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Why do I feel like a second option? Someone you'd rather not spend your time with anymore.

The most wonderful time of the year

Christmas has always been my favourite time of year.

I love when all you hear in shopping malls are Christmas carols, and you see shops putting out their giftsets. Nothing makes me more excited. 

This time of year was never always good. But ever since you came into my life, it became my favourite time of year. You'll start to realise as you grow older that the things you want can't be bought. Now, what I consider a good holiday is spending time at home, with nothing on my to-do list, and with you by my side. 

Today?

Well hello!

Today, I had a chill lunch with Eliza and Louisa, and just talked about life.

Today, we had a $15 lunch at a hidden cafe that had amazing chicken chop, accompanied with chips that tasted so good.

Today, I had an odd craving for desserts, and ended up with some awesome rose latte, cake, and a belgian chocolate tart.

Today, I had a terrible stomachache, but didn't let it get to me.

Today, I managed to take a nice and breezy walk, be alone and be with myself.

Today, I felt a sense of accomplishment after going out and checking a place out on my own for a future article.

Today, I feel accomplished.

Today, I feel satisfied.

Passive-aggresive

Times haven't been great. Well, they were for a while...
But what matters is that everything is starting to pick up now, and that's all that matters. At the worst time, I got a reminder from someone I didn't expect. He said that things always seemed worst before they started to get better. Pretty timely, especially since he came from a similar situation I was at the time, but he managed to pick himself up, and he got to where he is today.

I hope one day that will be me. But until then, hard work and sheer perseverance will have to do!

The past few weeks have been a mix of ups and downs, but when have times never been that way haha. Managed to take a few quick snaps along the way!



#1: A super chillax cafe called the 1925! Love the dilapitated (but not really) raw walls, and the furnishings, somehow felt very calming! Maybe because that was the second level, and we had it all to ourselves hehe.

#2: What adorable sugar containers! This one's at Two Bakers! 

#3: This is somewhere near Haji Lane. Colleagues and I had lunch at some Moroccan restaurant. It was my first time trying Moroccan cuisine, and I find it alright! Maybe cuz I had low expectations since I've never had it before.

#4: The ever-famous KKM!!! Ql and I have heard people rave about these for ages, but we've never managed to try them because they only open at 2am (wth right) in the wee hours of the morning, and close around 12pm. But one night, we willed ourselves to stay awake, and we didn't regret it. No joke though, you wouldn't think that simple instant noodles could taste so good, but they were HEAVENLY. The broth and the texture of the noodles were the stars of the show. We might be going to have them again tonight heh.

#5: This was taken just yesterday! IKEA prepared a spread for SPH partners at our very own office! I was hoping they would bring us out, cuz I would love to see how the IKEA hq looks like, but they managed to deck out the conference room so well... And the food was A+++++++. These were the super high-quality disposable plates and cutlery for parties! 

#6: Food we ordered at Two Bakers. Eliza had the cutlet (forgot whether it was fish or chicken) burger, and I got the Salmon Royale. It was so good, but my pocket suffered.

#7: My love for rosti has been rekindled. Okay, it never really went away. We've been to Marche a total of 3 times this last month, and every single time, I've been getting a rosti all for myself. Thinking about it makes me so hungry now.....

#8: Ql and I finally tried Tanuki! We've always been thinking about going in to give their sushi rolls and bentos a try, but the lines were either two long, or we had cravings for something else. But this time, we finally settled on trying it, and it was -not kidding- one of the best bentos I've ever had. Didn't get to try their sushi rolls, but we ordered their Poutine Criss-cut fries, which were like potatoes with salsa, avocadoes and sour cream. Match made in heaven? Probably so.

#9: I went to recce the Dawson estates together with Dom yesterday. They are the newest HDB estates that were designed by private architects. I was completely blown away by the design, facilities, and the overall look and feel of both Skyville and Skyterrace. Everything looks so sleek and futuristic, and the architectural structures were mind-blowing. Lofts, communal facilities, super cool terraces and windy units??? Can they please do this up in Bukit Panjang ASAP? I'm pretty sure once Ql sees these he would want to live in one too.

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We're halfway through November now, but I honestly can't wait for it to finally be December. It's my favourite time of the year, primarily because of Christmas, but also because of how the festive period makes everybody feel happier! Lights will be up on Orchard, Christmas decoration will be everywhere, and the best part - it'll be time for present-shopping!!!! I don't know why spending my money makes me feel so excited, especially since I'm buying gifts for others, but I just love shopping for Christmas presents, writing cards, wrapping the gifts, all that jazz. Christmas, please come soon. :)

Whirlwind

Internship has just started a month ago now, and I can only say one thing...

Everything's happening way too fast.

