THE NEW CHAPTER | CHINA

So for those of you who didn't read my previous post (go back and read it NOW...just kidding), I am living and working in Shenzhen, China. So just a heads up for you, this is gonna be a looooong  post. So yeah, I have been here since the end of November 2015, initially I was going to only stay until July 2016 and then go to Japan at the end of August, after my sisters wedding. However, I liked it in China so much that I decided to stay longer.

This has been one of the biggest and craziest transitions of my life. There have been struggles...oh so many struggles, there have been amazing and unforgettable experiences, there have been moments of loneliness and even depression, but I am pulling through it all, because I know that God did not bring me to this place for no reason, so I will work hard.

So how do I know that God led me here? Well just the way everything worked out. The whole lead up to me leaving, and also when I arrived here. It was all far from a coincidence..

Basically, I was working before, at another place. Doing the same job for the longest time. I was really unhappy, and I wasn't treated well there. But I just stuck at it. Then one day, I just snapped after I had this one rude customer..now, I dealt with so many rude customers for many years, so actually this was nothing, now that I think back. But it pushed me to the point where I just quit my job. I finally decided I couldn't take it anymore. Like God just told me to get out of that place. After that I was really stressed as I didn't have a job, but I felt at peace and like a burden had been lifted. I knew it was time to focus on myself again.

So one month later, I was told by a Pastor, that he had a prophecy that I would go to China. I had not told him nothing of my wish to go.

Also I had already secured my job in Japan so I didn't think too much about it. Then almost a month later, one of my close friends told me that she had a dream about me. That we were in another country and i was leading her through a place with tall skinny trees (she meant bamboo trees lol) so of course I saw this as confirmation that I would be travelling to Asia soon, but I still did not have China in mind. Until my friend in China persuaded me to come visit her. So I applied for China, put Japan on hold and just went with it.

I prepared myself with teaching work experience which I learnt a lot from, and it was really fun. For some strange reason my China application was taking the longest time to process. It was getting very late into the year, the term had began so long ago and then I started to have doubts. I wasn;t sure if it was going to happen after all. Then after a month had passed, everything had finally processed. It was really happening, then before I knew it, it was time to leave.

Without thinking twice, I just did it. I have never flown anywhere by myself, or lived away from home but I was not afraid. When I think about it now, it seems pretty crazy that I was brave enough to actually do it (especially when I had been doubted by so many before that) I just took that step. That leap of faith and everything was fine. I arrived Safely, nothing went wrong. I was so happy....Until the next morning when it actually had sunk in about what I had done..

When I first arrived here in Shenzhen, I was staying in a pretty crappy hotel, with an even crappier internet connection. It was the accommodation that the agency had provided for me. It was an absolute nightmare. It was so frustrating when I tried to Skype with my family and friends back in the UK. Then to top it off I could not access Facebook, Youtube, Blogger, Snapchat, Instagram or even google. I knew Facebook was banned in China, but the rest came to me as a surprise, It made feel really lonely and really tested my patience. But I stayed positive as I was excited and pretty nervous about starting my new job.

So my first day was literally insane. I had arrived in China on a Saturday night, literally only had Sunday to sleep in and get over my jet lag, then on Monday was my first day. Not my first day if training, literally my first day.

So Monday morning, a girl from the agency collected me from the Hotel and took me to the hospital for a full health check. So they literally tested everything, took urine samples, did x-rays, you name it. Then it came to "my favourite part" the blood test. So, I have some kind of problem, I'm not sure what exactly causes it, but every time I have blood taken and even sometimes when I get an injection, I pass out and I don't know why. So they took my blood, and I passed out in this hospital. I'm not sure how long I was out for, but I woke up to a nurse squeezing my hand and poking a pressure point in between my nose and lips, and the girl from the agency was almost in tears. I was so confused.
So anyways, after all that we went to get photos taken for ID cards etc, made a bank account (all whilst I was feeling dizzy and weak from the blood test) then I was taken to the agency office to fill sign my contract (even though I was too out of it to read it). Then finally we had lunch and then I was taken to my School.

