Ikea

 Shopping for food at a furniture store. 🪑 #ikea #ikeasingapore

 #birthdaymonthposts 🎂 Documenting this fab meal at one of my fav restaurants, Crystal Jade. Love sharing birthday celebrations together with my Dad. Our birthdays are one day apart, and it makes it extra special.

#familytime #love #family #birthday

#goodbye2015

Thank you 2015 for being such a wonderful year~ this year brought me so many experiences... judging numerous nail competitions in Japan, Russia, Korea, Hong Kong, Italy... even got invited on stage to give out an award at the Tokyo Nail Expo. PRINA school trip to the Eriko Cup was awesome. It was an enriching experience for my students.

Then in Aug we had the SG50 N.A.I.L.S Festival... My amazing team made the event a big big success, bringing our little dot to an international platform.

 This year, despite all the travelling, I managed to have time for my family and my bunnies. And even started working on something that I've always wanted!!! Thank you every single one who made 2015 so eventful! 🎉 🎉 🎉

#2016 #goodbye2015

Happy birthday Mr Lee

‪#‎rememberingleekuanyew‬ on his Birthday.
He would had been be 92 today.




Itz days like these, that one stops and reflects on why the heart always feel sore thinking about him. I can't say for others; But my own inner pangs of regret formed when i began to know the full extend of how misunderstood he was.... I was one of many, whom gradually came to know about his 24/7 commitment, his never failing love for our country… Like his never-failing love and devotion for his wife.

We might never agree fully with his actions or decisions; like how we might not agree with our parent's or grandparent's version of love via nagging, scolding, threatening, forcing, restrictions, curfews, canning, etc the list goes on... We might never understand fully the logic of "tough love". Why it is necessary? Why so rigid, why so heartless, why so fierce, why so cruel...? We end up resentful of every single thing done & said.

We do not see the love in these "cruel inhumane" actions. It is only, when faced with the hash realities of life, that we realised, that the world is even more inhumane. Countries outside of Singapore, they are indeed so different. It is only when faced with a comparison, that we appreciate this logic of "tough love".

Appreciation for the "inhumane" growing up process develops. The "tough love" had equipped me with the ability, to withstand whatever shit that life throws; coz no one owes us a living, not our leaders, not even our parents.

Only problem... I knew it only too late... I knew about the things Mr LKY did only AFTER he passed. And I never ever got the chance to even say a simple thank you… many of us never did say that before he passed. In fact, attitudes expressed towards him, were the total opposite of "thanx or appreciation or grateful".

He had passed on with all these negative words and feelings and misunderstanding, from the people he spent his whole life for. My heart rant complains to him, why didn't he say all these works..? Why didn't he explain all these misunderstandings?

My heart knows the simple answer to this rant... because no one would believed. Even if he does say, explain or share. No one would believe. And knowing Mr LKY, he did not do it bcoz he wants any thanx from us. Like a stubborn grandpa, whom you buy him a gift of appreciation, would end up rejecting it coz I duno why...

And because of this simple reason. We all bear the heart-burnt of letting this great man passed-on, without him seeing "live" the depth of our thanx and appreciation. He left not knowing. If only that morning... it was not his coffin being driven through the streets in the rain. But him sitting in a car...

Alive and knowing that every single of of us that lined the streets that raining day, had hearts filled to the brim and overflowing with thanx and gratitude. Alive and hearing the silent cries of sorry in our hearts, sorry for not knowing earlier.

But it was not so... We did not get a chance to say what we wanted to say before he passed. And we would never ever know, if he heard or saw what happened from above after he passed. This pain in the heart stays.

Perhaps it stays to act like as a constant reminder to each and everyone of us, to continue our best to take care of Singapore. That should be whatr LKY would want to see... instead of just saying "Thank You". I don't think a thank you suffices anyway...

Would do our best to take care of Singapore, so that your efforts do not go down the drain.‪ And your legacy would be our solid foundation to grow and become better in the next 50 years. #‎thankyouMrLee‬ #Happy92thBirthday

#rachelfacemaskhistory

#suddenlyinspired 

#rachelfacemaskhistory

I love to wear a mask... think I got this habit after staying in Japan for so many years... The only place on earth that I can wear a mask without anyone thinking I am weird. 

