Archive for 2022

Hey guys!

There's a new Singapore film out in theatres! The trailer looked fun and I wanted to #supportlocal so we went on the 'official' first day! (27 October)

There were sneak peeks on 21-24 too.

Movie name: Ajoomma 花路阿朱妈 아줌마
Director: He Shuming
Duration: 90 minutes

What's it about: Singapore Auntie goes on a wild ride in Korea when she is accidentally left behind by her tour group. With language barriers and no phone, can she find her way back?

Themes: Family, Love, Loss, Hope

SG Rating: NC16? Why?
NC16 (No Children under 16) was introduced to protect children from viewing films thematically unsuitable for them

Violence? On a scale of 1-10 Marvel is like at a 7 and this is maybe like a 2.5.

SLIGHT SPOILER>>>>>
I suppose the NC16 is tagged on because of the LGBT suggestion, which was portrayed SO GENTLY in the film. Help la.

Just want to say I appreciated the Pink Dot lanyard that appeared on screen for like 2 seconds. Haha.

END SPOILER>>>>>>→

More about the movie premise...

Veteran actress Hong Huifang plays her role as an auntie that loves k-drama with gusto. She enthusiastically prepares for a trip to Korea with her son, Sam. However, Sam (played by Shane Pow) pangsehs her last minute and the trip seems to be cancelled, throwing Auntie into a spiral of deep disappointment.

The light goes out of her eyes and she resigns herself to the fact that she would not be going to Korea.

But a phone call from the tour agency the night before the flight changes everything.

As the Singaporean mentality goes, Auntie did not want to squander the trip to Korea as there would be no refund.Therefore, she bites the bullet and embarks on a 'solo' trip to Korea!

Upon touchdown in Korea, Auntie meets our charismatic and exhausted tour guide, Kwon Woo.

Cue the start of the adventure!

She meets kindred spirits and goes on a journey of a lifetime. I'll stop talking here because there are bound to be spoilers if I go on.

The Review
(My thoughts and humble opinions)

On Singapore

As a Singaporean, some scenes extremely relatable. The language used, the mannerisms and dialogue of the aunties make you go: Oh! This is just like someone I know! So real and relatable! I feel 'seen'! This is representation on the cinematic screen. (*Not TV. I'm not counting Singapore TV dramas, sorry.)

This film felt very Singaporean, even though most of the adventure transpires in Korea. It shows an average Singaporean auntie navigating life overseas - our 'bilingualism' and captures subtle things like the way we say 'thankKEW'.

As for its place in (recent) Singapore film, the 'heartland' Singapore here is very different from the glitzy Singapore portrayed in say Crazy Rich Asians. It is also more of a light-hearted take on Singapore as compared to some of the heavier films ('15' by Royston Tan, 'Apprentice' by Boo Junfeng), or depressing ones like 'Ilo Ilo'. I thought it was a nice refined addition to the comedy genre in Singapore, which is usually loud and garish.

On all counts, it's an encouraging venture and I hope Singapore film continues to find its voice, develop and continuing growing!

Plot wise,

I felt like the film kinds of oscillates between loss and hope a lot. There is no overbearing sadness or extreme happiness or release. Feels very Asian and realistic to me actually. Like how an Asian mother shows you love by cooking something you enjoy. Or instead of telling you that they love you as you hurry to your flight, they tell you to call when you have arrived at the place instead.

Parents are happy that you grew up, but at the same time are also sad that you grew up.

There were plenty of light hearted moments and language related humor, one exciting action scene and one 'beautiful' scene.

Mostly it felt like a slice of life movie that manages to move at a steady pace so it does not bore the viewer. Maybe the pace was largely due to the work of Anthony Chen (Wet Season and Ilo Ilo)?

Extra notes:

There are some things I would have liked to know more about, like what happened to the tour guide. It felt abrupt and I wished we learned more about him! His story feels a bit underdeveloped.
I appreciated that there was no forced romance or magic silver bullet though. Because that's life!
I would also like to learn more about the production process, especially about the budget, which seems quite large!!! 😂

Overall,

Ajoomma gets a 4/5 stars from me.

It doesn't knock your socks off and serve you some huge revelation, but this sweet movie definitely warms the heart and reminds you to love your family and be kind to all.

