Different Times, Same People

I missed VJC. I don't think I would ever say this, but I really do miss VJC. Perhaps, not the school or schedule per se, but I definitely missed the people. The days where I would catch the 2nd bus to school, reaching school at 7AM, entering art room to "do work" (read: talk cock/sleep). Even, the fridays where the entire Lit class would tear our ties away from our collars and rush out to collect our bags, and taking big steps to get to the other side of the school at the topmost floor just to ensure we are in the classroom waaaaay before Ms Yuen steps into the classroom. The best parts would definitely be getting sick of the school food. Now, I miss school food.

I went back today to get my cert and how unfamiliar the school has become. A red VJC statue was erected in the garden, specially for photo-taking. The lockers were torn down and in place were ugly faded class photos. A not-too-bad mural was drawn opposite LT5. Even the art room smells different. It smells like a normal classroom. It was messy but not the familiar kind of messy. On the cupboards and tables were drawings that were far to nice. I missed the smell where we enter the art room and we smell the turpentine Rick was using the day before and left to stink the room. I miss the heart-jumping-out-of-your-mouth moments after a few days break, and finally returning to the art room, opening the door to Rick's newest scary af painting. As much as I won't want to say this, I miss Rick, goddamnit. I miss bickering with him and just rolling my eyes at all the stupid comments he gives. I miss Runrun too. I still remember him trying to act cool and putting his stomach on the low table and splashing paint on the canvas. I remember telling him that he was stupid and he could have just knelt down or bent down.

Like what Hwee said on her blog post, I doubt there's any other floor more comfortable than Art Room floor. Honestly, I think I have slept on Art Room floor more than I have slept in my own house's floor. There won't be that much of crazy assignments in university anymore... to the point I fell asleep holding a scissors.

There's no more jamming sessions with Bel and Hanwen and TR where we just sit down and sing and play to any kind of song that comes to our minds. As much as I can't sing, I would still try to hum and sing along as I can and at least, they don't ask me to shut up (SQ if you are reading this, opps).

Damn the feels.

I think if I could, I would want to make another blood orange. (laughs)

When I entered the school, there was that instant feeling you get where you know that everything has changed. The people in canteen are juniors I have never met before. (Anyway guys, if you guys keep staring I will think I sibei preetz ok). It came as shock when Mr T told me that Mr Liong left ZH and is currently the vice-principal of NJC. Wao. 

When I went to the GO to grab my cert, I told the staff I was from 14A15 and honestly, there was a kind of familiarity in saying that. 14, eh, want fight! Then, I saw this form that I had actually filled up and in the end did not submit. Life would be so different now if I did submit this form. 

At one moment, the staff was perplexed as if she could not find our names that was in our class sheet and Q asked if we did say our class correctly. At the moment, I realised, time has really passed. We have all moved on in life. We can finally look at Mrs Koh and ask her if she wanted us to help her mark her papers (because she ALWAYS complains about having tons of papers to mark). Yet, we have moved on to the point where we have kind of forgotten the very identity that marks us as a spot in the school. 

I guess, it's ok. We have moved on with life but the friendships forged will still be there. Ending off, guess who looks the darkest in the photo below. (laughs)

ShunShunLiLi and S3

Shun Li 你们怕不怕!
我们--天不怕地不怕爱不怕！

And so, Arts Camp [LEGENDS] marks the last camp I'll be having...
In June. (toh)

These past few weeks in June was really crazy. First I had Sheares Exposure Camp which was absolutely awesome. The first friends in uni and they always say that the first friends are the gems.

Anyway, fun fact, I forgot to bring my any social night attire so what you see up there is my cousin's. LEL.

Arts Camp was good as well. Honestly, I was not expecting much from the camp. I was not even intending to go. Come on, I didn't sign up and only got in because of LT. (Crasher!) Where am I now? I'm going as AOGL for O-Week!

