Day 3 - Going Strong!

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. Huge storm at night and the power went out so I went to sleep at 9 pm lol! So far it's going really well and I feel great...a little hungry but not really and the afternoon juices (carrot and coconut water) cure that right up. I know it sounds weird but I'm actually kind of hoping I feel like crap at least one day that way I know it's really working you know.

Walked to a near by "town" today...not really a town lol but we'll call it that. One of the girls here needed money and I like walking so we went. Seeing the 7-11 was the only time I actually felt a bit hungry and I think honestly that's more of a habit sort of thing...like Pavlov's dog lol. It was totally controlable but it was one of those things were normally I might go in and buy at least a coke zero just because.

Booked my ferry/bus ticket while in town too...which is good cuz I was a bit nervous about it being sold out if I waited till that day. I booked my train back and it's good I did it now b/c I still only got an Upper Berth sleeper. I actually have to stay at the resort a day longer and moved my flight back to Shanghai a day later b/c Thai New Year is the 15th so I couldn't get any trains back to Bangkok on the 15th. Works out better anyway, then I get a full day and a half to break the fast at the resort.

Hope everyone is doing well :)

A Few Bangkok Pics

So here's a few Wat Pho pics to hold you all over. I'll do The Grand Palace pics tomorrow probably. Btw in the middle of Day 1 at the Detox Resort...lots of shakes and herbs...MMmmm...actually not MMmmm at all lol!

Here's me at Wat Pho (Giant Reclining Buddha). Please excuse my gross appearance - 1. I have no makeup on 2. It was REALLY hot 3. I had to wear pants and a shirt w/ sleeves b/c of dress code at The Grand Palace

Just a little background info Wat Pho is one of the largest and oldest wats in Bangkok. The reclining Buddha is 46 m long and 15 m high. He is decorated w/ gold plating on his body and mother of pearl on his eyes and soles of his feet. The temple is also known as the birthplace of traditional Thai massage.

Here's just a collection of pics I took at Wat Pho
People praying

Entrance

At the Resort...Let the Detox Begin!

Bangkok was great fun yesterday. Did some sight seeing - Grand Palace and Wat Pho (reclining Buddha). Was going to check out Wat Arun too but a little noon time torrential downpour put a stop to that lol. Decided to do some shopping instead :) . Only bought one really pretty dress and a pair of sandals though as I'm trying to wait until AFTER the cleanse for my REAL shopping day! I'll upload some pics on another entry it's getting late here and I'm tired plus I have a super early start tomorrow.

Arrived at the resort today after a very long train/bus/ferry/cab and got all nice and settled in. I had my first meeting w/ the Director of the spa about my cleanse and I was given a schedule and everything...boy who knew you could be so busy and NOT eat lol! Sounds good though anything to keep my mind off food and keep me occupied sounds great. Plus after Day 2 or 3 I'm allowed to leave the resort and do some sight seeing...they even rent scooters (I've never driven one before would it be crazy to start while not eating lol).

The schedule looks something like this:

7:30 am - Shake (Psyllium and Bentonite)

8:00 am - Massage (Nice way to start the day :) )

9:00 am - Herbs - Fresh Juice

9:15 am - First Colonic Session of the Day

10:30 am - Shake (Psyllium and Bentonite)

12:00 pm - Herbs - Fresh Juice

1:30 pm - Shake (How am I suppose to get hungry w/ all these gross shakes lol)

2:45 pm - Herbs - Coconut Water - Sauna

4:15 pm - Shake (Psyllium and Bentonite)

6:00 pm - Herbs - Broth Soup

6:15 pm - Colonic Session

7:30 pm - Shake (Psyllium and Bentonite)

9:00 pm - Herbs

Before Sleep - Flora Grow

So I've been eating raw for the past several days and the resort actually has this really yummy little restaurant in it for locals and yoga ppl not doing a cleanse. Man I'm kind of jealous that I was limited b/c there were so many yummy things on the menu. But I did have a really good salad and fruit plate as my last meal.

Btw did I mention how much I love in Bangkok that there are tons of ppl selling yummy yummy fruit on the street all cut up. All my favs too - Pineapple, Watermelon, Papaya, Banana...not too hard to just eat raw fruit when that's available everywhere...and cheap :) The bananas in Bangkok are so much better than Shanghai lol!

At the Airport!...btw down 25 lbs!

