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Greece & Bulgaria 05 Jun - 19 Jun

Mykonos, Greece 05 Jun - 09 Jun

Athens, Greece 09 Jun - 13 Jun

Sofia, Bulgaria 13 Jun - 18 Jun

Munich, Germany 18 Jun - 19 Jun

Flew alone from SG to Athens 04 Jun late at night!
Took the Scoot 11-hour direct flight, which wasn't so bad?
I woke up 8 hours in and didn't believe my eyes at first when
I realised there was only 3 hours left.
No food though :/
Sat next to this european couple who insisted I take a packet of biscuits from them :')

Reached and waited 7 hours for Jiams' arrival at Athens airport :/
It felt like forever. I finished a book that I brought while waiting

!!

This accidentally-taken photo looks better than the next one which looks like
we were strangers who happened to meet and chat on the bus 

Ferry to Mykonos island!

Got quite boring after dark tho

Finally reached our airbnb after walking along dimly-lit
streets terrified for our lives cos for some reason,
there are no pedestrian pavements in Mykonos.
So we were literally walking next to cars zooming past.
Also had our first catcalling experiences that night.
So yes, everything was bad

Pretty morning views though
Also it was hot affff.
Went out in jeans and realised it was a bad idea
so I went back and changed

Crazy food portions

What I left behind :/ we definitely should have shared

<3 td="">

Windmills of Kato Milli

Caught the sunset at one of the beaches

More beaches
Forgot the name of this one (either Psarrou or Platys Gialos)
but it was crowded affff

Found a spot in the shade by the water

Love the water!! Jiams wanted to jump in

This salmon tagliatelle stole my heart

Jiams ordered a hamburger (which is what was written on the menu)
but the server told her the hamburger has no buns LOL

They were giving everyone this free dessert.
It tasted... weird. It was superrr wet, idk why.

There was a problem with our room or smth,
so the guy asked if he could move us to this more expensive place.
It turned out to be quite nice and big, and he drove us there
and the host of that place drove us to the ferry port as well,
so I guess we struck a good deal. 

The place was also right next to Agios Stefanos beach,
which we hadn't explored yet, and also that meant it was
super convenient to go for a swim, which we did!

(I must be the only person who comes to a beach resort island without packing slippers)

Free car ride to town too (cos the place was v far from town)

Back at the windmills 

We were searching for this gyros place to grab dinner,
and at the same time lamenting how sad it was that
we didn't get to see Petros the Pelican, a bird that
lives on Mykonos and hangs around the town area.
And then we rounded this corner, and bam he was right there.
Super lucky!

He's yuge

Gyros... one of the few things I might miss about Greece

And probably the chill vibes too

Our last sunset on Mykonos

View from our airbnb main area

Free coffee/tea

And then it was bye Mykonos!!

My somewhat underwhelming first photo of Athens LOL

More gyros

Look at how sweaty I am after removing my cap
The heat was rly no go

Reunited with ET!!

Climbed up somewhere where there was a view of the Acropolis

Also many rich-looking msian chinese trying their best to take the perfect vacation photo

ET kept saying she loves my face in this

How they survive in that clothing sia

Cute outdoor cinema where they were showing only one movie- the latest Jurassic Park LOL

I had to wear a jacket to cover my arms cos I was having
the worst breakout of rashes I'd ever experienced. I looked diseased.
But still it was way too hot for jeans, I cannot. LOL

So many cafes everywhere

Monastiraki

Paid 25 euros to enter the Acropolis.. not sure if it was worth it hm

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

Top-down view of the Theatre of Dionysus

Parthenon!
It was crowded as hell

Barely managed to get this photo without anyone else in it of ET

View of the Acropolis from the National Archaelogical Museum

Attempted to sneak a few pics of exhibits but security was everywhere and really strict about it,
so didn't manage to get any good shots

Went to see the changing of guards at Syntagma Square 

Idk how they cope in that uniform, it felt like 35 degrees that day

Flew at night to Sofia, Bulgaria!

Our airbnb host MIA-ed and only got in touch after an hour -____- really terrible.
We were left standing with our luggages in the rain at 1am.

But anyway, me and Jiams were quite afraid when we saw this huuuuuge dog
approaching strangers in the distance.
We spam-called the hosts while ET started talking to the dog and patting it,
and then when our hosts finally picked up and we started walking over,
the dog followed us!

Well, more like followed ET I think

Our protector :')

Had to leave him outside the Airbnb tho, and we never
saw him again. His face when he was looking through the glass
at us was so sad :(

Woke up bright and early to go to the Seven Rila Lakes

The journey to the lakes was pretty insane.

First we had to walk half an hour to the bus station,
then take a bus to a nearby town, Dupnitsa,
then change bus to go to another town, Sapareva Bania,
then take a cab from Sapareva to the chair lift station,
and finally take the chair lift to the lakes.

Honestly though, it was so worth it when we finally saw the lakes.
One of the most spectacular sights I've ever seen

At the chair lift station

Finally at the foot of the lakes!

