Mehndi- Henna Tattoos

It's Artisan's Week here at NTNU! The Art Department is doing henna tattoos (the process is more accurately called Mehndi) and just had to give it a try.

The whole process is very simple, henna paste is applied, then peeled off after it dries. It'll last for about two weeks~

So lovely~ It took about 20 minutes to do, and it was certainly worth the wait!

Here's me and the super nice art major that did the Mehndi for me.

Here's a before and after shot. It's a orange-ish brown at the moment (it's darkened somewhat since the photo was taken), and it's supposed to keep changing shades of brown before it fades.

Apparently this is a tradition brides in India. The bride wouldn't start doing household chores until after the design fades. So I'm vehemently refusing to take out the trash for two weeks! *Roommates send death-glares*

Happy Early Easter!

We had an Easter party in Freshmen English today! Professor Mary brought eggs for us to decorate! The last time I dyed an egg was back in elementary school (and even then the eggs were for the kindergarten kids), so it was so exciting for me!

Aren't they just beautiful? =D

This one is mine~ The egg is hard-boiled, so there's no blowing out the insides, and it's now in my stomach XDD

First Tour Guide Experience- Japanese Visiting Students

Earlier this year I received an email asking for volunteer guides to show the visitors from our sister school in Japan around Taipei. I was hesitant but decided to apply, half-thinking I probably would't be hired anyways. I was caught off guard when, a day after sending out the forms, that everyone who applied would most likely be hired. XD

I was sooo nervous! My hometown is Taichung, and really didn't know Taipei all that well yet. Plus I'm not so confident about my Japanese. The people from the travel agency assured us that we can speak English but I'm still nervous as hell.

I met the girls (and thankfully I got an all-girls group!) at the National Palace Museum. We threaded through packs and packs of Chinese tourists and just barely got a glimpse of that famous  Jadeite Cabbage everyone's lining up to see.

I remembered being able to look at in for quite a long while without craning around a bunch of people when I was little... it certainly isn't the case anymore.

Thankfully one girl in my group speaks both Chinese and English fluently (bless her!), so I didn't have that much trouble communicating with them. 

I was sad to hear that the girls have not enjoyed their meals so far on their trip to Taiwan. It's such a shame! I've always loved food here and from all my travelings, found Taiwanese cuisine to be the best ever and take great pride in it. Must say it's disappointing to see that their traveling agency decided to skimp on food. I had made a reservation for Cha For Tea, a chain tea shop/restaurant. I had thought that the set meal might be a bit much for a high school girl, but they all ordered a set each! (Good gracious have they starved you all before? XD) I think they enjoyed the meal (lets out relieved breath)

I got them all to sign my planner~ (Ignore the stamps on the bottom, I got them on another trip XD)

After lunch we headed to Ximen. 

From the left: Me, Risa, Komeko, Mami, Tong, and Maki =)

Here's us in front of the Ximen Red House. It's a historical building now used for performances, displays, and shops of the most adorable labels.

This is Miho-chan, who took the picture above, otherwise known as Pochi for her absolute adorableness.

Their report topic for this trip is Taiwan's society. The girls designed a questionnaire, and we spent the better part of the afternoon getting people on the street to fill them out. (I did one too! ^^)

Afterwards we did a bit of shopping, then headed back to the hotel for the banquet. (All you can eat Haagen Daz!!! Yum!)

And look what the girls got me!!! 

 From the left is Maki, Risa, Komeko, and Pochi~ <3

Tong gave an impressive speech that she came up with under very short notice. So proud of her!

I tried to make small talk with super broken Japanese (hides face). Komeko (oh bless her adorable soul!!) asked me what my dream is, to which I replied is to become a writer. When she heard that I want to write fantasy novels she suddenly became very excited and the only word I can distinguish is 'ring'.

"...Lord of the Rings?"

This prompted a lot of nods. (Have I mentioned how absolutely adorable this girls is!?)

"Hobbit?"

More nods. I begin to fear that her head will fall off.

"...Martin Freeman?"

To which her face reddened instantly!! 

"Sherlock? Cumberbatch?"

I have myself a fellow Sherlockian and I didn't realize it!! (bangs head against wall) Gathering courage, I pointed to myself. 

"Fujoshi."

To which she nodded furiously and pointed to herself as well. 

And guess what? Tong and Risa are fujoshi too! And we all like pretty much the same pairings!

Holy crap I've been among my kind and it took me whole day to notice!!! I am such an idiot!! I was asked what manga I liked, and I answered "One Piece" because it's a 'safe' answer. Why didn't I pick up the signs!!!? They all knew what a Homoo is when they saw it on my cell phone, after all! I should have just gone all out and answered Sekaiichi Hatsukoi! 

Oh Komeko you are so cute!!! Thank you for asking me about  my dream! =)

I'm so glad I left my twitter and facebook, hope we keep in touch!

I had so much fun, hope they did too, and I really hope that I did Taiwan justice. Hopefully I can visit them in Japan one day, and that by then my Japanese will be decent enough to have long conversations with them!

