I've Moved to Hong Kong!

So for about a month and a half now (I honestly have no clue where the time has gone!) Hong Kong has been my new, fabulous home which it will be for the academic year. I am undertaking a study abroad year at Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) through my home university of Manchester. I have always possessed an incessant need to travel so when the opportunity arose to apply for an international exchange, it was a no-brainer that I was going to apply.
Through the application processes, I knew I had my heart set on Hong Kong as the culture is so unique, interesting and bursting at the seams with fashion stimuli, I really don't know what I would have done if I didn't manage to bag a place here.

I had my reservations about moving so far away from home, not that I really get overly homesick, just with the fact that Asia could not be more different from the UK in many respects and because I have never travelled outside of Europe before. My ambition and excitement to travel soon dulled these worries, especially after speaking to individuals that have lived or spent a prolonged amount of time in Hong Kong before, I knew that I would not want to return.

I can genuinely say that this is quickly becoming the best decision I have ever made and I would urge anyone to take the study abroad experience because it really is invaluable! I read a quote before I moved here that has really stuck in my mind and pretty much describes my time here;

"Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer"

I honestly never dreamed that I would fall in love with Hong Kong as much as I have (and I had some pretty high expectations). I can already tell that I have made life long friends and created memories that I will treasure forever.

In terms of settling in here; the transition was way more smooth and easy-going than I thought it would be; the locals and academics here are so friendly and welcoming, plus everything is so accessible in Hong Kong and the perfect marraige between East-meets-West means there is some form of Western comfort around the corner!

I am unsure of what direction I would like to take when posting on allurescent of my time abroad, I was contemplating starting a new blog but then I want to take some fashion direction in my posts too as Hong Kong has so much to offer in terms of fashion. At the moment I intend to write about academic differences between the UK and HK, the current situation in Hong Kong (democracy protests), the fashion scene and the travelling I've been doing. If you have any ideas or would not like to read any of my suggestions please let me know so I can mould my blog for my readers for the forthcoming year!

Anyway this is intended to be a little introductory post which has been long overdue! Here are a few photos from my personal instragram to illustrate what I've been up to so far. I will post a more comprehensive travel post soon with more details of my travelling experiences of HK so far.

The Peak // Big Buddha on Lantau

Sunset View from The Peak // Wong Tai Sin Temple

Harbour View and Junk Boat // The Gals at the Harbour

Dragon's Back Hike // Shopping in Mong Kok

Mid-Autumn/Lantern Festival // Incense at Wong Tai Sin Temple

Shek O Beach // Big Buddha

Ladies in Lan Kwai Fong // Cheung Chau Island

Best Pizza in HK // Temple in Cheung Chau

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Fun Finds #3

Nasty Gal Coco Punch Shades // Romwe Pineapple Crop // Nasty Gal Zero Gravity iPhone Case

Romwe Strawberry Transparant Bag // Topshop Cactus Oven Glove // Topshop Kigu Parrot Wellies

Romwe Lip Print Sandals // Motel Orange Print Skirt via Topshop

Here are some fun finds I've stumbled across this week, I really enjoy doing these fun finds posts as they're really light hearted and I always succumb to buying things like these as they're just cute and make you smile, although this edition is not as wacky as the ones I've previously done!

I absolutely love the pineapple crop and zesty skirt; Motel prints never fail to entice! These posts always seem to veer down a fruity route, especially in summer but who doesn't love a brightly coloured fruit print!

Hope you like this post and are enjoying summer!

allurescent

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☮ DIY Kimono ☮

I've loved kimonos for a substantial amount of time now and have wanted to invest in one but the most gorgeous ones tend to retail at around £30-40 which I've not warranted as acceptable to part with money for. So after seeing the lovely Allie from tie-dye-eyes post a DIY tutorial recently on how to make your own, I whacked it on my summer to-do list and here's my little do it yourself kimono. I opted for a tropical style print and a white pom-pom trim to create a bright summer look! I also love Allie's black and gold coin combo!