Started coz I'm always mistaken as a "China-Chinese"... nothing wrong with that, but about 20 years ago, the Japanese does not exactly welcome the Chinese race. In fact, it was an outright dislike. 

My "China Chinese face" gave me a quite bad experience in those days. Itz like getting the door-slammed-in-your-face type of treatment from every single Japanese. 

Of coz, once they "realised" that I am Singaporean, they would usually treat me 360° different. But usually, it would never get to that stage. I would need to open my mouth to say something in English for them to realise. And usually, the rudeness and slamming of the door happens before I can go close enough to open mouth to say anything. 

I didn't know it was bcoz of my face.... until I started wearing a face mask. I started to notice the difference. They do not have the same reaction as if I'm not wearing a face mask.

It's a disgusting realization, but it made my life easier too.

Guess my eyes looks "normal"... and my "chi-na" face is covered up, so no one can tell I'm not Chinese if I dun open mouth to speak. Lol~ 

Anyway, thatz how I started liking to wearing a face mask. It is to avoid being treated like a cockroaches and being despised. 

Of coz things got better as we grow older... and your perspective of life and confidence grow with your age and "life-lessons".

I do not need to hide behind the face mask to avoid being judged and mistreated. 

But, nowadays, donning the face mask gives me a chance to not be recognized.

So i can take a breather from the expectations to behave in a certain way that our roles in the "norms" of society that we are supposed to conformed to. 

My race, age, status, gender, religion, image, etc. all these become the invisible reflections people perceived us to be... and what seemed to me, as my small "very-Rachel" actions, would sometimes traumatized those around me if I'm not careful. It is simply hilarious to me at times... #amusingmuch

Wearing a mask in Japan, it comforts me... I become invisible, people do not look at me when I'm wearing a mask, people do not know me when I'm wearing a mask... I can be myself. 

And I like that. 

ps/ I have a whole 'collection' of masks! Even the disposable ones comes in my types, shapes and sizes. 

Judging for the PinkRoom Cup 2015

My lovely Judges from Japan~ Ms Kaneko, representative from the Japan Nailist Association (JNA) & Eriko. It was a long day for everyone as judging started as soon as the first floor competition ended at 11+am. 

The Judges worked very hard that day! よくやりました~~

There was 11 competition categories, for 5 different groups: PRINA student, PRINA junior, PRINA senior, OPEN student & OPEN professional.

The judging criteria is according to professional nail competitions. My years of judging in different countries and different scales of competitions gave me knowledge and expertise on coming up with our own unique judging system.

So color coordinated LOL~ Blue + Red = Purple. Everyone's all dressed up for the event.

So thankful for the brand new judging system that made the process easier. The marking went smoothly without a glitch. The Judges managed to record the scores in to the systems which quickly calculated the final scores. & even able to pick out the model number of those models who has not been scored. #veryownworldclasssystem

Apart from the floor competition, there was Nail tip submission judging as well. The competition had 3 different categories for the nail tip submission categories: Mixed Media Art, Flat Gel Art & Stone Deco Art.

Haha! Got caught on camera with Ms Kaneko~ I was sharing with her what's happening on stage. 

Ending off~ THANK YOU JUDGES!

Stage time with Eriko~

This year's nail demo on stage was crazy!! St James's tech team did not set up the live feed as promised... I think that caused my in-charge and tech team to freak out! They were running around like ants on hot bricks... How to settle in such a short notice??!! How is everyone going to see the demo~ So in the end, the girls were invited on stage to see what Eriko & I did. 

The stage became free-entry for everyone to gather around to see the nail art. Extra privileges for all our visitors. Very quickly, Eriko & I was surrounded.

Us with our models~ Thankful to them for their time and bearing with our crazy schedules!

I was very ambitious and challenged to finish 5 nails on stage. In the end, I managed to finish the nail art for four nails.

These crazy sharp nails are called Stilettos Nails. It aims to elongate the fingers.

Somewhat similar to the nails seen on the Empress Dowagers in those old time dramas! Lol~ Not very practical for modern lifestyle. My model who came do do her nails 2 nights before, had trouble typing on her smartphone, and removing her contact lens. The Express Dowager don't have iphone~~

Eriko did a Japanese style sweet sakura nails. I did a Russian style nail art that I picked up on my trip to St Petersburg earlier this year.

