314. pipes & pipes

Been pretty busy since I got back to Tokyo but before I post about my outings with Mad, I feel like I have to get this off my chest because I'm such an introvert it's not even funny.

I spent my entire evening being socially awkward but not in a bad way. I have been in talks with some friends about my new project and I made my way down to Shimokitazawa this evening to check out Survive Said The Prophet's exhibition.

Seeing familiar faces again is always nice, I've missed events like this for the last couple of months when I was in Singapore. Whenever I am in Singapore, I am such a hermit and when I get out of the house, it's with my sister most of the time. So, seeing everyone again here was pretty awkward for me and I froze so many times, I even told my friends "Oh my god, I don't even know what to say now." It does not help with the language barrier. My Japanese has so gotten so rusty, I'm literally saying all the verbs out loud and making my friends guess what I even want to say.

Thank god there were a couple of people who were fluent in English, if not I would have just crawled into a hole.

The exhibition was pretty alright, mostly about Survive Said The Prophet's merchandise. I was looking forward to the acoustic more. I also was pretty surprised to bump into Ryo because I haven't seen him in such a long time. Also, I'm really thankful everyone has been so supportive of me. Yosh even wore my shirt straight away once I handed it to him. I'm still in the talks with everyone, so I will still take some time to get where I want to be. But I promise to work extremely hard, I have to have some faith in myself.

SSTP's acoustic was really good. They're a melodic band, so it's pretty different from what I usually listen to. BUT they are one of the best bands I have seen live in Japan. I only know one song If You Really Want To from their old album, and I like their new song called 3AM. They just released their new album FIXED and are on tour now around Japan.

I think they played a total of 4 songs tonight with a lot of MC-ing (that I don't understand). I managed to only record the first song, also drag to the 1:55 mark to see Crystal Lake's vocalist Ryo, make an appearance, haha. Thanks Yosh for wearing my design!

Tonight was really productive, just a shout out to Yosh, Ivan, and Ryo for taking the time to talk such an awkward me. I'm not always like that but I think it just has not sunk in that I'm back in Japan and my life here is a totally different one from Singapore. LIKE, it's worlds apart. I'm still taking some time to adjust. 

I totally forgot how much of a social life I actually have in Tokyo, to be honest. I just got so used to being on my own for the last couple of months, it's so strange to be in a sea of people again. Adding in culture shock and the language barrier make me such an awkward person. 

313. happiness is...

So, I'm already back in Tokyo and it feels a little strange to be back in my own apartment but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I think I just haven't been away from Tokyo for such a long time for the last three years, so I feel this way. Last week was such an eventful week, I still somehow am thinking about it.

On Friday, I made my way down to Red Dot Museum and met up with artist Sarah Thursday. I have been following her on Instagram for a while now and I use her Hallows bag really often actually. I love seeing her progress on Instagram so it was really nice to finally meet her in person. We could get along straight away and it seems like we have more in common than I thought we would have. We ended up talking for a couple of hours and having dinner together.

Meeting creative people really makes me happy because it allows me to learn from them. It also inspires me to want to create more and work towards my dreams. We exchanged contact info and I'm pretty bummed I can't go to her exhibition because I think it's a cool concept to have it at a Cat Cafe, oh well. My sister will be going on my behalf.

We exchanged stickers too, haha. (The cat is by Hugo and I was lucky enough to get the last one!)

On Sunday was Mad's big day. I have never been to a  Malay wedding before and I think this will be the only chance I get to. So little sis and I made our way down to Serangoon to attend Mad's an Din's wedding. It was a culture shock for both of us and we didn't really know what to do, so we were awkwardly standing around for a good 15 minutes before deciding to get some food.

I haven't had (good) Malay food for a long time so I was really happy eating, my favorite was the dry mee siam and rendang! Also, it was my first time seeing both Mad and Din in traditional Malay clothes, so it was pretty entertaining. I finally saw her in the late afternoon and gave her a big hug. She looked so happy that day, it made me really happy for her as well. Though Din and I have had our differences, I know that he is a good guy and definitely takes care of Mad really well. So I'm happy for the both of them.

I met up with some of my art college friends and it was a tad awkward. I ended up just talking to Sam because Sam, Mad and I used to hang out a lot together. After we graduated, it was always just me and Mad. Sam totally went MIA, but at least I got to see her again.

