Nuffnang's June Featured Blogger

First published in Nuffnang on 1 June 2012.

I am Gillian, a Hong Kong based Canadian blogger who keeps a local lifestyle blog. Since writing is not my day job, I must say this has been a very humbling experience, and I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to take a glimpse of what the glamorous editorial world is like. I have never even thought of keeping a blog until December 2010, when my friend Erica invited me to go to a fashion show with her on behalf of the online magazine she represents, and casually asked if I could do the write up for the evening, which gave a kick start to my guest contribution with Lifestyle Asia. On February 2011, after several months of guest contributing on various online magazines and blogs, I decided to keep my own blog on top of writing for others, pretty much because I have just way too much to write about than an occasional guest post.

我Gillian是駐香港的加拿大籍博客，而寫作題材多數環繞時裝、藝術及旅遊。由於寫作是我的興趣而不是職業，所以我很慶幸能夠有機會一嘗為生活雜誌獻稿的滋味。為Lifestyle Asia寫文之前，我從來都無想過要做博客。但當時好友兼Lifestyle Asia編輯Erica需要有人幫手寫幾篇派對報導，所以就因此開展了我的博客生涯。

Shortly after establishing my own blog, I was excited as we began receiving invites for cool events, which obviously my friends accompanied me to, both for ogling at the latest art and fashion, as well as stuffing our faces with yummy canapés and bubblies. After going through all the photo shooting and modeling, Jasmine, Jessie, and Keely, my best friends as well as diehard fans of the blog, decided they wanted a piece of the action as well and started contributing guest posts to my blog, each focusing on their very own interests and expertise. The entire journey was more a discovery of old friends and making new ones, because interviewing my friends has allowed me learn a lot more about their recent changes in life, and heading to parties with them is an awesome way to catch up, as well as meeting new friends through interviews and parties, which interestingly, we usually are able to find a handful of common friends!

在博客成立的初期，我們已經收到很多邀請去不同的時裝和藝術派對。我的好友們Jasmine、Jessie和Keely在多次陪同我到處採訪後，都想通過博客分享他們的知識，所以今年開始他們都有在我的博客裡面寫專欄。做博客其實就是不斷地跟朋友們敘舊及認識新的朋友。透過訪問我的朋友以及和他們一起去採訪時，我有機會跟他們傾到近況；而通過採訪，我也認識了很多新朋友，亦很多時候發現我們之間其實已經有很多共同認識的人。

So what is the best part about blogging? It is pretty cool to be able to call myself a blogger, and definitely super encouraging seeing a steady increase in visits to my blog as well as in email subscription to my newsletter. Best of all, because I need to find stuff to write about, I have been discovering shops worthy of purchases from all around town as well as new innovations that is just totally eye opening! Blogging entirely changed my worldview - everywhere I go and everything I encounter now I would think, hmm, is this bloggable?

做博客，除了看到穩定的增長外，最開心的就是因利成便，能發掘到新穎的發明和買到特別的產品。我的博客完全改變了我對事物的看法──現在我每到一處、每見一事，我都會想，這個讀者會感興趣嗎？

At the beginning of my blogging career, I have always imagined that one day I will run out of stuff to write about and that will be the end of everything. But surprisingly, that day simply never came. Ideas just kept on coming, to a point where I never have enough time to finish writing everything. The biggest challenge with blogging, I must say, is that it does hijack my life quite a bit. Although I love the events going and even the writing itself, I feel like I don't have much time for anything else. I am trying to learn to strike a balance this year though.

由寫作初期開始，我都一直在等待靈感枯乾的一天。那一日不但一直未到，反而我永遠都是題材多到怎麼寫都寫不完。寫博客最大的困難就是要平衡自己的私人時間，而這也正是我今年努力的目標。

It is difficult for me to choose which piece I like the most, because they are all my babies, and no mom would ever think of their own kids as ugly looking. But a few of my most clicked on posts do include a Singapore travel piece, an interview with Percy on her paper art, and a guide for men in lingerie shopping. This pretty much covers the most significant areas of my blogging interest - Travel, Art, and Fashion.

對我來說，我寫的每一篇都是我的寶貝，所以要我在當中選擇我最喜歡的簡直是不可能。最多人看的反而比較易講，就是星加坡旅遊篇、跟Percy採訪關於他的剪紙藝術以及向男人介紹如購買女性內衣。這三篇亦涵蓋了我寫作範疇的絕大部分，就是旅遊、藝術、時裝。