So it's well into the first month of the new year and as some of my friends have lamented, my blog is close to being in comatose. I shall try to blog more regularly.. try...
As many of you would know, the year 2008 was a long and tiring one for me. But I lived through it and I'm just glad that it's all over and done with. It's a new year, and what better time to let go of the past and move on?
After some hesitation, I spent my winter break back in Singapore. Hesitation because almost every time I head back home for the holidays, some drama seems to pummel me to death. But yea, no regrets =)
Spent slightly less than 4 weeks in Singapore but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Just a couple of photos to sum up my time back home -
celebrating cheryl's 21st for the umpteenth time ;)
early christmas dinner =)
family christmas eve dinner (:
making wishes upon the tips of cakes on christmas day (:
that ever so interesting second date that somehow involved brandon getting a 'date' ;)
little cousins having a massive super mario kart race tournament thingmajig on every available nintendo ds.. at my sister's farewell bbq party (she's not studying in london anymore, but another story for another time)
yea, he likes climbing things.. and yes, I actually went to MacRitchie and ended up walking from Venus Drive (near Thompson Plaza) and ended up at Rifle Range Road.. four hours..
me : (sets my camera to shoot the above pic) beng : why are you taking a photo of that? It's a rotting leaf me : erm, I think it's pretty.. beng : guess I don't have your eye for beauty me : HEYYY!!! -.- (you get how the ambiguity in his last statement make can make it out to be an insult? ;) )
dressing brandon ;)
(:
new year's (:
the boys trying to do a boy band thing o.O heh I love them this was shot at the end of an amazingly fun night out clubbing =)
goofing around whilst I was trying to find a suitable canvas..
the yummilicious (but pretty damn freaking long) farewell dinner I had with my dad.. (majorly craving for the dish in the photo above, think I dreamt of it last night o.O) can't remember the last time we ever had dinner together, as in just the two of us
bumming at jo's on my last night
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hmm just realised that I don't really have photos on those days where I met up with my other close friends.. yes there are days when I actually forget to bring a single camera out with me and have the strong urge the entire day to kick myself -.- ah the rest of my holiday pics are on facebook =)
2008 was a crap year but I am more thank thankful that it has ended up on a really good note, so thanks to everyone who made my winter break an amazing one. I was never a really big fan of the festive season, especially after 2007's, but Christmas and New Year's went really well. Majority of the credit goes to the boy who got me smiling again xoxo
[and yes the format and layout of this post is in a mess.. can't be bothered right now to edit it]
Mom's in town with her friend and I'll blog more about it all soon but the highlight of the day for me, is this little baby :
HEHE.. mom got me a Nespresso machine and I love it :D it was £90 but it was on offer so I got it for £60.. and with the current exchange rate, it's a pretty damn good buy =)
Coffee coffeeeeee :D
Just before I got that, I bought these lovelies :
haha I got really excited when I found these (: sugar stick stirrer thingmajigs :D
and as a side note, yea I tend to forget to bring over a thing or two.. this time round.. so far, I think I left my handphone charger in Singapore -.- I remember tying up the wire properly and all... but where the hell is it URGH
haha yong xi thought my last blog post indicated I lost yet another love.. nah... leading quite an unexpected (for me) uncomplicated life =) and again, no lost love or whatever, I just quite like this new song I heard whilst watching the newest episode of One Tree Hill.. I tend to find new songs that way.. hear it in the background of some episode of whatever tv show, google the lyrics.. youtube it, tada!
[me: can I dedicate this song to you :D
boy: no -.-]
Far in the distance This is the view from the other side How did I let this pass me by?
Took me for granted Planted thorns in this garden of mine What are the chances? My hope has died
Please have mercy You've unnerved me I don't deserve this pain
So don't break my heart, I ain't never done nothing to deserve this I'm torn apart You've had your fun, do you suppose I earned it? Do you not see how I'm begging on my knees? Don't speak, don't breathe, You bring out the devil in me
Thinking it over Those were days dark as ebony nights The end of October seemed like a lifetime
I had a suspicion But didn't want to believe you a liar You had a mission to prove me right
You took my trust Ground it to dust Found out I knew better
[Chorus]
And I don't wanna feel the pain And I don't want another day Shackled to your ball and chain You're entirely to blame And I'm so tired of explaining The sensation of no Novocain
[Chorus]
I don't have a prayer if There is no charity in your heart Couldn't you spare me? I've done my part
Had a pretty awesome day today, it's been a while =)
Some of my friends are crazy over the fashion label Comme des Garçons so when they heard that the line was going to do a collaboration with H&M and with the clothes priced much more modestly, they were quite determined to grab some buys.
The line was launched last week in Tokyo and people queued up over 12hours in advance for it. So my friends decided that we should go down at 5am, 4hours before the store here in London was to be opened. My sleeping habits tend to be quite off anyway and there was a couple of items that I was interested in, so I thought why not =)
When we got to there, we laughed about how we were practically at the front of the queue =) And we joked about Singaporeans and "our kiasu'ness" (wow 'kiasu' is in the oxford dictionary o.O go check that wiki link out).