It was superrr misty at first

Took shelter from the drizzle at the Rila Lakes hut
and got a leek soup that somehow reminds me of Scotland

What a view LOLOL

This was what it was like before the mist cleared :/

We walked for ages toward the first lake ("The Kidney") using Google Maps.
Kept saying "It should be right here" until we realised
we had been walking downslope and we were at the edge of the lake omg

The water tasted amazing

When the mist cleared out of nowhere, I think I got goosebumps

It was seriously beautiful

Reached our second lake, the Twin! (Cos it's two lakes joined tgt)

Lake #3 (I think it has no name LOL)

The treacherous walk back down to catch the last chair lift.
Slipped way too many times - it was raining on and off 

Can see the chair lift in the background

Such an adventure!!

Next day: St. Alexander Nevski Cathedral

Prolly the most famous Sofia attraction

ET and I took a bus to the outskirts to see the Boyana Church, a UNESCO world heritage site

This is the church itself... pretty unassuming

Only 10 people are allowed in at a time to preserve humidity levels inside
And no pics allowed :/

Stopped at a vineyard for a break

Accidental shot that looks nubbad

Next stop: Rila Monastery, another world heritage site

Post-lunch, when the skies finally cleared

Some of my favourite murals, although I can't rmb the guide's explanations anymore :/

I think this one has smth to do with the devil tempting farmers of the land into sin or smth

On our way back, we had to get off and walk across this stretch of road
cos there was a landslide :o

Photo taken mid-crossing.
Two seconds after I took this photo, we heard the sound
of rocks crumbling above us, and the police shouted at us to run.
That was prolly the first time I ever really ran for my life...
Thank God it was just a few smaller rocks, so nth happened.
My legs felt weak after that tho.
HAHAHA

How can smth be both cute and sad at the same time

Trout!! I loved trout since I first had it in Morocco, but I've never seen trout on the menu in Singapore.
Jiams and I were both amazed that ET still ate trout too after she got food poisoning from fish. LOL

Buildings I do not remember the names of

St. George Rotunda, considered the oldest building in Sofia (built by the Romans in the 4th century)

Back at the St. Alexander Nevski Church since we passed by

The Little Things cafe
Nice food, decent coffee

Was excited for my first synagogue but..

"Open for visitors Sunday to Friday" and we went on a Saturday :'((((

Skies finally looked good again after an afternoon of showers

We realised that we could see Vitosha mountain from our airbnb

Cooked dinner

Went on a free food tour the next day! Apparently the first of its kind.
This cold soup was actually pretty good

This pastry tasted kinda weird... a lil sour/smelly but I think it's supposed to be liddat

This was yummy 

Different kinds of cheeses on bread

Vitosha Boulevard was v atas

Cakey Bakey - got an almond cake which was way too sweet for me

Onward to Munich!

Separated from Jiams in Munich :( (ET left for her pilgrimage in Spain from Sofia)

Was hoping to just get some food at my hostel and call it a night,
but my hostel had no food!!
Ventured out to the next street, which was full of arabs and blacks...
I walked as fast as I could and gobbled down dinner at a kebab place
so I could get back to my room before dark

The hostel (Wombat's City Hostel) was very nice, clean and chill though
Shared a room with 5 other women and we had our own bathroom
which was gr8

Buffet bfast for 5 euros
The best thing was the soy milk though, it was surprisingly tasty

Neues Rathaus (new city hall)
At first I thought this was the Altes Rathaus cos it looks so old and gothic

St. Peter's Church
I walked in here and sat down to rest,
but a few minutes later a priest entered and said
"Please turn to page 302 of the bible" in german
Everyone stood up and they all started singing.
Then I realised I had accidentally attended mass..
I left once the priest started going around with the donation bag.

Walked around Viktualienmarkt

Back at Marienplatz to catch the 11am Glockenspiel
Cute but I got bored

Heiliggeistkirche (Church of the Holy Ghost)
I actually liked this church the most cos the rows are connected
rather than separated which is quite unique? I've never seen this in any other church.

Then it was time to go home.
This was my meal for the Munich to Doha flight

Apparently there were a few flight delays at Doha airport,
so I was stuck there at 2am with a lot of disgruntled arabs,
indians and chinese... my hair says it all

Doha to SG flight was super empty and everyone slept
across rows of empty seats so I did the same.

Also, was kinda alarmed to see the plane so low to
the sea as we prepared to land. LOL

Europe was gr8, but I think it's made me appreciate SG a lot more.

People are much kinder and generally a lot more pleasant to deal with. We get to have things so easily here too - it's so easy to just go out and buy something you need, and you get it super fast too.

And while I generally like the slow pace of life, there's smth about Europe that's... almost cold?

I didn't feel that way while I was in Germany (ironically LOL cos everyone thinks Germany is cold af) and I loved all the German cities I went to, but I did feel it in some other cities in Europe, not just in Athens/Sofia but in places I went to on exchange as well.

