i've just spent over an hour reading my camera manual (first proper read since i bought it...) and some online tips on how to use the other functions.

i've always relied on using the AUTO function...but if i were to just rely on that function, why bother buying a camera with so many functions? might as well get one of those compact digicam where i can just point and shoot.

anyway, the good news is, i now know how to take a photo, focus on the object and have a blurred background. you know, like how the PROs do it! cant wait till tmr, when the sun's up...i'll go around my garden looking for insects and flowers to focus on! HAHAHA that's how lame i am :P

but...the bad news is, i still dont get the whole aperture, shutter speed, ISO and all that crap! i've read up about that so many times now, yet i still dont get it >"<

make up (eye) tutorial

as requested, here's the way *i* do my make-up :)

what you need *listed in chronological order*:

• foundation
• concealer
• eyeliner
• eyebrow pencil
• eye shadow
• mascara
  
• bronzer
• loose powder/ eye powder
• lip stick + lip gloss

foundation
i use Maybelline's pure. makeup. it is water-base, and has a 50% water formula, so basically your face will be shine free for the rest of the day (i can vouch for that!). it's one of the best liquid foundation i've ever used because of its shine free formula. usually when you use liquid foundation, your face becomes VERY shiny, and you feel like your skin's very heavy, but not with this. the 50% water formula also doesn't clog pores, so you can use this foundation as often as you want to.

apply a layer of foundation, and let it dry for a few seconds.
(photo from www.maybelline.com)

concealer

i use Red Earth's all round concealer. it has 4 colour corrective cream shades so you can use different shades for different purposes. i usually blend the bottom two shades (yellow and brown) to cover up my pimple scars and the green shade for big fat red pimples. it does quite a good job in covering my pimple scars :)

blend and apply the concealer as needed. then re-apply another layer of foundation.
(photo from www.redearth.com)

eyeliner

once again, Maybelline's expert eyes defining liner is my personal favourite. it costs around nz$21, which i think is quite reasonable. it doesnt smudge easily, unlike my other eye-liners, and it's crayon like liner makes lining something everyone can do. it has an in-built sharpener, and a smudger at the other end.

i use a grey shade, because i find black too bold for me. grey creates a soft and "just nice" look. use the eyeliner on your upper lid and on your lower lid. make it as thick as you want, or as thin as you want. suit yourself :)
(photo from www.maybelline.com)


compare my right eye and my left eye. the right eye looks bigger after using the eyeliner while the other eye just looks boring and tired!

eyebrow pencil

this is not a MUST have, but it does pay to have it at times (ie: when you screw up when plucking your eyebrows!).

colour lightly according to the shape of your eyebrows to make them look better :)

eye shadow




i use the eye-shadows from my Australis kit, purchased for nz$22! it has about 30 shades of eye-shadows, assorted lip stick colours, bronzer, blushes, and pressed powder. it also comes with an assortment of brushes, as well as eyeliner, liquid eyeliner, mascara and a lip liner.

i use the bronze colour, 2nd row up from the bottom on the far right. it gives you the smokey eyes, without making you look like you've been black-eyed. to achieve the smokey eye look:



use a small brush, and make it moist. i usually wet a small piece of facial cotton, and dab the brush on it until the brush is moist. take a little of whatever eye shadow shade you want, and start brushing lightly on your eyes (from the top of your eye-lid fold). use as much as you want, and then move on to the lower lid of your eyes. i usually smudge a little of the eye shadow towards the outer end of my eyes.

once you're done with that, use an eye-shadow applicator and start brushing some eye shadow (very little) from the bottom of your brow(at the end) right down to your eye. if you've applied a wee bit too much, i suggest you to use a finger and rub it off gently.





mascara

i use Maybelline's XXL Volume and Length mascara. it has 2 sides. the white tip has this magic thing which makes your eye-lashes look super long and the black tip...well, it does what a mascara is meant to do!

apply the first layer using the white tip, and let it dry. then apply using the black tip. i usually apply 1-2 layers.

(photo from www.maybelline.com)


bronzer

i dont like using blusher, because it gives me an artificial looking rosy cheeks, but bronzer does the trick. it gives you a nice "off the beach", glowing look. i use a cheap-o bronzer which i got from Supre, but it does quite a good job. i think i paid about nz$8 for it, or less. use a bigger brush, and apply it from the bottom of your cheeks and then brush the remaining of the bronzer around your face.

loose powder/ pressed powder

i use the pressed powder from my Australis make up kit and brush it around my face and eyes to prevent all the make up from running or smudging.

lip stick & lip gloss

once again, i'm not a fan of lip stick so i usually just go with a lip gloss. Lancome's juicy tube is a good candidate. it's ultra shiny and lasts quite long. and it comes in really yummy flavours! i have the melon flavour, and it is absolutely yummy-licious!