Watch the trailer:

Ajoomma has also been nominated for a bunch of film awards, as well as the Golden Horse 'LEADING FEMALE ACTRESS' for Hong Huifang. Props to her!

The cast from the Korean side is also star studded. Fans of Hometown Cha cha cha and Hotel Del Luna will be delighted to see familiar faces. (Don't worry- even if you're not a k-drama addict, you can still enjoy the show! I recognised nobody lmao but it didn't affect anything at all.)

Ajoomma is out in theatres now! Tell me how you felt about the movie in the comments!

Love,

Skye

P.S. If you've arrived on this page because you just watched the movie, here are some extra clips and interviews to enjoy.

Hey guys, just want to pop in and share a book I just borrowed yesterday on Libby.

Letters of Note - Compiled by Shaun Usher

This book is about 'correspondence deserving of a wider audience'. It is a wonderful collection, ranging from the Queen's letter to Eisenhower about a recipe of drop scones that serve 16 people, heartbreaking letters before imminent death (execution, suicide, war defeat, expedition dangers, or kamikaze), to absolutely motivating ones about pursuing one's art.

There are also letters about race ('IS IT A DISGRACE TO BE BORN A CHINESE' where a mother writes in to the school which refused to enrol her Chinese daughter) and slavery ('TO MY OLD MASTER' where a former slave writes back to his master who asks him to return and work for him after they are freed. The letters reflect the realities of the time period.

Here are some images from the book. I like how some of these include scans of the original handwritten letters, as well as drawings. Handwritten letters really hit different!

A creepy letter from Jack the Ripper, which came with a package of half a kidney preserved in wine. Ew...

I found this letter, 'SWEETHEART COME' very heartbreaking.

These love letters were also very heartwrenching.

'I LOVE MY WIFE, MY WIFE IS DEAD' where the writer writes to his dead wife.
'I CAN'T FIGHT ANY LONGER' a last letter from Virginia Woolf to her husband

'MY MUSE IS NOT A HORSE' by Nick Cave to MTV, writing in to ask respectfully to be withdrawn from the BEST MALE ARTIST category.

Other letters include heartwarming ones like a reply from Roald Dahl to a child who sent him her 'dream in a bottle' just like in BFG. ('THANK YOU FOR THE DREAM')

Humorous, light-hearted and witty letters abound too, like the one from Peanuts creator Charles M Schulz to a reader who wanted him to get rid of one of the new characters ('THE AX'), as well as 'DON'T TOUCH HIS HAIR' where three Elvis Presley fans write in to the military to beg them not to cut Elvis' famous hair when he joined the army.

'WHY EXPLORE SPACE' is a reply from the Director of Science at NASA to a Zambia-based nun who asked: "How could you possibly suggest spending billions of dollars on a project (piloted mission to Mars) at a time when so many children were starving here on earth?" His response is very passionate and goes along the line of how the advance of science can bring about more change to the world. While a space mission will not directly improve the hunger situation, the high visibility of the project can bring about opportunities for science due to increased national budget, artificial Earth satellites can help with agriculture*, and also draw more brains and minds to the cause of science.

*Also: Is the hunger problem due to resource production or resource distribution? What can money do?Which is better in the long term?

There are 125 letters in this compilation and I look forward to reading them all. In fact, I'll write some letters of my own too, just like I used to.

I really recommend this! Available on Libby.

Love,

Skye

P.S. HELP! I really do not know what to read next anymore... I think I need a visit to the physical library to browse more effectively. Book recommendations are welcome and very much appreciated.

Hello there!

I hope this list of busking equipment will provide a point of reference for you and be useful in helping you decide what kind of equipment to get when you start busking :)

Things to note:

I am a busker that sings and plays acoustic guitar, so this list may be more relevant to musician buskers.
This post will also not cover instruments.
I have added and removed items, tweaking my set-up over 30 busking sessions. This list is not about 'the best busking equipment ever' but more of just sharing what I use and what works for me. I've also provided some alternative items that are used by my fellow buskers.
This post is an updated and more comprehensive equipment guide to my other post, Busking in Singapore.

Here we go!

Basic Gear:

1. Speaker/Amplifier

I bought my Roland Cube Street Ex for about $680 from Swee Lee back in 2017. The reach of the sound is really good!