Sofia wasn't anything like I expected though. People were wayyyy nicer and less shadier than they were in Athens, and the scenery was so gorgeous. It was also nice and cold there, while Athens was burnin' up.

Okay, here's the end of a rare longass post with photos

Hopefully more to come cos it's quite easy to upload photos with this Samsung phone hehe

BYE

Winter

hi guys!!! i'm alive

LOL

ok this has been one of my longest hiatuses yet. but i have valid reasons! (somewhat)

it's been so long that typing this now feels kinda weird... 

A LOT has happened in the past five months, and it's truly been a rollercoaster journey. 

in summary, i:

1. finished school!!! 

2. went into panic mode cos i was now jobless and not doing anything with my life

3. lived a lifestyle i would never want to live again (spamming applications, interviews, staying home to scrimp, felt like a burden)

4. finally secured an internship while waiting for full-time offers, which was quite the relief because i got so anxious staying home doing nothing

5. went on a grad trip to greece + bulgaria!

6. came back home and started my internship

7. am now finishing my internship cos...

8. I GOT A JOB OFFER!!! and it was the job i wanted the most :') 

so the only offer i got was the one i really wanted. life really... works in mysterious ways. i guess it's sort of a blessing in disguise? cos if i had gotten other offers i didn't really want so much, i might have long signed a contract already, and wouldn't have been able to get this job. 

still, the past five months were an emotional ride. so many moments of self-doubt and feeling helpless. being unemployed is really the worst, and i'm so glad those days are over.

now it's time to face the working world... a little scared but also excited? was reading up on investment tips the other day and the last line of the article was "your life is only just beginning." :')

also, i changed my phone right before i left for europe, and there was smth wrong with the file transfer so all my pre-europe photos are still in my other phone. (and i'm an Android user now!! i love it, i'm never going back.)

i wanted to blog only about post-europe stuff since the whole europe trip would take too long and i gtg soon, but LOL i have so few photos -bmf-

oh well, pls enjoy.

graduated on 18 July. feels super surreal how 4 years just went by like that.
my parents didn't come cos they had work the next day and they were lazy LOL.
they really do not care much for ceremonies (there is a better word for this but i forgot what it is. festivities? no)
i'm really grateful to my friends- old or new, thank you for all the love and support, and for just being my friends.
but most of all to my parents of course, for all the sacrifices.
am truly privileged to have myself such a powerful social support system,
even though i don't think i've ever been particularly needy or emotionally dependent.
congrats, batch of 2018!!! we did it :')

compulsory demure grad shot

LOL idk what she doing.
but special thanks to ET, who rushed all the way to NUS with me cos
we were drinking kopi at orchard (yes) and lost track of time.

the most un-paiseh person i know when it comes to taking the perfect photo for the gram

stay weird always

lianne - for hanging out with me these four years :')
i still remember our first day of class together so vividly:
we went for the first 1101 lecture tgt and had a longass break
before our 4pm soci lecture, so we went to D'Good cafe
at Holland V and chilled

and of course, wumssssssssssss!!

so much :')

my favourite flower

oh shit okay i gtg now. continue later LOL

(i'm back!)

got jio-ed along to a saturday JB trip with the cac main comm
was quite fun, plus one of them had a msian car so it was v convenient
did the usual stuff (banana cake, cafe, massage) plus played paintball.
it was an interesting experience, but i think once is enough for me LOL

had boat noodle for lunch at this place (forgot the name) which was surprisingly good 

v short ikea dinner with lianne + tania
i think we ate dinner, got ice-cream and left

highlight of the meal

mexican with lynchuaa
very very meh food...
why is mexican in sg so meh
miss the tacos from california bar in konstanz

soon after, they dried up and made my room smell funny so i threw them away :/

traded basses with a bass god friend of mine for two weeks
surprisingly nice to play. i don't rmb glossy maple feeling this good
and his 5-string was easier to play than i remembered
good tradee

the description says "all joeys need for their
breakfast, lunch and dinner is some tasty green grass."
i relate to this so much

and this was taken on a random work day when there
just so happened to be only 5 of us around in office,
so we walked around the mall after lunch

i started this internship very busy, but now
i literally go there just to do nothing.
i guess it's just as well since i'm leaving soon? LOL
the colleagues are very nice and funny tho.

forgot about this pic. taken from pre-europe, when the amplified ppl
came to visit my dad's kelong cos they were curious.
iz was evidently bored (guessed he would be) but the rest liked it
was rly nice to just chill there haha

okay gonna surf youtube

BYE

might or might not blog about europe soon

My temple's been invaded and there's nobody guarding it

just only now looking at the lyrics for devotion & desire by bayside and realising they're actually quite deep :o

anyways, howdy LOL it's been a longass while.

i have so many photos and videos that i really wanna share but i'm just so lazy to upload everything. i think the last time i posted pictures was... before exchange?? and exchange was more than a year ago, holy crap.