I can hardly catch my breath with the flurry of events, work and endless to-do lists to complete on a day to day basis. But so far, I feel like I am really enjoying what I'm doing (let's hope it stays this way), and this makes me wanna venture into journalism more.

I managed to take a few snaps along the past few weeks, so here they are!

#1: Taken at one of my first few events // #2: Some adorable and insta-worthy scandi bowls from DREAM showroom // #3: An awesome (and well-deserved) Sushi Tei dinner with my boy just 2 days ago // $4: The best udon I have ever tasted in my life. Shoutout to the gudetama-lookalike. // #5: Food tasting at MOS Cafe's brand new cafe. // #6: Whimsical lights from the Mountain Peak opening.

Everything so far has been a great experience, and I honesly can't wait to learn more and start getting into the full swing of things. One of the only problems I've faced these coupla' days is the extreme lack of sleep. I fall asleep religiously on the bus to work every morning, and now I even feel like nodding off in the midst of office hours. A 9-5 (or rather 8.30-6 to be precise) is draining, but as long as I have work to do, I believe I'll be fine.

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Last week, I also managed to catch up with Belle, one of my great (and rare) friends from MCM. We hit off really well, and I'm honesly so glad to be able to find someone who is in tune with my thinking, and who seems to understand me so well. 

We finally put aside some time to meet each other over the weekends in town. We wanted to try some cafe food, but with the lunch crowd and our starving tummies, we decided to settle down with Pique Nique. Side note: standard was really not what I expected.... 

But then we settled for some Dolce Tokyo, where we spent most of our evening at.

The food was pretty good! And that's coming from a non-dessert lover. Let's be honest; I'd rather stuff myself with savoury numbers like pasta, fries, or soups rather than an ice cream, but I thoroughly enjoyed Dolce Tokyo! Perhaps it's because of the company?

I wish I had more time to set aside to meet Belle, and spend some me-time alone, but with my hectic schedule its a bit hard... So times like these are hard to come by. Nevertheless, occasional meetings like these become so special to me.

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Now it's time for some much needed R&R before another week is upon us, yes?

The Beginning of the End

It's so amazing how fast time passes by, and even though Ellysage Day has been more than a week ago, I still can't fathom how fast the clock is ticking by.

The weeks leading up to the big day have not been entirely easy, and I found myself struggling to keep up with school work and preparations for ESDay. But I'm so glad that everything turned out well. ESDay reminded me what an awesome and capable team Ellysage has, and it makes me proud to be part of this family. :')

_

With Monday was the end of all assignments from MCM ever! I can't explain the happiness after I realised that I will never be submitting another assignment for my polytechnic life anymore, and it was also like I am so much closer to the end of my polytechnic education. - I CAN'T WAIT. -

But now, thinking about it, there would definitely be elements of poly that I will miss. I always say this to a lot of people, but Mass Comm was the best and the worst decision of my life. But somehow, at this point of time, if you were to ask me to go back 3 years and decide where I was going to go, I would still choose Mass Comm. Reason being that if not for enduring these 3 torturous years, I would not have discovered what I loved doing. So hey, it ain't all that bad haha.

In a few weeks time, we'll be embarking on our final semester of school, OUTSIDE of school. Internships. I'm hoping with all my might that nothing's going to be hard but who am I kidding right? I'll just embrace what comes my way because after all, the tough times are what you look back on 2 years later and smile about.

But for now, it's exams. That's surely something I wouldn't miss after poly LOL.

A Break Amongst the Chaos

Yesterday, I managed to get a little breather. I've been facing a lot of setbacks recently, but after moping around about them for days, I decided to take everyone's opinion into consideration, and just deal with it. I'll make the best of what I can, and maybe, just maybe, it'll turn out better than expected.

I accompanied Belle to her Henna shoot for our Phojourn assignment yesterday. Unbeknownst to us, there was a huge family day event at the Marina Barrage (where we were supposed to be at), which caused a MASSIVE jam along the roads to GBTB and the Barrage. We spent an hour in a stationary cab and ended up paying $22 for not getting anywhere. The rain also decided to screw us all over by coming down at the wrong times (aka whenever we decided to walk to another location).

But nevertheless, I found myself having more fun than expected. I even got a henna for myself, which I haven't done in ages! Sadly the design turned out pretty sucky, but hey it's all about the experience right LOL.

Afterwards, we had a really nice lunch at Paris Baguette. I haven't been there prior to this, but I heard lots of good things about the place, so when Belle suggested Paris Baguette I was all up for it.

To say the hype is worth it is kind of an understatement. I loved the concept of choosing and picking out the salads, sandwiches and soups you want. And the quality of their food is just amazing. I was never really a sandwich person, but their croissant sandwiches tasted so good! Their pasta salad was pretty good too, but to be honest, the star of the show was their Seafood Chowder. 

