WHOA! What’s the occasion?
The event invitation came with a memo that said “formal attire, dress to the nines” and it was to a gala launch of an all-integrated luxury island resort, hosted by the project developers and with all of their wealthy investors in attendance. While I do own several floor length gowns, I had conveniently stored them at my parents’ house overseas (I’m running out of wardrobe space these days and haven’t had time to properly edit) – so it was quite a scramble to source for something appropriate for the nature of the event.
I managed to score a dress with abstract black and white oversized floral motif in a beautiful mermaid silhouette the day before the event. Eeps, talk about last minute. It was a tad too big for me though, but there wasn’t time to send it for alteration. And then I quickly made an appointment with Chez Vous Salon to help me come up with an elegant hairstyle to complete the entire look. I normally shy away from this beauty queen-style beehive hairdo, but I guess this occasion called for it and I had to channel the inner glam goddess while leaving the rock-n-roll alter ego at home for one evening. :P
A BIG shout-out and thank you to Chez Vous for accommodating me at such short notice. As my usual stylist Serene had the day off at the time, Chez Vous’ managing director Riz personally took care of the styling of my hair. Expectedly it was a whirlwind mad rush before heading to the ballroom where the gala event was taking place, luckily Riz worked efficiently and quickly. He’s a pro at this so I knew I was in good hands.
Upon arrival at Chez Vous salon, with makeup already done. Chez Vous does makeup too but due to short notice, the makeup artist’s available slot didn’t work out for me and because of my time crunch, I could only go there to do hair before quickly jetting off to the venue.
TIP 1: Always wear a button-down blouse or shirt because when the hair and makeup is done, you don’t want to ruin any of that and it is easier to change into the final outfit. Unless of course, if your dress has to be put on head first then it’s best to wear the outfit before hair and makeup to avoid smudging anything.
TIP 2: All the hairstylists I have worked with before have stressed that it is important hair should be clean and dry before they can style it. I shampooed my hair at home to save time.
Riz took one look at the dress that I’d be wearing and he suggested the beauty queen/beehive hair do. I was a little petrified at first, but decided to defer to his judgement. He had also suggested it because the hairdo would add height and make me appear taller, more elegant, more formal. So I said, “Ok, let’s go with the 明星 superstar look today.” }:)
And then he twisted, pinned, hairsprayed, pinned some more, hairsprayed and twisted again before hairspraying. Hair architecture, man. From my flat limp hair, Riz built this fascinating voluminous hair bun. I couldn’t see what the back of my hair looked like, all I knew was that my hair was bulletproof by the end of this all.
One time my friend and I were observing the ladies who worked behind the airline check-in counters in Bali. They all happened to have their hair up in the beehive hairdo and so he asked me, “Eh, how do they make their hair bunned up to look like that ah?”.
I replied, “Oh, you don’t know? They stuff kueh lapis inside the hair, and then take it out as emergency snack when they are hungry during tea time.” (Kueh lapis is a type of cake with many layers, the words literally translate to “cake layer”.) :P
And I also added, “The taller their hair, the higher ranking they are. So a rookie’s bunned up hair must not be taller or bigger than the manager’s.”
It was a joke, of course. We both had such a good laugh out of this that we were in tears. I don’t know where I get my sense of humor sometimes. LOLOLOL.
Ta-dah! Hair looked gorgeous. Changed into the dress but I was still wearing flip flops underneath. You know me and my jelly legs tendencies; I always wait until the very very very last minute to wear my heels and mentally begin the countdown of when I can kick them off. Fingers crossed every time that I don’t get shin cramps.
I’m 5’5″ but thanks to the extra 4″ atop my head and later with the boost of a pair of 3.5″ heels, I was standing tall at almost 6′. WHOOHOO! I think I can get used to this formal party hairdo after all. Maybe next time with these kind of floor length gowns, I may even get away with wearing flip flops the entire time since no one can see my footwear anyway. AHA! And I can distract compensate with taller hair instead. }:)
Back view 1.