i dunno about you all but i feel like i only just realised how much i did after i came back from exchange. a conversation with my mum recently made me remember that i've actually been to the loch ness and i was like oh wow, i've actually been to the loch ness. (it just looks like a rather standard lake, not a super pretty one too, and there was no monster sadly)

anyway i guess i'm here cos i'm feeling somewhat bittersweet now that my final gig with amplified (amplitube 2018) is over. it feels super weird, i don't know why? maybe i never realised how much my uni life revolved around my cca and my cca friends. it just feels very surreal that we, the graduating batch, are really, truly going off on our own ways now.

after we graduate, we will be reduced to meeting up for the occasional meal and the occasional local gig, and some of us like the current batch of alumni will come back every half a year to watch ampd gigs, while some of us (like z, one of my favourite seniors) will just disappear.

amplitube 2018 was definitely a great way to go out cos i got to play fun songs i liked with people i liked. but all the fun we had the past weeks just makes it harder to say farewell. i guess this is part and parcel of life, but it still is sad. having no more jams on monday nights feels weird.

well other than that, not much else has been going on in my life LOL

i've been doing the necessary sch stuff, going for interviews (it's damn hard to find a job shit), going for my dental appts (wait did i mention i'm wearing braces now), eating my meals, taking regular poops...

you get the point

have a nice week everyone, and thanks for being loyal hoes reading my blog

And it brought us back to where we are now

Hi everybody

If you're still here.... i applaud you. Checking up on me after 3 months :') 

Sometimes i wonder if some kid many many years down the road after im loooonggg gone will chance upon my blog and start reading it and somehow word will get out and i'll become the next Anne Frank. 

Or maybe computers will no longer be a thing by then :/

Plus i don't think 70% of kids these days blog or have even heard of Blogger. 

So it's week 4 of my LAST SEM IN NUS. I have so many mixed feelings about this i don't even. It's been a real rollercoaster ride; probably about the same or even more dramatic compared to sec sch. 

Jc was nth, i'm not even sure anymore what happened in jc. When i look back it's just me being stressed and blogging about the most random things. 

Uni has been a great journey. You know how when you watch american movies and they always say college is the best time of your life? I think i can safely say uni was the best time of my life. Pri and sec sch were fun but in very carefree and childish ways, like in running around playgrounds at ages 7-12 and then progressing to running around malls at ages 13-16. 

But anyways, as usual, i digress. 

I'm back from Korea- it was ahmazinggg. Loved the scenery, the people are so chill and friendly (the youngsters at least), food on the other hand though was kind of a disappointment to me. It was the same few things after a while, and i was really looking forward to trying korean fried chicken but it didn't really meet my expectations. I think kfc/4fingers is much better LOL

Also i think it might have been cos i got sick halfway through and never really recovered, and in the meantime i was forced to eat fried chicken 3 times despite being sick, since it was one of the few things our muslim friends (who were with us for a week) could eat. 

And my airbnb was decent but small and rather pricey, and for some reason was extremely dusty. We cooked a lot too, and it was always a messy (and afterwards, smelly) affair since the kitchen was super small. 

Plus, as much as i like my friends, i don't think i'd wanna travel/live with some of them again cos we have quite different travel preferences and they were pretty darn messy.

Fortunately though, i had jiams and kun and wq who were there for quite long too, so we hung out. Grateful for them hehe

And with regards to food, seoul had surprisingly good coffee, so all's well. And omg Yonsei University is b e a u t i f u l. Buildings with high ceilings, readily available seats, cafes, even the walk to school is scenic LOL. 

But sadly, all good things must come to an end, and we were back in pretty much no time at all. Honestly didn't feel like a month) 

Sch so far has been okay, but it doesn't really feel like a sem tbh since my mind is mostly on graduation and the path after that. It's scary cos all our lives, the route ahead has been laid out for us: pri sch > sec sch > jc/poly > uni. But suddenly now, there's like nothing ahead. Not unless you have travel/gap year plans, or a job offer waiting for you. 

I'm excited to graduate but at the same time, I don't want to leave behind my friends and a steady social life and descend into a world of office politics (my worst nightmare sia) and 9-5s (also cannot stand waking up before sunrise). 

SIAN 

Okay time to sleep haha night everyone

I'm here you know I'll always remind you

hi!!

i am alive

wow 3 months must be one of the longest times i've not blogged for in a while.

it's currently week 13 (wth how even) and the sem will be over in exactly 2 weeks. omg

tbh this has been a really shitty sem for me. it's like everyone suddenly got damn smart in y4.

last week was probably the busiest week so far- had last min practices on sun and mon to work on a competition on friday called the rising star (more like the rigged star, but more on that later), and then worked on my 4372 essay on tuesday, had classes and a proj meeting on wednesday, went for a full-day interview on thursday (which was seriously shag af), and finally went for the rising (rigged) star on friday.

