melbourne city romp

Hello again. So sorry I haven't been posting much recently!
I love and appreciate my readers so much, but I haven't taken many outfit pics recently. I guess this is partly because of Chictopia. Some days I feel like i'm getting a bit tired of it :( I haven't uploaded anything for awhile either and it seems like these days it's more of a popularity contest, rather than a celebration of individual styles. I think this is partly due to the fact that the rules have changed and now you need to get 7 votes to get into the style gallery. A few months ago it was 3 and a few weeks ago it was 5, now it's 7. I understand that there is a LOT of traffic on the site and lots of new users. But it seems like now there are a lot less photos in the style gallery, and a lot less variation... a lot of people don't bother to look at the new photos section, even fewer people bother to vote. I know votes are just numbers, and some people say that commenting means more than a vote. But if people comment and don't vote, it means that your pic may not even get into the style gallery and therefore you aren't able to showcase your style as much as you can. Hmm, anyway I don't want to be such a downer. I love the community there and I love seeing the outfits there!

Well this is an outfit from a couple of weeks ago, when I went out for dinner.


I'm wearing a floral dress, ruffly top underneath from Living Doll, both the tights and shoes are secondhand from charity stores.

Last Sunday, a few of my friends and I participated in the Melbourne City Romp! You register to be in teams of 2-6 people and you spend the day gallivanting around the city- it's a bit like the Amazing Race. You get a list of clues that tell you where each checkpoint is, there were dozens of checkpoints all around the city. (But they also give you a map coordinate so if you don't know the exact landmark or building then you can look around the area.) At the checkpoint you get a multiple choice question about the landmark/location you're at and you sms your answer. The questions aren't about general knowledge, you just need to keep your ears and eyes open to count how many stones are in this certain section of the building, read the tourist brochure to find the correct answer, see what items are in an art display, and stuff like that.
The point of the Romp was to raise money a for charity, the Burnet Institue, through the participation fee and also fundraising (although my team didn't fundraise anything because we registered a few days before the day!)



Anyway it was pretty fun. Our team was called "Team Ahoyhoy!" and we dressed up like sailors :P It's not compulsory to dress up, but a lot of teams did. In our final results our team came 594th in our category (Family & Friends) and 684th overall. Which is not too bad, considering the total number of teams was 2037!!! Hehe. I wouldn't mind doing it again next year- next time we will have a better strategy, maybe go to all the outer checkpoints first as they give you more points!



Photo posing in Union Lane :)
One of the compulsory questions was: How many red dots are there on the advertisement next to Flinders St Station?? The screen was constantly switching ads, the only way you'd be able to count properly is if you took a photo of it! :P As you can see there are big red dots... and even smaller red dots within them! Hehe. Can you count them all?


Something very sad happened on the weekend :( But I will go into more detail about that in another post.
It was my best friend's 21st birthday on the weekend. She had a "superheroes and supervillians" themed party :P Needless to say I went all out with my costume... Just a hint- think Watchmen! photos to come! :P

Btw: i'm now contributing to another blog, called "I op therefore I am," it's a communal blog about op-shopping and thrifting in Melbourne! Check it out!

neglect, fiasco.

Hey hey everyone! Sorry about the lack of posts recently... I have to say I have been rather neglectful about everything in my life recently.
I signed up for an ebay account a couple of weeks ago... it's kind of taking over my life!! I keep searching for random items... even though I don't have much intention to buy anything because I can't afford spending over $10 on anything at the moment D: From what i've been looking at on Ebay, it's not even that cheap- with the cost of the clothes and the cost of the postage (some people even put regular postage within Australia at $10- wtf??) it's better for me to just buy stuff from charity stores... :( I haven't actually started to sell anything yet, i'm still trying to figure out what postage would be the most cost-efficient, and i'm worried that no one will want to buy from me because I have a 0 rating so far.

Anyway, here are some old outfits.
I got this cardigan a few weeks ago at the Episode/Friends of Couture Garage Sale. I got some great stuff from the sale, but I spent a lot. This cardi was $20, and it's exactly the same to one I bought from Episode last year, but a different colour and actually my right size. The other one is cream and 2 sizes too big for me- but I got it for $12 as some stitching had come off :P
Wearing with: thrifted Valleygirl shorts- these are a bit small... :( white tights from Savers- love the star print on them, and thrifted shoes.




I put this up on Chictopia a little while ago but didn't put it on my blog. Wearing: IDS jacket from a charity store, Topshop tshirt secondhand from charity store, Living Doll skirt, Oxfords secondhand from the Salvation army, cotton on belt, handmade bows and tights I've had forever.