But we had a pretty good time chatting with each other, other people who were in the queue, some journalists (we got interviewed heh).. grabbing macs for breakfast (I miss mcgriddles =\ we don't have them here).
The hype started to build up after 7 when more and more people joined the queue and the press coverage for it was getting a bit too much. When the doors finally opened, there was an insane mad rush where everyone was running about trying to find what they wanted as they grabbed stuff off the racks. The sales staff kept bringing out more stock for the quickly emptying racks but the clothes disappeared again soon after -.- And of course there are those annoying ones who grabbed the clothes in insane piles, with the intention to sell them off ebay and what nots -.-
It was already hard enough to try and squeeze through the crowds to find the items you wanted, but you had to weave around photographers who had their cameras in your face. My friends and I all didn't manage to get the scarf we wanted, much less even saw where it was sold. As it turned out, we accidentally walked past it and it was all gone within 15 secs heh. Some of the popular items were gone in an hour.
It was insane and mad but I actually did have quite a bit of fun and managed to get most of what I wanted =) haha and now my friend said the staff told him that they'll be bringing in more stock tomorrow. The staff I talked to told me that whatever they had was brought in today. OH WELLS... I had fun =)
I didn't spend that much actually, but er I walked past Levis and noticed that they Damien Hirst did a collection for them. I think it's been out for quite some time but I didn't know about it. Just saw a jacket in the window display and popped in to check it out. Ended up buying it and having a nice chat with the salesman, he did some courses in my school =)
So yes, that jacket kinda killed my budgest so I'm kinda broke now heh.. but I'm happy with my buys :) and hey I haven't really done a shopping spree thing in quite a few months so tada! (yes I am trying to justify things..)
Sometimes, just sometimes.. I think I should be studying law *cue dramatic sound effects
My dad always wanted me to study law at LSE but I was quite set on studying something art and design related. This resulted in a somewhat massive argument before I finally managed to "win" the war and so began studying graphic design (and jewellery design for a while) over here in London. He has since moved on to try and get my sis to head in that direction of a law course (which seems to be along the lines of what she wants anyway) and resigned to the "fact" that I'm going to be a starving artist.
But he did think that it's such a waste that I'm doing art and design instead of law or even business, when I have the academic grades to qualify me to study anything. That is the general consensus of everyone who knows my academic grades. Well it was a personal ego/satisfaction thing to get those grades even though I got a place in my art school, CSM, long before I even started the A'level exams. That and it acted as a safety net, in case I decided to say fuck you to art and actually study something else.
Getting an "A" grade for an academic subject, it's a bit more systematic than say getting one in art. In the sense that say you have an exam coming up for science, based on 5 chapters. Study those 5 chapters like hell, do practice papers etc.. and you can be pretty confident of getting a good grade. With art, if you've hit a wall in getting that ONE PERFECT IDEA.. you can't exactly get it after "reading 5 chapters". And there's always that factor of art being subjective (though I tend to at least get my work up to a certain standard so that anyone who sees it has to agree that its good).
With that in mind, I think I figured out the "smart way" of studying when I was in ACJC. Spotting exam questions with an insane accuracy (that made my tutor suspicious hehh), knowing what was relevant and what was just woffle, understanding the studying materials in such a way that I didn't have to "study".. that sort of thing. So with lots of caffeine (I detoxed the week after A'level exams ended and had headaches from the lack of coke, coffee, disgustingredbull) and some agony I got my grades. Well my good subject combination helped of course, but that in some way goes back to the "smart way" of studying.
But like I always say, it wouldn't be any fun if it was easy (not to say that studying law is easy, far from it I'm sure).
Guess I just miss consistently getting top grades with "ease".
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edit : ok on hindsight, it's not so much about ease but rather the surety of it..
So I've been kinda disgustingly lazy.. think it's partly because my bed takes up quite a large proportion of my room heh! And this post is going to be quiteee inadequate and lacking in details of what's been going on, but hey.. there's msn and text messaging and calls for all of the nitty gritty details.. This is more of a 'report' of what's been going on so you guys get the general gist of things and can stop bugging me to blog! =)
It's been alright over here in London, missing home quite a bit though. And everyone who has asked me if I'm returning home this December break, I basically honestly tell them that it's not confirmed but most probably. To which they just reply something along the lines of "aiyarh whatever I know you're coming/going home". So much so that some of them have stopped asking me about it because they "know" that I'll be in Singapore this December break. So looks like I'm heading home this winter break =)
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And in case you guys don't already know, I'm majoring in advertising and minoring in photography. Advertising's been really fast paced where in some weeks I have up to 4 project submissions in that week alone. But I quite like it. There's only about 13 of us (out of 180ish students in the graphic design course) who are doing advertising and we get 3 tutors. Learning quite a bit and my tutors are really good and one of them is really funny in particular-
Typical conversations with that tutor, Clive-
[Talking about an ad that involves cars]
One of my classmates: Oh I don't really know much about cars..