Firstly you'll need to draft your pattern pieces based on your measurements, you'll find how to do this on Allie's tutorial.

Next, pin and cut out the front and back pieces, making sure the front has space for your neck. Cut the back piece on the fold of your fabric so that you have one piece and cut two of the front piece.

Next sew the kimono together with rolled hems and french seams to encase raw edges and improve quality, you will especially need to do this if you are using a lightweight fabric. Also make sure you don't pull the fabric towards you whilst sewing as this may rouche/gather the hems and seams.

Finally add trims and embellish as you wish!

Here's Allie's ace YouTube tutorial that I followed to make this kimono, I'm really happy with how it's turned out! Let me know if you try out this tutorial I would love to see what you make!

allurescent

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Berlin Day Three

So the sun decided to pack up on our last day in Berlin but we weren't too bothered as we had planned to go to Berlin Zoo and didn't want to be sweltering in the sun all day! As one of the best zoo's in the world, this was definitely on our Berlin Bucket List. We were lucky to see so many of the animals up close, I'm not the biggest animal person but we had such a fab time. This took up most of our day but we managed to squeeze in a mandatory shopping trip and visit Charlottenburg (in the rain, sadly) which is home to this beautiful palace to finish off our sightseeing before heading to a posh square for some nice grub!

I wore my DIY Maxi Skirt turned dress which you can find my Youtube tutorial of here, I paired it with a pastel pink cardigan, cute sunhat (although it wasn't needed I wanted to whack it out!) from eBay and choker from Depop.

This was such a lovely chilled out end to an amazing trip, I wish I could just travel forever but sadly in reality no-one has an endless supply of money for such things. I saw an ace quote on instagram the other day which has really stuck in my mind 'Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer'.

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Berlin Day Two

We jam packed our second day in Berlin with all the main tourist sights; Brandenburg gate, Reichstag Dome and the Holocaust Memorial. We firstly headed to brandenburg gate to see it in all it's glory in the blazing sun before nipping round the corner to the holocaust memorial which was stunning. I love the simplicity of the memorial yet the impact it has on you when you walk around and amongst the tall angular blocks is extraordinary. It really is a beautiful and thought-provoking memorial to all those who lost their lives.

We then sun-bathed the afternoon away by Reichstag dome and took some embarrassing tourist photos holding the German flag and getting an unexpected snap with some locals!
I wore a cute African printed co-ord that I bagged in the H&M sale for £17 with TK Maxx sandals (which I had to embarrassingly resort to wearing socks with as my feet were completely massacred after wearing them for about an hour).

For dinner we roamed Potsdamer Platz checking out some cool skyscrapers and more Noir art as seen on the East Side Gallery before settling for an American Diner for tea (really immersing ourselves into the culture!) To top the day off we headed bag to Reichstag and Brandenburg gate to catch them as the sun was setting and managed to get some striking photos with a gloomy sky! Panoramic camera mode has never had so much use in it's lifetime!

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Berlin Day One

My best friend and I decided to take a last minute 'yolo'-esque holiday to Berlin, here is a photo snapshot post of what we got up to on the first day. We were lucky to get fab weather and so far it's definitely one of the best places I've ever travelled to and would recommend it to anyone!

We commenced our tourist activities at the East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall, it was interesting to learn about the civil unrest here which still continued through the 80's, I had no idea this was still quite recent. The artwork on this stretch of wall by artists from around the world was great to see and somewhat brings light to the end of a dark period for Berlin whist being a something to remember what happened. We walked past a busker along the East Side Gallery and gave him some spare change who then insisted on us having photos with him and having an awkwardly confusing cross-language conversation but he was so fab! 

We then gallivanted around Alexanderplatz to see the TV tower and Berliner Dom/Cathederal and went up to the 37th floor of a hotel for only 3 euros to see these great panoramic views of Berlin!

I wore this fab eye dress which I got from Sheinside but of course this dress is being sold in multiple places after selling swimmingly in Zara.

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