the compy was actually super fun cos of cool acts like the guest band subsonic eye, and a lot of ampd people were there and basically doing a lot of heckling. my band (which was originally having a lot of difficulties picking a song) played closer to the edge by 30 seconds to mar (classic!) and it turned out a lot better than expected.

anyway i say it was rigged cos the winners all had exactly the same style as last year (first place was again a contemporary dance group, second place was again a pop band and third place was.... wait for it..... the JUDGE'S SON. LOL)

but all else aside, it was rly a tough (albeit fulfilling) week. glad it's over!

okay see you guys in... more than 2 weeks from now. LOL

A live nativity scene

hi everyone

just a routine update on where i am in life now

so im finally back home in sg... and it's been pretty much the same i guess. hahaha. except for those new public bikes they have!

exchange was really probably the coolest thing that's ever happened to me. still can't believe i've been to europe and survived living there for 5 months. i feel a little older. LOL

the past 2 weeks was a pretty busy time- spent the first catching up with everyone and having all the food i've missed (nasi lemak, laksa, ramen, sushi, cai peng, to name a few)

was supposed to study for my finals (i arranged to take my exchange finals in NUS) on sun and mon with wq, but i got lazy after sun and decided to pangseh so i could nua on mon HAHA

on tuesday i studied in school, and then went for my monetary economics paper at 7pm, which was pretty terrifying cos they tested weird stuff like Tinbergen's principle, and i don't even know who Tinberger is and what he did to end up on my exam paper.

but can pass la i think.

wednesday was national day and it was pretty fun but not for any reasons patriotic. went out early in the morning to walk around at lorong halus with the fam, quite a nice place despite the rainy weather. then we had lunch at some teochew place... food is life

thursday, went to school to jam with friends and studied a bit afterwards. and then... the plan was to have dinner, pre-drink and go to emonite, but wth i drank too fast and didn't make it to emonite. never thought i would be that one friend -black moon face-

but it might have been a blessing in disguise instead, because i heard it was pretty bad, and also my friends went home pretty late while i got home at like 12am. LOL

plus the next day i had my game theory final at 3pm -black moon face again- having a mild hangover while sitting for a final is pretty nasty. thank God i only had to pass.

and thank God the paper was do-able!! they only tested the most basic concepts and none of the complex chapters. but #notcomplaining

woke up today feeling much better. and happy cos i'm finally done with my exchange modules!!! like... 4 days before the next sem starts. LOL

not really looking forward to next sem cos the workload sounds intense :( but oh well.

here's to a fruitful sem!!!

year 4 already omg. really damn fast :(

The last day

so... after i came back from heidelberg i was wondering where i could go during the last few days of my stay here, because i had nothing planned for the weekend after i finished my trade exam.

i was considering stuttgart and munich, but then i thought... why not be a tourist in konstanz?

and it turned out to be the perfect plan!

after my trade exam on thursday (which i dieded for), i went to find susanna (my hk friend) and her younger sister isabel, who had come to visit, in the stadt. we had coffee at the cutest cafe ever- deco was super nice, coffee was yums, less than five people around in the cafe which was awesome. in singapore every cafe is permanently crowded, even those tucked away in the corners of our heartland estates.

then we had dinner at susanna's place- risotto and salmon salad. always thankful for susanna, cos if not my nus-konstanz friends and i would be ded cos none of us can cook.

luisa was bummed out from the trade exam, so we went to have ice-cream at a place nearby. and the funniest thing happened- we were laughing loudly and for quite a while, and there was an elderly gentlemen sitting behind us with his grown-up children who offered to buy us all ice-cream because he found our laughter heartwarming.

it was such an aww moment. but we had to reject it cos all of us were super full from our ice-creams alr.

on friday after i ended classes, susanna, isabel and i went to mainau! it was the same like i remembered. cafe quite a scam imho though, but oh wells.

and then we went shopping at lago, they bought a bunch of stuff, and we met our friend luisa for dinner. had tacos at this place called california which was b0mb. it was my second time trying tacos i think? and omg they were so good. the cocktails were also amazing, but expensive. best tgif ever.

saturday, the same few of us went to the strandbad (my first time there, and regretting that i didn't go more), had a mini picnic and swam. they had this raft thingy floating in the middle of the sea and people were just diving off of it. it was rad.

strandbad was really pretty!! :(

then suhui and her bf zac joined us, and we all had dinner again at susanna's. she cooked ma po tofu with rice YUMS

we had tea and watched detective conan together cos it was storming so badly that we couldn't go home, and then the rain stopped and we walked 40min home in the cold. just like the old days

yesterday we went to wc's place for dinner, and susanna wasn't around, so we had to fend for ourselves. came up with mee goreng (with bacon LOL) and penne bolognese. wc's flatmates joined us too. (i think i will miss them; they've been so much nicer to me than my cold flatmates :( )played ball outside afterwards, and went for a walk. we ended up outside my place cos there was a party going on there. but i still had to go back to wc's because i left all my stuff there hahaha.

trudged back tgt through the super dark field and back, all of us fighting to be in front, and back again.

i'm honestly really sad to be leaving tmr. konstanz has been beautiful and peaceful, and going back to overcrowded, noisy, unfriendly sg just feels like a downer. and all the stress and competitiveness that will resume when the next semester starts... totally not looking forward to it. SO SAD.

really the only things i've missed are my rents, guitars and sg food.

oh wells, such is life.

will always be grateful for these past five months.

