Resurrection

Oh, my! It's been such a long time since I last posted. Too many things have happened. Career-wise, I'm currently undergoing a Training Program in preparation for a promotion. Travel-wise, I've been to Europe and had the most amazing time in Paris.

In Austria, I saw colourful cemeteries. The places actually looked festive.

Mini Break in Fiji

After 5 months plus some days of working, my planner asked if I wanted to go on a break just before I transfer to a new department. I said yes, surprised that I was even going to be given a break considering I was still on probation. Then all the reshuffling happened and I got a new planner and a new co-IC. I was worried for a bit since I might be asked to cancel the trip as I was the only person left in the department who sort of knew what happened. Fortunately, my new planner was cool with the idea of my mini vacation and even suggested I extend it considering it was only for 3 days. V tried canceling and re scheduling the flight but Air Pacific didn't have flights one day earlier than was originally booked and canceling and going with Virgin meant paying nearly a grand again so we just stuck with our original sched.

Flying out of Melbourne was a bit stressful. It was a Tuesday night flight out which meant I was still at the office. I meant to leave at 2 pm  but with things coming up at the last minute, I got to leave at 3.30 pm. I got home at 5.20 pm and managed to pack some more items before we left at 6 for the airport.

While waiting to board our delayed flight, there was a bit of a commotion with some passengers of the Thai Airways flight. The boarding gate was next to ours so we sort of got a front view seat. A guy was a bit frazzled and trying to ask one of the ground crew for help and was told to go to the service desk. Next, security personnel starting arriving by twos putting disposable gloves on. They were all headed to the toilet. Two ground crews manned the entrance and redirected passengers to other toilet facilities. Then they brought in 2 wheelchairs. Then a stretcher. One ground crew staff mentioned how the flight started as a nightmare and continues to be a nightmare. V and I looked at each other and were glad we weren't on that flight.

Finally, after 45 minutes, we were allowed to board and were on our way to Fiji!

From the time we arrived at the airport to the time we departed, it was nothing but a relaxing experience. The fact that we were relatively away from everything and the people were lovely made it such a lovely experience.

I'm a bit lazy writing about everything so I'll just post photos instead.

View from our room

White Water Rafting with River Fiji

At the "Free Massage" Waterfall

The seafood platter for two at the Wicked Walu, Warwick Resort

Update

It's been awhile since my last post. I'm not even sure if I want to continue with my blog as I'm too tired to post after an 11-12-hour day. Staring at a computer the entire day drains me, a different kind of tiredness from being on your feet. But I find it more fulfilling. I see the impact of my decisions on a different level from that of a store level and I'm learning more and more each day.

It's my 4th month with this company and I seem to handle things pretty well now. I'm no longer frustrated since I've already learned how things work and how to solve things and who to contact when I want to get things solved so now it's just a matter of doing things efficiently to have the most impact financially.

I'm still waiting for a more permanent update from work before I can blog more so can't tell much at this point.

New Year. New Job

And so, I started this year a bit rested. After all those graveyard shifts at Myer, I was able to have a few days to myself and with V to celebrate the new year. We went to Sydney and watched the fireworks (only the 9 pm show since we wimped out. hehehe) and came back with 2 days to spare for myself before the my new job started.

Yep, you read that right. I'm now working in a job I've always wanted to do (always being after finding out there was more to the fashion industry than just being a designer or a buyer). I'm so happy people remembered "I had a brain". =PPP

It has only been a few days but I'm already learning a lot of things. I'm truly grateful and happy. =))))

Done!

After years of studying, I am finally done. What I learned, which have been reinforced these past months, is that I would never be a machinist. I have great respect for those who can just whip up clothes but I am not one of them.

Here is part of my collection:

Model: Nicole Labianca
Photographer: SMB

Progress

or lack thereof.

So many things are just cropping up that's not making me happy. I have toiled and retoiled so many times, it's no longer funny although I'm trying to find the lighter side of things. But I have persevered so it's not that bad. I've found alternatives and my lecturers have actually helped me find solutions for them, for example, my final fabric for my dress was sheer so she recommended using gore to give it a bit of a weight.

My timeline states that I should have finished two outfits by now but I'm still in the troubleshooting stage. =(

The Heat is On

And I don't only mean the surprising summer weather this early spring but the stress level to do the graduation collection is on and increasing by the day.

I've ordered my fabrics and they have arrived with the exception of my wool which I've ordered from Michael's fabrics. They have limited but exceptional fabrics. They carry Armani and Zegna fabrics. They're a bit pricey but you do pay for quality products (I hope. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the wool.) There's also the Fashionfabricsclub and they have more variety. They sell by the yard and not by the meter so essentially, I'm going to lose 10 cm each time. I haven't bought anything from there yet since I found a local wholeseller here. They're in Sydney but hey! it's local to me. =)

Two of my fabrics have been sent for dyeing and while I was told that it usually takes 11 days, I could expect the fabrics by next week.

All I need to do now is buy my threads and stock up on the appropriate needles. I know I should have ordered everything earlier, which I did, when I bought my fabrics in Shenzhen, but it turned out that I needed more. Two of the fabrics were sent for dyeing and the others, I'm using to toile my garments. I've already used up my wool elastane which goes to show that I didn't take everything into account when I did my plan. Well, now that I'm in the thick of things, everything should fall into place nicely.