I've made some really good friends and I don't exactly regret (regrats, pft) going to NUS now. There was this short period in June where I had hoped I had gone to ADM with Hwee because of the numerous camps and the competitive hall spots and everything. Of course, like what Aloy the Metal had said, it would simply be a fallacy if I were to say I would not have made such good friends if I went to NTU. In any case, I'm really glad that I have accepted to go to SEC instead of intending to turn it away because I had back to back camps. I'm also glad I accepted LT's nags to crash her OG instead of turning it away as well. Honestly, when I saw the selfies that the S3 people had sent, I was thinking that this group gonna die after camp. However, I'm pretty sure it won't now. At least, not till the Tembu people treat me to meals ;)

What's wrong with them, though? Do I really look like a xiao mei mei >( 

Thursday Frenzy #3: All Things Local

Finally got some time on hand to pen down some worthy thoughts (lmao) 

As seen from the title, 

ALL THINGS LOCAL

Ever since working with Tere and Jes in Ambrosia, they have been influencing me to read up and follow up with local goods. First up, stamp maker!

Baisimu

I have gotten two stamps from her and they are absolutely gorgeous. I would not take photo of them here right now as I have not been taking care of them greatly recently and they are full of ink stains (opps).

However, Baisimu has uploaded the stamp she carved for me on Carousell! 

Cool, huh? 

Naked Glory

A really cool watch website that caught my eye, of course, through Tere again (lol). I was trying to find a watch that could fit my super thin wrist (like srsly... it's damn thin) and normal watches with a 38mm-40mm diameter cannot fit snugly on my wrist without looking weird. I went to the website and found this absolutely dead gorgeous watch and I bought it almost immediately.

 

Leighton (Gold/Black) [Backorder]

Color:  Black Face / Gold Frame
Make:  Self Manufactured, First Hand
Frame: Raised, faceted gem-like border
Straps:  16mm black man-made leather straps
Crystal:  Flat, very slight scratches (if any) from handling
Movement:  3 Hands, Battery Operated
Measurements:  2.9cm in diameter not including of crown
Warranty:  1 Year

What's so good about them is that they provide warranty as well! They do not have any stores at the moment but they do have have pop-up stores at some schools! Catch them and look groovy!!

Hentverks

As most of friends would know, my wallet, the clip on one, was on the verge of falling apart (the misery of getting a $15 wallet) and it was only close to 2 months? So, I decided to invest in a slightly costly and better quality wallet, hopefully to last me through 2 years (just like my Herschel Wallet, which is left abandoned on my desk due to the bulkiness but is still storing coins for me). Whilst surfing Carousell, I found Hentverks, which is supposedly Singapore based (I think? There isn't much written about it being local or not... but...!)

The wallets are made from some kind of leather called the aniline leather. It is soft and flexible! Although the color was duller than I have expected, I guess it was alright. I expected it to be brighter Orange but it turns out to be something more like light brown which was kind of disappointing.

Hentverks gives free engraving as well. What I would suggest is to have them engrave short works or single alphabets. Their engraving isn't the best out there and I guess what you give is what you get. 

--

On a side note, I'll be pretty busy nowadays and Thursday Frenzy might be stopped for awhile. Perhaps till I start uni. I will continue to blog when I can but Thursday Frenzy might be on hiatus for a few weeks now. Let me sort out my life first, haha.

Thanks! See you!

Cheer :)

Thursday Frenzy #2: Page Turner

It's the second installment of Thursday Frenzy! Are you excited?

PAGE TURNER 페이지 터너 

A page-turner is a person employed to turn sheet music pages for a soloist, often a pianist, usually during a performance.
While some music is arranged so that the pages end at places where the musician can spare one hand to turn them, this is not always possible. A page-turner is often necessary for musicians who are playing complex pieces and prefer not to play from memory. A page-turner needs to be able to understand the musician's signals and follow the music to know when to turn the page, and to do so quickly and unobtrusively. Page-turners are sometimes acquaintances of the performer or members of the accompanying orchestra doing a favour. Professional page-turners are often freelance casual workers, not associated with any given concert hall or orchestra. - Wikipedia

Well, a page turner needs to be silent, as if not there, like a shadow. The page turner has to be silent while flipping the pages, as it might possibly disturb the pianist - just like a shadow helping the friend.

That is the concept of this 3 episode korean drama. Three friends will become 'page turners' to each other. This is a pretty interesting concept for a drama. I'm writing this while watching the second episode (which means I have yet to get till the end), although it does not seem like these three protagonists would eventually fall into a romantic relationship. They do seem to end up simply in platonic love.

Simply only in the second episode, the three protagonists (Kim So Hyun, Ji Soo, Shin Jae Ha) displayed great acting skills. Their expressions and reactions are close to reality and not too exaggerated nor understated. The script, likewise, is pretty good as well.