Clive: Well that's because you don't have a fucking willy like I do.
Haha the entire class was stunned for a few secs then we just burst out laughing..
[Talking about an ad targeted at mothers]
Clive: The problem with being a mom is that it is a fucking everyday thing. And it goes on forever!
Heh and he says all these things in a very normal sort of tone, which just makes it all the more amusing =)
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Work aside, been having some fun here and there with friends and all. There seems to be A LOT more Singaporeans in the art schools this year and I've hung out with them quite a bit.. It's a nice homely sort of feeling..
Been to two gigs so far, Ingrid Michaelson and Alphabeat.. Both were pretty good though Alphabeat aren't too great in terms of performers.. and they took away my DSLR just before that gig and I annoyingly didn't bring in my other camera -.- so I was camera'less for the Alphabeat gig but I did take some pretty nice shots at the Ingrid Michaleson one.. and yes, we got autographs and photos taken with the singers at both gigs =)
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I'll post something with more substance soon..
Nicely shot photos of my time here can be found at my photog blog .. the rest of them, ah they're on facebook
I know I know.. this blog is pretty much going into a coma.. while I try and bring this blog back to life, go check out my other blog, which I update a lot more frequently (partly because it's easier and a lot faster =x)
I don't believe in horoscopes, but sometimes.. they ring a bit of truth
Gemini (May 22- Jun 22)
Sometimes, "almost good enough" has to suffice. Sometimes it's just not possible to go that extra mile. Give yourself a break, Gemini- you actually did a pretty good job. And next time, armed with the knowledge that you've gained from all of this, the chances are that your efforts will be nothing short of spectacular.
One of the supposed traits of a Gemini is being in constant contradiction and going in all directions at once. My heart and head often conflict with one another, not just when they argue about love.
So I'm back in London and as some of you may know, I really wasn't looking forward to coming back here. I quite loved my summer vacation back in Singapore, even if there was the usual drama here and there.. It wouldn't be my life if it was missing that element ;)
I traveled to beautiful countries.. had quite a kick-ass internship.. experienced moments of chilling out alongside nights where I danced till it was day..
And I fell in love. Amidst the beauty and chaos of the last few months, I was given a chance to fall in love, and I did.
But what I've learnt to cherish even more is the friendships that were forged. Several new ones were unexpectedly made and even more surprising, a few old ones were strengthened. A couple of it only occurred in the last few days leading up to my departure.. So my flight back felt premature, even if I did spend a good 3 months in Singapore. I really miss them.. and having a friend tell you he misses you and how he wishes I could teleport back.. and even how he won't ever talk to me again if I don't go back to Singapore this Christmas break.. doesn't make being here any easier.
Thank you guys for my summer, I miss you all.. and you guys know the number to reach me at (:
Ok so about two years back, I watched a beautiful sunset whilst I was painting and it was at that point.. that I decided to not take photographs of sunsets or sun rises.. long story short, I just felt that the transient quality of it added to it's beauty and photographing it would just cheapen the experience and beauty of it..
butttt... yes there's always a but.. just before a family bbq at my place a few weeks back, I saw an amazing sunset and with my new baby in hand, I caved and snapped a few photos of it =x
guess the photography instincts took over the romantic in me heh, ah wells xx
yea I'm flying back to London this Sunday.. and for some reason, it's really getting to me this time.. I should be used to this flying back and forth by now.
ah I'm trying to get back into drawing.. this is the first thing that I've probably drawn in months :
as requested by Jo, based on a fairly amusing conversation that we had =)
he wanted a flying rhino and an underwater elephant in it as well.. but ERM..
so he became a bittt more reasonable and just asked for the carrier pigeon, the scarf from cambodia and the sling bag with the starburst in it.. so er tada!
oh and the pigeon's name is "Coo-lio".. coooo-lio.. get it? Jo's idea not mine =x
celebrating cheryl's 21st for the umpteenth time ;)
early christmas dinner =)
family christmas eve dinner (:
making wishes upon the tips of cakes on christmas day (:
that ever so interesting second date that somehow involved brandon getting a 'date' ;)
little cousins having a massive super mario kart race tournament thingmajig on every available nintendo ds.. at my sister's farewell bbq party (she's not studying in london anymore, but another story for another time)
yea, he likes climbing things..
me : (sets my camera to shoot the above pic)
dressing brandon ;)
(:
new year's (:
the boys trying to do a boy band thing o.O heh I love them
goofing around whilst I was trying to find a suitable canvas..
the yummilicious (but pretty damn freaking long) farewell dinner I had with my dad..
bumming at jo's on my last night