I was literally exhausted. Firstly I had not gotten over my Jet lag, and then having blood taken out had really gotten to me. Not only that but also, it was soooo hot in Shenzhen and I had just come from a very cold winter in England, so naturally I was having a hard time adjusting. I literally felt like I was going to die.

So We finally arrived at the school. I was then introduced to the current foreign English teacher, and told that I would be taking over from her, as she was leaving the following week. This explained, the delay in the process of getting me to China. I was delayed because I was supposed t take over from THIS particular woman. She asked me to come into the classroom and introduce myself to the children. I walked in, nervously and all I heard were gasps and a chorus of children's voices saying "Woooooooooooow", followed by applause. It was one of the sweetest and most surreal experiences I had ever had.

So I got to watch her teach her final 2 classes for the day. Literally absorb what I could, then at the end of the lessons, she told me that I was teaching the next day. Literally the next day! So no training, nothing. I was literally thrown into the deep end. So that night I prepared my powerpoint and crashed out to sleep. I was literally drained.

So the next day came. I was so nervous, standing at the front of the classroom. I remember my knees were shaking. I had a full classroom of 50 students staring at me, eagerly waiting for me to begin. And at the back of the classroom was the other foreign teacher. Watching me with a huge smile.

So after observing my classes she gave me some advice and was a really great mentor. I later found out that she was the one who mentored the other foreign teachers, and I was blessed enough to get one on one mentoring from her. So throughout the week, my confidence grew and she guided me a lot. Then on the Friday just before my lesson began, I went in earlier to pray in my classroom, and she walked in. We started speaking about our personal lives and I then found out the reason she was leaving China. It turned out that she was a Christian too. The reason she was leaving China, was to go back to America to get married, to a Pastor. I was so shocked, I knew there was something about this woman the moment i met her. We just clicked. It was the spirit of God who brought us together, and that was in us. She then told me that she had been praying for a God fearing teacher to come and take her place, and that God had heard her and sent me. It was so surreal, but I knew that God had orchestrated everything. Nothing is a coincidence. I know that now for sure. I went home later that night and looked at the quote that was printed on the hotel room wall above the bed and smiled. It said " A journey of a thousand miles, must begin with a single step."

I'm going to stop here now, I wonder how many of you are still reading? If you are still reading, well done, seriously 😂

Thanks for reading and I hope that this blog post encouraged you!

Love Jen-jen
xoxo

LIFE UPDATE | No I'm not dead...

Hello.....It's been a while..I know I'm terrible...
Who am I kidding, it's been an eternity since I last updated here. Yet my intention is to get better at this blogging thing but somehow I always seem to be busy...doing nothing...

Actually no, that's not true..no really, this time I have more than a real reason for the lack of updating...

So where do I begin? Well, At the end of November 2015 I made a very big life changing decision. I
moved out. Not just moved out, I moved to another country, on the other side of the World! I moved to China, to a city called Shenzhen.

So, let me back track a bit..

Since leaving University I have been doing numerous odd jobs but nothing substantial. I had the hardest time getting my graduate job, or even something reasonably paid for that matter. My family had gone through such a hard time for 3 years already.. I totally gave up on my dreams, my goals, just trying to strong and hold my family together. It was draining...and I lost hope and motivation...

Then after that hard time had come to an end, and once I knew my family was going to be okay again I decided to focus on me again. I knew a lot had changed, I had changed, but I wasn't going to let that stop me.

So for the longest time I have wanted to go abroad, well to Asia specifically to teach English. It was always something that I had wanted to do, I often researched how to do this even during my time at university. Actually, during that 3 year period I even applied several times, to go teach English in both Japan and China. I was actually a successful candidate and passed the first few interview stages but I gave up and passed up the jobs because in the back of my mind I was thinking about my family, also I wasn't sure that I was brave enough to go through with it..

