Happy 21st Birthday XiiaoNic

Somewhere in the month of November we celebrate our XiiaoNicole's 21st birthday. It was by far one of the prettiest and well thought birthday parties I've been to and I can see that all the effort that Nicole puts into finally paid off.













I'm pretty sure everyone enjoyed themselves at Nicole's party. I mean, the food is nice, the place is nice. Everything is just... NICE! Saw some familiar faces over there and its the perfect time to catch up with one another.

24 September 2016

From the continuation of my previous post -> birthday month of how much I'm bragging about my friends celebrating and remembering my birthday. YES! This is the 2nd part of the post well cuz I have THAT many friends. Okay I kid, I don't. But anyways, on 24th September I turned 24, but me being me I'm super denial and I keep telling people and posting on my social media that I'm #Sweet16.

So on that very day I met up with Joyce, Fenny BaeBae, MyApplePai, Ruoxuan, Weijie, Kaizhi, and Limei which we, together with some other group of friends affectionally call ourselves #Cousins but due to some unforeseen circumstances I don't call us that anymore. #illegagathering sounds nicer.

So I met the above mentioned (excluding Limei) at town area whereby we just walked around and catch up with one another. After which, the plan was to have some desserts at the Craftholic pop up store located at School Of The Arts, SOTA in short. But because the cafe have such poor customer management we were told that dine in was closed for the day. What a bummer! To kill some time, I had my personal manager -> @YourApplePie to help me take my #OOTD shots cuz SOTA has nice backdrop that is insta worthy. LOL!!!



After we're done taking our ootd's, we went back to find the rest. So when I was about to put down my stuff, I saw Ruoxuan's eyes was like looking sideways not knowing what to do. As in, she looked flustered if you want to put it that way. It was kinda funny though cuz she looked equally confused as well. After that Ruoxuan started singing the Happy Birthday song and followed by the rest. Seconds later I saw Joyce walking to me with a birthday cake with a glitter candle on top (I NEED TO HIGHLIGHT THAT ITS GLITTER OKAY!!!)

By the way the candle is still inside my earpiece pouch. They told me to keep it and reuse it next year. #Determination (Muscle Emoji)

I was super duper touched cuz it has been awhile since I last saw them. Probably close to a year already, some even more than a year. So to share my joy I decided to share my cake with all of them. The boys were pretty reluctant cuz well, they prefer girls to feed them. But whatever, we're fronds, nothing to be shy or afraid of.



After having some "ME" time, we proceed on with the plan for that day. UNCLE RINGO CARNIVAL!!! I'm abit excited but yet I don't want to have high expectations cuz #expectationsVSreality. Carnival sounds like a pretty fun and interesting "term" but when you get to see the actual thing.... Nah, not so.

So when we arrived at Beauty World, Limei finally met us and I was presented with a box of 12 cupcakes. Hehe! THANK YOU LIMEI!!!

We saw the carnival which from far looked pretty promising. Until we walked one round and think that the prizes for the games and such are pretty meh. What was fun about the carnival was that we all spam our cameras taking shots after shots after shots. We even got the attention from the public when I was taking this photo below of Kaizhi and Weijie carrying me. Hahaha!!!



It was hella fun and we didn't even spend a single cent. It was just pure fun spending time together with your friends. After that, we head on for dinner at some "Zi Char" stall it was a birthday treat from the crew.

You know, I've never thought that I would make friends with people I know online. Furthermore we barely know each other in the beginning. From strangers to people you meet at events and on to friends and now to what we are. Throughout this whole journey it was a bumpy ride. We fought, argued but we look past it and still remain as good friends. This, I truly appreciate it.

