What I stitched & wore (QYL: 2016)

What I stitched & wore?

Attending something as amazing as the Queen's Young Leaders Residential Week requires dress codes for various events and functions.
Lucky for us the QYL team are super awesome and provided us with itineraries that indicated the dress codes for the various events. This really did make everything easy. And being a little over prepared in nature for most things I got down to planning out what I will wear for each of the events (Thanks to le sister for helping out here and being my Fashion Police). We had it all down in a spreadsheet and saved on my phone as well as a printed copy that went in my schedule file.

Now, I love sewing and I got a little over excited and decided that I wanted to sew as many of my clothes as possible for the residential week. And I thought of making mostly dresses as they could be pulled off as formal and casual.

Monday: I wore the blue dress with red roses. YES it has pockets (as most of my stitching does). Simple dress with pockets and I wore my jacket over because it was super cold.
Tuesday: Casual day at Cambridge so I wore skirt and cardigan (not pictured).
Wednesday: The paisley dress. Again simple dress (no pockets - that's another story for another time).
THURSDAY: Award evening! I sewed this black dress and my wonderful brother-in-law printed the veil for me. The award outfit had a lot of thinking and contemplating AND effort I must say. I mean what do you wear to go see Her Majesty, the Queen!!.
Friday: Double trouble. TGIF! Friday was special as it featured two outfits. The first was THE BLUE DRESS which I had stitched last year to wear to the award ceremony. It has Pacific prints and has stick figures which I thought depicted the Pacific well. Plus it was BLUE! Nobel banner blue :-) [FYI: Fiji's flag is blue and the anthem has line "Nobel banner blue"] The evening we were hosted to dinner at THE SHARD so I wore the CROWN dress. The prints on the dress are all crowns. Apt for ROYAL BANO no :-)

There you have it. What I wore during the 2016 QYL residential week. :-) 

 Until next blog,
:-)

FJ to UK - let the QYL journey begin

Let the journey begin. 

First I must say that it took a lot of energy to mentally, psychologically and physically prepare for this trip. There were a lot of mixed emotions and I tried to keep my excitement on a low. If you wondering why, you read about it here. 

Tuesday: 14th June. 
Since it is the holy month of Ramadan I woke up around 4am for Suhur and later went into work.I spent the day at work making sure I had handed over documents to my team and set up my vacation notice. I came home for Iftari and got busy with my final assignment for the semester. I thought if I was tired enough I could sleep on the flights (I just cant sleep on the 
flights). And I ended up staying up all night. 

Wednesday 15th June.
5.15am - We left Suva for Nadi. 4 hours later we were in Nadi and I slept for an hour in the car. We stopped over for breakfast and headed down to the airport. Check in time started at 11am and after checking in I waited for Luisa (QYL 2016). We ate at the airport and went on inside before boarding time. The flight left around 2pm and we were headed for NZ! 

5pm we arrived in NZ and went looking for the emirates counter to get our boarding passes. Lucky for airport WiFi we also contacted the QYL's from NZ and Tonga and met up with them. 
Next leg was from NZ - Dubai. Luisa and I had seats together and believe when I say I never want to fly this route ever again in my life. 18 hours!!! 18 hours has a few hours to many to be on a flight. The food on emirates was great! Lucky once again. but sitting there for so long and it was a night flight so most of the people are sleeping and I felt bad turning on the little lights and doing some reading/writing. I tried really hard to sleep. When I woke up I thought at least 3 hours would have passed - behold - I was asleep for 45mins. I attempted this maybe 3 or 4 times and each time I woke up in less then one hour. After that I gave up and watched the TV Show Blackish. Hilarious show by the way. There is only so much walking around you can do on the flight so it was a very tiring flight indeed. 
FINALLY we were in Dubai. 

As we headed to our gate we met with QYL from Australia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. We had a little QYL Pacific family. And this felt great. Before you know it we had to board our flight to London. 

Only another 8 hours and we would be in London. Once again I tried to sleep but had very little luck so I carried on watching movies in flight. It amazed me that the flight had WiFi. Thank you Emirates! You are the best airline so far.

And finally we touched down at Heathrow airport in London. FINALLY we were here. I know all the QYL's were excited to be here - but I almost cried. After last year I wasn't sure if I would make it, but I did. The boarder security lines were long but the staff was nice and we were out in LONDON. 

Thursday 16th June 12.45pm we are in LONDON. This was Thursday 11.45pm back in Fiji. 
The QYL volunteers greeted us at arrival and we headed to Goodenough College on a big blue coach (double deck) bus. YUP!! This was my first time on a double deck bus. The The Pacific Islanders were already chatting and laughing. This was a great sign to the beginning of a new friendship. 

The residential week has only just started. 

I met the QUEEN

June 2016 I traveled up to the UK for the Queens Young Leaders residential week and award programme. 

The entire week was AMAZING but the highlight of the week was meeting her majesty the Queen. It is not everyday we wake up thinking - I will go meet the Queen today. The winners from the Queens Young Leaders programme are indeed privileged to be among the those selected individuals who have the honour of meeting her majesty. And it was worth the wait.  
She is such a sweet lady! She spoke to each and everyone of us when we walked up to receive our awards and this is a moment we will cherish for the rest of our lives. 

(Official photo from the Buckingham Palace) 

At 90 she is still walking around on her and took out the time to speak to each and everyone of us for a few minutes. 

I am now among the 120 Youth from across the Commonwealth who have received their medals from her majesty, in recognition for the youth work we do in our respective communities.  I cant think of a better way to leave behind a legacy then by investing in the youth to carry forward the leadership and social causes. 