The Cube Street Ex also sounds great indoors with minimal tweaking of EQ too. I also received feedback from a client that the sound quality is much more superior than the smaller Roland Street Cube.

2. Mic

Got a Shure SM58 microphone from Luther Music (Cityhall, Peninsula Shopping Centre). It retails at $149 now.

If you like to move freely while performing, consider going wireless like BuskingRobin!

Photo courtesy of Robin

He is using the Samson XPDm Headset Digital Wireless System from City Music. Being wireless means you can interact more with your audience and makes your set extra fun and lively.

See Robin in action in his videos on Tiktok at @buskingrobin!

3. Mic Stand

I got my Bespeco mic stand at Luther Music too! It is sturdy and I have zero complaints.

4. Music Stand

I used to have a flimsy music stand which could not withstand the wind at all. Now I have a sturdy one with a full desk (right image) that I bought off Qoo10. However, it takes up quite a bit of packing space.

You can also consider this type of compact music stand where the desk surface can be folded. This way you don't compromise on surface space and sturdiness. Super space saving and smart.

Images from themusiscstand.com

5. Rechargeable Batteries
I use Eneloop batteries. I believe you can get rechargeable batteries from Ikea too. Some buskers also use Amazon Basics and Energiser (Rechargable).

My dad told me to mark the batteries and try to use them as a set.

💡TIP: Always fully charge your batteries before a show. Sometimes I only busk for 1h~ and the Cube tells me I have more than half of battery juice left. However, the next time I use it, the sound quality drops a lot. So much for not wanting to be wasteful. I learned this the hard way!

6. Charger for batteries

My old Nitecore charger gave out, so I purchased a new one that costs about $10-20 from Shopee. I couldn't find the seller I bought from, but my new unit looks like this.

The display sometime goes out but it charges batteries fine so far. The Cube Ex uses 8 batteries so this is very time saving and convenient for me, as compare to a 4 battery unit.

You can also try the Eneloop 4 AA Battery Charger from Shopee. I heard that it charges super fast!

7. Torchlight or music light

I prefer using paper scores to an iPad, so I require a light to perform at night. Hence, I got this large torchlight off Lazada. The decision was made because the traditional music stand light was kind of expensive at $20-50.

In comparison, this $6.99 one is not only much cheaper but also has a magnetic base so it sticks to my metal music stand, which gives me more flexibility. It is charged by USB and has three modes of light! Bright, less bright, and a small light from the front.

💡TIP: I like to set up my music stand and torchlight first when unpacking my stuff in dark locations so I can see better.

8. A trolley

Some people use luggage to transport their gear but I opted for an APEX metal trolley from Qoo10. I think it cost me about $60 - 80, but has so far it has lasted me for 5 years! They also have plastic base options which is much lighter.

The metal trolley is quite heavy but it is hardy. Some people also use the more lightweight, foldable kind of trolleys, ranging from the ones you bring to the grocery store, flatbed trolleys and also wagon types from Decathlon. It's really up to you and it depends on the amount of gear you have to bring out.

If you are using a Cube Street Ex, it is also possible to fit it in a large luggage, as some buskers do.

9. Big Duffel bags

I have two hardy duffel bags bought from Lazada. I used to only have one and placed the music stand and mic stand separately, but having just two bags (+guitar) have really helped streamline the transportation and loading process since I usually cab to my locations due to all the barang barang I have.

My Medium Duffel (60 litres) and holds:

Cube Street Ex
Mic
Guitar cable
Mic cable

And my Large Duffel (120 litres) holds bulkier items:

Two light boxes
My A4 PayNow sign
Music Stand
Mic Stand

L sized duffel makes transporting bulky items easier!

*EXTRA* (Because I do livestreams)

Ring light tripod for phone
Streaming Banner
Streaming Tripod

10. Money box / QR option

When I first started out I used to use my guitar bag as a receptacle for tips. However, it's a bad idea because my guitar bag is shallow and floppy, which meant that money tended to fly away.

I decided to decorate a cardboard box instead! I made it as eye-catching as I could. This box is great because it is tall and can be dismantled easily. I use cable tape at the bottom to secure it when it's in use.

I also tape my busking card on one side since NAC stipulates that the card must be prominently displayed.