Thank you all for your love and care all these years. To some, 7 years may be short. But to me, time doesn't determine a friendship. Its about how both parties juggle their time. If they care, they will. Even if both parties only meet once a year, you'll still end up having countless topics to talk, and endless things to laugh about. Words are not enough to express how thankful and grateful I am of each and everyone of you. Even the simplest "happy birthday" message puts a smile on my face. The thought of people remembering your birthday is just special. It makes me feel special. Be it Blogger Friends, Army Mates, Poly, ITE, Secondary, Primary school friends or my Family. Thank you guys so so much. :')

For the fun, peace, love and joy. 

Happy Birthday to me. 

#donnygaoSweet16

Starbucks® Teavana™

I used to be a huge fan of Starbucks when I during my Poly days but I gradually start drinking lesser when I entered the army. Recently, I went for their Teavana® media launch at the Starbucks located at Rochester Mall, which happens to be one of their reserve outlet.

Thanks to Benjamin (@Benvoda) I get to be one of the few lucky people to do a taste test on some of their wide range of Teavana® teas. Lucky for us, we were there early, so we manage to sneak up some good photos before the rest of the media arrive.



The event was pretty fruitful and interesting one, I was taught about the different taste of their new Teavana® tea series and how we can compliment each of the individual tea with the small bites that Starbucks has to offer. For instance, the Earl Grey Tea would be best complimented with a cheesecake as the taste is pretty mild and balanced so that it will not overpower the taste of the cheesecake. Before this media launch, all I ever drink was either Java Chip or Mocha Frappe. But after tasting their Teavana® series, I'm sold by their fusion Matcha & Espresso. I mean like come on, you get Coffee + Green Tea in 1 drink. WHY NOT RIGHT?!?! And I was told that its their most hot seller cause its super instagrammable.

If coffee and green tea isn't your cup of tea, you can always op for a more refreshing beverage like the Iced Shaken Hibiscuc Tea w/ Pomegranate Pearls. Its pretty refreshing and instantly gives you the perk that you need.

Birthday Month

Like I mention at my previous post, I LOVE THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER!!! Mainly cuz its my birthday month?!?!?! Quite sad to say, this year is probably the first year where I had so many people celebrating my birthday with me.... So this explains for this post right here, for me to brag it everyone all over the internet.

So it started 2 weeks ago, where my poly year 2/3 friends and I were suppose to meet for lunch at Itacho Sushi. I really didn't expect Audrey to appear cuz she's ALWAYS busy with her dance and work commitments. But she really did surprised me. Hahaha!!! It turned out to be a double celebration for both Garey and me cuz he's flying off to Taiwan for his army training and thus MingLong will be flying off to Australia 2 weeks after him for HIS army training. TSK! (Why they so good one ah?!?! And I got the shitty one like Brunei!!!)



As we were eating, Audrey surprised us with the cake, and later did we know that she was actually late SUPER late from the meeting time. Hahahah! But nevertheless, I'm glad to see all of them again. :)

The cake we had was from Ming Long's brother's pastry shop. And later we found out that Yan Kay Kay was actually Ming Long's cousin. LOLOLOL! Long story short, we were all quite shock. Hahahaha!!



We chilled and hangout thereafter at Tapas, drink some mocktail, had some small bites, and soon, we parted. Audrey and Nic went home while Garey, Ming Long and I went ahead to MBS to have some PokemonGO time. LOLOLOL! Guess what happened?!?! We all encountered a Blastoise, both of them caught theirs and Mine ran away. #FML!!!




[14th Sept 2016]
The following weekday a camp mate of mine messaged to ask me to go nights out with him and my other BMT mates. And guess what?!?! They treated me to a buffet dinner!!! I was super super touched cuz I really didn't expect any of my army mates to celebrate or give me a birthday treat. Eventhough at times my BMT mates treats me like shit but I think they still care?!?!?! Hahaha!

As much as I wanna openly thank them, I decided to plaster my face over them because I'm that obsessed with myself. :)

Thank you Matthew, Jeffrey and Benjamin.



[16th Sept 2016]
Met up with my ITE Nitec/Secondary school friends. It was a simple dinner filled with fun and laughter which I really enjoyed. I'm so glad that we still manage to keep in contact till date.