Anyways, so the 3 hard years were done, over with. It was time to focus on me. So July 2015, an old friend of mine from China visited me in Birmingham. Now not just any friend, me and this girl go waaaaaaaaaaay back. We met in Shenzhen, China during my first visit here (a university study trip) back in 2007. After that she came to study at the same university as me in the UK, so yeah we have always been close friends. Anyways during her visit she basically persuaded me that I needed to come back to China to visit her and I thought about it a lot. But yeah like I said I was trying to go back to focusing on myself again.

I applied to teach in Japan again and I actually successfully passed and was set to go in March 2016. But even after I had applied and had so much joy and was looking forward to this, I kept thinking about my friend in China and thought maybe I should apply in China too, there's no harm right?  And by the Grace of God, I was given the job, and the city just happened to be none other than Shenzhen. I was sooooooo happy and decided to take it and just push back Japan and go the following term in August, which the agency said were happy to do. So now I had both China and Japan lined up, and meant I was going to be able to visit my friends again, in that city that i adored since the first time I visited it.

So since then I have just been getting used to my life here, getting used to my new job, the environment, just getting used to a LOT of changes. Also to my shock and horror I was unable to access most of my social media accounts, due to them being blocked here in China. So that means, no Facebook, no instagram, no youtube, no snapchat and no google... THE STRUGGLE WAS REAL!!!

However I managed to find a way around it eventually...."the VPN" *insert hallelujah chorus here*😂

Honestly without it I really don't know how I would have coped.  But I will talk more about that later. And that is the only reason I am able to blog again.

I liked it here in China so much that I decided to stay on, another year. I figured, Japan isn't going anywhere, there's always time >____<

So that is my incredibly long, way over due explanation as to why I have been away from this. And now I'm not making any promises, but I will try my best to keep you all posted on everything going on here. Also this will bring a huge change to my blog and other social media content, which I hope you will like. I want to share my experiences, and my journey with you all. So here's to the new chapter of my life. Stay tuned for more, and check out the new videos on my youtube channel and my instagram as I post more frequently there. Also I just want to let you all know that it is never too late to achieve your dreams, so NEVER give up! Have faith and take that first step. Thank you so much for reading this~

Love
Jen-jen
xoxo

Dariya Palty hair dye review

Hello beautiful~

I am constantly being asked how I get my hair this colour and what hair dye I use. The dye that I use is by the Japanese Brand Dariya Palty, in the shade "pure natural". I have been using this dye (in the same shade) since 2009 and I have never changed because I love the results I get, as I often find it difficult to lighten my naturally black hair without bleaching it. I have tried numerous brands here in the UK previously but my hair would never achieve the colour I wanted. I know these days there are all these ombré hair kits which help you achieve this result now but back then I would have had no option but bleach. It occurred to me that Japanese people generally have pretty dark/ black hair so I figured I would get results with a brand more suited to Asian hair. I noticed that in the popular Japanese gyaru trend, and a lot of the girls have a variation of different light browns or blonde hair, I did my research and came across this brand.

http://www.dariyacosme.com/en/product/palty/hair_color/index.html



Palty "Pure natural"  package designs 2009, 2011, 2014
(does it make me a hoarder for keeping one each time it changes? lol)



comb through cap, Hair treatment infused with camellia oil, agent 2 oxide water, agent 1 dye
also comes with gloves and instructions

when ordering from Hong Kong the instructions come in both Chinese & English



when you order from Japan the instructions are only in Japanese. However the images are pretty self explanatory