(photo from www.lancome.co.uk)



handy tips:

• use a moist brush to apply eye shadow and this will prevent the eye shadow from falling all over your eye lashes and face. and it'll also help the eye shadow to last longer! mine didn't smudge even though it was on my face for about 10 hours!
• when applying mascara, let the first coat dry before applying the second coat. once the coats are dry and you find lumps on it, use your fingers to remove the lumps.
• i dont like the sticky yucky feeling of lip gloss on my lips, so i'll usually use a lip balm before using a lip gloss. nivea's lip balms are good!

______________________________________________________

so, how many of you found that useful? i am honestly a total n00b when it comes to make up, so hopefully i didnt sound like a total idiot trying to teach people! HAHAHAHA

w00pw00p!

omg!

i got 10/10 for my essay in the biosci352 test! i think that was the question on campylobacter!

hahahaha!

omg omg omg!!

*happyyyyyy*

that makes up for the badly done biosci 203 test :p at least i know what to concentrate in now!

it's disturbing..

when a man who has a 11 y/o daughter flirts with you....it really is!

there's this guy right, he comes in to swim heaps. and if he's not swimming, he'll be there to support his daughter in her swimming competition. now, i really like his daughter coz she's only 11, but she can swim SO well. and she's gorgeous too!

so today, he came in to swim by himself, and he asked "those 2 girls that come in with you, are they your daughter................?"

-_________________-

"nooooooooooooo..............they're my sisters. i'm way too young to have kids, let alone 2 kids! i'm only about 10 years older than them......hang on, i dont look that old do i??"

"nah, just wondering. coz my daughter thought they're yours!"

and then he said "i never recognize you when you're swimming. you look SO different in your swim suit and in your work uniform. when you're wearing your uniform, it doesnt show anything....BUT, when you're in your swim suit, it shows EVERYTHING. it shows who YOU are *wink* you get what i mean aye?"

-__________________________-

"oh, i think? but no one recognizes me when i'm not in my uniform. so you're not the only one!"

"yeah but really, you do look very different! your uniform..*sigh*"

-____-

and then he went and get changed and came back out and said "alright. good night now! i'll see you around sometime aye!"

"yup yup. i'll either be working or swimming sometime...i think i'll drop by for a swim tomorrow night"

"oh! if you swim, i'll swim!"

"er, okay.."

it's weird when people make it obvious that they do look at you in your swim suit..i mean, i know people look at me when i'm swimming, but i assume that's coz i'm a lifeguard so they have higher expectations? like, i should be a good swimmer and etc...but to say that it shows who i really am *cough*, that's just...wrong. and all his winks and what nots...eee!

should stay away from him :p

anyway, off to shower :)

my clothes are wet :p just got home from swimming and it feels yucky coz my togs are sticking to my skin >"<

anyway, it felt good to start swimming again coz i only swam once last week! haha, i can tell we're all getting lazy, and i've lost my motivation, especially since knowing that i've lost 2 kgs. the only thing that's making me swim now is my goal to have abs by the end of the year. i know they're there already, because i can see the outline of it when i have an empty stomach :D long way to go, missy!

anyway, i'm off to shower and pamper my hair in good old garnier hair treatment.

bye!

KAC BAll 2007: A Knight's Tale

where: Stamford Plaza, Auckland CBD

i thoroughly enjoyed yesterday's ball. it was AWESOME!! didnt know many people who were there, but the company i had were awesome :) little group of friends, awesome people!

the food was really good. only went for one round and didn't even to make it to the dessert before i felt like i was about to burst out of my dress! after dinner, stefan and i went to get drinks. had a cocktail called chocotini. AND AND AND THE BARTENDER IS SO HOT I CAN JUST MELT IN HIS PRESENCE. like omg, SO HOT! lol his name's Pedro, but he has a funny accent! nice to look at, not nice to listen to! hahaha i'm so mean >"<

anyway, after the ball, we had the skit show which i thought was pretty good. could see that lots of effort was put into it, and it was also hilarious! really enjoyed it. then...some band played and the dance floor opened.

