Hippie as a fashion statement, not a lifestyle

My idea of a hippie: long haired, tie-dyed clothes, loves the nature, loves peace, funky clothes, pastel colours, earthy, flower power and weed.

I'm not quite familiar with the technicalities of what it means to be a hippie or how this culture movement came to be. As I type, I am scrolling through Wikipedia and Google to find out more.
The general gist I got: the culture most of us are familiar with and are generally stereotyped in movies and cartoons by is the youth movement that took place in America in the 1960s. Their carefree attitude, love for nature and freedom of expression is what stands out in their beliefs. This soon became a lifestyle, not just a group of people trying to rebel against conformists. There are a whole bunch of interesting information I can get into about the hippie culture, including their vegetarian lifestyle to their views on taking drugs. However, my main interest is in the hippie fashion!

A text I recently sent to one of my friends ran thus: 'This place is so hippie! Makes me want to be hippie.. As a fashion statement of course, not lifestyle'.
My idea of hippie fashion is flowy skirts, bright tie-dye shirts and dresses, colourful scarves and feathered earrings. I generally understood the freedom of expression that the hippies were talking about and by large, not caring what anyone else thought about what I wore. But what I did wonder was, whether it was really fair of me to take the bits and pieces I liked about the hippie lifestyle and then not embrace the other things they believed in. Like being a vegetarian.

My main interest, and possibly only interest in this culture is the fashion. But Hippie clothing is closely linked to their beliefs. And one of the most important thing about hippie clothing is them being handmade. I steer clear of sewing and cloth making. Tie-dying became popular due to this. It is because of a value these fashion statements came to be. So can I just wear the fashion statement and ignore the culture and beliefs that comes with it?
The flower patters, also known as Flower Power is represented in the hippie clothing because they like to stay close to nature and want beauty in them. I have been quite a city girl for most of my life. Yes, I love the beach, the sound of the ocean waves and the serenity it brings, but it is not something that I have ever felt I needed to stay close to. I am quite confident I can breeze my way through a city life with minor regrets.

Then also comes the organic materials that Hippies use with their clothing. I have one t-shirt that is made out of organic cotton. I have not at all gone out of my way to seek these materials. I did notice, maybe a couple of years ago, organic material was quite popular and advertised as 'green being the new black'. This was also around the time when I purchased my organic t-shirt. But in the broader market, this trend has died down since then. I see a lot of ethical and fair trade clothing in hippie fashion. Maybe if I dig deeper into the clothing production world, I may find these issue being addressed by designers today. But as part of my lifestyle, I don't really think about where the material for the clothes are obtained from, or how they are made. I just buy clothes.

I think everything you wear makes a statement, however small. So when a statement origins from a particular lifestyle, values and beliefs, I have a bit of dilemma of supporting these articles of clothing when my lifestyle doesn't represent any of those things.

Among the waves...

I am a Maldivian. I have never surfed in the open water in the Maldives. I have never had a diving trip in the coral reefs that surround the tiny islands. I cannot believe how much I have been missing out on.

Having taken a trip to Byron Bay recently, and staying at a backpackers hostel, I got the chance to meet quite a few people from different countries. And every time I tell them that I am from the Maldives, people find it exotic and also surprised that I had never engaged in any of these water sports.

Surfing and diving were never really part of the Maldivian lifestyle. My friend who is from Coffs Harbour was surprised when I told her this and said that they actually went surfing as part of school sport. Even snokelling, with the the islands being surrounded by coral reefs, still seem like a luxury activity I would have to pay for. Snorkelling might have been done by a fishermen but this is hardly a job for a girl so that was never a part of our lives, to be done at our whim either.

Today, I am quite sure that if I decided to go surfing in Male', I will be met with disapproval from my Dad and Grandma. Surfing is not quite what you call respectable in Maldives, it being reserved as an activity for tourists and it has a stigma attached to it when locals do it. Especially girls.

I was excitedly telling my cousin in Maldives about the surfing lesson I had, and how much I wanted to surf back at home, but even she was telling me about how things in Australia and Maldives would be different, and a girl going out to surf where there was 'a lot of boys' would not be acceptable. Surfing is just not part of the lifestyle, and definitely not to be taken part by a girl.
It would be more appropriate for me to go to one of the tourist resorts (similar to snorkelling) and away from the public eye, as opposed to going for an evening surf on the island where I grew up in. It's just the way things are, as much as I think it is unfair.

