current stop : ZIMBABWE.

oh god. i don't know why it always takes me forever to update. i feel ashamed.

so much have been happening the past few months...guess I couldn't even catch my breathe to write about it. hmm... the biggest wow factor is that I got transferred to Zimbabwe, Africa for my job to help set up our new office here. It's been two months already and another month to go. It's such a totally different experience compared to Mongolia. .....which I thought was a big step already from civilisation.

  

we have roosters as pets.

backyard of the house. that pool becomes the mosquito swamp everytime it rains.

People are very friendly here. They greet you and tries to start a conversation even if they do not know you. This could be creepy at times, but I guess I got used to it. Lifestyle is definitely a big change for me. Firstly, i am terrified with any flying objects. We don't only have big supply of flies & mosquitos here, we also have a good amount of spiders the size ranging from a penny to my palm, to crickets the size of a glue stick, american cockroaches which flies faster than birds, huge ants, super active moths , and a lot more.  I risk in getting a heart attack every second.

Harare is seriously lack of electricity. Way worse than in Ulaanbaatar. Although I live in a very nice and cozy house, every week, we face the chance of living in pitch dark. When the electricity is out, the water pump doesn't work. When theres no water, we cannot use the bathroom nor cook. Thank god, we have a generator at the house which runs by diesel. One tank usually lasts for 3 hours or so. & so whenever we turn it on, its the ' prime time' for the house. We line up to shower, charge our phones and computers , cook and get ready to wait till the diesel runs out. Wonder if the end of the world will feel like this. But bad news is, our generator broke down -_-.  It's the third day since we got our electricity cut. I seriously don't know how I will survive tonight. I've been living off bottled water brushing my teeth & facing my face.

Put away the bugs and lack of basic utilities, I'm also very scared of peace. When the house is too quiet, it gives me goosebumps. Some people may really enjoy their quiet-country-side yoga-like peacefulness, but it just freaks me out. Being in such a quiet environment now, it makes me think all the time. I think so much that I get insomnia. It's so quiet, I hear the crickets chirping all night long, my flat mates sleep talking and snoring.  It always reminds me to question myself, why the hell am I in Africa.
The thing is, I love exploring. I can't help myself feeling curious all the time.
"Questioning girl" was one of my nicknames when I was young. I love asking questions, i love being nosey and knowing about everything ( maybe that makes me a good bargainer cause i know the prices of all random things wherever I am).

So far from my two months experience here, I've learnt to admire the locals here. Everything just seems so normal to them. It makes me feel so spoilt to have grown up & live in a civilised world. But whatever, life is unfair.

 I still hate bugs and no electricity. The heat here makes me very impatient & the only thing i want to do now is to fly to Shanghai and spend the very special day with Jus <3 

x.my forever fav pic of us.x

happy birthday lover<3 many more years to go and hope we'll always happy. LOVE YOUUU.


I want to tattoo a giraffe and elephant on the left side of my ribcage!!!!

random. this song reminds me of zimbabwe, thanks to my ex-flat mate Michael Sidaway! J BOOG!!!

back to the dark . ciao xx

Paris and London Trip

damn straight! this lucky little duck was in paris and london all last week :) spent 2-3 days visiting the various accessory shows... surrounded by jewelry like this...

the jewelry on this table is by a brand called sveva from italy. 

apart from the accessories show, there wasn't too much sight seeing involved. i didn't even get to the louvre!

obligatory eiffel tower shot.

really not a fan of sweet, but look at the assortment of goodies they have. the bright colors get me every time.

one of the highlights of my trip was definitely visiting the versailles palace..

not familiar with greek mythology at all, but the ceiling in the versailles palace was covered in beautiful paintings. 

unfortunately, i didn't manage to get many pictures of the palace itself because i was beyond distracted by joana vasconcelos' art pieces... one of the few artists who have exhibited in the palace. the contrast between the contemporary art pieces and baroque architecture had a strange harmony. my only complaint is that it was really quite overwhelming... there was just so much going on! here are a few pictures, but click here to find out more about the exhibition!

yes there was a god damn helicopter covered in ostrich feathers!!!

sadly i didn't get any pictures of london, i managed to get a a little off my face during my one night there. 

anyhow, hope to update this post with more pictures soon, so stay tuned! 

love justine x

Resort 2013

the 2013 resort collections are out :) prints are still going strong... absolutely loving it!

so far, i have to say my favorites are peter pilotto, roberto cavalli, and givenchy.

digital kaleidoscopic and geometric prints at peter pilotto. and look at those sequined details!

roberto cavalli... baroque and tropical motifs. the pant suits in the tropical print have such a delicate masculinity... i can't get enough. and those colorful flamingo necklaces? i think i need not say more.

givenchy's paisley prints were juxtaposed with geometric shapes. tisci says the entire collection plays around a "gypsy" theme. lots of boxy shapes complemented with slouchy silhouettes.