Ok, so here's another A Book A Week post. I actually have been reading lots of books, even if I haven't reviewed them here yet!!
One book I read recently was "The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco," by John Birmingham.
It's the sequel to the Australian cult novel "He Died With a Felafel in His Hand," which was basically a whole bunch of crazy and hilarious anecdotes about living in share households all over Australia in the 80s, and was made into a film in 2001.
Anyway this novel features some of the characters from the first book- but instead of just being a collection of stories, the stories are linked together into a narrative. I won't write out the storyline of the book myself, so this is copied from the blurb on the back of the book:
"The flatmates at York street are broke and desperate, so they take in a new guy despite the Celine Dion albums and the hordes of fluffy stuffed animals. Soon he goes missing, with half the household possessions and all the rent. The flatmates have one week to sober up, find two thousand dollars and catch the runaway before Pauline Hanson, the federal government, assorted cops and crims, their landlord and some very angry lesbians tear their house down and stomp them to jelly."
Hehe. So as you can see, this isn't a piece of literature or a serious novel. It's pretty outrageous- everyone drinks too much, takes too many drugs, and totally abuses the student/government welfare system- but it's a very amusing book. And it's even more entertaining as I think a lot of the stories in the novel (while may not have happened to each of the characters personally) are based on real events that happened to the author, people he knew, or they were true stories of people he spoke to.
I think it will appeal to those who have experienced share-household hell in their student days. It's definitely not for those who are offended easily! The characters are over the top and the stories really are bizarre and crazy- eg. motorcycle riding lesbians who attend a protest rally in cockroach suits, hippies who live in a house with a tree growing in the middle of it, goths who congregate in the backyard practicing swordfighting and shooting bows and arrows... I've never lived in a share house so I can't imagine stuff like this ever happening to me! Though it was back in the 80s, so maybe things were just crazier back then! :P

I'm so tired!! Uni tomorrow- ugh. But i've got plenty of books, including one by Murakami which i'm looking forward to reading. Now if only I can get past all my assigned Uni readings!!

sydney rd street party

Hey hey!
How is everyone? :) I've been back at uni for two days now... and both days i've had to take No-Doz because i've been so tired, otherwise I would fall asleep during my class! Haha. So bad.

Anyway last Sunday I went to the Sydney Rd Festival street party. It's part of the Brunswick Music Festival, once a year and they close off part of Sydney Rd and put up market stalls, food stalls, entertainment and live music. It was fun walking around looking at everything being sold at the different stalls, and watching some of the performances happening. Every year that i've gone to the festival it has always been really hot and sunny... this year it wasn't as hot and sweaty, and kind of windy too! Got a couple of pics, taken (unwillingly) by Dan so not many to choose from. Ha!


I tried using Picnik.com for the first time :P It's pretty easy to use and you can get some nice looking effects.
I'm wearing a thrifted ruffly Dotti blouse, Silence + Noise shorts, thrifted Esprit cardigan, Sportsgirl tights, thrifted Target shoes, my awesome bag which i got from a flea market in Poland :) and a necklace given to me from my lovely friends for my birthday!!

I took a few photos on the day... they aren't that great but the stalls are pretty! :)

lovely market stalls

some poor dude getting harassed by a seagull.. hehe

fairy floss! + nick!

Bollywood dance workshop.

Whew. I hope i'm able to keep up with posting stuff as uni is going to make everything really busy and stressful. It already kinda is!

Well hope you have a wonderfullll week!

Vindaloo Against Violence

Hello again!
I'm so glad to know that some people took the time to read my book review and comment :D That made my day!!
and yes I know I have to get round to replying to people... :S Unfortunately Uni starts again tomorrow so there might be a bit of a delay :P

Ok soooo last Wednesday I went out for dinner. It was for an event called Vindaloo Against Violence. If you don't live in Australia you might not have heard, but recently, in the past few months, there have been several racially motivated attacks against Indians in Melbourne and around Australia. Many have said that the violence has been overstated and exaggerated by the media, (and i'm sure this has happened to some extent) yet the fact still stands that some people have been attacked simply because of their appearance, and there are some who are now afraid of going out and catching public transport at night. :(
So anyway the event was created by one woman in Melbourne who wanted to show her concern. What the event was, on Wednesday February 24, ordinary Melburnians (and anyone else around the country who wanted to join in) were encouraged to show support for the Indian community, and to stand against violence by eating out at their local Indian restaurant. Here is the link to the Vindaloo against violence web page and the Facebook event which got over 9000 attendees.
I though it sounded really interesting and worthwhile, (and I looove Indian food) so we registered by filling in a form on the website saying where we were eating and how many people we were going with. I had the dinner at a restaurant near my house with my bf and two of our friends who we hadn't seen since last year! It was really yummy and we had a good talk and catch up. :)
The event was covered by the media, and apparently, over 17,000 people attended by eating out!! People might say that the event was largely pointless as it is only a small number of people who are causing the violence and they are definitely not going to show their support, but I think that it is worthwhile if the community sees that there are thousands and thousands of normal people who do stand against racism and violence and believe it is wrong. Unfortunately it's going to be a lot harder to convince those who are perpetuating ignorant attitudes otherwise!




I wore: thrifted Dangerfield dress, thrifted black lace top underneath, second hand belt, thrifted navy blue tights with dots on them, black lace up boots which were secondhand from Savers. Oh my, my whole outfit is second hand! :P Hehe.

I have been crazily shopping recently... Very bad of me I know, since I told myself I was going to try and mostly buy things that were second hand... but I have been to too many good sales recently!! :O

Btw, I want to start selling some of my clothes, most of which are in very good condition or never been worn, or are the wrong size for me... :S Anyway would anyone be interested in buying things off me? I could make another blog where I can sell things directly, ask to be put up as a seller on chictopia, or otherwise I will just put them on my new ebay account! What do you think?

Looking forward to hearing from you! :)