Earlier that day Jacob and I were asked how we were feeling about meeting Her Majesty that evening. Here is what we had to say :-)

And later that day we had one hour to get dressed so I tried to motivate my fellow QYLs through this video. 

About the outfit: I stitched my outfit to wear for awards function :-) Kept it simple but put in a little bit of thought into it. So the salwar kamiz highlights my Indo heritage (ancestors from India) and the woven shoes represent my Fijian heritage (Fijian - Nationality). Woven mats are symbolic to Fiji and the Pacific communities. My brother-in-law printed a Samoan design on my veil so I could also share my extended family heritage. I was very happy to receive compliments from so many people on the outfit. I must add - all the QYL's looked amazing in their respective outfits. JOB WELL DONE guys!!! 

(photo from Google)

Its only upwards from here... 

Until next blog. 

15 days to QYL residential week

15 days to QYL residential week

Tip # 5: 
Make a list of all the things you need to pack. Keep this list handy and if possible check which of these items you need to purchase so you can get them early. 

Keep the list handy. 
Write it out in a notebook; white board; stick the list on your mirror or fridge - somewhere visible.  Tick or cross things off the list so you know what remains. Try to pack everything at least 2 days before your travel date. This way you have a peace of mind and don't panic just before you travel. 

What is on your list? Here is our travelers guide to packing :-) 

#TravelDiary #travel #Fj2UK #Fiji #youth#youthCan #YouthWill

Until next blog...

20 days to QYL 2016

20 days to QYL residential week 2016

Tip #4: Hand Carry (for Residential Week)

During the QYL Residential week participants have a list of places they will be visiting and key people they will be meeting. For these meets keep a small bag handy. it can be a back-pack, a handbag, a nap snack or a shoulder bag. 

1. Keep your important items with you at all times. This may include; ID card(s), money, laptop, phone, camera (if the venue restricts use of gadgets-store them in a safe place). 

2. Keep a note book and pen handy. When you attend meetings and seminars you may want to note down important things mentioned. Some may record things via memo on their smartphones. I still prefer note book and pen. 

3. Personal items- this may include; lotion, perfume, (makeup for our lovely ladies), hand sanitizer, sanitary napkins, bottle of water and handkerchief or face towel. 

4. Contact cards: Have copies of your contact details handy. This can be a simple card that includes your name, organization name and address, phone contact, email address and social media handles. Simple and within budget contact cards can be printed on normal paper and glued them on vanguard sheets. 

What are some things you like to keep in your bag when you attend important meetings? 

Until next blog...

30 days to QYL 2016

30 days to QYL Residential Week: 2016

TIP # 3: 

Go through the weeks itinerary and read up about the places and organizations to be visited. 

1. Reading about a place before you visit gives you background information. 

2.This is usually helpful because you have a fair understanding of where you are going. 

3.Conversations at the venue may be about something that has happened there so you would have some idea about this and it may help you ask questions or just be part of the conversation. 

4. Keep a little notebook where you can jot down important information when you read about it. While visiting you may have questions so you can jot down the answers or they may share some new information and you can write these down. 

5. Some of the places on the list might be of particular interest to you or your group, keep contact cards handy to give to key people you may interact with at these places. 

On that note it would help to read 21 things you need to know before visiting Britain :-) 

Until next blog..........

*In the lead up to the QYL residential week I am posting (I hope) helpful tips for fellow QYL participants. The aim of this is to help you pack and ease off the worrying! Enjoy the build up to one of the most exciting days of your life. 
Thank you to fellow QYLs (2015) for providing some tips and contributing to these posts.

35 days to QYL residential week 2016.

35 days to QYL residential week: 2016

TIP 2: What to wear? 
》Go through the residential week itinerary to pack efficiently & appropriately. 
The weeks itinerary clearly states the events that the residential week participants will be attending. It also indicates the dress-code for each event. Have a read through the list so you pack appropriately. 
If you have only one jacket (for formal event) keep it nicely so you can wear it with different shirt/pants to other events.

》Pack enough formal wear. 
Most of us are able to pull off casual wear with ease. It is the formal wear that usually has been thinking and worrying. Don't panic!!! Formal means no flipflops, runners or ripped jeans. Actually no jeans. So keep it simple, pack one or two formal pants/skirts and two formal shirts. You can mix and match these for the different functions. 

》Check for the weather forecast and pack (enough jackets) & suitable shoes.
I hear it is summer up in London around this time of the year, but weather anywhere is unpredictable these days so keep a jacket (or two) handy just in case it gets cold. For the Pacific Islanders, our summer is 23*C and above. London summer is around 17*C and this is winter for us. So pack your pants, socks and jackets too. If it is warm enough you can bring your jacket back home safely :-) 

we in the Pacific are very much flipflop people most of the year round. But for formal occasions like these a pair of sandals or a pair of closed shoes shouldn't hurt so pack in a pair and keep it handy. Try to pack light shoes so it doesn't add too much weight to your luggage. 

Until next blog .... 

*In the lead up to the QYL residential week I am posting (I hope) helpful tips for fellow QYL participants. The aim of this is to help you pack and ease off the worrying! Enjoy the build up to one of the most exciting days of your life. 
Thank you to fellow QYLs (2015) for providing some tips and contributing to these posts.

40 days to QYL 2016

Let the countdown begin!!! 

40 days to the QYL residential week; 2016. 

40 more days my dear QYLS. Do you have all your documents & visas sorted??
TIP#1: scan all relevant documents and keep in email copy (just in case).
✔passport name page
✔passport page (s) with visa stamped
✔birth certificate
✔ QYL letter
✔QYL document of the programme
✔contact details of QYL team
Keep photocopies of these documents in a file and keep in your hand carry.

FOLLOW the blog for more updates. 

Until next blog ....