Glad that everyone who came got to learn 2 new styles of nails. Wanted to do something different from Eriko so that you girls get to learn different techniques... Glad all turn out as I imagined. I hope that you girls enjoyed yourselves as much as we did!

It was like a déjà vu of the stage time with Eriko during the Pink Party Bash in 2013. I'll dig out some photos to #throwback soon!~

PinkRoom Cup 2015 starts now~

This year's PinkRoom Cup nail competition was held within the SG50 N.A.I.L.S Festival; which was held in conjunction with the SG50 Singapore Golden Jubilee nationwide celebrations. 

For weeks prior to August 2nd~ the team worked non-stop to prepare for the event. Everyone from the front desk crew, to the marketing team, to the managerial level~~ so much planning was done. I'm so happy that everything went as planned. 辛苦大家了~! I think it's just the 10 of us... and we managed to put through this whole event. 

At 6am, my team was already at the event location - St James Power House. In a short 2-3 hours before the PinkRoom Cup registration started, every thing was ready in place. Tables ready, even with pink table cloth~ chairs for the competitors & their models. The banners, standees, directions, everything!

*** Spot the two men at both sides of the pole LOL~~~ ***

If you can't tell, it's our 文武雙全 Master Educator Joe Chua & our designer JJ.

#manpower Lucky we have guys in our team. Else imagine me & Nicole climbing T.T)/

K, I have to admit, at times like that... it's not only about #girlpower any more. #Teamworkftw

I'm so glad for my strong team! Everyone rough it out together to make this event a success. ♡♡♡

By 9am, PinkRoom Cup competitors started streaming in to register.

Started to see so many familiar faces appearing. Some took part in the past PinkRoom Cup too... even with the same nail models. Through times like this, you'll see the people who are really supportive of you.

By 10am~ everyone was in place. All set and ready for the competition. Ganbatte! がんばって！

Throughout the years, I've been nagging/advising/encouraging my students to take part in competitions. Only through nail competitions, a nailist will be able to challenge herself and bring her nail skills to a different level.

The anxiety, "kan-cheong-ness",  & of course the sense of achievement is different from passing an examination (hmm. yar, even though PinkRoom exam abit hard to pass). But let me tell you, it's all worth it! Especially if you put in your 110%, and get an award! That trophy will be a reminder of all your hard work.

Meeting the Judges

1st August 2015~ my lovely VIPs arrived at different times of the day. So excited to see all of them!! Our team made special arrangements to pick each one of them from the airport. To & fro multiple trips to the Changi Airport #notcomplaining #anythingfortheVIPs

Drove pass the NDP rehearsals~ and they were in awe by the sea of red and the majestic scale of the whole parade. One united nation~ at that point.... apart from the hot Sun, I feel a huge sense of patriotism.

Made our way to the hotel to check in~ then to the restaurant for a Judges meeting. This year's PinkRoom Cup, I've invited Eriko & Ms Miyuki, the representative from Japan's Nailist Association (JNA). So so so honored & happy with their presence. 

All went well despite the small tiny language barrier. Nail-language is the universal language between us. Appreciate everyone's hard work and seriousness throughout the whole meeting.

よくやりました~ 

#professionalism #sg50nailsfestival #prcup2015 #behindthescene #bts #ネイル裁判官 #ネイル #ネイルコンテスト

Mini autography session took place after the meeting~ LOL. Judges singlehandedly, personally, lovingly, signed each and every piece of the PinkRoom Cup 2015 Certificate of Participation. So nice right??!! So much love from them... 

    

どうもありがとうございます~~ ^.^)/ ♡♡♡

PRINAthrowback

Digging out super old files~ gonna display old pix at the SG50 N.A.I.L.S Festival. Transformation of PinkRoom from 2003 to 2015.... come see if u are curious!! There bound to be many many pictures that would make you ROFL~~

#throwback to 2004 when @pinkroomnails just started~ glad to be still in contact with some of them ♡♡♡

#studentstofriends #dontlaughatmydressing#pinkroomnails #prinathrowback