Wicked Weez of the West

Wax on, Wax off

19th July, 2010 by Lulu

A few months ago, I signed up to an exciting project by a fellow Perth woman, Kacy. She decided to embark on a 365 adventure of different proportions. Instead of taking a photo of herself/something/food every day for a year, she decided to send a personalised postcard to a potential stranger every day for one whole year! I loved the idea of receiving a real life piece of mail with a handwritten note, albeit from some random woman, so I passed on my contact details and waited for the fun to happen.

Lo and behold, my postcard arrived at the beginning of last week! And after consulting the 365postcards blog, I discovered that my postcard was the 100th one sent! And what was the topic for such a tremendous milestone? None other than Kacy’s thoughts on waxing fads through the ages.

The Postcard

Posted in Blogging, Self Love | Tagged Perth, waxing, brazilian, grooming, 365postcards | Leave a Comment »

Not Amused

18th July, 2010 by Lulu

I love food. I love eating even more. And on the odd occasion, I like to indulge my love affair and go all out with a dégustation dining experience.

Last year, Rich and I went to three of these Perth restaurants with varying, but generally pleasant, experiences. By far, our unanimous favourite was Jackson’s Restaurant in Highgate. Jackson’s managed to perfectly match their exquisite food with an amazing selection of wines. And when you’re going for the full experience, wine plays a big part. Coming a very close second was Restaurant Amusé, in East Perth, for one reason: cheese trolley. Yes, their food was very nice, and they served generous tastes of wine, but we were totally blown away by their amazing selection of cheeses! And coming in third place was Little Cloud in Peppermint Grove. Now, Little Cloud actually had better food. Their chef was young, and really pushed the envelope as far as experimental food goes. But their waitstaff were inexperienced, and their wine selection did not match the food in the slightest. Sadly, Little Cloud has since closed.

Fast forward 8 months, following my adventure in Japan, and Rich and I are back on the gastronomy warpath once more. After chancing upon a tweet from someone I follow, we were prompted to give Star Anise a go. I was really excited; it had been a long time since we’d done something this extravagant, and we were treating it as a Rich’s belated birthday dinner-for-two So, with a new haircut apiece, we got dolled up and headed to Shenton Park. Continue Reading »

Posted in Food | Tagged review, Food, Perth, degustation, Jackson's, Amuse, Star Anise | 4 Comments »

Memoirs of a Geisha

10th May, 2010 by Lulu

Beautiful. Elegant. Mysterious. Enchanting. Mesmerising.

All synonyms used to describe the wonderful Japanese Geisha, and all synonyms to describe how I felt today.

If you’ve read my birthday post, you’ll remember that my amazing Rich organised for me to have a Geisha makeover as part of his birthday present to me. And I got to do that today

I arrived at Katsura Studio at 11am sharp today, warmly greeted by five attentive staff. After establishing that I could speak a little Japanese, they got me to select the style of makeover: Maiko or Geisha. Maiko are apprentice Geisha, and wear slightly different kimonos and headdresses. I selected a black Geisha kimono, and the three poses I wanted to do, and was ushered to the changing room to undress and put on the undergarments and yukata so they could proceed with applying the makeup.

They started with a coat of wax to prime my skin, then smoothed on a white base all over my face, neck, and some of my shoulders. After that, they put a hint of pink foundation over my eyes and cheeks, and the sides of my nose. Next, they put red both on my lips, and as the outline of my new eyebrows. After applying layers of black eyeliner and mascara, they put a layer of black over the red of my eyebrows. Red was also applied to the corner of my eyes, then some false eyelashes were glued in place, and finished off with more liquid eyeliner.

Following the makeup application, it was time to get dressed. The kimono is a very intricate garment with many layers. But all the pulling, squeezing, tightening, and not being able to breathe, is worth the end result The makeover package gives you three photos to take home, but they also allow you to take your own camera in with you and they will happily take as many photos as you like! The photographer also took extra shots which they asked if they could use on their website and for advertising.