The last eight days

yep, left with just 8 days in konstanz.

it's probably going to fly by because i'm revising for a final on the 20th, settling last-minute admin stuff, attending the last few classes and generally preparing to go home.

i've so many mixed feelings about going home. there are many things i miss about home, but there are also many things i will miss about konstanz.

all in all, i still can't believe i made it to germany hahaha. can't believe all the preparation i've been doing for this since year 1 has amounted to this wonderful experience that is already ending.

i remember my first day here- landing in zurich, taking the intercity train for the first time, completely wowed by all the greenery that i never see (at least for long cos confirm got some new development project) in singapore. and then dying while dragging my luggage to my place up that slope and in the cold.

i got to know the other nus-konstanz people (so thankful for their presence), we had dinners together, died in the cold at night together, got creeped out by how quiet konstanz could be together.

and i could go on about the three-week travel break in april, the beginning of classes, the snow in april and the heat in june, and all the rest, but i would probably have to write a book about my exchange then. LOL.

i have tons of pictures, but i'm so lazy to post anything cos it always takes forever on blogger. hais. maybe someday.

but anyways, exchange was really the ride of my life. i never thought i would get to see europe so young actually. i always thought it would be at least in my late 20s when i played with snow in switzerland or ate a belgian waffle in belgium.

and europe... it's seriously beautiful. and i'm so glad this was the place i picked for exchange.

The blaze

it's kind of crazy how all these years later, i realise mcr is still the first band that pops up for most people when the topic or genre of 'emo' comes up (was just looking at the twitter page for emo night and the mcr logo was the biggest one on their digital poster).

looking back i guess they were really my gateway to emo. not quite sure if i loved mcr so much back then because i was actually into emo and just didn't know it yet, or it was more like mcr introduced me to the world of emo music. i think maybe it's the former.

i don't think i thought at 22 (technically still 21) i would still be listening to the same kind of music. it's funny how some things stay with us even after our teenage years.

and wow, third post in 2 weeks. is it obvious that i'm bored in konstanz? LOL

side note: i've always looked at the comments section on videos of my favourite movie scenes or songs, seen people saying "i watched this in class today!" and wondered "what kind of cool-ass awesome classes do you go to and where can i find them??"

but today in class (popular culture in the arab world) i got to be one of those people.

prof showed us this super rad song by a muslim-french duo that somehow has an even radder mv. apparently they're musicians, actors and filmmakers.

super thought-provoking clip, and i don't think i've ever seen musicians that actually act that well in their mvs.

really no ragrets taking this short but fun course. the discussions are always cool to listen to though unfortunately i hardly ever have any input because i can only think of things to say about singapore which wouldn't be relevant. even the assignments are fun, although it was pretty stressful to do them due to the very tight deadlines.

but anyway here's the clip!

I'm here to take the sky

hi

back here with a short update so i won't be like wait what happened in july 2017

sooo over the weekend my nus-konstanz friends and i went to heidelberg, and it was honestly really fun, even though the lack of sleep due to the overnight bus and the heat in heidelberg killed us. omg it was like 32 degrees but felt like 36 honestly. i only brought 1 set of clothes so i had to wear my pajama tshirt the next day (which is actually what i normally wear to uni in singapore actually)

hostel was pretty lousy, maybe just a couple notches better than the hostel i stayed in in glasgow (that one really) 

and wifi was also practically non-existent. 

i think the great company and beautiful heidelberg really made up for everything. 

had brunch at a local cafe in the altstadt

did the philosopher's walk

checked out the old bridge + monkey statue

went for the free walking tour (guide was also pretty lousy imho. i rmb him saying, "some famous jazz musicians played at this cafe, but i'm not sure who")

visited the church of the holy spirit (i actually really like churches although everyone says they're boring)

had gelato from a popular gelato place (i got yoghurt and it was bomb)

then we checked in to our hostel and literally nua-ed on our dorm floor (everyone was lying down except me) with our phones until it was time for dinnerrr

ate at schnitzelbank, recommended by sh's friend, and it was super good omg but not really cheap

we heard that by coincidence, there was going to be a fireworks display that night near the castle that only happens 3 times a year. super lucky!! did not plan for it at all LOL

so we bought beer from a local brewery which was also super good wow most smooth-tasting beer i've tasted 

and went to find a place near the bridge to sit. it was super crowded but we got a spot and then we got bored so we started trying to throw small stones into one of the empty beer bottles placed at a distance. 