Just a quick hi from the airport! I'll write a longer entry once I get settled in either Bangkok or Koh Phangan. Shoot last night went well...other than it was pouring rain and it was an outside shoot ugghhh! The model was cute and super polite...really sweet guy...obviously he hasn't been modeling long enough to develop an asshole persona lol. I definitely think there will be some cool pics from it. The rain kind of killed the hair a bit though b/c his hair was already longer and finer than what I needed to work w/ so it was hard to keep it standing and full in the rain. Of course I have some behind the scenes pics...you know how I love them ;) .

Btw guess who is officially down 25 lbs! ME....YES YES YES! What a great treat before Thailand! Totally excited for this Detox/Cleanse and curious about the results I'm going to get from it. I'm really hoping it helps w/ my skin and sugar cravings. Before anyone writes anything I just want to reassure you all don't worry trust me I'm definitely NOT too thin so you don't have to say anything about that. I took a few pics really quick this morning that I'll include here.

Look at my HIP BONES!! Excuse the pink undies hehe!

Lower Abs really starting to show...still got the booty lol!
Pants totally fall off now lol!

Mini Update - Actually WAY Longer Than Planned Lol!

So I leave for Thailand in 3.5 days (Sunday)!! Getting very excited and luckily enough I'm actually kind of super busy before I leave so at least the time will go by quicker. For the next few days I'm trying to do a raw fruit & veg diet (suggested by spa) as prep for the Detox/Cleanse I'll be doing while in Thailand so that's somewhat interesting but actually not that far removed from what I eat already.

Tomorrow I'm shooting another cover for Drink Magazine. Nothing fancy really but just nice to have a few covers in the portfolio you know.

Speaking of portfolio I'm FINALLY getting my procrastinating ass moving on doing a new website. Anyone who knows me knows I'm a tech tard...seriously! I'm actually impressed w/ myself that I switched hosting/domain companies for my current site lol. I've decided I'm going to go w/ Dripbook and build a site through them which is something they now offer. Their sites look super good (you can choose different colours schemes, layouts etc and change it as often as you want!), are totally affordable and best of all even a tech tard like ME can build and update it apparently!

That's the prob w/ my site now. A girl I use to work w/ built it for me as her final school project and then was suppose to teach me how to update it but she just "disappeared"...it was so odd she wouldn't email me back or return calls. No idea why but it left me w/ an intial site and no way to update it so therefore very quickly useless :( Lots of amazing artists do their sites through Dripbook now too btw like one of my favs - Lottie - so you know it's good ;)

I'm doing an editorial on Sat. night now...I can't remember the mags name at this moment but I'm just happy it's happening before I go. It was all up in the air b/c of the finding a stylist in China issue (surprise, surprise). I thought it might actually be shot while I was gone which made me sad but luckily it got bumped to the night before I leave :)

It's w/ a yummy, foreign male model btw :) Hey, if I'm going to be working a Sat. night at least I'll have some nice eye candy lol! It's so rare that I get to work w/ hot male models so yeah! And it's actually a cool makeup concept for me not just boring male grooming so that's cool. It's inspired by Twilight sort of (don't be jealous Sian Melton lol). We're doing a sort of Vampire at night in Shanghai sort of thing...but not cheesy - fashiony of course. So I'm paling out his complexion a bit and tinting the lips and giving him some structured, high, messy hair alla Robert Pattinson.

Btw apparently DestinAsian really liked the shoot that I did a few wks ago so that's cool and I can't wait to see the pics from that one!

I'll have WiFi at the resort btw so I'll be updating on the Detox/Cleanse!

? Y E S I D O !

So today was Day 1 of Uma Wang's Bridal Fashion Show. Overall, it went really well and I'm really pleased w/ everything so that's great. It was a little frustrating w/ her changing hair concepts a bit last minute but you know try your best and work w/ it...I've come to get use to these sorts of things w/ Uma lol.

Today was the VIP and media show and tomorrow is for the actual public. Originally, Uma was only going to do the cool, funky makeup today and something more traditional tomorrow b/c she was afraid that the reg. Chinese public wouldn't get the makeup but we convinced her that it looks really cool and she should use it tomorrow too which I think is the best move. I mean her clothes and designs aren't for regular Chinese people why should the makeup be...and this IS a Fashion Show after all, it's suppose to have an element of whimsy and be a bit avant garde.