I met Mei Ling and Ain at Orchard Central and we had dinner at 49 Seats, and after which, we had some cakes and bites at Cocoa Colony.



After which, Ain left cuz a married women gotta do a a married women gotta do. Hahahaha!!! Meiling and I went over to MBS to fetch Zizi and we head back to AMK together to have supper at McDonalds.




Because not the full crew were present at the same time to take a group photo, this is what I had to do. To edit Zizi inside the one Meiling, Ain and I took before meeting him. Hahahaha!!!

[18th Sept 2016]
I really really love September, everyday felt like my birthday. Hahaha! On the 18th I met up with my ITE Higher Nitec mates. I'm so glad that they took time off their busy schedules just to celebrate my birthday. That, I really appreciate it. I love the fact that the friends that are still with me, we never had any dull moments. Its like, we can meet just once a year and we still have plenty of things to talk about.



Our initial meeting time was 1.30pm, but I was sooooo late that I end up meeting them at 2pm. Hahahaha!!! :/

Ming Long brought me to Hai Di Lao (I WAS SHOCKED, REALLY!!), and I saw Keekhim and Grace sitting there waiting for my royal arrival. Hahaha! (WHO AM I KIDDING?!?!)



But really, I was a bit taken a back cuz HDL is so fucking expensive!!! Time passes fast as we were eating and soon the waiter came to me with a tray of cupcakes. Woots! Actually, it was expected cuz before that we were all saying that we're gonna meet up to celebrate my birthday. Hahahah! They are all too old for this "surprise" shit already cuz we've been doing it for the past 5-6 years. And to be honest, even from a Marketing student's perspective, I'm running out of creative surprises. LOLOLOL!!!



We walked around town, chilled around Starbucks and had some light dinner at Hoshino Coffee located at Dhoby Ghaut. I really like these kind of simple celebrations. Nothing fancy. Just meet up, talk cock, and chill. Hahaha!



Alright. I'm gonna stop here for now cuz its not my exact birthday yet. I'm gonna write more on my next post cuz one post alone is not enough to express my gratitude to all my friends. (:

Hello September

Well more than half a year have gone by just like that we're at September already. can you even believe it?!?!?! Anyway, September is probably by far my favourite month of the year cuz its my birthday month!!! I'm super excited cuz my dad is getting me the new iPhone as a birthday present! YAY ME! Not sure which one should I get though, the new matte and jet black looks nice, but deep down I know I'm still a colourful person. Hahah!!

So anyways, this month is pretty chill, I've been claiming off's from my camp like every week cuz my camp is currently involve in some other shit which I don't really care about. LOL!

A friend of mine recently asked me this question: So Don, what are you gonna do after this?
It got me thinking really. Hard enough till I'm really scared of not knowing what to do cuz I've never really thought about it. And now that I've only left around 1 years to finish serving my 2 years of army, I can't help but to constantly think about it.

I've never really told anyone about what I wanna do in the future. The excuse I always give is... I'm not sure, I still have no idea. Studying Uni could be an issue cuz I'm not financially stable to support myself. Plus, I don't really have the feel for studying anymore... For what I know, I have a Marketing diploma, and I'm really passionate in the Arts & Media industry. Fashion, Photography, and Styling to be exact. So after talking to Nicole (nicolelowyx) & Audrey (Ohdreyy) recently, I've finally made a decision and set a goal to go for what we've talked about. Perhaps in the future, I'll make it big. :)

Teenage Gorgeous You 2016 Finals

A few days back I attended the Teenage Gorgeous You 2016 finals to support both Benjamin (@benvoda) and Cheow Yi (@cheowster). In case you're new here, I've blogged about how much I look up to them as my competitor back then before I drop out of the competition. Link here: http://www.donnlicious.com/2016/07/teenage-gorgeous-you-social-challenge.html

Its pretty sad that I had to drop out of the competition due to my work commitment but nevertheless, I'm glad that I was able to give Ben a helping for one of his challenges. (:

When they announced Ben as the 1st runner up, I was a tad nervous cuz I really hope and wanted Cheow Yi to take home the grand prize, cuz she really put in ALOT of effort into her blog posts. And when the host announced her as the winner, I was overjoyed. Like a proud daddy seeing his daughter top the whole cohort.