Sisterhood of the Skirts Six Step Away

I went shopping with my dear friend and roommate Esther the other day. We saw these gorgeous long skirts and just had to get it.

Oh and I just have to mention how it was the first time I successfully bargained with the vendor! The price tag read 990NT, and we got them at 800NT each. I don't know if we got a bargain or not, but I'm very proud to have negotiated for a better price at all.

Mine is the one on the left. Though we agree that we can switch whenever we like.

Esther loves the series The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants, and we always joked that amongst ourselves, we lived like cavemen... so we dubbed this Sisterhood of the Skirts Six Steps Away (our beds and desks are approximately six steps apart), and came up with a few rules:

1.) Don't pick your nose when wearing the skirt (or EVER, really XD)
2.) Don't be a caveman
3.) Don't hand-wash the skirt (this is actually a must-do, or so the vendor says)
4.) Do swearing while wearing the skirt
5.) Be a girl, not a bitch
6.) Love your skirt, love your sister

I foresee instances of us stepping out of the skirt in a hurry in order to shout a swearword......

Riddle Me This- Riddle 2

     Another real-life escape game!
   
     Last year I went to RMT workshop's series of escape games. The plot is set in the future, where we're all doomed for some reason unless we have a certain drug. The drug needed something called 'element T' to work, but the element no longer exists. In the past three games we found out about a professor's work on the drug and he evil schemes of the company the professor was in to control the world with drugs. We traveled back to the pass and acquired the mysterious element T, and solved the murder of the professor.
 
    This time, we're sneaking into the RMT company building, to make an antidote for the drug the company wants to use to control the world. Instead of simply looking around, clues are often given by characters we can engage. 80 minutes until time's up! The object is to escape with the remedy!

    I went with the group of people my friend and I met during an earlier escape game. We bonded very quickly and promised to go to every game together.
 
    W're the pink team!!

   My dear roommate Esther couldn't make it this time, so with us is my fellow nerd friend Glen and the lovely, possibly future roommate Lucy (six and third from the left respectively).

I love the added element of interaction with story characters. Certain clues can only be obtained if you approach the character in the right way.

There were all these secrets we had to uncover. Every character seems shrouded in mystery. And half way through the game a character dies!! (We were called into the bathroom and found him lying there. I almost screamed my head off XD)

We got to the final step, but we ran out of time. If only we had five more minutes! Out of the five groups participating in the challenge, only one group successfully escaped.

Oh well... there's another escape game at the end of this year. I'm sure we'll get out in time then!

Crochet Violets in Flowerpot

Today is the birthday of my lovely, wonderful freshman Eng. professor Mary~ I love her classes so much! (If you happen to be reading this, Happy Birthday!!! And I can't wait to take your American Lit. classes when they finally stop clashing with my schedules!!!)   

I remember surprise parties and pranks we did in high school whenever it's a teacher's birthday, and I would love to do that again, but I found out a bit too late, plus I don't want to fail the class XD 

I thought since my dear professor is getting a new office, some plants would make a nice office-warming/birthday gift.

A quick dive into my yarn stash gave me what I needed for the present I had in mind (thank goodness, since I'm fairly certain the craft shop nearby was closed then).

Picture is courtesy of  dear Professor Mary Goodwin <3

The pattern referenced can be found at Knits ~n~ Purls ~n~ More. I have a different hook size and not as much yarn as the pattern indicated, so I pretty much winged it after getting the gist of things (no surprise there really, since I'm always so faithful to patterns XDD).

They look so nice I think I'm going to make a whole bunch and line my windowsill! 

Project Preview~

    I'm working on a project involving lots of granny squares lately, I've run out of yarn though, so another big craft store shopping spree is due~ Here's what I have so far:

    Guess my love for the color purple is evident now XD
   
   

Friendship Bracelet

     I was shopping at a nearby craft store lately and I saw an array of embroidery threads. I suddenly have a flashback to the summer before 4th grade: I was in camp, and an instructor taught us kids to make colorful friendship bracelets with embroidery threads. I was enthralled and spend a huge chunk of the holidays making bracelets for everyone I know.
    Needless to say I bought some right away and immediately started knotting away~

   
      Aren't they beautiful!? I get a kick out of just looking at the colors together (❁´◡`❁)*✲ﾟ*

     I only remember a few basic patterns, but still, I had fun making them for my roommates.

     In elementary school, we tied the threads together and used masking tape to secure to the table as we worked, but now I prefer to measure twice the length of the thread needed, then fold in half so that there's a loop on top. This way, one could pin the bracelet to, say, one's jeans, with a safety pin and work on it anywhere, anytime. The loop also makes for a great way to tie the bracelet up.

    I'm thinking of doing Hogwarts colors next. Starting with Slytherin, since I'm a proud student of the Slytherin house on Pottermore! Lovely site, by the way, for those who don't know, you get to see what wand you get and everything! =)