The best china and a few stories to share

I have discovered the delights of high tea. One, that was home-made at a friends place and another, at one of the best high tea rooms in Sydney; The Tearoom in Queen Victoria Building.

My uni friend organised to have a mini high tea at her place for a last catch up during our holidays before everyone went to their respective areas to do work experience and disappeared till we started the second semester in July.

I was the first to arrive at her place (after taking just one, very minor wrong turn on the way). The spread on her table cannot be described be as 'mini', which was what my friend insisted it would be in her invite text message. She had cute pink cupcakes decorated with smarties and the tastiest chocolate chip cookies, which were home-made as well. The only thing she said she cheated on was the ice tea, which was store bought, but I couldn't care less after seeing the variety of dips, including hummus, french onion with capsicum and something that I had never heard of, which was made with yogurt and cucumbers.
She had two types of sandwiches, ham and egg sandwiches and the egg sandwiches were a massive hit. The bread was soft and the crispy lettuce in it complimented the creamy mayo in it. Yes, it was a simple egg sandwich, but mix it with a few friends from uni who had not seen each other for about a good two months. Then it becomes the perfect recipe for a lovely evening spent together.

Not even a week after this, I met up with another uni friend, who was also in due for a massive catch up, at the well-known Tearoom in the QVB. I had heard a lot of good things about this place and looked up a few photos of the place before I headed there. It did not disappoint.

I had to go through three outfit changes before I decided that what I was wearing would be appropriate to wear at a place as elegant as the Tearoom. Inside, The Tearoom had a high ceiling with a grand chandelier hanging in the middle. The china tea cups were tiny and there was a variety of different teas to choose from. I was adventurous and chose vanilla tea and had my first cup of tea without sugar in it. The smell of vanilla was wonderful and enjoyed using the small tea strainers over the cups. My friend decided to be playful, and because she wanted to use the sugar cubes, she chose Earl Grey.
At first when they brought out the little slices and sandwiches, we thought that it wasn't a lot, but as we tried everything The blueberry slice looked tiny, but the jelly on top of it was so soft and rich and the strawberry tarts with mascarpone cheese absolutely melted in my mouth.
Me and my friend had a lovely time talking about what we had been up to in the last few weeks and had many stories about our clinical placements and discussions about how good the Tearoom would be to have a engagement party or a 21st party. Expensive, but it would be very exclusive.

Procrastination at it's greatest

I am, just like any other university student, a massive procrastinator. I always need to clean my entire room before I can start studying, organise my lecture notes before I can start doing an assignment and bake some brownies before I think about starting to do my homework.

But my greatest weakness with procrastination lies when it comes to exercising. Having always been small in size, I never had a problem with weight. And generally enjoying salads and the massive healthy eating craves I get, and thinking of the 20 minute walk I do from my car to the lecture, and back again, during semester time keeps me from doing any actual activity that can be counted as exercise.

Nevertheless, having been pointed out that my insides won't really be working to the maximum without doing some sort of exercise, I got thinking about really motivating myself and start going for a run. But I did find a reason not to actually do that - I don't own any proper running shoes. And I still maintain that I will really go for regular jogs when I own such a pair of shoes.

For someone who loves shopping, I am definitely taking longer than usual to purchase these shoes. I blame it on procrastination again, where I keep telling myself that I will go and buy them when I get holidays from uni.

I will update on how I go on with starting an exercise routine and how much luck I have with maintaining it. I know that I probably am not nearly as fit as I can be and I always wonder about the fitness of characters in movies and books. They never seem to tire out of any amount of running away from the bad guys, rock climbing or dragging massive houses to waterfalls. And I always think that if I ever end up in that situation, I would be one of the first to die... and I definitely want to be one of the people who survive the zombie invasion.

Baked delights and chocolate is what this Easter is about..

With having to work in the middle of a long weekend and my family's inability to eat bananas led me to explore the delights of baking again. It has been a while since I tried baking something from scratch, and the last batch of brownies I made was only half cooked and wasn't very successful.

My mom thankfully put the very brown bananas in the fridge this time, hoping I would make something out of it. I looked up a few recipes on my favourite recipe website, Taste.com.au, and chose a banana bread with an Easter twist; chocolate chip banana bread.

