Ask Kim 2 : Travel to Japan, relationships and cameras!

Last month I did my first "Ask Kim" blog post where I answered your questions that you sent to me at:

kimdaoquestions@gmail.com

I originally made that email so I can make weekly videos answering your questions, however work got so busy that I didn't have time to make them anymore :( However I got a lot of emails from all you guys and felt really bad for not responding to them, so I decided to keep going with my original plan and answer your questions on my blog instead!

If you want to send in your questions, send them to my email above and I will do my best to answer them! You can send questions about anything you want!

Hi Kim!
Please give us ladies some tips for walking around town in high heels like the ones you showed in you Tokyo OOTD + Announcement! video. I can never walk around in heels without being in so much pain that I can't enjoy my day. I am not a preteen, just a woman who never could manage heels. Thanks!
Best Regards,
Lisa

I absolutely love wearing high heels and to be honest, my feet start to hurt quite easily :( I do like buying insoles or those padding stickers that I put around the side so my feet don't hurt so much. However I can't walk around the whole day with heels, I usually like to carry a pair of flats with me just incase my feet hurt too much for me to handle :(

Do you like watching jdramas? Do you have any recommendations for us?

I used to but to be honest, not so much anymore!  My favourites would be:
Hana Yori Dango
Attention Please
Bloody Monday
Buzzer Beat
Gokusen
Ikemen Desu Ne
Liar Game
Mei-chan no Shitsuji
Nodame Cantabile
Zettai Kareshi

Hope you will find some of those interesting!

ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ Super Big Fan Here !~ I have a couple questions.. ♡
Q. How do you make a living in Japan ? (Do you work at Liz Lisa?)
Q. How long have you been living in Japan ?
Q. How long did it take you to learn Japanese ?
I hope you answer them that would be the greatest ! Thank You ! ☆

1. I do a bit of work with Liz Lisa every year but I don't work with them in Japan (I live in Australia)
2. I've never actually lived in Japan but I do travel there a lot!
3. I've studied Japanese for about 3 years at university

キムさん、こんにちは！私のYoutubeの名前はHerroKerushiiですね。I just started watching your videos a few months ago and i love your style! Youtubeのビデオを見た後で、質問がある。^^ when you wear your gyaru liz lisa style clothes when you are not in japan, do you get stared at because not many people wear those kind of clothes? what made you so confident in your style? *_* I am always scared of what others think about my fashion style so i end up not wearing anything abnormal.
ありがとうございます！o(^▽^)oLove from Hawaii!! ^___^

見てくださってありがとうございます！　嬉しいですよ！！
To be honest, not really. I do wear Liz Lisa clothes in Australia and it's not something people are used to seeing here. I don't really think people stare at me if I wear Liz Lisa clothes so it's fine haha. Even if people do, I don't let it bother me, as long as I feel happy and confident in what I'm wearing!  I think if you love the style, don't let people bother you, just wear what makes you feel confident! When people stare it's not a bad thing, they might just really like what you're wearing!

Hi Kim-San Watashi no namae wa Louis desu, O genki desu ka. i need an advice for you. i am planing a trip to osaka japan in the summer of august this year for only a week and a half and i need to know for a novice traveler how much would you reccommed i save i also want to go to night clubs, do at least 500 dollars of shopping, and i want to learn more history and have fun plus i have friends in osaka i went to college with. i want to save at least 2500$ and i will get a rail pass seperate before i go so whats your advice.  domo arigato. ^_^

genki desu! I've never been to night clubs in Japan so I can't really help you there.. If you are only going for 1 week then I'd say $2500 is plenty of money. There is heaps to do in Osaka. You can go visit the Sky Tower which is really nice at night time. If you want to see more of the historical side then I recommend going to Kyoto, it's really close to Osaka. There is also the Osaka castle but I found it a bit boring there since the castle is quite new and it isn't old at all. Shopping I'd say definitely check out Shinsaibashi! If you want to know more on where to go in Osaka, I wrote a lot of blog posts about Osaka you can go through!

http://www.kimdaoblog.com/search/label/osaka

Hi Kim,
I met you in briefly in September of 2012 when you came to San Francisco for the Liz Lisa event and have been following your blog since! I love reading about your travels and enjoy your style!
I'm not active in the gyaru community in SF since I'm older (in my mid 30s now) and a new mom now so I don't have time for that, but I still love the clothes and buy Liz Lisa at every chance I have. I'm truly inspired by many of your OOTD and your haul posts for my own daily outfits and even during my maternity. Though, I always wear leggings and tights with LL dresses or slacks with their blouses since they give it a more mature look and are appropriate for my type of work.
I wanted to know what type of camera you used or still use for your travels and for your blog posts. Also, since you used to play piano, is that original compositions that you use for your background music in your videos?
Thanks a lot!
Sincerely,
Crystal Moy

http://broken-biscuits.tumblr.com/

Hi! ^^ I remember you from SF! I think when I'm older I will still be wearing Liz Lisa!

For my blog posts, most of the photos are taken using a Lumix GF3, Nikon D7000 and sometimes my Iphone 5!

