Starting Over

Tianyun describes her style as “a vomit of colour”, although she’s tried to tone it down a little since she turned 30. “I own more black pieces now, but even if I’m wearing work pants or shirts, I like them printed or in bright colours like red,” she says. “I wish the CBD crowd wore more colour. I like to believe there’s a way you can express your personality while still staying work-appropriate, like stand out accents such as fun shoes, a hairband, etc. But then again that’s my take.” Tianyun says that she is lucky that her office dress code is more casual than other companies, so she gets not just one but two casual days where she gets to be more experimental with her look. “Instead of more mainstream Casual Friday looks, I wear wear denim culottes or Tevas sandals,” she says. “I’m also inclined to wearing socks with everything — sandals, kitten heels, clogs, you get the idea. It’s weird, yes; the first few times I did the socks-and-sandals combi, I did feel self conscious. It started out more as a necessity because my feet never fail to get blisters, no matter what shoes I wear. Now I embrace it.” Tianyun worked in an accounting firm until she quit to be an intern at a magazine at the age of 27. “Oldest intern ever! But I believe you are never too old to try something new and start from the bottom,” she says. “It may be hard seeing your peers climb the corporate ladder while you are still at the bottom of the food chain but it paid off because my dream of being a writer did materialise. Although I have moved out of the publishing industry and am doing a completely new job again where I have to learn many things from scratch, again, there’s nothing a positive attitude can’t overcome.” Outside of work, Tianyun says she exercises out of necessity because she has eating habits like an American kid, and eats junk food without reservation. “Exercise is more like a ‘To Do’ so I can get on with the day and my life,” she says. “I try to find new things to try so I don’t get bored, because I still believe that nothing can’t be solved with fried chicken or an Extra Value meal — besides cardiac arrest, maybe.”