the remainder of 2018. I even stayed home on Christmas because I just felt that crappy. Don't let this make-up filled face fool you. I was definitely dying inside.

Despite 2018 being a rollercoaster of a year, I did end it feeling quite fulfilled. Something about the balance of both the good and the bad made me overwhelmed with gushing feelings that everything is going to be alright. And there's so much in-stored for 2019.

Travel

New York

And while the trip back home was short, it was definitely sweet. Getting to see so many of my closest and dearest friends from near and far in the tight timeframe that I was back for made me realized how lucky I am to be surrounded by all of them. I'm more of an underachiever, so I honestly always thought I had like 5 friends - but a whole month back and I still couldn't catch up with a few, so that made it very clear that my calculations were totally wrong, in the best way possible.

As I looked out my window seat, ascending out of NYC, I realized something that will always keep me at ease. And that's: 'Home is just where everyone I love is.'

Shearling Coat: ASTR ('One Shearling Jacket, Two Different Outfits')
Top: Cecilie Copenhagen
Boyfriend Denim: AGOLDE
Shoes: Common Projects
Bag: Meli Melo

Photo by Zoe Y.

Outfit

December 30, 2018

Jacket: Mute by JL (Mansur Gavriel)
Camel Knit: Aritzia
Pants: AGOLDE
Shoes: Beige Pointed Flats
Bag: Mon-Purse

Photo by Hardy T.

Wearing

All pieces worn in this post

Here goes nothing for 2019.

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Take Your Time / 112018

If you read my 'Onjuku' post last month, then you'll probably already know why 'Take Your Time' is the title for November's super post. I admit I've been quite slacking on the last few monthly posts. This happens a lot. I always start off super strong, and somewhat doze off into a state of 'whatever'. It's something that I've realized but never really got time to actually confront and fix. It's not 2019 yet, but maybe that should be my one serious resolution for next year.

With that said, I'll take you right into all of the outfits that I wore this month. I'll also drop a few hints on what's on my wishlist for the holidays and share a few pieces I picked up during the sales period as well.

Outfit

November 6, 2018

Top: Acne Studios
Pants: AGOLDE Cropped Denim
Shoes: ATP
Bag: Chanel

Self-Portraits

Added To Cart

Winter Essentials

As you might have figured it out - shopping in Tokyo can be a little complicated since I still want to be able to purchase more global brands. Shopbop has been a site that has been coming in clutch for me, and now they're also available via Amazon (allowing me to use my prime perks for even faster shipping). I've always been a big fan of the brands that Shopbop curates, and it's great to know it's even more accessible now.

Below are some pieces that I picked up recently for winter, and you can now get them via Shopbop's Boutique on Amazon too.

Outfit

November 13, 2018

Hunter Green Sweater: Uniqlo
Top: Uniqlo
Pants: AGOLDE (similar)
Shoes: Common Projects
Bag: JW Anderson Velvet Pierce Mini

Self-Portraits

Outfit

November 16, 2018

Jacket: MOONTAN Oversized Denim Jacket via W Concept
Top: Tularosa
Pants: AGOLDE Cropped Jeans
Shoes: Common Projects
Scarf: Acne Studios
Bag: Loewe

Photo by Shun S.

Outfit

November 19, 2018

Shearling Jacket: ASTR The Label
Crewneck Sweater: old (new version here)
Satin Skirt: Pixie Market
Shoes: Grey OTK boots
Bag: Chanel
Earrings: Similar

Photo by Shun S.

Outfit

November 22, 2018

Top: Acne Studios similar options here
Pants: AGOLDE
Shoes: Nicholas Kirkwoods
Bag: Staud Clothing PVC Bag with Chanel WOC

Self-portraits

Travel

Onjuku Beach, Chiba, Tokyo
November 24-25, 2018

Without a doubt, this trip I took together with Shun this past month to Onjuku was much needed. It was peaceful yet lively. It gave me an ease of being at the beach in the middle of the winter without being uncomfortably cold. I know it's weird, but honestly, it's worth a stay if you're looking for something a little different to do in Japan.

Top: Uniqlo
Pants: GRLFRND Denim similar here

Self-portraits

Wearing

All pieces in this post

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