This is my second time to work with a Vietnamese male model and it was for đàn ông (men) Magazine .
And out of all the male models, it's with who I think is actually the best looking male model in Vietnam - Thanh Thuc. He was really fun and professional to work with along with the rest of the crew. Laura provided her Laura V Collection and was so stylish that I thought she had literally gotten off of a plane from Hong Kong. And of course, this is my 48538th time working with my good friend and make-up artist/hair stylist Tommy who booked me for the gig.
Here's that Parkson Campaign that I posted behind the scenes photos from a few entries ago. And then I booked again for Parkson for a beauty shot in Dep Magazine. Yay!
So around midnight on Friday night before Halloween, I receive a phone call from an Indonesian publication called CLARA magazine that had been in contact with me a month prior to. We had been in talks of shooting but I never heard back from them. When they called, they told me that they had just landed in Vietnam and that we would shoot at 6 am the next day. Eek! Good thing I decided not to go out that night.
We shot for 2 different editorial spreads (8 outfits per spread) for the December issue and finished by 3 pm. I must say, schedule well kept! I got a chance to flip through their magazine and fell in love with their editorials. Stylish and up to date.
And right now, Indonesia is a hidden market for modeling. Mainly commercials. But they have big time localized versions of different international publications such as Elle, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, FHM, Maxim, Bazaar and Esquire. A real hot spot for new models to build their portfolios. I was once offered a 2 month contract for Indonesia but decided not to take it. Glad Indonesia was able to come to me!
The crew said they would mail me copies when the issue's published so until then, enjoy some of the behind-the-scenes photos!
Last year, I was dressed up as a Pussycat Doll (?) and danced the night away at Embassy in Makati, Philippines. I had put the costume together with whatever I scrounged up my suitcase and it worked out. Usually I'd like to put a lot of thought into my costumes and I really get into the swing of things. The dorkier, the better.
But Halloween is a rather obscure holiday for this particular continent and there's limited availability to GOOD costumes.
There are no costume shops.
No. Costumes and relevant accessories are scattered amongst toy stores, children's clothing boutiques, and the random stores that sell miscellaneous things you're not quite sure how to categorize (i.e. phone jewelry, plush bunny backpacks, knock-off Hello Kitty trash bins).
Partygoers with worthy outfits either
a) traveled to a neighboring country where Halloween is more mainstream (ie Hong Kong)
b) made a visiting friend from the States bring one, or
c) got it made.
Sure. You can get all crafty and creative by buying supplies and create a costume out of scratch - but even good supply stores are hard to come by here. At least that's a true story in Vietnam.
But I do have to give credit with how the younger crowd is slowly making Halloween trendier. Then again, maybe I should give the brownie points to the nightlife venues marketing it as yet, another reason to party.
I mean, ahem, "celebrate".
We went out to Bounce and even though the prize winner of the best Halloween costume would be grandly rewarded with a Versace bag worth $800 - maybe half of the attendees were decked out. And half of those were halfheartedly. You know. Like the people who wear normal clothing but then they don a wig, a mask, or bunny ears.
Even I can admit that I was on the verge of doing it halfheartedly.
I was entertaining a few ideas actually but got lazy and came across this little beauty last minute:
Yeah. I'm a bat-gremlin-mouse-thing. The big ears is what sold it to me. Anything with ears are just too cute for me. When I have children of my own, all of their clothes will come with matching animal ears. This is actually a part of a whole kid's costume but the shirt was much too tight and hot for me to even bother with.
So I ended up borrowing Brittany's tunic-top-turned-to-a-much-too-short-of-a-dress-but-hey-at-least-it-matches-my-ears-and-wings-and-plus-in-Mean-Girls-Lindsay-Lohan-makes-concrete-history-with-how-Halloween-is-the-only-holiday-that-girls-can-dress-a-little-bit-more-revealing-than-usual-without-the-criticism.
Anyhow, hope you guys had a safe and happy Halloween!
My friends Siheng & Jennifer (who have made my list of top 5 cutest couples I've come across in my life) are currently semi-finalists in the Ultimate Thailand Explorers contest and need as many votes as possible!
Registering takes less than a minute and you can vote ever 24 hours.
Plus. Two voters will get a chance to win $2500 worth in prizes.
I personally think they deserve this because I'm a Disney romantic at heart. They made a long distance relationship work and recently, Jenn just moved here to Vietnam where Siheng has been based for the past few years. When she wasn't here, he'd always bring her up and you could tell that they're so into each other. Anyhow. I'd really appreciate it if you guys can vote for them! Thanks!
With the way most expats/foreigners live here in Vietnam, sometimes you can't help but forget that you live in Vietnam. Especially in bustling metropolitans such as Saigon and Ha Noi where you're surrounded by other foreigners, skyscrapers, fancy restaurants and luxury shopping areas.
But it doesn't last very long because you come across constant reality checks throughout your day.
Whether it's a family of a mom, dad, a little boy and his little sister all covered in dirt, riding around the alleys picking up trash both as work and a family activity.
Or street kids pressuring you to buy their 5,000 dong packs of gums in front of the lounge/bar/club you just spent 400,000 dong on drinks.
An elderly convincing you to buy a lottery ticket while you're eating dinner and wondering why your own parents are closer to retirement than they'll ever be.
Or a handicapped person begging on the streets while being ignored by most of the public.
Vietnam is one of the most beautiful countries I have had the pleasure of visiting (and now living in) but it's also one of the more heartbreaking ones as well.
I was chatting with my friend Matt who works at a PR firm here called TQPR. He had mentioned that he was recently at the orphanage for their company's monthly visit and I asked him if I could join him next time. So I've been organizing a mini fashion show with some of the kids and TQPR gave a budget to work with buying clothes for them.
I have been stopping by the Dieu Giac Orphanage (http://www.orphaned.org/) to teach them some runway moves, get them fitted and they'll be strutting their stuff tomorrow night! Every time I come there, they get really excited and have been really pumped up about it. They've been asking me to bring lots of friends as an audience and I hope people will be able to make it out there to support.
For safety reasons, I can't post a lot of pictures. But just as a sneak preview, you guys can watch one of their practices. I filmed it so they can see how they look like so far. What's even cuter is that they're the ones who made up all of their poses!
This blog is as honest as a 5'7", forever 21 year old model can get.
Last year, I modeled abroad for 8 months in Asia and now I'm back and based in Vietnam.
Understand that I'm fond of play on words, I'll inject snide comments where needed be and mine vain sarcasms shouldn't translate as narcissism. You shouldn't let the pretty images fool you, I do have my quirks and oddities. And other than eating men for breakfast, I am as nice and as approachable as I seem :)