If you are interested in music and slight comedy, this drama would be good for you. It would be especially so if you are looking for something to pass time for three hours.

Here's the trailer:

Do comment if you enjoyed the drama.

Thanks for reading!

J


Update (1 hour after drafting this post): Just finished watching this drama. I feel deeply for this drama. Sometimes, it is not about whether you can do it or no, but rather, whether you like it or not. If I can do something I love, even if it is earning meagre amounts of cash, it will be perfectly worth it. Living a life does not necessarily mean I have to earn lots of money. It also means I have to be happy when I go to sleep.  The music was astonishing and I felt as if I fell in love with piano once again. Although I have tried to play the piano once in an early age, I have given it up quite quickly despite falling in love with the sleek white and black keys. However, my parents made me lose interest in it, claiming that "it will make me lose focus on my studies". I have forgotten what it was like to be pressured by my parents. It has since been long when they have ever given my grades a second glance. I loved how the drama ends; The ending was not abrupt and ended on a good note. Nonetheless, it would not have made it to a drama with more episodes. Three episodes would have been the right amount. The silent support that the male protagnists had given to the female was applaudable. There was no romantic love; it was simply platonic. It was as if I was looking at the Golden Trio: Ron Weasley (before his feelings came into play), Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. The scenarios and words in the drama has resonated in me, accompanied with the ending piece- it was perfect. I have yet to feel so strongly for any drama and yet, this is the first drama that has given tears in my eyes (sorry folks, it didn't roll down my cheeks, though). It is painful to disappoint others, but it is even more painful to disappoint yourself. 

Cheers (for real now). Don't drown yourself in tears.

Thursday Frenzy #1: Why Blog?

I've decided to start up something called the Thursday Frenzy! Thursday Frenzy includes tips and tricks, advices or even recommendations. I have been bored these few days and have been thinking of what to do. Blogging allows me to pen down my thoughts quickly, rather than using a pen and paper, which is a much more traditional way.

Today's Thursday Frenzy will be something rather mild. As could be seen from the title, 'Why blog?'

I started blogging long time ago. I was probably 12-13 years old. Actually, I think it was much earlier. It started as stupid rants and somewhere in between 2012-2013, I started to post stories online. Click here It was pretty cathartic for me to be writing my own feelings and penning down my thoughts. 

There are people who started blogging because they wanted to get famous. Perhaps, this is one of the ways to get famous. Regardless, blogging should be similar to writing a personal diary. Till this day, I don't think I know of anyone who still writes a diary. 

I do know a lot of people who blogs. The famous ones: XiaXue, BongQiuQiu... And these are only the Singporean bloggers. There are tons of bloggers out there. Some of which are really good and some are simply penning down rubbish.

Now, back to the main title.

Blogging gives you a few good things.

1. Discipline
Even for me now, it is rather difficult to sit down and type a chapter/post for more than 1 hour without planning. Even if my brain juices are spinning and churning me crazy, I need to convince myself to sit in front of the damned computer for more than 45 minutes.

2. Self-reflection

Most people fall asleep without thinking of what happened to them in that day. All they think about is what is to happen after that day. Thinking about the future is great but everyone needs to think about what happened in the past as well. Blogging allows us to self-reflect and think about what has happened. If it was a great thing that has happened, you get to celebrate. If it was bad, you get to prevent it. 

3. Personal Voice

How often have you heard other's voices? How often have you heard your own voice? Blogging gives even the most silent person their own voice, in which they can be heard (or 'seen', if you get what I mean). 

And there you have it! Blog! Blog for whatever you know is worth. Who cares if no one is reading your blog now? I only had 3 views for my previous post and who really cares? No one.

For when you blog, you blog for no one but yourself.

(All images are drawn by me. You may use the images as you wish)

Lesson Well-Learnt

Have you ever heard of Friday Blues?

Guess not. However, get acquainted with that. You get Monday Blues as the long weekend stretches into a workday, where the students have to go for school (to suffer through endless lectures) while the working adults trudge towards their office to get their first cup of coffee.

Why Friday Blues?

This happens, when you have work on Saturday. At Bukit Timah Plaza.