How to Use

1.   Firstly put on the clothes, wear something old or something you don't mind getting dye on, I'd advise you to wrap an old towel on your shoulders like a cape.
2. Then put on the gloves provided and unscrew the lid from bottle 2 and squeeze into it the entire contents of tube 1. Put the lid back on and shake until the two have mixed thoroughly.
3. Unscrew the lid once again and replace it with the comb through lid. (before proceeding to dye all your hair it's advised to do a strand test, incase of allergy)
4. section your hair and then starting at the root of the hair gently squeeze the bottle and comb the dye through your hair to the tips, move on to each section and do the same.
5. after you have covered all your hair, gently massage the dye into your hair using your fingers (makesure you're wearing the gloves lol)
6. leave the dye in your hair for no more than 30 minutes
7. Rinse your hair thoroughly, ensuring that the product is completely washed out
8. Then use the Hair treatment Provided, really helps condition your hair as this dye can really dry it out.

my natural black roots before applying dye

My roots after using the dye
(excuse the terrible lighting lol)

 

I recently filmed and uploaded a video on my youtube channel of My hair colour routine using this dye, so please check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7_Mho-kokU

 

I hope you found this review helpful

 

Love Jenny

XOXO 



NuMe Silhouette Flat Iron review

Hello beautiful people, I'm back again (as promised =D) with another product review. This time I will be reviewing the NuMe Silhouette Professional 100% Solid Ceramic Styling Iron~

Sooooooooo a couple of weeks back I saw that NuMe had an amazing deal on, like seriously I recommend following them on Instagram @numestyle because they always have amazing offers and crazy discounts. So basically I decided to take advantage of the discount, allowing me to purchase the flat iron (or hair straightener for you UK people ^_^ ) at just $24 when it's originally $139, so that's like a MASSIVE discount! Plus shipping and handling to the UK, it cost me like £30 in total which is fantastic!!! I'm like super happy, not just with the price but also the product itself. I'm like in LOVE! It can be purchased at www.numestyle.com.
It's features are:

The NuMe silhouette flat iron features are:

• 100% Solid ceramic plates
• precision engineered 1.25 inch floating plates
• soft touch finish
• Temperature control from 140°F  to 410°F
• Negative ion technology
• infrared heat technology
• Ergonomic design
• Salon- style swivel power cord
• Heats up within seconds
• Dual Voltage
• comes in 3 different colours, black, purple and pink

This product is amazing, heats up almost instantly, It's great for creating sleek straight hair and curls. The plates are 1 1/4 inch so creates big curls. I love how it glides through my hair, doesn't dry out my hair or pull. Overall I really love this product and will post a Youtube video soon to show you in action. I honestly highly recommend this product and I really like NuMe so far they have not disappointed me. Oh yeah, I also took advantage of a giveaway that NuMe was doing last week, it was $50 to use on haircare product of your choice, so I picked the NuMe White Truffle Hair Treatment Mask. I haven't used it yet so I will review it once I have.

Love Jenny
OXOX

 

Ethnicity TAG

Hi everyone, so over the years I have constantly had people mistaken and confused about my ethnicity...not sure why...I think I look Indian lol?!! It's like probably the most frequent asked question on my instagram, on youtube etc. So I figured I'd let y'all know and have some fun with it, so here goes my Ethnicity TAG:

Where are you from and what is your ethnicity?

Ok so I'm from Birmingham UK, I was born, raised and have lived here all my life. My ethnicity is Indian.

 

When was the last time you visited your country?

It has been waaaaaay too long since I last went, I've only ever been to India twice and the last time I went was back in 1997 for my uncles wedding.

 

Name one ethnic food you enjoy most?

Do I really only get to pick one? Can't I just say like everything that my mom cooks ^____^

Nah but if I had to choose one thing it would probably be Keema mmmmmm, which is this minced lamb dish, sooooooooo yummy!

 

Name one household item that best represents your culture?

Erm I dunno...maybe a rolling pin....you know....because of chapatti lol =P

 

What part of your country are you from?

My family are from a north western state in India called Punjab, making me Punjabi.

 

Can you speak your ethnic language?