Back view 2.
GLAM OR NOT? :) :) :) I felt like a million bucks, baby!
You can’t see it here, but I’ve grown a few inches taller as I had my heels on by this time. Hem of gown no longer sweeping the floor as much.
And there’s a slight glimpse of the island luxe resort that was being launched, it’s called The Islandia situated at a neighboring island called Pulau Abang Besar. Part of the project includes The Islandia Residences: sea-facing villas with bespoke designs that can be purchased at an incredibly affordable price (my jaw dropped when I found out how much it costs to own one of these villas; I should round up my BFFs in New York and get one together to share as a vacation home).
With head honcho of the project, Ray Fan.
With head honcho’s brother – also a head honcho himself in a way, Bryan Fan.
Got interviewed by Channel News Asia that evening and it went like this:
Reporter: Hi, may I ask what’s your occupation?
Me: Tai tai superstar. And part-time kueh lapis smuggler. See my hair?
:P
Something really freaky happened during the gala event.
You see, I felt something prickly at the back of my neck when I was walking into the ballroom and I sorta flicked it away, thinking it was a random piece of confetti or something. About twenty or so minutes later, my colleague Ben sat down next to me and softly said, “Uhm, don’t be alarmed but there’s a really HUGE grasshopper on top of your head so don’t move while we try to remove it.”
O_O
WTFFF!
And before I could react, I felt someone swiftly waving a napkin over my hair and captured the grasshopper discreetly. Puwahahahahaha! What the…!? Meanwhile earlier on I had noticed pretty much everyone staring at me and whispering amongst themselves with eyes as big as dinner plates when I walked by gracefully floated into the ballroom. My inner glam goddess was doing happy flips inside for the superstar attention, little did I realize they probably were gaping at the sight of this giant grasshopper happily sitting on top of my head and stealing all my thunder! -_-“
I don’t know whether I should be laughing or crying at this. Ben said to me that at first he thought it was such an ingenious idea and superbly creative of me to adorn my hair with such a large hair clip shaped like a grasshopper that looked so life-like. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the antlers were moving and he realized it was a REAL grasshopper so he alerted me about it. LOLZ, HAIR CLIP!!! Imagine that. This is way too hilarious not to share with everyone, I wish someone had taken a photo of this giant green antlered perpetrator as evidence. Aiyah.
Wait a sec, it wasn’t on the Channel News Asia interview was it!?!?! :x
This grasshopper incident is friggin’ funny. I couldn’t even make this up even if I tried to!
I take it as a very good sign though. I was recounting this story to a couple of friends afterwards and I thought maybe I should go look up the symbolism of grasshopper. So here’s what I found online:
In China, they are seen as symbols of good luck and happiness, abundance. The ancient Greeks saw them as a sign of nobility. Grasshoppers have a knack for seeking out warmth and light and knowing just when to jump so they can be symbols of knowing when to trust yourself and take a chance that will propel you forward. Another feature of the grasshopper is they have an organ on their front legs that lets them locate things by sound vibration… which is another metaphor for listening to your inner voice. Now might be a time to try a new venture or try out a new idea that you had. However, it can also mean that you haven’t been listening to yourself and need to start.
Waaaaaaahhhh, NIIIICE.
Good luck, happiness, abundance, nobility, trust, taking a chance to propel forward, listening to inner voice. Awesome-ness! Thank you, huge grasshopper, for landing on my head. :)
Oh, and Riz will be happy to know that my bulletproof hair lived up to its mighty fabulousness and every strand of hair stayed perfect throughout, despite the sudden and unexpected guest appearance of the grasshopper. Thank you again, Chez Vous, for the glam hair.
Chez Vous
391 Orchard Road
Ngee Ann City #05-05
Singapore 238872
Tel: (65) 6732-9388
Superstar kisses,
-MB.
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