If you are a Singaporean, you would never want to wake up 3 hours earlier just to get to work. This makes the work even more unpleasant when it starts at 10AM. Just imagine that you have to bid goodbye to your comfortable bed at 7AM and change into work clothes, while munching (albeit rather tiredly, I must add) onto a piece of bread. 1 hour later, you hop into your covered shoes and check the timing of the 1st bus you have to board. An hour later, you check the timing of the next bus, and is horrified to find that your bus is one of those that people rarely take, hence, it comes 20 minutes later (which obviously mean you missed the previous one. Of course, you can't help but miss it. After all, from the 1st bus stop you alight to the next bus stop you need to get on is, well, 5 minutes away.) Now, after feeding the mosquitoes for 20 minutes (Hell, the bus stop is right opposite of MacRitche), you get on the bus and travels 8km, which of course takes 20 or so minutes. You cross the overhead bridge under the hot blazing sun and walks another 5 minutes before you reach your work place.

If this becomes a routine, I might as well quit. Honestly, I do think they are going to make it a routine.

Note to Self: Never be so kind.

Just because your worker does not complain about the places you send them to (at short notice, I must add), that does not mean your worker is totally fine with it. Your worker probably does not want to infuriate you or that they are simply kind enough to swallow it down. Touch you heart. If you stay at Pasir Ris, do you really want to make it a habit to go Bukit Timah? Although I don't stay at Pasir Ris, the amount of time it takes for me to reach the work place definitely can rival to someone staying at Pasir Ris. Hell, the work places are really out of place and in the middle of nowhere that it gets on my nerves.

Instead of turning this post into a rant, let's put it this way: A Lesson Well-Learnt. Loving a job is one thing. Like I have mentioned, I do seem to think that I love this job. However, when things does not seem to be well, love can become a restriction. Perhaps, the love is misplaced? Do I 'love' this job - teaching kids how to draw? Or is it that I love interacting with the kids?

It feels like the latter.

Amongst Mundane Things

I encountered something yesterday that was disturbing while walking home after SJ meeting. I think it is still disturbing now.

Which brings me to this question:
Why do flashers flash? (No, i did not get flashed)

Flashers, who can be men and women but are most often men in their adolescence and early adulthood, may have a sexual disorder called exhibitionism or paraphilia, characterised by having repeated urges to expose themselves to a stranger, Dr O'Donnell said.

"Exhibitionism is defined by a pattern of sexual arousal which may be expressed in exhibitionistic behaviour," Dr O'Donnell, from Hobart's ForensiClinic, said.

"Exhibitionistic behaviour by definition is non-contact, and there is usually no intention of further sexual behaviour towards the stranger."

There are many theories about what causes the urges, but generally people who flash do so because they find it arousing, Dr O'Donnell said.

"Some people have a conscious desire to upset or shock the stranger, while others may fantasise that the stranger will become sexually aroused by their display.

"Others are not aware of, or concerned about, the stranger's response at all."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/flashing-why-do-they-do-it-20120904-25bth.html#ixzz45cjZih00
Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook

Well, don't know, the idea of it sounds weird to me, still. I wouldn't want to like show others myself, even if I know that they probably have seen before or have it themselves.

Same same but different, you know? (hah.)

Speaking about "same", don't you think all occupations are the same, in a way?

You get paid after you help them with some form of work, regardless of the amount of effort you put in. You may suffer, or get rewards.

I'm not to sure about you, or other people but I really do hate wasting time while working. I do not like it when I have nothing to do, or is inefficient, or is useless during work.

That's why I really detest the intern job. I have NOTHING to do.

Now, even at my 2nd job (this year), I am treated like "extra hands" that have nothing to do. I was called to work but in the end, I spent 1 hour doing something really stupid that I have never dreamed of doing. Drawing 7circles x 40 times was still alright. When I hate to clean those tiny little pieces of ..., it really got me wondering why I was called there today. I spent 1.5hours travelling, and that's only to go there. Who knew Bukit Timah Plaza was beside Ngee Ann Poly? Thanks, really. THAT'S REALLLLLY FAR. I closed eyes when it was Bukit Batok but this is...

Sighs.

I should continue. I really enjoy working there. However, I really cannot be treated like I'm useless, really. I will really want to punch people.

On a side side note, I'm going work at a themed cafe! Although the pay sucks, it's the work that counts, not the money! (Actually, money counts as well, but I'll really close two eyes for now)

...Till next time!