Well because my family is from Punjab their language is Punjabi. So how do I say this without sounding like a dumbass....there's is no way...I speak it very poorly. I constantly mix it with English to explain myself to my own mother, which is bad because my mothers first language is Punjabi =/ As I have gotten older and been in Church it has gotten a lot better than it was, however I can only understand when Indian people who live in the UK speak it. Like when someone comes straight over from India, I don't know if it's because they have a different accent or they speak too fast...I have no idea what they're saying to me. I like literally have to keep looking over at my mother for help...FAIL!!!

 

Also the main Indian language is Hindi, which is what you hear in Bollywood films etc. I cannot speak it and barely understand it as it has some similarities to Punjabi just more posh sounding I guess? I have to watch Bollywood films with subtitles =/

 

Ok guys so that was my ethnicity TAG, I hope that cleared things and answered you're questions. If there are any other tags you'd like me to do, or if you'd like me to do a Q & A post, let me know.

 

Traditional Indian look

 

My own style

Love Jen-Jen

XOXO

NuMe Reverse Curling wand review

So I know this post is like waaaaaay over due and forgive me for being so crappy with this blog. I am gonna try my best to dedicate more time to this blog and to my youtube channel from now on, I PROMISE!!!!

Okay so basically there has been a lot of hype going on about Nume hair styling tools, all over instagram, numerous blogs and of course youtube. So I looked into it and decided to make a purchase and see what the fuss is. Now I don't know what it is about my hair but usually no matter what I do, everytime I curl my hair, even when I've coated in in hairspray etc my hair will always fall back to straight, like within 2 hours. It's so frustrating and hence my envy of you naturally curly haired folk. So I had no real expectation prior to using it.

I purchased is the NuMe 25-13mm Reverse curling wand. This wand costs $175 USD, comes with 1 year warranty and can be purchased at www.numestyle.com
 It's features are:

•  Heats up to 210°C/410°F
• Tourmaline infused ceramic wand
• Infrared heat technology
• Ergonomic design
• Heat-resistant glove
• Dual voltage 

Oh I forgot to mention this one comes in 3 colours, black, pink and zebra print. Of course I chose Zebra print!

So this wand is extremely easy to use, you literally wrap your hair around the wand for a few seconds, release and voila, beautiful curls. Even tough it came with a heat resistant glove I find that it's easier without it (not being a bad influence here, I believe in safety first lol). Once I finished my whole head I couldn't believe how quick and easy it was to achieve such lovely curls. I didn't even hairspray it and I'm not even exaggerating,  my curls stayed in for 2 days. Might have stayed in longer had I not washed my hair. The curls became slightly looser after a day but still so nice. For once my hair didn't fall back straight. I highly recommend this wand and look forward to trying their other products.

I made a Youtube video back in December demonstrating how I created glam curls using this particular wand, so check it out:

Quick & Easy Glam Curls | NuMe Reverse Curling wand

I really hope you'll try this wand out. Ok that's all for now but I promise I will update soon!

Love Jenny
xoxo

50 Random Facts about me

Hello beautiful people!!! Soooooooooo, it's been a while..and once again I have no excuses or particular reason for my blog to have been left like this for so long...I pretty much suck like that so sowiiiiiii ah!!! ^__^"  

This post is simply a result of boredom, and seeing as it's a popular tag I guessed I would jump on the band wagon (I'm such a conformist, I know lol) so here it goes my lovelies, here are 50 random facts about me! ENJOY:

1. Okay firstly I am generally weird and random...mostly weird >__<

2. I am multilingual! I speak Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, Punjabi and some French.

3. I have a BA honours Degree in Animation...but no real job yet *sighs*

4. I grew up watching a lot of anime...had somewhat of an obsession LOL my all time favourites are Dragon ball Z, Gintama and Death Note

5. I also used to read a lot of Manga, I love Kare Kano: His and Hers circumstances

6. I LOVE K-pop, J-pop, C-pop. Love BIG BANG, 2NE1, Rain, Ayumi Hamasaki etc

7. I'm like in Love with the Korean singer/actor Rain - MARRY ME!!!! <3

8. Jay Chou is my favourite all time singer ever <3 He is soooooo Talented

9. People are often left confused about my ethnicity, it can be fun to mess with them, can also be pretty annoying O____o