My colourful box!

Other choices: Apart from guitar bags, I have seen buskers use tissue boxes, plastic containers (like the ones used to store CNY goodies) or even foldable laundry bags.

I also highly recommend a QR or PayNow sign as a tips option as not everybody carries around loose cash. Here's my A4 sized PayNow sign in an Ikea photo frame.

Now that we have the technical essentials out of the way, it's time to get fancy.

1. Light Boxes
If you have a day job like me, chances are you usually only busk at night after office hours. Some busking locations are not very well lit, so light boxes are really useful if you want to get your brand name out there. After all, audiences want to know who you are.

I bought two from funkysg on Shopee. I remember that these used to cost like $40 ish a few years ago, but now they're only about $12-15! These also came with cute coloured emojis.

💡TIP: Each box comes with a set of alphabets, so two sets gives you more vowels etc which can be useful. In the event that you are still missing a letter or number, get a clear piece of hard plastic (say from battery packaging) and write your own missing letter with marker. Works in a pinch! To make it extra neat, just overlay your plastic on existing letters and trace it.

These light boxes can run on 6 AA batteries or be plugged in. I managed to get one of the boxes running on just 3 batteries, as 12 batteries + another 8 on the Cube is kind of annoying.

💡TIP: At first I thought these light boxes wouldn't need frequent changes of batteries, so I went to Valu$ and happily bought cheap Ever Ready batteries. Well, you probably guessed it. After one use all my 12 batteries were drained and felt strangely light. It was so bizarre. Lesson learnt. Use better batteries, and best if they are rechargeable.

2. Fairy lights

Once again, these pretty lights help to attract attention at night. If you place them on the ground, they help to demarcate your space. My fairy lights were a gift from a friend and run on USB! I connect them to a Xiaomi portable charger. There are many options, including colourful ones, available cheaply on Shopee. There are also soft wire types and plastic tubing types.

💡TIP: To keep your (soft wire) fairy lights organised and untangled, loop them around a piece of cardboard with small slits. It will save you a lot of time and pain when setting up.

Other cool set-ups and ideas I've seen on the streets:

A1 sized signboard
This is really useful in attracting eyeballs to your social media. Consider getting a sturdy tripod stand for this so it will not fly away.
PVC/ Canvas signboard

Photo courtesy of Firdaus

I really like @fyrdauzmacbeth's roll up banner!

I find this banner even better than the A1 foam board because it can be stored easily. You can hang it on your mic stand or music stand - like Firdaus does! A big plus is that it will not threaten to bend and break like foam boards, and is so much more lightweight than whiteboards, easels or chalkboards too!
Also, check out Jeremy Han's (@mrjemhan) all-in-one busking setup with a mic stand, iPad holder and even a water bottle holder! Absolutely fantastic.

Photo courtesy of Jeremy

💡TIP: The more compact your equipment is, the better. It also means you can take public transport too (best during non-peak hours). I don't think large trolleys like mine are allowed up the MRT or bus.

Signing off...

I hope this guide was useful in helping you think about your busking set-up. Remember, this list is just a guide and there are still plenty of wonderful ideas and options out there. All the best in your busking journey!

Do you have a busking set-up you'll like to share? Leave a comment below!

Love,

Skye

Update 2023: I have since opted to travel lighter and have switched to an ipad holder as well as a large 28inch luggage, doing away with the music stand and metal trolley. This new travel set-up helps me get onto cabs or public transport more easily as there are less loose pieces to move around. Definitely more efficient in both time and money.

Hey guys!

My post "Busking in Singapore" was written in 2018, and I think it's time to give it a little update since there has been quite a few changes to the busking application process.

What has changed

Busking activities came to a halt as with many other activities during the COVID-19 period. In March 2022, busking activities finally resumed. A new busking e-service was launched by the NAC.

Previously, buskers had to fill out a form where they chose their top 8 locations from a list of about 115 locations island wide. You would then be assigned 5 for the whole year.

My 8 locations in my first ever busking application back in 2017.

Therefore, now you do not need to submit this 8 locations form!

Application Process (2022)

Here's a detailed timeline for your reference.