The addition of white and dark chocolate bits in worked very well. And especially those squishy brown bananas. Never thought i would get so excited about bananas that were so brown. But the browner the bananas are, the better it is for the banana bread and putting a few more bananas that was required made the bread very moist and spongy. The smell when I opened the oven was so good and this was by far the best banana bread I had made.

After almost burning my fingers and having banana bread for breakfast, I finally decided to make my first ever proper cupcakes. I had tried making cupcakes before, but I didn't put the paper cups in a muffin tin and put in way too much cupcake mixture in the cups, so they were all sloppy and out of shape. This time, I made cupcakes from scratch, using some of the most delightful ingredients ever; almond meal and vanilla extract.

I got the recipe for the Vanilla cupcakes with Lemon icing from Taste.com.au as well. The icing was a bit too tangy and sweet for me and my icing job is a bit sloppy, but it is the first ever cupcakes I have made and iced, starting from scratch, so I am hoping this inspires me to continue on making more cupcakes.
Cupcakes are definietly cute and fun!

Below are the two recipes I used. I highly recommend the banana bread one:

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/2714/vanilla+cupcakes+with+lemon+icing

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/12918/chocolate+chip+banana+bread

Shades of white, purple and yellow

I am a sucker for weddings. I love the dresses; can spend hours browsing them. Bridal window shopping is the only sort of window shopping I ever do. And wedding movies are awesome. One of my favourites is '27 Dresses'.

I occasionally get into trouble with my friends for planning their weddings. They tell me that I am getting way ahead of myself, on in this case, themselves. I have actually been forbidden to mention weddings until it is announced. But it doesn't stop me from sneaking in pictures of different wedding themes and decorations to the wedding folder I have for them on my computer.

It is the idea of the wedding I like. I am in no way, shape or form to be craving for a marriage. The thought of that perfect A-line dress with the beautiful bouquet of yellow and purple roses is enticing for anyone. Or maybe just me. And thinking about being surrounded by the most important people in my life; best friends, cousins, younger brother, etc. Everyone having a fabulous time.

And of course the groom. In '27 Dresses', when Jane was asked what her favourite part of the wedding was she said "You know how the bride makes her entrance and everybody turns to look at her? That’s when I look at the groom. Cause his face says it all you know? The pure love there" It's a very cute thought.

I am not a fan of the Maldivian wedding parties, where half of the guests you invite, or rather, your parents invite, you have never exchanged two words with before. Where you just stand at one spot, looking like the bride and groom on top of the wedding cake. Yes, everyone wants to look like that, but not that literally! And because you invite over 500 people, and there is no bridal registry system in Maldives, you just get a lot of presents that you either hate or will never use ever, thus increasing clutter in your room and house.
If anything, weddings are becoming more outrages and over the top in Maldives. Size seems to be everything, and along with dresses, the bigger the better. But then again, in Maldives, the wedding isn't just about the bride and the groom. The parents are immensely influential and involved with weddings, and what they say goes a lot of the times.

If I have my way, my wedding will not be like that...it'll be small and intimate. I just hope whoever I get married to can stand my bossiness when it comes to planning the wedding.

Love for almost all seasons

Today is the last day of summer. 1st of March is the beginning of autumn. As much as I love the heat, sun and the endless days of summer, I cannot help looking forward to the crisp, cool and clean feel of autumn. Winter over here is just cold and boring because only some of the trees loose their leaves and there is no snow.

Here in Australia, we have quite a few trees that change colour during autumn, though most trees just stay green all year round. The autumn colours and leaves are fantastic. The bright oranges, reds and browns are beautiful and I love the brittle leaves. It is nice stepping on those leaves, to hear the crunchy noise it makes.

Apart from the vibrant colours, the next best thing about autumn is the fashion. All the different choices of scarves and jackets and stockings is always fun. There is always more possibilities with autumn/winter fashion, as opposed to summer. I have favourite jumpers and numerous scarves to keep me busy in a few outfit changes before I decide what I want. My friend says I have way too may clothes and that's why I have trouble choosing what to wear. And she probably is right. Because during the cold times, deciding what scarf goes with what jacket and which jacket is most appropriate for the temperature outside and which boots I want to wear can become a bit time consuming. But I love every minute of it!