Overall, I'm really really proud of Ben and Cheow Yi for coming out as the top 2 winners for this year's TGY Social Challenge. At least you guys won it fair and square. Unlike some people who had to buy their likes to act as though they have a lot of followers engagement when OBVIOUSLY most of their likes are fake. Urghh! I can't even!!! -.-

P/S: Don't mind me, but I feel a bit unfair to the rest of the contestants who really give it their all and effort for all the challenges. #JustSaying

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Dinner with Ben and Angie at Tiramisu Hero and I must say, we nearly died waiting for our food there cuz it was served SO SLOW!!!!!!!!!!!

The 3 of us talked for quite a bit and was so glad that this whole TGY thing is over. Hahaha! And TBH, Ben and I were only online friends till the day we decided to meet out for his 313 @ Somerset challenge. Hahaha!!! I know.... How can right?!?!?! But yea, #SadTruth

I mean, we both know one another's existence but just didn't meet in real life. We only talked via our social media and thats all. But we do have alot of mutual friends cuz #BLOGGERS. Hahahahaha!!!

Ending this post with my outfit for that day. Ben says that I wore until sibei formal for the event itself. Hahahaha!!!

Androgyny

So nowadays is all the PokemonGO hype and its really nice seeing people from all races, gender and age coming out together and play this mobile game. To be honest, I didn't expect it to be this much of a phenomenon. Plus, I didn't expect myself to get hooked on to the game that I literally went out of my house all the way to Bishan Park in hopes of catching some rare Pokemon. Even my mom plays it. LOL!!!

Recently I'm into the all androgyny outfits. I mean, with all the weight I've lost, I definitely have to put on those clothes that I couldn't in the past right?!?! For this outfit, the top was from Oh So Fickle, and my "not so ripped jeans" is from Forever 21. Bag is from a friend who got it from the White Milano 2016 fashion show earlier this June, and shades are from Stylenanda Korea.

Korea 2016 Day 5

Okay. Hello everyone. As you can see this post is slightly different from the rest. I've decided to try doing a pictorial kinda post for my Korea 2016 Day 5 instead of the usual travelogue-ish kind.

So yea. Woke up kinda late cuz my friend left my apartment at around 6am?!?! and I need to get my mandatory 8 hours of sleep. Hahah!!!

I was kinda lost cuz my friends have all went back to Singapore already and so I'm left all alone in Korea. The feeling kinda sucks though. So my plan was to give Common Ground a visit cuz its like a must visit place when you're in Korea, right?!?!?!

XXX

When I was onboard the train, it started pouring and it really dampens my mood even more luh!!! So when I alighted I make my way to where Common Ground is located at start taking pictures of the place. From the exterior it looks really cool. Like those blue containers surrounding the place. Furthermore, Common Ground was also featured in one of SISTARS MV --- Shake It.

After I'm done exploring the place, I am clueless of where to go, so I went to Gangnam to continue where I left off the previous time. To my disappointment, the rain got heavier as I reached Gangnam and all I could do is to have my lunch there and thats it. Pretty wasted though.

As much as I don't wanna waste the entire day, I went to somewhere nearer to my apartment -- Myeong Dong to do some shopping. It didn't rain over there and weather was pretty cooling. Spent over $100 at Nature's Republic and I totally didn't expect that to happen.

After I'm done shopping I went back to my apartment and bought fried chicken and YouTube-d for the rest of the night. It's pretty boring if I were to say for my Day 5 cuz I'm a slight sad that my friends weren't there with me anymore. But do keep a look out for Day 6 cuz I did alot more things. Hahaha! Stay tuned.