8 steps to apply or renew your busking card:

1. Submit your application
Download and submit your application form via email to Aux Media, the company that NAC engages to manage busking matters in Singapore. Prepare a 400x514 pixels passport photo and indicate your preferred audition time slot (9am-12pm, 12-3pm or 3-6pm). Auditions are usually held in January, April, July and December.

Make sure to submit your application before the deadline.

2. Receive acknowledgement and details
Receive confirmation, pre-audition and audition details via email from Aux. If you did not receive any email, chances are that they may have missed your application.

3. Attend the pre-audition briefing
This is compulsory. Mine was held online via Zoom. The pre-audition usually falls on a Saturday morning, at about 10-11am.

4. Confirm time slots
Confirm audition time slots with Aux via email. They will also send you a 'Checklist for Buskers' PDF via WhatsApp which covers eligibility and reminds you of what to bring.

5. Go for your audition
The audition is held at the Drama Centre at the National Library at Victoria Street. Make sure to bring all your gear. For April 2022, the auditions were split into two days due to the large volume of applicants. (As of October 2022, audition registration is at full capacity for January 2023...)

6. Wait for your results.
My audition was on 19 April 2022 (first day of auditions), and I received results a week later on 27 April 2022 via WhatsApp.

7. Collect your card
Collect your card from the Aux Media office near Kallang MRT.
Note: We received notification on 29 April to collect the card on 30 April. It's super short notice but probably due to the validity of the cards that start on 1st May.

8. You're legally allowed to busk now!
With your new card, you are ready to busk! But only if you manage to book a slot...

Which brings us to the next step:

Using the NAC Busking E-portal

After you pass the audition, NAC will email you an 'E-Portal Service User Guide' in PDF form. This guide will show you how to use the website to access and make bookings, as well as how to update your profile page.

However, I have some three extra tips for you that are not touched on.

1. Booking Tips

The booking system is based on speed. In other words, fastest fingers first.

First, familiarise yourself with this schedule and add it to your reminders or calendar.

Sounds confusing?

Here's a visual that I hope is helpful for you!

On the 1st, you can book any date from the 1st to the end of the month. However, usually dates 1-14 are already booked out by the previous cycle of the 15th. Essentially you will be booking dates 15-31, assuming you are going for popular spots.

For illustration purposes, on the 1st of May, you usually want to book slots from 15-31 May.

Similarly, on every 15th you can book any date from 15-15 of the following month. Since we already booked dates 15-31 the previous cycle, essentially you are booking for 1-15 of the following month.

Again, this means on 15 May, you want to book slots from 1-15 June.

Hope that makes sense!

Secondly, make a note of when/where you want to busk because you need to click fast. Sometimes the website lags and the new slots are not shown too. Hit refresh when this happens. You lose maybe a minute or so but that beats the page not loading at all.

When the website finally loads, chances are that people may have already taken your preferred slot as the website struggles to cope with the sudden influx of logins at 9am. Be prepared for this and go immediately for your other choices. No time to hesitate!

The new booking process does take away a lot of spontaneity in busking but I guess it's a trade off for certainty of having your spot when you arrive.

Once you're done, you can try to ballot for some popular spots like Wisma Atria or Ngee Ann City.

Take note that the ballot closes in 3 days, so make sure to submit before then.

2. For your profile picture, upload a square image of maximum size 1MB.

If not, you will end up with an ugly, stretched picture.

That's much better!

I also recommend that you fill out your bio and social media urls, like so.

Once completed, the icons will appear under your bio. Do check your urls to see if they work properly.

For reference, you can check out my full profile and schedule.

3. Get connected!

Sometimes you may encounter a busker specific problem that you don't know how to solve. For example, how much to charge for a paid gig? Should you accept an offer that does not pay a cent? Often, the best answers come from the busking community itself.

Get connected with other buskers in the SINGAPORE BUSKERS WhatsApp group, join the Facebook community or check out the Buskers' Association.

If connecting digitally is not your thing, just say hello to other buskers on the street! Most of us are friendly :)

For me, the busking group has really helped me out as veterans share their tips, as well as vital information like which locations are unavailable (due to pasar malams or shopping mall events etc) that the official channel does not inform us about. We also discuss other matters pertaining to busking in Singapore.

Well, that's all from me. Wishing you all the best in your busking journey!