Honestly, I've never seen all of us so happy in one photo. I used to have depression back in college so I'm always not this happy in all our old photos. I'm just really happy for Mad!

We went home straight after their wedding because I had a flight to catch that night back to Tokyo.

I am now writing from my Tachikawa apartment and I actually can't believe I'm meeting Mad and Din tomorrow to bring them around. I think I have been talking to Mad about Japan for the last five years, so I can't wait to see both of them actually in Japan. 

Being back in Singapore for the last couple of months was really worthwhile. I don't hate it as much as I used to but I still don't see myself living there in the future. I have new projects on the way and I'm so happy with everyone's positive response. I hope my new project really takes off and by then, I think I will be really at peace with myself.

The last couple of months have done me a lot of good and searching for my own voice and I think I have finally found it. I thank everyone who has been so supportive and believing in me, I will work very hard to make everyone proud. Till then...

312. cute without the e

This is the start of my new project, I have been trying to get just the right design and drawing this design over and over again to make sure it'll look good on shirts and I'm really happy with the outcome. This shirt is called Cute without the E and yes, it is named after the Taking Back Sunday song.

Initially, I wanted to name it just cut but I have been talking to little sis about the idea of this new venture and it's safe to say she knows me best. I will not get too much into what this project  just yet, but I'm excited for this. I will have a lot of things to do and people to meet when I am back in Tokyo. 

I've never felt more alive.

Also - thanks to my baby sis for modeling for me. (Most supportive person ever, haha)

311. taste of ink

I spent my entire afternoon today getting two tattoos done at Traditions Tattoo Collective in Singapore. There were 2 guest artists from Seoul, one which I've been following on Instagram for a while now, Hugo.

I've never really wanted any Ghibli themed tattoo until I chanced upon his work a couple of months ago and fell in love with his work. I was lucky enough to get a slot, the owner of the Tattoo Studio told me and little sis that a lot of people were disappointed because they couldn't get any work done by him since he is fully booked. I thank my lucky stars.

So, Traditions Tattoo Collective is located in Holland Village, which made me feel really nostalgic because my dad used to own a restaurant here and this Tattoo Studio is just a few shops down on the same street to where my dad's restaurant was.

The artists at this studio were really friendly and  I spent most of the afternoon talking to them while Hugo was working on my tattoos. His girlfriend Greem, was also working on another customer. I'm gonna sound like a creep but I was admiring her tattoos while she was standing around or watching Hugo do his work. She and Hugo both have a really great collection of tattoos, one of them being from Ildo, another tattoo artist that I really want to get some work from. I don't know what's with me and female tattoo artists but whenever I see them, I'm just all *__*

She was really nice as well, I managed to talk to her for a little bit. Hugo started on my Kamaji tattoo first and it was less painful than I thought it would be. It took about 1 hour and 30 minutes to get it done and I was so happy with it. I was already excited when he posted the initial design a week or two ago on Instagram. I was really mind blown when he finished it, the details and just the general idea of this Kamaji piece is so unique, I'm just like... every cent is worth it. 

I only wanted Kamaji and the sootballs but I really loved that he added the herbs, tags and even the rice bowl that Kamaji is holding.

We took a short break and I gave some of my stickers to the artists. I'm always happy to see artists appreciate my work. The best thing is when they compliment me because it really boosts my confidence. An absolute confidence booster is when the person you admire keeps your work very safely. I always have had a lot of self-doubt especially when it comes to my art. Greem even asked me if I was a tattoo artist and I was like "no no no no". 

My Kaonashi tattoo was actually really painful compared to the Kamaji one because of all the shading but I really love the details and stars Hugo put on him. Also, how cute is the tiny bird on top of Kaonashi?

picture Hugo took on his Instagram.

I left the tattoo studio at close to 6pm and went for dinner before heading home. I live for days like these, where I can talk to fellow artists where we share the same opinions about things and interests. 

There's obviously some ~deep~ reason why I got these tattoos but I won't go into them. But if you didn't already know, Spirited Away is one of my all time favorite films. If not, my absolute favorite Japanese animation film. It was also one of the reasons why I wanted to visit Japan in the first place and now look where we are, I have already lived in Tokyo for the last 3 years.

Also - I have always hated my legs but maybe now I can start loving them a little more. Thank you, Hugo. Thank you to everyone today who made me feel welcomed at the studio. :)