I haven't used any of my original compositions in my videos unfortunately, I don't know how to record them so they sound good :(

Hey Kim,
I absolutely love your channel (AND YOUR CLOSET!) and would be delighted if you answered a few of my questions n__n'
1. I've been with my current boyfriend for 4 years (currently 19), and i've been feeling very unhappy with our relationship. Tried everything i could to mend it, but he's a moody sort of person and at times he can be super friendly to me but at other times he barely even talks to me even when we're going out together. How did you tell yourself that enough was enough and that you needed to let go of your past/unhappiness? I'm afraid to let go of my 'companion' as i'd probably feel lonely. Sorry to bring back unpleasant memories :(
2. I'm also from Australia (Sydney though) and currently on holidays at Hong Kong where Japanese make up is pretty much everywhere. Are there any specific brands/products which you would definitely recommend trying out? (I've tried the dolly wink and k-palette products)
3. Also how to do motivate yourself to be confident enough to do what you want when people around you are discouraging and doubting you? For example when i was younger, i always wanted to be a model but all my friends and family were like "PFFT look at you? Model? You ought to be joking" and things like "If anyone hired you, they'd be drunk 100%" and "SLUZZA".
Thanks heaps in advance!

Hi! ^__^

1) That's fine!  I found that during past my relationship, most of the time I was waiting for him to change. I always kept thinking to myself that he will change and things would get better. I didn't want to break up because I was together with him for so long, I couldn't picture myself with anyone else. Also because we were together for so long, everyone got used to us being a couple so I thought that if we break up, it would be really weird for everyone else. And like you, I also thought I would be lonely if I broke up so I kept trying to hold on. He was probably the same as your bf, super nice to me sometimes, but sometimes would ignore me and act like I didn't even exist. It got to the point where I no longer loved him anymore, but was only holding on just because we were together for so long I thought that I could "fall in love" again. I thought it was normal in all relationships for guys to start ignoring their girlfriends a bit after a couple of years. I learnt to let go when I saw that so many other guys were being so nice to me that made me ask myself why I am with someone who didn't really care much about me and wasn't so nice to me.

Whenever someone tells me their story about how their bf hasn't been treating them well and they are upset, the advice I always want to give them is: Break up, you deserve someone who treats you well and makes you happy. I know it's going to be super hard to break up because I couldn't do it myself until I found someone new, but trust me, you deserve to be happy. I started dating my first bf around the same time as you when you first started (I was around 15 at the time) and I broke up just a bit after when I turned 20. I've been with my current bf for 3 years now and looking back to when I was 20, breaking up with my ex was the best decision I've ever made in my life. My current bf treats me so much better and we get along together really well. A relationship will only work if both parties put in effort. Have a talk to him and see if he will be willing to try to put in effort and treat you better. Otherwise if he doesn't, I would say break up with him and I'm sure you will find someone who will appreciate you!

2) Definitely try out Majolica Majorca and Canmake!

3) If modelling is what you really want to do, then you should go for it. I find that whenever I want to do something, I just go for it without seeking advice from anyone. For example, when I wanted to start Youtube, I did so without telling anyone. I knew if I told any of my friends or family they all would've told me I was crazy. I've always been the quiet type of person who wouldn't really talk much to anyone so no-one expected me to want to make Youtube videos. Eventually they accepted it when they saw  how much I enjoyed it. If it's always something you wanted to do then I'd say just to go for it and try not to think too much about what other people say about you. If you think you are good enough then give it a shot!

Hello Kim! I have some questions for you:
1. I read you're 155cm tall (I'm 152cm), but you appear always so tall in your pictures/videos. Have you tips for looking taller? ._.
2. Which camera do you use for your videos? 
3. How much money do you usually spend on clothes in Japan? 
Thank you for answering my questions!
Love,Chrissy

1) ANGLES! haha. If you want to appear taller, take photos from a lower angle. I usually put my camera on a tripod and put it the lowest it can go, and then angle it up so it makes my legs look longer :P Also depends on what you wear. I find that wearing shorts and shorter skirts make your legs look longer too!
2) I use a Nikon D7000 for my videos!
3) haha.. too much :x It really depends on how long I go for, but usually if i go for a 3 week trip I spend maybe $2500 on clothes :x

Hi Kim I really want to know how you stay healthy and fit? I am a teenager and so it's really hard for me to be in shape,please give me some of your advice.Thanks I'm for ward to it :)

I'm going to be completely honest, but I think that I am the worst person to ask with regards to staying healthy and keeping fit :x I've always been naturally small since I was young and no matter how much I ate, I would never gain any weight. Even though it has its positives, I hated it because people would call me anorexic and many other names just because I never gained weight. However these days I am trying to do things like jogging with my dog after work which is good for both me and my dog!

Dear Dao,
Firstly, I want to say that I really admire you, you're my idol:X. You are a great beauty guru,beautiful girl and most of all, you are really good at English and Japanese which I don't :(.
Secondly, I would love to know where did you learn Japanese and Egnlish when you are in Vietnam and for how long did you learn Japanese before you move to Japan?. I'm going to study Japanese as my second foreign language (besides EL) and I hope you could give me some advices or share your experiences how to learn Japanese, I'd appreciate them so much :).
Thanks so much ^o^ .Have a great day !!!
P/s: Sorry for my bad English :(P/ss: Can I mail you in Vietnamese next time?

That's ok! And thank-you for your kind words! It really does mean a lot to me!

I was born in Australia and have lived here all my life which is why I can speak English. My Japanese isn't great, but I'm trying to improve! I never lived in Vietnam, I have only been there twice and I never moved to Japan either, I still live in Australia ^^ I studied Japanese at university which is how I could speak it. Unfortunately I can't read Vietnamese or speak it at all :( I can understand it when people speak to me though!



Ok I have to end it here for now, but thank-you so much for everyone who sent in questions for me! I will try my best to keep doing these more often so if you have anything to ask me, send me questions at:

kimdaoquestions@gmail.com

~ Kim