Love,

Skye

Course name: Seth Godin's Freelancer Course (Udemy)

Course duration: 5 hours

Summary: Seth Godin's course gives short and snappy advice about freelancing and how to make yourself unique and valuable. Each video is about 2 minutes. Since I watch my courses on 2x speed, I completed the 5h course in 2.5h.

Why I enrolled in this course

I am self-employed and can be considered a freelancer. I have been wanting to expand my horizons a bit and try new ventures so I enrolled in this course for some inspiration and guidance.

About the course instructor

I have read books by Seth Godin before (Linchpin, The Icarus Deception, Small Is the New Big) and am used to how he dispenses marketing advice (or quotes) in small snippets.

However, he clearly shines on video!

On screen, Godin is charismatic and illustrates his points clearly and succinctly. Actually, I think his messages are better conveyed here rather than his books. They feel way more natural and believable.

Real world examples that make you feel inspired

There were plenty of real world examples that also led me to think about similar people in my own country and industry. Previously I have been doing some preliminary but shallow research on successful people I thought I could learn from, but now I can more confidently identify the strategies they use.

I especially like Section 9: Reputation, where he shares examples of a seaweed harvester, a testimonial book and also other examples of how people differentiated themselves by literally daring to be different.

Seth Godin makes things sound so straightforward and simple. It makes you want to jump up and apply what you have learnt at that very instant. If I were a clogged drain, I feel like I have been unclogged and ideas flow freely in me now. All it takes is a little cleanse. 🤣

I love the age of online courses

Once again, gotta thank Singapore's National Library Board for offering us a free Udemy subscription. I have been milking it as much as I can! Learning truly gives me a lot of joy.

Completed Udemy Courses so far (2022): 2

1.SEO Training From An SEO Agency Owner: Step By Step Process To Rank #1 on Google. Keyword Research, Technical SEO & More

2. Seth Godin's Freelancer Course

Incomplete:

1. Javascript course (only 25% done)

This is part 2 of my Udemy blog posts. Subscribe by email to follow me on my journey of trying new courses!

Love,

Skye

Photo by Ben Kolde on Unsplash

Hey guys!

It's nearly the end of the year and as things wind down, I took the time to review what I've accomplished so far.

I had a couple of goals this year, and one of them is to complete more online courses.

I bought 3 art courses off the Domestika website and completed 2 so far (Kawaii Illustration and The Art of Sketching). I also enrolled in many courses on NLB's Udemy (like coding) but haven't managed to complete them.

With about ~2 more months till the end of 2022, I decided to rev up the engine and put in more effort! After all, if I can watch 10 hours of Bling Empire, I can definitely spend 10-14 hours on a SEO course. (Also, I kind of want to attend a rich person's lavish party some day. Imagine the crazy door gifts and fancy food!)

So far things have been good! It's not like I have zero idea on SEO so I am able to watch the course at 1.75 speed. My progress is 51/143 sections now! Not bad since I just started two days ago.

Research and preparation is truly king. For best results and optimisation, it is really clever and efficient to do your research. Of course creation is important but it is also important to create meaningful things. Currently my blog and IG blog account are still suffering from what I call 'flip-flop' syndrome, which is basically where I flip flop between topics and lump them all under the category 'lifestyle'.

I just can't seem to help it - I just have so many interests! One day I want to talk about food, and another day I just want to talk about some new anime or snack I discovered. The only common thread is well, me.

I am fully aware however that sticking to a genre or theme would be vastly more efficient. So... I'll try to streamline things as we go along! Over the years I have done less movie reviews and recaps and have done a whole load of food and restaurant reviews. As my interests change over the years I think that the focus of the blog also changes. At least we're flexible, I guess? Haha.

I'm still figuring things out! I think I just need to be brave and commit to just one or two main topics for the blog.

A revamp is in order!!

Meanwhile, I hope you guys have been well. Take care and I'll write soon! (Especially if I were to report that I have finished my SEO course. Perhaps after that I'll do more art/illustration courses and also find some courage and motivation to complete my coding course.)

Love,

Skye

Hey guys!

Wow, I'm checking in real late this Wednesday (typing this at 11.26pm).