10. I am actually Indian, born and raised in Birmingham UK ^______________^

11. I want to work in Asia one day, whether it be for modelling or as an animator I would be happy ^^

12. I have only ever been to India, China and Hong Kong =[ I want to travel more!!!

13. I am a Born again Christian and I love Jesus

14. My favourite colours are red, white and black

15. I started making youtube video tutorials back in 2010, however I deleted many videos as I lacked confidence back then. My first video is anime inspired Big eyes

16. I am a Model - so now I'm beaming with confidence xD

17. I Love Japanese and Korean Fashion and beauty trends

18. My favourite Japanese Model is Lena Fujii, I wish I was as cute as her <3 She is one of the reason I started Modelling.
.
19. Other Asian Models who influence me are Ena Matsumoto, Rola, Jun Hasegawa, Yuria Kushido, Reina Triendl and Leah Dizon.

20. I have been wearing Circle lenses since 2006

21. My Hair is naturally black but I love dyeing my hair. I haven't seen my natural hair colour since I was 17 T____T

22. I have been wearing make up since i was 12 =/ *cough* whore *cough* jokes xD

23. I have 2 Brothers and 3 sisters. 

24. I am a middle child...or as I like to say "the forgotten child" lol

25. I have pierced ears and navel.

26. I Love Video Games! Legend of Zelda, Street Fighter, Mario, Shenmue <3

27. Since I was a baby My parents have given me the nick name "Chinnay" literally meaning Chinese LOL because apparently I looked like a Chinese kid. Even now my parents still call me that =/

28. Up until I was 10 years old I would only sleep if I had my Teddy called Fluffy. My siblings were really mean and tore his head off and took him away from me =[

29. My Favourite food ever is Singapore Vermicelli <3

30. I am a bubble tea junkie - My favourites are Papaya and Taro (but only if Taro is hot)

31. I have an addiction to both South Park and Family Guy. They're sooooo wrong but hilarious <3 I Love Randy Marsh >__<

32. As a child I was like traumatised by the movie CandyMan T___T

33. I have a habit of covering my mouth with my hand when I drop things

34. Even though I was born and raised in Birmingham, I have like no accent =/ if anything people mistake it for American or Australian at times =/

35. I Love Raichu <3

36. Majority of my friends are boys, less drama. 

37.Growing up I was a total Tomboy. I remember playing power rangers in the playground with the boys in primary school xD

38. I Love Food!! People are always telling me that I have like the biggest smile on my face whenever I'm eating xP

39. I Love Man V Food. Adam Richman MARRY ME!!!!

40. I Love movies like Fast and furious, gone in 60 seconds and Speed Racer, but I'm afraid to Drive lol never taken a single driving lesson =/

41. I love singing but hate my voice T___T

42. I really Hate spiders. Like I will actually cry hysterically if there is one in my bedroom ={ My big sister is super mean, she caught a spider in a bag and stuck it to my wardrobe one morning

42. I have had a tough life, but I am thankful for every experience good and bad. I see them as things to learn from and they have made me a strong woman

43. My poor cat Cedric, who I had from the day he was born died a couple of weeks ago at the age of 16 =[

44. I will always go out of my way to help others

45. I have way too many ambitions and goals I want to achieve. Total workaholic =/

46. I Love my nephews and niece more than anyone in the world

47. I used to be an Emo in my teenage years O___o

48. I am generally a loving and sweet girl but if you get on the wrong side of me I go LOCO!!

49. I love horror movies

50. I secretly wish I was a Ninja

Congratulations if you actually made it to the end. That like took forever to do...clearly I don't really have much to say for myself lol. Anyway I hope I didn't bore y'all to death. Peace and Love until next time, Mwah!!!

Love Jenny
xoxo