Good day in Boston

Street artist

New York City is always a good idea. Last year I had a chance to travel to NYC for the first time in my life. The trip was like a reward after 3 months long of summer job, which I applied through work & travel program. The whole experiences were unforgettable, fun and inspired me until now. This was my second time staying in the United States, it was clearly different from my exchange student year. The first time I came to learn and the for the 2nd time, I came to gain experiences. 

I applied to work with Five guys burger in Panama City Beach, Florida. My first though about working was how am I going to make it since I never had any working experience before. But I guess there is a first time for everything. My main job at Five guys was very challenging and super fun, I was assigned as cashier and oh my, I talked non-stop for hours of shift I got that day. Dealing with customers was hard and selling food take more than handing them fries and buns. I learnt to focus on good communication and most importantly good service mind. And here I am, a Thai girl who worked in Panama City for 3 months, plus 2 extra jobs at Panera bread and Chicken Salad Chic that I was struggling to juggle between the 3 jobs I committed to. However, it all worth. 

My NYC trip was a trio trip with my other 2 friends, Praew and P’Mook. Our first stop was in Boston, I met them there at the apartment that we booked for our 3 days stay in Boston. The apartment was super cheap, we slept in super small room and next to our room was our host. The room situation wasn’t so memorable, but Boston is super impressive. I remember the walk along the brick road and up the hill that we were surrounded by greens and cool breeze. It was a perfect day. on that day we visited couple places like the well-known Boston University and Harvard. 

On to our next stop, Brooklyn. We booked the apartment through airbnb app, which was very convenient and the place was perfect and cozy. it was much better than one in Boston. Brooklyn is a place where you escape the city noise and traffic to hide in a warm cafe for quiet brunch. The city is a hub of coffee shops that any cafe hopper would fall in love. The 3 of us went to a cafe called ‘Brunswick Cafe’, the food were delicious and the price was good comparing to other places we ate.

The 'best' Avo toast 

Later that day, we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I have never been to a museum this big and MET is like another world to me. The museum is a home to art and history from all over the world, it was so big that it would take you more than a day for a thorough look around. 

MET museum

Black

A.P.C Marilou earrings

T BY ALEXANDER WANG 

Celine MARTA SUNGLASSES in black

Dionysus suede mini chain bag

"You can wear black at any time. You can wear it at any age. You may wear it for almost any occasion." —  Christian Dior

After our beloved King passed away, black and white clothes become Thai people closet staple. In general, black is the colour for every occasions from formal meeting to casual day out. On a daily basis, a simple combination of black or white top and a pair of jeans require us minimal effort and perfect for any rush morning. Although black is dark and mysterious, the simplicity of the colour itself can give us an effortless and sophisticated look. For many designers, black is their staple as it is timeless and goes well with everything. Karl Lagerfeld is a designer whom we rarely see him with colourful clothes, but black. An editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, Anna Wintour, is thankful for her black shades that protect her eyes from runway spotlights and so she can judge your dress without you seeing it. She hates black clothes, particular head-to-toe black.

Thai people would wear black for a certain period of time, but turning colourful closet into black and white could make ones feel overwhelm sometimes when it comes to what to wear. In order to get the Anna approve black clothing styles and made dark tone more fun, add patterns and accessories to your look can be a way to make black not boring. Play with other color in the same dark tone or neutral color, which is appropriate to wear in this time of grieve. Neutral and earth tone color like nude, cream or even light pastel color could be a good match to dark tops. 

Other accessories include jewellery and shoes, which the key is the keep these accessories simple and minimal as much as possible.  The kind of barely-there dainty jewellery would do. 

I'm in love with the Coco...

Just a few drops on the pan give you the healthy and flavorful dish. From the kitchen stove, coconut oil has made it to the beauty department. Naturally moisturized skin from head to toe and being healthy inside-out seems to be unreal to all women, but guess what, this tropical fruit is known to be girls’ new best friend!
 It was first well-known among chefs who have cheated on butter and hydrogenated oil and give the coconut oil (also known as tropical oil) another shot after having bad reputation for its high saturated fats that can lead to as bad as heart attack in the studies founded in 1980s. Until recently, many researches found that coconut oil wasn’t a bad guy at all, in fact a superhero that are so healthful for the body, which can help prevent heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, chronic diseases, improve digestion and its benefits could go on and on that it would require a cup or two of hot latte with coconut sugar to sweetened it up in order to explain them all. There is no doubt that why some people call it the miracle oil because there is nothing that this oil cannot do.

Since coconut oil is chemical-free, it is perfect not only for the organs but the sensitive face skin as well.  “Once I found out about how coconut oil helps improve our skin and prevent acne, I no longer need to make my facial appointment at the clinic.” Said a third year college students. She has been dealing with bad skin for over a year and spending a lot of money for the treatment. She is one of those patients who spent a fortune but still doesn’t get the results she wants. The nutritious tropical oil riches in vitamin K helps reduce the risk of microbial infectious that may cause acne and keeps the skin healthy without clogging the pores. “It is a big change for me, my skin becomes clear and soft.” Smiling while she was explaining about the results. She added that she also tries using coconut oil in her hair as a treatment as well and the result is, well, we all know it, longer and thicker hair. The nutty oil claims to be all good, but with how different our bodies are, each person may have different results.

It looks like the tropical oil has its strong position in the spotlight at the moment as many Hollywood stars spill out their beauty secret of using coconut oil in their glam routines. The coconut oil at the local supermarket were sold out right after Orlando Bloom’s ex-wife, Miranda Kerr, a supermodel and a mom shares her healthy tip to earn the body the she have. Miranda states, “I will not go a day without coconut oil. I personally take four tablespoons per day, either on my salads, in my cooking or in my cups of green tea.”

It seems like no one is leaving the coconut island since they give the magic oil a try. Whether it cuts down some calories in our delight meal and clears our skin for the next events, coconut oil has bring back the natural beauty trend that will not leave any time soon.Bow down to the co-co.

What will happen to prints?

For fashion magazine, new month means new issue and another it-girl on the cover, but nothing are new about people no longer grab the magazine home or flip page after page to finish the story.  Even though the cover features Queen B and her 5 tips to get the bod she has, the magazine is still far from the word best selling. Since technology like the Internet took over, it has changed the behavior of the information needy society while print media are not getting the attention from their readers as it once were.

Faster, clearer and more reliable sources are the perks of receiving information from online media. Traditional media like newspapers and magazines know well that soon all its reader will visit the World Wide Web instead of bookstores. However, while trees grow taller since less paper are needed for prints, many publications still do both by publishing its content online and also in prints. So, if readers swipe to read content online and the golden age of prints media only lasted in 1950s, why prints media are still around? The reason is basically to maintain the revenue from advertisers. Selling space around the content to advertisers is what keeps the publications alive in their economic downturn of the Web era.

With the help social media like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, news and information reach us at the speed of light, and new feeds pops up every 2 seconds, which by the time previous content catches our attention, the new ones have pushed them down the feeds. This has made the short attention span generations only read the first and last part of the story, to get the gist of the it and go on to continue their days. According to Time magazine, More than a quarter of Americans have not cracked open a book—either print or digital—in the past year, a figure that has risen to 28% in 2015 compared to 21% in 2011. However, The Association of American Publishers noted that digital sales are about one-fifth of the market but have slowed; print books, on the other hand, have remained steady.

As one of the mainstream media, Prints won’t be in the museum at any time soon, regardless of the decline of bookworms and E-culture where everything comes in digital forms. Just like coffee and early morning, ink and paper were made for each other, so prints journalism are here to stay.