I've been pretty busy what with work and almost weekly performances! As the saying goes, 台上一分钟，台下十年功 (Chinese proverb: one minute on stage requires the practice of ten years off stage). Though not very obvious or visible, a whole lot of preparation goes into work, as well as my live performances! Glad to say that there is indeed improvement over time. The progress definitely heartens me and I will continue to strive forward :)

In other news~!

In these recent months I have (yet) another new interest.

It's...

make up!

*gasp*

As a teen I have tried basics like concealers, eyeliners (lol the winged cat eye period) and some mascara. Makeup isn't something I was keen about, though I probably needed to learn it to hide my terrible eye circles. (I received once concealer as a present for Christmas, guys.)

Recently, however, I have changed my perception of make up and find it to be fun rather than a chore (or a bore.) I now feel more interested and motivated to master techniques!

Why, you may wonder? What sparked the change?

As with many of my hobbies and interests, it stemmed from a comic! More specifically, a webtoon.

Webtoons are basically comics but in a scroll-down style, rather than in pages like manga. They're really popular in Korea and many drama series are based on them!

From what I understand, creators upload weekly and subscribers can sometimes pay to see the next episode earlier, or unlock more episodes on the app. So far I've only read one webtoon but from what I observed, the art style and quality varies wildly. Some research also told me that while manga artists typically have a whole team of assistants and publishers, webtoon creators tend to be more of the amateur type that upload works on their own. Also, webtoons tend to be coloured but manga is still by and large mostly black and white, disregarding special occasions.

So I visited the website and clicked on one of the top webtoons called True Beauty by Yaongyi because I vibed with the art style. Here it is!

What's it about: True Beauty is about a girl transforming her life with make up. As you can see, there is also a love triangle.

😂

There are about 211+++ webtoon episodes available now!

What I LOVED about the webtoon:

1. RELATABLE! SO RELATABLE!

Like many other readers, I saw myself in the main character and grew to love her story. The power of representation is real.

Dozing off in class? All my teachers told me off. In hindsight I really should have slept earlier on school days...

I literally look like Jugyeong without makeup. Pimples, thick black glasses and all. LMAO. The potato life is very relatable to me. I love it. I feel very seen. HAHA

2. The MEME faces in the comic are EXQUISITE.

I also loved all the fake names like "BALANCIAGE" and "YOOTUBE".

There's also "BTS".

3. The fashion and art style is pretty!

The last memorable fashionable comic I read was Paradise Kiss and Nana! Definitely digging the art. Sorry, forgot to screenshot these and am too lazy to scroll through 211 episodes...

4. It inspired me to approach makeup and learn more about it.

Got carried away with the webtoon and forgot to tell you guys about the makeup aspect. The MC uses makeup and 'teaches' us little tips and tricks along the way. However, I think her passion for makeup was the main factor that led to the change in my perception of it. She is always excited about new products and new ways of applying makeup, to the point that she wants to study makeup and work professionally as a makeup artist (includes special effects like zombie makeup!)

It seemed kind of fun so I tried it too.

So I went to the stores and did some swatches to find possible color matches for my skin (still haven't found the right shade, wish I have a beauty influencer/YouTube friend that could help), and bought some new concealer and primer. The primer is amazing! It really makes all the difference in giving a smoother look.

My mum and sister also gave me some cushion foundations, eyeshadows and lipsticks to try. I also experimented with hair curling and stuff since we're in this 'beauty phase'.

I think learning how to do makeup and basically groom yourself is a pretty useful skill set to have, especially when you need to be presentable, like at work, or for me, when I need to be in front of audiences. As this age I want to look less like a messy troll and more presentable. We want to show our best sides~! Plus, age isn't on our side and I have to start doing some skincare...

So anyway this 'soft' approach via the webtoon really inspired me to try out makeup and beauty related habits and products. Bear in mind that I am basically a potato and during the Covid circuit breaker period I even stopped using moisturiser which is considered the most basic of things in skincare.

While I don't foresee myself going down the dramatic makeup look route, learning the 'fresh and natural' looks appeal to me. I hope to achieve this goal!!!

Alright, I didn't make it in time for a Wednesday post after all, but wishing you guys a lovely week ahead!

Love,

Skye

P.S. What other webtoon should I read? True Beauty remains my one and only so far. (I have also watched live action and I love how the mullet looks on Seojun.)

😂

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