It's Crunch Time

Haven't been uploading much as I've been so busy with school and work (and watching kpop videos on youtube).

Now, it's gotten busier since I have to do my graduation collection. I've done my initial toiles but now I have to do my final toiles (isn't that a misnomer?). Before I could that though, I have to clean the house. tehehehe. All the stuff that I've accumulated over the past months have piled up and the living room looked like a garage. It took an inspection notice for me to clean and tidy up and now the living room looks like a living room - nice and airy. =)

Tomorrow, I have to sit down and start working. No more procrastinating. =)

VIP Night at Myer

From 6.30 to 9 this evening, we had a special event for Myer One VIPs.

Designers who came in to mingle and to say something about their range were

Wayne Cooper

from www.stylepalace.com.au

Fleur Wood

from www.fleurwood.com

Teresa Liano of T.L. Wood

www.earthwatch40th.org.au

Kate Sylvester

www.katesylvester.co.nz

And I think I even saw Charlie Brown of Charlie Brown.

www.news.com.au

Sadly, there weren't a lot of people who came. I'm comparing that to the last VIP night they had one season ago. People must be saving up instead of splurging on clothes. 

Back from Hong Kong

I had a marvelous time in HK with my friend who was the most patient and indulgent friend I could ever had. Not only did she bring me around HK but she went with me twice to Shenzhen. =)))

I managed to buy 10 to 15mtrs of fabrics which I'm hoping will be enough for my collection.

The fabric place at Lo Wu shopping centre in Shenzhen

The loot from Shenzhen

Inside Zara Melbourne

on a Monday. At 3.30 in the afternoon. Women in a flurry and barely contained excitement.

Not even the long queue to the fitting room would deter them.

Inside Zara ground level

The queue to the fitting room

Cute but not enough to entice me to buy

Lots of cute, colourful and girly clothes but my sentiments are still the same no matter which Zara store I visit, whether in Europe, in Asia or Australia. It doesn't tug at my purse strings. =P

Zara fever

It appears the fever still hasn't gone down over Zara.

2 Saturdays ago, this was the scene outside Zara at Bourke St. Mall.

A few days ago, when I passed by Zara, there was still a steady queue of people going in even at 9.30 in the morning

Coco Rocha's Wedding by Gilbert Le

I stumbled on this on a blogger's website (www.rantingsofashopaholic). It's a short movie of Coco Rocha's wedding to James Conran. It was shot so beautifully and you could tell the couple truly love each other. I found it especially moving when James said his vows. It was so heartfelt, I could just melt. =)

July...come faster

I've ordered a swatch book from the Angus International I/E Agency in Hong Kong a few months ago. They claim to be the "purveyors" of the finest silk from around the world. The prices were competitive when I received the swatch book but then I received an email stating they were increasing their prices.

Since I've already booked my flight and hotel, I decided to still go and check them out. If I find fabrics at the right price, I suppose I'd buy them then buy the rest here in Melbourne.

At the same time, I can go visit my friend there and we can go to Citygate Outlet. I've always been a fan of outlet shopping and July, apparently, is the sale month in Hong Kong. yey!

Robert Clergerie

What's going on so far

I've been working and studying and saving like crazy since I'm going to Hong Kong this July.

I'm nearing my target amount, unfortunately, the shifts started dwindling as of last week. Couldn't really blame them as retail in general has gone down. Still, I did manage to save enough. =)

A lot of work plus homework

makes for one very very tired marsupial.

I finally had to request to cut down on hours this week and next week only because all my homeworks are due.

But after that, back to working.

=)

Tension

is our first project for Design 3.

So far, I haven't felt that yet. Been working and studying with nothing much in between.

School Work

Two words that can mean one thing but also two separate things. Words that dominate my life at the moment. Not that I'm complaining.

School started two weeks ago and so far I'm feeling positive about my lecturers. Sure, the rooms are small, much smaller than the previous rooms we have in the other building. The promised "small size" classes weren't really small as there were 19 of us in a room. Not good when everybody's going to be doing their graduation collection.

So far though, our lecturers have been very helpful and very methodical. =)

****

Today, I had to redo my bodice blocks to fit the mannequin. Finally, I learned how to properly transfer the calico design onto my block and alter the blocks. I'm slow but I finally get it. My sewing has improved as well though I still need to mark the stitch lines to serve as my guide.

Best thing is, I found a McDonald's outlet that had a McCafe that serves pastries for $1.95! Amazing. Now, I can have my sugar fill whenever I'm at school. Not good for the health but good for my psyche. =)

Aches and pains

and school to look forward to. Sigh.

So glad I followed my GP's advice and bought these compression tights. They help! A lot! They're made by Levante, an Italian brand exclusively distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Ambra Corporation. I bought the support factor 10 and support factor 12 (or was it an 8 and a 10?). The first was for when I had to work for 8 to 10 hours and the second for when I have to work for 10 to 13 hours a day.

My back no longer aches as badly and my legs don't get as swollen as they used to when I work more than 8 hours.

I seriously recommend it to anyone who works in industries where they have to stand up for a very long time. The material is sheer so it's smooth to the touch. =)

You can read more about it on Levante's website.

from www.levante.com.au