The pictures I took really suck but hey, it's hard to focus on taking nice photos when 1) you're really hungry and you can't wait to dig in and 2) tons of people are surrounding you. 

Days like this make me really happy. I'm glad I have someone like Belle around me in school to make me feel more normal. Here's to more #bitterjoeats. ;)

Burning Out

All throughout my life, I've struggled with self-justification. Whatever I do, I always have to find a reason to justify that to someone else who questions me. Why can't my passion be unwavering? 

Always so afraid of not doing well enough, and always so afraid of needing to explain myself or my work to others. I'm so scared I will start pushing people away because of my tendency to always need to prove myself. I'm afraid that my habits of getting sensitive over the 'littlest things' will separate me from the people I love most. 

I don't want to be seen as someone you need to hide things from. I don't want to be someone you have to think twice before confiding in. Whether its my fault or not, I want you to be able to voice your opinions openly. But I guess I'm not that person, am I?

Sometimes I question whether I even deserve the people I have in my life, and that feeling is horrible.  To constantly feel you're not good enough, to constantly need verification for what you do.

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Ellysage's biggest event of the year is coming up in a day's time (It's August 2nd already????), and it's been something we've been preparing for for months already. I'm so scared it'll flop, and I'm so nervous as to how it'll turn out. We're down to 2 more weeks of school, and I'm thankful beyond relief. Please let everything end. I want to be able to experience the feeling of having a good, full sleep once again.

I hope, fingers crossed, that everything will be just dandy. 

_

Today's also the day I finally turn nineteen. Birthdays don't seem to be something I really look forward to anymore, as compared to before. But I'm so so thankful for the people who remembered (or rather Facebook LOL) and wished me, it honestly meant a lot to me. Also, thank you B for doing all you can to make today extra special, even staying out the whole entire day despite being so tired. Your effort makes me feel special, thank you for that. Also glad that some of my friends could make it for dinner tonight, having company on a day like today makes me feel so so appreciative.

Thank you everyone. 

Never-ending

Yesterday, I managed to spend an entire day out with friends, without worrying about the piling amount of work waiting for me, and it felt great. I'm pretty sure Q is so sick and tired of listening to me ramble on and on about how stressed I am, or how I never run out of things to do, but somehow he always makes me feel better (I hope I don't jinx things by saying this lols). 

Time check: 4 more weeks (?) until the end of the semester, and maybe then, I can take a short breather for 2 short weeks until internship starts. No break ever seems long enough huh. 

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On a side note, I was trying to read After You by Cyril Wong for a review article, until I realised that I was reading the words without contemplating the meaning. I don't seem to understand poems, so is that a sign that I shouldn't try taking Literature for my degree?? Probably HAHA. 

To be Better

Times have been hard, and there never seems to be enough to do. Be it for work, and for school. I can't deny that I'm exhausted, but I was also the one who piled this much onto my own plate. So technically, I shouldn't be complaining. As a matter of fact, I have so much to do, but yet I am here, editing unnecessary photos and blogging haha.

Lots have been happening at one time recently, and I hate the feeling of knowing there's nothing I can do about it. Sometimes, I bury myself in so much to-do lists that I can't even find myself anymore. I hope that from now on, things will get easier, or at least, better to manage. 

Yesterday was one of the better days I've had in a long, long while. Here are some snaps from a quaint little cafe called High Society in MBS. I rarely (in fact never) have cravings for sweet desserts, but recently, I found myself staring at strawberry shortcakes and cupcakes through the display glasses. So when we walked past the line of bright macarons from High Society, I couldn't help myself! It was a little pampering from Q, but I'm thankful to him for more than just satisfying my unpredictable cravings. He's been my pillar these past few days, weeks, in fact years, since we've been together, and I probably wouldn't be where I am without him. 

Sappy love notes aside, here are the shots!

(I know I'm not great at photography, so on hindsight, I was stupid not to appeal when I first got into Phojourn.... It's disappointing and demoralising when I see other people's photos looking 100000x better than my shit ones, but I'm trying to slowly get better at it, even though I doubt it'll be on time for my final Phojourn assignment coming in a matter of weeks....)

Page #2

The past few days (if not weeks) have been mentally and emotionally trying. With the amount of work to be completed piling up, it's hard to find times in the day to just calm down. The daily motion of going to school everyday also adds to my tire. There never seems to be nothing to do, every time a task is done another one comes along. It's hard to breathe when you're strangled and suffocated with an endless to-do list, I find myself taking it out on the person I love the most.

6 more weeks to go.

Page #1

Hello, blank space.

It's been a while since I last blogged on my previous platform, but I felt it was time for change! Here are some snaps I took recently from work with Ellysage, as well as some miscellaneous drawings I doodled in my spare time. It's nothing much but somehow I'm learning to enjoy taking pictures.