I didn't come up w/ the makeup concept but I liked it overall and I thought it was cool. The inspiration came from the Fall/Winter 08 Victor & Rolf show. I personally would have done a different concept w/ the hair but again not my call. There were 8 models for the show and two MUAs doing both hair & makeup. The other MUA was Sandra who is really easy going and great to work with. I've worked w/ her when she's done styling but not makeup so today was a first.

On a side note it's funny b/c several mths ago I showed Troy Moth a magazine and he actually chose this makeup look and said he wanted to do a shoot like that at some point. It's only funny b/c Uma LOVES Troy's work esp. the "Powder Coated" shoot. If Troy is ever in Shanghai he needs to work w/ Uma b/c they obviously have some creative connective energy or something lol.

Oh and it's good that I'm super anal and really try to plan for everything and all the details even if I'm not the key artist b/c the makeup concept as you see from the pics below is stenciled lettering which btw spells out ? YES I DO ! (wedding/bride you get it). So yeah anyway I ask Nela who was assisting Uma for this about stencils for the letters and they totally didn't even think about it. I think they actually thought we were going to free hand it...umm do you know how much longer that would take and to get it symmetrical w/ 2 different MUAs...and trying to do "S" or "?"...umm NO! So I made some stencils for print out for the show. There really wasn't a "key" artist per se and I've just realized in China or anywhere for that matter to never rely on someone else to do it b/c that's how you end up screwed and to ALWAYS have EVERYTHING planned for...these are the same reason's I hated group work in high school lol. Yeah for being a Control Freak lol!

Below are some Behind the Scenes pics of the "backstage area" and the actual runway show (wish it had been warmer and sunnier today :( )

Some of my makeup...this is actually pretty organized for me..esp. considering it was a multiple model runway day lol!

The Designer - Uma Wang w/ some of the models...btw don't you just LOVE the hats!
More model pics - the "D" is Michelle - Uma's website/catalog model for her last two collections

More models...I should add I somehow managed to get stuck w/ almost all the hard letters lol - "S", "E", "D" and "I"..."I" was easy but I had to fight for it...seriously lol!

Lining the girls up for the show
The Show

Uma taking her bow
Fingers crossed tomorrow goes as well!

THAILAND!!!

THAILAND...I'm going to Thailand!!!

I've been in the process of figuring all this out for a few wks now but I hate to mention anything before details are sorted out incase something falls through (I'm the same way w/ relationships too). So I have officially booked my plane ticket and resort for Thailand so I feel confident enough in the details to talk about it now lol.

I need to get out of China for a bit as I'm just going crazy. I LOVE cities but sometimes you just need a break from it all you know. Esp. here - all the shoving and rudeness and public urination (in daylight I might add) and ppl staring at you ALL THE TIME...it just gets to be tiring.

So I'm going to Thailand for almost 2 wks. I leave on the 5th and come back on the 17th of April. Don't worry everywhere I'm going has internet access...I've checked ;) so I'll be hopefully updating!

Upon arrival I'm going to spend one night/day in Bangkok do a tour and sightseeing and then hope on an overnight train headed to my main destination. I'm going to an island called Koh Phangan (wanted to go to Koh Samui but that resort was booked :( ). Anyway, I'm going to be staying at this Yoga Resort and here's the best part...I've always wanted to do one of these but it's WAY too expensive in North America. I'm going to be doing a 7.5 day Detox & Cleanse program. I know it probably sounds like some of your dream vacations lol...jealous lol? 7.5 days no food, but they do give you these cleansing shakes and broth I believe, daily yoga, daily thai massages and steam baths plus twice a day self administered colemas (sorry if that's TMI lol).

I've actually had a series of colonics before and I'm really excited to "clean myself out". Plus while I'm there I plan to do a little sight seeing of the island - for sure I want to ride an elephant and go to a traditonal Thai boxing match...plus you know the beach and all that.

So anyway, after that I take another ferry/train back to Bangkok for one more night there. During my final day in Bangkok I plan to do all my shopping...I'm waiting till after the spa of course cuz I'm going to be thinner lol! Shopping is SOOOO CHEAP in Thailand apparently so I'm going to stock up and I need new clothes b/c I haven't really bought anything since I've lost the weight. Then that night I'm hoping to maybe meet some ppl and have a fun/crazy party night Bangkok style...although I don't think I'll drink cuz that kind of ruins the cleanse but I do LOVE to dance. Then taxi/plane back to reality the next day.

So yeah that's the plans...YEAH!!