lifestyle

Burning House

August 17, 2013

Hi guys~
This post is actually part of my English homework.
Our teacher introduced a Tumblr blog to us called www.theburninghouse.com, on which people post a photo of items they would grab if their house was burning down. This concept is really interesting and I spent a while looking through all the pictures people from around the world sent in.

Our assignment was to document what we would take in this scenario, and then write a bit about each of the items. So here are two shots of the items I would bring if my house were burning down!

Name: Ally Gong

Age: 16 years old

Lives in / Comes from: California / Shanghai

Current Occupation: Student

Future Occupation: Business/Media

On the top row, from left to right:

1. A stack of old journals and a pop up book I made in middle school that I spent an entire week on. (It’s the one with the clouds on it.)

2. My earring cup, holding all my studded earrings. (I like studded earring more than hooked ones.)

3. Chance by Chanel, a perfume I bought at an airport in Shanghai that I wore throughout the entire summer there.

4. ‘Crazy B!tch’ shot glass my friend bought me.

5. Louis Vuitton (Tivoli PM) handbag gifted from mother.

On the bottom row, from left to right:

1. Candy by Mian Mian, and Shanghai Baby my Wei Hui. These books were banned in China and I picked up the translated copies at a bookstore in Asia and have read them countless times. (My favorite book is The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera, but I have no particular affinity for my copy of it, merely the story, so I wouldn’t grab that book.)

2. Gold necklace given to my at birth from my great grandmother.

3. Heart locket my old boyfriend got for me.

4. Wallet

5. MacBook Pro containing the contents of my existence.

6. Purikura (Sticker picture) collection, (small photos taken with various people in Japanese photobooth machines.)

7. Postcard in frame that I sent to myself from a theme cafe in Shanghai. This postcard acts as inspiration to do well in both school and daily life.
The cafe I bought this in was called Momo Cafe, and there are shelves of postcards lining the walls. The idea is to buy postcards, coffee or dessert, and fill them at the couches and tables with the provided colored pencils and pens. Then, you buy postage stamps and put them in the mailbox with the year you want it sent out. There are mailboxes on the wall labeled with the present year all the way to fifteen years in the future. I received this one recently.

-A

What’s Inside my Pencil Case? :D

July 12, 2013

Hi lovelies! How’s everyone doing?

I’ve been moderately busy this week (mostly working on school work for next year). Camp is tomorrow! I am sosososo excited, this is basically my first sleepaway camp! I’ll be bringing my laptop and a camera, (not my Canon camera though), so I’ll be blogging and will fill you all in more when I get there!!

I thought I’d do a post on what I bring around in my pencil case. I’ve received requests for posts on what’s in my bag, makeup pouch, etc. but I wanted to share my pencil case first, because there’s one super special thing in it I wanted to share with everyone!

So as you can see, I have a kawaii ass pencil case that’s ©SAN-X (same brand that rilakkuma is from!) I think I bought this in Japan, if not, it might be from a japanese stationary store. It’s somewhere around $20. Inside, I have mostly Japanese brand pens because they’re my favorite to use and look at. ^^

Some of my favorite japanese pens are Uniball Style Fit, and Hi-Tec-C Coleto. These are the multi-barrel pens that you can customize with your desired ink colors. If you look closely at the picture, the light pink pen with the white polka dots and the white pen with the multicolor mickey mouse ears are the Uniball Style Fits. The Hi-Tec-C Coleto is the pink one at the very bottom of the heap.

I also keep a marker and highlighter in my pencil case. Under the Rilakkuma black and red pen are my two pencils. I also carry a ruler, whiteout tape, eraser, and an EOS lip balm.

Most of my pens are from Japan. I tend to stash up on stationary when I visit. You can also get these exact same pens at Japanese stationary stores such as Kinokuniya and Maido. It’s a bit pricier at these stores though, so if any of your friends go to Japan, I would recommend asking them to bring some back for you. A site that I’ve bought pens and refills from that I really like is http://www.jetpens.com/

Here is the inside of my pencil case. As you can see, it is really really PINK. Pink is my favorite color, so my pencil case always manages to make school a bit more bearable for me.

There’s something really special that I carry around in my pencil case that I wanted to share with everyone! If you look at the second picture, there’s a small black charm with a pink string and bell. My dad and his friend bought me this charm last summer when we visited Tokyo. This charm is from the Toshogu shrine, and is supposed to be good luck for school. Toshogu shrine itself carries a lot of meaning to me because the first time I went to Japan with my classmates and hosts, we visited the Toshogu shrine, and everytime I go to Japan, I like to revisit it and give a few prayers. Anyway, this charm has been really lucky for me and once high school is over, my dad and I are flying back to Japan to return this charm. (When you request a charm from that shrine, after it’s done it’s job, you have to hang it back in this certain area.) Having this charm with me at school and during the year really gives me a reminder to always try my hardest at school and feel like I’m being encouraged.

That’s my pencil case! It does get messy, but I clean it out as it does. Hope you guys liked this post.

-A

Meeting Jeremy Lin :’)

June 6, 2013

Hi guys.
I was having a pretty rough night.

However, it makes me so happy to say that my day started with a bright event!! I met Jeremy Lin, point guard for the Houston Rockets today!!!

Jeremy Lin is such a huge inspiration for me. We grew up in the same, small city, and have similar backgrounds. It really touches me to see that a person can achieve such huge things if they put their heart and mind to it. It really is so inspiring for me, to have met someone who accomplished so much.

I guess it’s going back again to the power of human spirit. We were made resilient to pursue our dreams, the impossible, whatnot. I’m so amazed by the city of Shanghai, but when it comes down to it, it’s extraordinary, and exists because of the humans who built it. Each individual is capable of doing so much, anything they put their heart to.

I’m so thankful that Jeremy was such a pleasant nice person! I got a picture with him as well.
To all my readers out there, let him be a reminder to you of what can be achieved through will and hard work!!!

Hope everyone has a great day,

-A

Meet Apple ♥

June 6, 2013

I’m mad in love with my new puppy.
She’s currently in her kennel sleeping away. (Puppies need up to 18 hours of sleep daily!!! How cute is that? )

So happy to be holding this precious baby on my arms!!!

The newest member of the Gong family’s name is Apple! She’s an adorable 9 week old white puppy! Our whole family loves her to death even with the short amount of time we’ve known her.

I’ve been quite busy lately, sorry for the lack of posts. I’ll be working harder these days to get some fun and interesting posts up! Thanks for your patience, and hope everyones having a great summer!

Much love,

-A