to those who know me well, you'll know that i'm not a dancer and i do not like dancing. coz i cant dance. but the DJ that we had last night was SO good i couldnt help but start moving to the beat! i think we danced for over an hour and i had to stop after that coz my heels were killing my feet. so we went back out to get some more drinks (got offered a few drinks, but i declined! didnt want to turn into a red bunny!). stefan bought me my yummy cocktail, and then paul got us a bacardi coke. and i think that was the point when my face started going red and my eyes went..funny. LOL

after we had the drinks, we went back for more dancing and basically danced till the dancefloor was closed.

i missed out on a few things, but yah, whatever la. it's the boring bits like speeches and awards :p

photos!

taken at home before leaving:











psst! you can tell i'm a total camwhore!


stefan and myself. loving this pic :)


the bum boys :P hahaha


such posers too!


stefan KO-ed half way through the night. haha no la he didnt :p


that's the awesome DJ who spinned awesome tracks!


mmm..me like! that's a chandalier btw..

the dance floor:




i think it's a wee bit too small, coz at one point, stefan and i were dancing one foot on the carpet and the other on the dance floor. and it was pretty crammed up too. like, "HELLO YOU'RE IN MY BUBBLE!" but it's all good i guess. i had fun :D but killed my feet in the process.



jason who won best dressed award. he went as a jedi knight


ew! what's that?!

and then, i got a bit bored and started stalking paul and theresa. i love my camera for letting me zoom so far :p



HEHEHE. gonna email these to paul :p

and after that, someone was stalking me. cant even walk around in peace!

LOOK! wtf! it looks like i'm pulling the guy's pink tie or something. but i dont even know him :p


drinks time :D 2nd round actually. coz i'm red already :p


stefan's no camwhore!


hehe me posing :p


stefan & stefan


stefan and his gf. i think this is a nice pic :)


"stefan!! i can see your chest hair! HAHAHA"


and then his nice gf helps him cover it. hehehee so funny la!


my "date" stalking other people! PFFT!!



left side = bad angle for me :p

and that's all the pics i'm gonna post up for now. i had heaps of fun! thank you logan for the ticket and for driving, thank you stefan for keeping me company and for making sure i had a good night!!

amyamy's swimming essentials

when i do my swimming routine, i will not swim without the following:

• speedo sonar goggles
  
• aqualine hand paddles
  
• aqua line training fins
  

the speedo goggles that i use is by far one of the best goggles i've came across. it's soft silicone mould that goes around your eyes don't leave marks after using them for a while, and they give very good vision when you're in water. it's absolutely comfortable, so if you're looking for a good pair of swim goggles, i'd highly recommend you get this model. i got it from Rebel Sports for about $45, but i'm pretty sure the price has been reduced since.

i've only started using the hand paddles after seeing the pro-swimmers use them. it improves your freestyle strokes (and others as well), and makes you work harder. basically, if you're doing the wrong stroke, you end up using more strength as it causes resistance. once you get the hang of using these hand paddles, swimming freestyle without them are a breeze :) my hand paddles are from aqua line (http://aqualine-swim-products.co.nz/) and they cost about $12.

training fins are for lazy bums like me. i'm a slow swimmer and i dont like using all my energy kicking and end up becoming tired quickly. i used to use the full length flippers, but i got too dependent on them after a while, so i decided to cut down on the length, and i ended up with training flippers. these make you go faster, and improves your kicking techniques. even though it makes you go faster, i think the amount of energy you put in to kick (with flippers) is about the same as kicking without flippers as flippers are quite heavy ;) that's only my opinion, and remember, i'm a lazy person! my training fins are from aqua line as well, and they cost about $19. Rebel Sports are selling a different brand for about $35-$40, depending on size.

other things that you might want to add are kick boards or flutter boards. i usually use them to warm up or warm down as well as using them in between my swim routines to catch up with my breath. it improves your stamina as well, as you're basically moving only by kicking. i do about 10-20 laps with kick boards, depending on how long i spend on swimming.

if you're thinking of taking up swimming, i'd recommend you to get a good full body swim togs as they are more comfortable than wearing a bikini. if you're a guy, PLEASE dont wear speedos? LOL! invest in those knee length tight shorts (think, tri-athletes!). they look much better than speedos! when you have proper togs, you wouldn't have to worry about exposing something ;)

other than that, if you love your hair more than i do, then use a swimming cap la. i love my hair, but i hate using swimming caps because it feels like my face skin is being stretched or pulled back, and i just hate hate hate it. but my hair is still fine, despite swimming 3 times a week. just condition it everyday or everytime after swimming!

and that ends my swimming essentials talk.

---

chehwah! talk like pro only! HAHAHAHAH~ i just felt like blogging, and didnt know what to write, so i started writing about that :)

swimming rocks!