and the fireworks were so worth it -heart eyes- 

at that moment it really felt like my exchange was ending and the fireworks were like a commemoration of my journey thus far :')

second day, we had macs breakfast LOL

then we went to the zoo! it was my first zoo in like years

was fun mostly because of the company. was slightly bummed that there were no reptiles :( and also all the cool animals like the bears, lynx and tigers were for some reason nowhere to be found.

ate kebabs for lunch, caught our bus and had a transit at freiburg

it's super funny that we were so familiar with the area we casually walked over to the food places, cause it was our third time there

ate noodles from an asian foodstall which were surprisingly good too yums

and finally, bus back to konstanz!

kind of sad that heidelberg was probably my last trip out of konstanz, cos i've a lot of stuff to do until i fly home in 2 weeks (omg 2 weeks... where time go?)

also i realised i didn't talk about my trip to berlin LOL. but nvm, we'll save that for another time. (or maybe not.) i also really loved berlin though. i think i generally love any city that has gr8 food. 

in other news, i'm taking a compact seminar that is 5-9pm every day this week omg ded. but fortunately the mod is super interesting (popular culture in the arab world) and the prof is a lad and lets us out 1 hour early. LOL. and it is sooooo worth it compared to taking an equivalent mod in NUS. the workload is like... three 1-page written assignments and that's it. and the course only lasts 5 days. YAS.

after this tiring week i'll have to cram for my final that's next thursday, plus settle all the admin shit, and then it'll be time to pack up over the weekend, enjoy my remaining time at the lake, clean up the apartment and leave for good. 

so many mixed feelings about exchange ending. and so little time to do all the things i wanna do :'( 

oh wells

BIS DANN

We are made from chemicals

drinking my pre-bedtime glass of milk on a quiet night, watching two good-looking lads perform a phenomenal cover of my favourite song.

doesn't get any better than this

Navy blue

sometimes it's the little things like a lazy day that remind you what life is all about. 

it's sitting at home just watching youtube videos, drinking green tea, making your favourite meals, enjoying fresh air because you finally bought a mosquito net and can now open the windows without being afraid of your room turning into a scene from fear factor.

it's also walking into the bathroom in the morning and realising your flatmate already set up the extra mosquito net you left lying on the shelf and forgot all about. and then them making an effort to converse with you despite the slight language barrier. 

yesterday was probably one of the shittier days i've had in konstanz for a few reasons, but today was wonderful. 

#thankful

Coming out of my cage

this is probably one of my favourite videos ampd has ever posted, because of how loud everyone was singing, and all the memories that come back with listening to and watching this- the sem where i took that horrible mod IO, the same sem i lived in RVR and did not survive hostel life, the sem i spent too many nights hanging out at the studio because i was living right next to it, the seniors i studied with who graduated and left me behind, and of course all the good vibes of this wonderful night- the unprecedented success of our concert, the carelessness we shared in singing along, the beer and vodka that ran out before halftime, the boxes of pizza that quickly followed after.

all regards to parentheses thrown aside, quiet nights like these make for an endless stream of thoughts, and tonight i am reliving my memories with ampd, realising how much the club has been a part of my university life and how deeply i will miss the warmth and familiarity of everyone's faces when it's time to go.

only a year till graduation. it's only the beginning, but it feels like the end.

The end came and went

life the past few days has been slow but im lovin it

went to classes last friday morning, decided to go buy some groceries but i suddenly got the worst menstrual cramps ever, so i had to limp slowly home with my backpack and heavy grocery bag in the burning sun.

took a panadol and miraculously recovered in 2 hours, so i went to see some eurokonstantia thing near the uni with my friend jasmine cos we wanted to catch some live bands, but rock night wasn't really what we expected, so we spent the night sitting outside drinking and munching on fries with her ukrainian friend. (why does beer and junk food go so well together?)

walked home in the cool dark night which was so nice. #things i will miss about konstanz

found a giant spider in my room when i got home, freaked out but took care of it rather quickly despite my sleepiness, thanks to the liquid courage.

yesterday... i don't remember what i did although i feel like i did a lot. i think i just did my tutorial and watched buzzfeed videos HAHA

woke up before 12pm today, did my laundry, ate lunch, watched vines, gonna do my game theory tutorial now.

wow my life could be a richard linklater movie.

i'm gonna miss this nua life + freedom so much when i go home in like 5 weeks :/

The second hand unwinds

1. updates on life. point form for first time in long while cos too lazehh

2. blog title is coincidental reference to my watch which keeps lagging and misleading me. i was taking my own sweet time studying today cos my watch said it was 8.40pm, but the sky was strangely dark outside and i checked my laptop, turns out it was 9.05pm. felt like i just lost 25min of my life.

3. speaking of studying, there was a funny moment just now while we were all studying tgt in one of the group study rooms in the library (they have like 50 of these amazing little seminar rooms here, as compared to NUS which has three times the student population and five times fewer of those rooms in CLB. unbelievable). we looked up at one point and were like, why are we studying so hard just to pass?

i guess it's kind of funny how the attitude and willingness to learn just changes so much without the pressure of grading and competition in NUS. really loving my student life here, and how i have a workload that actually allows me to breathe. all of us pretty much dread going back to NUS.

