Happy St. Valentine’s Day!

Happy Valentines Day to you all!!!

Okay, I couldn’t really be up for doing the entire post in pink…there’s only so much of this lovey-dovey stuff I can take (OD is always scary, folks).

I do not believe that Valentine’s Day should be a ‘holiday’ (in my head, holiday = Christmas, New Years, Eid, etc.) but then I’m definitely not cynical enough not to celebrate or have fun with it at all.

It’s only been 4 hours and 2 minutes since the beginning of this particular Tuesday over here in Sydney so I still have lots of time left to enjoy this day!

Not-so-fun-fact: I left Bangladesh to come here to study Medicine in UNSW last year, on this exact day.

Well so technically I only arrived here on the 15th, but I think I’ll always relate Valentine’s to the beginning of my new life journey.

So many things have changed, and not to get too sentimental but I definitely do feel like a completely different person from who I used to be back in high school. In both positive and negative ways.

But that’s life and I guess that’s just how we all grow.

Anyway, I thought I’d do a mini-celeblogration with a few photos of “things-I-hearted-this-week”. Yes my name is Asuma and I make up random stuff do to.

The actual colour is slightly darker than in this photo above, but I’d been wanting to try mint green nails forever now! The verdict – I’m in love with it.

Brown rice flour muffin. This one was a gluten-free organic one (if that matters), with apple, raspberry and cinnamon. I usually don’t care that much for organic food, sans specific produce that have relatively high accumulation of toxins like carrots, but I got this one mainly because of the rice flour factor. Firstly, I think that rice flour gives a much more dense and moist texture which I prefer, whereas wheat would make it light and fluffier. And as an added bonus, rice flour does not have the effect of cooling out body unlike refined wheat, so if I were given the choice I would definitely pick rice flour. My poor circulation and cold extremities are my frenemies – sure it means that I don’t sweat as much during summer but come winter I die. A trillion layers and gloves (+fingerless ones while working) and scarves and hats please. Okay I’m getting off the track again….

This new L’oreal Sulfate-Free Hair Masque. So thick and creamy…so moisturing…but what I liked the most was its fragrance! Rosemary and other shea-like scents are pretty common,  but this one was rosemary&mint and oh it was such a delicious smell. Pure indulgence.

Michael Fassbender. Now I intentionally did not put exclamation marks right now, or else I might as well have yelled it out. Especially after watching him in Shame…I need to watch more of his films. Maybe Hunger?

And last but not the least, hanging out with the girls!!! Just chatting away for hours…it’s just so rejuvenating.

So, I guess this is just another beginning of an ordinary Tuesday, but it’s still somewhat uplifting to know that it’s V-day

The Mad Square

Today, I was determined to spend the day without having to feel depressed like a worthless piece of garbage. I really needed to give it another shot and try to live a little. A long hot shower and a bowl of my favourite oatmeal in the morning sort of calmed me down a bit. I knew what I wanted. I just wanted to be comfortable with myself and be happy.

A nice warm bowl of oatmeal cooked with yoghurt, topped with maple syrup and almond butter

After that, I did a bit of laundry and then watched a bit of the first movie of Sex and the City again (for the third time) Oh I just love Carrie Which put me into the mood to paint my nails….

Stagnate; my favourite shade from Illamasqua!!!

I tried my new top coat from Seche Vite!! I hate how nail polishes always chip off so easily even if I apply the top coat, but Melody recommended this brand so I decided to try it out. She got it from this store in Bankstown for me, just for $7!!!!! Such a bargain WIN!! It seems thicker than the other top coats that I’ve used in the past, so I’m thinking maybe it will actually help my varnish last longer. We’ll see

Oh, and I went out for some grocery shopping too So much fun buying fooooooood Got a smoked salmon + cucumber + cream cheese sushi roll made with red rice for lunch. It was delish

In the afternoon, I went out to this exhibition called “The Mad Square” in the art gallery of NSW, with Austvina, Toby and Lachlan. I’d really been looking forward to this ever since Austvina mentioned it in August!! The exhibition explored through the modern art in Germany during the World War I and the post-war period (1910-37). It was even more exciting than I’d expected! I especially liked the Metropolis section, where there were some very strong paintings and photographs of the city of Berlin, portraying the traumatised citizens, sexual freedom and restriction, the city life with both its dark and hopeful aspects.

The brochure from the exhibition

And here I am, back at home, relaxing, just happy that I could spend a contenting day without all that depression clouding over me. My mid-semester break ends today, so back to uni from tomorrow again!!! I’m actually looking forward to it though. I mean, yeah okay, maybe not entirely, but I’m keen to work hard again towards a new target, and also, I’d be too preoccupied with my work to worry about my depression…I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this week will be a good one!!!!

Nail goes chippin’

The one thing that upset me today…hate to start out on a negative note like this, but it’s true. C’est la vie. I had just varnished my nails with this shade called stagnate from Illamasqua last night, but I noticed that it had chipped by the time I was in my French class this morning I always apply a top coat, of course, but I guess this one’s just not good enough. According to my friend Melody, Sech Vite’s top coats are pretty fabulous…I think I might give that a go next time. Along with some new shades from China Glaze Does anybody know which brand has the best top coats that prevent chipping for the longest time?

But on a positive note, I had my French class at TAFE today!!! I always look forward to these weekly lessons In the beginning when I signed up for it, I was a bit freaked out and worried because it’s a 4 hour class. Turns out, I love it!! It’s one of the biggest highlights of my weekends, I have to tell you. And the people I met there are pretty damn amazing too. Melody, Tammy, Windy and I meet up an hour before the class begins at a nearby cafe every week for breakfast and quick French revision. After the class, we’re so famished, a lunch is a must Yup we’re some girls who love eating!!! Today we went to Pepper Lunch, where I had a salmon pepper rice, which was adequately filling but not like omg-I-cannot-move-anymore (which is what kind of tends to happen a lot lately…) and I liked how it was seasoned too; not too salty is my kind of taste Some people say I eat bland food, but hey, at least I’m eating something I like, plus, excessive sodium intake is NOT GOOD for your body anyway…aha . Sadly, no photo of the lunch though; I had my camera out, ready and all, but when it came out I was so hungry + it looked so good I absolutely forgot about the photo I only remembered when Melody reminded me 2 minutes after, like “ummmm Asuma, weren’t you going to take a picture of your lunch?”, but too little too late, my plate was already mixed up and not really photography material (the rice and salmon was served on a hot plate and you were supposed to mix them up to cook on the surface). But I did manage to take one of my good friends Tammy and Windy!! They both had the hamburg steak meal with rice and miso soup

Well, it didn’t rain today (phew…) but it wasn’t actually as warm and sunny as I’d expected it to be Hope tomorrow will be a nicer weather!!!