I am so pleased with how it turned out, and ecstatic that I’ll have these amazing photos from my time in Japan! Here are some of the wonderful images captured today. The rest can be found on Flickr.

Posted in Japan, Self Love | Tagged Geisha, Japan, kimono, Tokyo | 16 Comments »

Homeward Bound

4th May, 2010 by Lulu

Yes, that’s right; I’m coming home. And I’m so excited about it

I thought long and hard about the decision to return home to Perth, and after weighing up all my options, this was the best time for me to return. My working-holiday visa expires on June 4th, and given there are several events back in Perth I’d rather not miss (there’ve been too many missed already!), I decided not to renew it. My flight has been booked, and I will arrive back in Perth on May 21st. Exactly two weeks short of 6 months living here.

Rich has set up a convenient counter that you can use to keep track, if you so desire

I came to Japan for many reasons; I had goals I set out to achieve, and I can proudly say that I’ve achieved them all. It was something I’d been wanting to do for many years, and with the support and encouragement of my friends and family, I was able to do that. The biggest support coming from my amazing Rich; he’s been my rock this entire trip. That voice of encouragement and reason when I needed it most. And all I did was leave him behind in Perth.

Rich, thank you for letting me live my dream <3

Posted in Japan, Self Love, Travel | Tagged Perth, Tokyo, Travel | 26 Comments »

Birthdays

3rd May, 2010 by Lulu

It was my 31st birthday on April 23rd, and, being alone in Japan, I was preparing for a rather solemn occasion devoid of the usual fanfare and celebration associated with my birthday.

But that was not to be.

My wonderful Rich surprised me with a huge parcel from home filled with presents and cards from my closest friends and family! I was definitely not expecting that the box, which arrived a week before my birthday (to which I was under strict instructions not to read the posting label), contained cards and presents from so many people. And all the gifts were absolutely perfect – jewellery, scarves, a game, a watch, a hat, thongs, Amazon gift card, and a clip-on light for my Kindle. I was moved to tears on more than one occasion. They were not tears of sadness, but tears of sheer joy and happiness.

Box of Presents

Cards

And not only did he organise a wondrous gift bonanza, he also arranged for me to undertake a Geisha makeover here in Japan. I mentioned it to him ages ago, and had dismissed the idea for whatever reason. So, again, I was thrilled when I opened the gift voucher the company had sent me on his behalf. I have booked in to get it done next week

It was also quite fortunate that, of the friends I’ve made in Japan, there were another 4 birthdays within two weeks of mine, and friends had already planned for a house party on the night of my birthday

Birthday Party

And to top it all off, my sister sent me the following poem via text which was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read:

XO MY LUIS XO Last dream, I realised, in my waking moments, were of you, young woman of courage & conviction, a spring day that says hooray, with all the earthly gorgeousness of a sweet scented blooming garden, double delights & freesias. Blue skies, dark skies, dark nights, bright days, seamless clouds drifting away, fun filled hot summers. Sangrias in Spain. The place to be, on the scene, enjoying this earthly dream! Stubborn, immovable, up for a no risk thrill, voice infrequently shrill, I can, have & will stand on top of the hill! Home is where the heart is, smart, sassy, sharp as a tack, dignified, has pride. A friend that says no need to run or hide, I’ll hold your hand, nurture you and stand by you every step of the way. Funny, quirky, cute, a slight computer nerd to boot! Loves eating fruit, healthy, strong, got her vegetarian reins on. Elegant, pretty, don’t mess with me ‘tude’ she’s certainly no dude. Likes to keep with the trend but definitely stylin in her own right! Loves her friends, family & lover with compassion & our joy is to love her right back! Today is your Birthday the only blue you should feel is the great sky above you! This is my great random thinking & RANDOM gift to you! Luis it’s your Birthday, Happy Birthday Luis xoxo

Then a few days later I received another birthday card in the post. The beautiful Kitta had organised for the Perth Twitter peeps to sign the card for me. It was lovely to get that card filled with such wonderful messages from my friends!