should get back to work now... slaving away for fashion. haven't really had time to update, and things have just been kinda... frustrating lately. the monotony of it all is really taking a toll on my spirit lately... my portfolio has been left untouched for several months already... let's hope i get a real vacation soon! fingers crossed!

hope you're all doing well lovelies :)

justine x

238 DAYS: DELAYED>>>

wow wow wee woah. it obviously proves that jus & I have been very lazy the past half a year or so...
I guess when you're living in a -40 degrees environment aka Ulaanbaatar, you just tend to do very minimal activities. But since summers coming (14°C now!), I'm back, motivated to dress up again and ready to do a little recap on what happened the past 238 days : )

The restaurant that I was coordinating is finally opened! For all UB-ers, come check out the coolest ramen bar in town at Central Tower 3rd floor! It took us nearly half a year to do the renovation and prep work, and its been a good & tough learning process working with the Mongolians.

Ta-dah! AKAMARU RAMEN

So yea.. that was one of the big thing that I've been busying on the past few months... then now we're preparing our second restaurant in Ulaanbaatar city. A real japanese Izakaya with a sushi bar, teppanyaki bar, robata bar and a sake bar... you guys are probably not interested in hearing me blabbering the details, so whatever.. I'll probably post about it when its' opened anyways.

Can't get my mind off Godfrey, his smile is just soooo "awwwrrrr....". For the ones who don't know who the hell he is, Godfrey is a taiwanese actor/model, and also Louis Vuittons' first Asian male model!! (S/S 2011 Menswear)

Godfrey Gao <3

mmkay, enough of admiring this hot guy up there, here's some pictures from the past few months. lotsa mongolian exposure.... stayed in a ger with 4 other friends in -38°C and freezed my toes off!! Had to wake up every 2 hours to keep the fire burning, throwing coal & wood in the fire.

security at the Ayanchin helped us set up the fire & promised to come back every 2 hours to refill the wood/coal,
but never kept his promise : (

Queen of the 18th century , and thats the taiwanese version of Genghis Khan aka the pimp next to me.

 For the ones that doesn't know who Genghis Khan is, or how he looks like, there you go.
According to a study published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, there are more than 16 million of his descendants around in this modern age.

Genghis khaan is the founder of the Mongol Empire.

 

  

ok thats what happened the past 238 days. 

bare with my faces, i think they're quite funny thats why im' sharing it with you all : )

don't you think so too?

tired. gonna get back to work and book for my massage after work!

have a nice day sweets!

harroween!

hey guys. ive been so busy the past month doing prep work for this restaurant opening in Ulaanbaatar. My boss will be opening a ramen restaurant in one of the most high-end malls in UB, and I really hope it'll work out cause there's not much nice asian food around here. Plus it better work out, cause all this work is a pain in the ass, specially difficult as I need to bring a translator with me everywhere I go to.

so sometime back then, when the weather was still nice, i did some touring around Ulaanbaatar. Did some hiking at the Terejl national park ( god it was hell..) and another walk up this memorial landmark with 500 bugs flying in front of my face and attacking me... oh well. hope my pain pleasures you all : ) at least the scenery was nice...

Zaisan Memorial

Terejl National Park.

kinda cruel, but this guy is burning the head and legs
of the sheep for our lamb feast.

watched the circus at the national park.





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oh, and happy halloween! did you all dress up? i was really bored at home, and due to low supply of fun costumes in UB, i decided to dig out stuffs from my friends closet, and we went to a halloween party at a local club!  I'm supposed to be someone's mom, but my friend says i look like a girl who escaped from a mental hospital. what do you think!?




peace out xx

PETITE WOMEN!

ok so i've always had a problem with my height. i'm 161cm and so often, i just feel like... like a pygmy alien. and just really ugly at times. but a while ago i learned about a petite model who's been all the rage.

and so here's anja kostantinova. and she is a STUNNER. she's australian but of russian origin i believe. anyway, do check her out. she is absolutely amazing and stands only at 5'4"! she really reminds me of abbey lee kershaw and lara stone!

here she is for wildfox swimwear by Mark Hunter (i love the neon pink bikini!! WANTT!!!):

 

she is so beautiful! and repping the petite girls all over the world! awesome! :)

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on another note. i've been craving lentils lately. does anyone know any good lentil recipes?
i really want to try this warm lentil salad with roasted beets recipe. i mean... i don't really cook but i'd love to get started :) let's hope i get more time soon because work has been so hectic lately. so apologies about the lack of updates!! 

anyway, going to beijing on wednesday and will take a buttload of pictures to make sure there's something worth posting (; until then, take care!!

peace and love x

Portfolio

guys! i have some photos to put up but first, visit my online portfolio! Still needs a lot more work in it, but I'm working on it!  My amazing boyfriend, Anastas (click! he writes about really smart things (; mm-hmmm), helped me set it up and everything :)))) thank god!!!

Click here to see it!!

until next time

peace and love <3