Alexander Wang Pre-Fall 2016

Alexander Wang has always been, and always will be, my favorite fashion designer ever. I know that there are a ton of other amazing designers out there as well, but I can never find anyone with cooler designs that Alexander Wang's creations. His designs are always so up-my-alley and putting one of his pieces will make anyone feel instantly cool. His designs ooze laid-back with a lot of edge, perfect for those who don't really enjoy multiple splashes of color or weird shapes and graphics. For the Pre-Fall 2016 Collection, Alexander Wang created both very wearable and eye-catching pieces which had lots of silver metal details, unique cuts and a somewhat 90's vibe. Apparently, his inspiration didn't come from exotic, far away, dreamy lands, but from the people he sees around him in New York City. The street style in  New York city is composed of everything - from on-trend fashionistas to hobos - you could definitely get inspiration just by looking from the contrast and putting these different styles into one. For me, the outerwear and bags are just screaming to be bought. I am obsessed with the leopard print coat and the long green coat with the unique button details. The bags are perfect, without too many embellishments and the basic colors makes them easy to be paired with anything. However, my favorite piece has to be the simple, long, black dress with the metal details. He rarely creates dresses or gowns for evening wear, but when he does, they're absolute perfection.

(pictures are from VOGUE)

Winter Break Stories

I know I'm super late, but Happy New Year everyone! I feel a lot more positive about 2016 and I'm glad I'm finally leaving 2015 behind me. My holiday started on the 23rd of December and ended on the 6th of January. I'm currently working as a waitress in a Korean barbecue restaurant called "Kankokuen", and it gets extremely busy during the big holidays (i.e. Christmas and New Year's), so I spent most of my time working my ass off. I took a few days off my part-time job to watch Beppu's Fantasia Fireworks, which is sponsored by the whole Kyushu island. This big annual event is always crowded and totally romantic. The fireworks are huge and the food stalls on the beach are packed with a bajillion people from all over Kyushu island. I couldn't take a lot of pictures, mainly because I was holding a bag of cotton candy, a packet of takoyaki and one stick of grilled squid, while watching the fireworks.

Aside from watching the beautiful fireworks, my best friend and I also visited Oita city. Oita city is much more of a "city" than Beppu is, which makes it a great place to just hang out with friends. It's the closest city with a cinema, a legit shopping mall and a big arcade, and I love the Winter illumination they put up during the holiday season. The shopping mall is called JR Oita Amusement Plaza, because it's connected to the Oita station. We don't need to walk all that far to the shopping mall from the station and it's got enough shops, like H&M and UNIQLO, to satisfy APU International students, like me! My best friend and I visited H&M, ate at a Korean restaurant called "Usagi to Tora" and had delicious green tea parfait at "Nana's Green Tea". We also managed to find a way to go to the rooftop garden and kept it anti-mainstream (none of my other friends have been there, apparently). 

The green tea parfait I ordered was the "Gateau Chocolate Green Tea Parfait" which was around 1,000 yen (or around $10). It was gigantic and it - literally - had every type of dessert in it. A small wafer, whipped cream, ice cream, matcha pudding, matcha gateau, corn flakes, matcha syrup and cream. The calories and the money was definitely well worth it!

This was the rooftop garden. Aside from the shops, which meant to resemble Kyoto, there was a small pagoda and a mini train for children to ride on. I also found a small shrine at the edge of the rooftop garden. For your information, I was wearing an Avail coat, GU sweater, Uniqlo Jeans, Adidas Sneakers and an H&M Bag.