4. also had oily chinese food today for dinner, cost about SGD7. it was from the little chinese restaurant a floor below the uni canteen- we'd been meaning to try it for some time now. it was underwhelming, but oh wells, was a funny experience actually eating from one of those stereotypical american chinese takeout boxes you only see in movies. (didn't come with fortune cookies though.)

5. i realised a few days ago that 2 of my exams are in august. facepalm. gonna take them in SG by hook or by crook cos ain't nobody going through that whole german bureaucratic nonsense just to stay half a month more and take 2 exams.

but this means my last day of school will be 20 July. so... to fly back early to sg alone, or to travel around (maybe to croatia or something), then fly back on 1 Aug with my friends? really cannot decide sia. on one hand, i get to go home early, settle down, chill a bit before i take my exams and start the next semester. but i have to take a train and fly for a total of 17-18 hours alone. on the other hand, i get to travel to another country, and then fly back with my friends!! but all the travel planning, and the giant amount of travel money... and the extra settling-down time i'll lose. omg i really dk.

6. in other news, next 1-2 weeks will be pretty busy- going to zurich with the uni this coming saturday!! excitinggg. then next week i'm going to lucerne + interlaken, and the week after, to pompeii and naples. it's crazy cos i always see videos of lucerne + interlaken on fb, and now i'm actually going to go there. can't believe it.

7. random fact: i've developed a newfound love for full fat milk. it just tastes so GUD.

8. the weather has been really changing of late, and after 2 months plus of being here, i've finally changed my jeans (yes, i've been wearing the same pair of jeans for >2 months) for a lighter pair of jeans and my jacket for a lighter spring jacket. yayyyyy.

on the down side, i wake up feeling a little sweaty these days, even though i've already adjusted the heater to its lowest temperature. #signs of summer

9. i know it's kind of early to be thinking about this, but damn i'm gonna miss the friends i've made here on exchange when it's time to go home. but tbh... it's just one person HAHA she's a hongkonger who's somehow infiltrated our nus clique, her name's Susanna and she cooks amazing meals. just putting it here on my blog so i will remember her many years later when i come back to read my archives. (omg so sad.)

exchange life would not have been the same without her presence for sure; she's the most extroverted out of us by far, and she's been like glue, meshing ice-cream sticks together.

i am terrible at goodbyes.

Time after time

Just realised my profile pic on blogger is from like 2012, wow

JC was some strange times man

I am back blogging after only two days!! (Is it? Didn't check)

Actually I'm just bored of doing my soci reading and randomly felt like blogging (how rare)

I realised I didn't really update about life in konstanz in the previous post. There's so much to say, but every time I open Blogger I just forget everything.

Iirc life has consisted mostly of cookouts with friends, buying groceries (last Monday my friends and I discovered Kaufland... it was straight out of a dream), attending classes and trying to plan upcoming trips out of town, which is tough cos I've been to most of the nearby cities, and flying out to anywhere further requires a 30 CHF train ride to Zurich airport..

The other day I was eating my chapalang rice for lunch while sitting in front of the laptop surfing youtube in my tshirt and sweatpants, procrastinating on chores and homework. It was such a standard moment (wow sounds so physics-y) but I felt so cool. LOL. Like I had finally experienced what it means to be a student living overseas. Young me would be proud.

One of my favourite things to do here is just be outside. It's been two months and I'm still in awe at how charming this little German-with-Swiss-influences town is. There's nothing to do here, and I love it. I asked my german flatmate who's been living here at least 2 years: "What do you do for leisure in Konstanz?" And he said "Oh, well, I go to pubs sometimes... watch soccer on tv..."

The most happening things here are Barry's, a club that offers free entry on Monday nights, Kula Bar (located in a really ulu area, but surprisingly crowded and noisy inside, just like 90% of places in Konstanz), and chilling by the famous Lake Constance with 1 euro ice-cream, catching the occasional whiff of weed.

The uni is a 10-minute walk from my apartment complex, which I love. Just gives me so much more time in a day to do other things. Just recently it also occured to me that Konstanz is so small we only have buses. No trams or trains within the town.

I didn't like the design of the uni much at first but for some reason it's really grown on me. It's mostly primary colours around, with a lot of glass windows, and it looks like a kindergarten. LOL. Very strong contrast to the castle-style unis of other cities like Tübingen or Freiburg. The canteen food however is hypertension-inducing. Weekly salt intake fulfilled with one meal.

German coffee is really bad, which apparently is a well-known fact. But there's a vending machine near the canteen that has really good coffee for half the price of Campus Cafe. LOL

And Germans are soo nice? Every German I know has been nothing but friendly and welcoming to me, and even though they're very private people, they're definitely nowhere as closed-off as Singaporeans towards foreigners.

I'm taking four courses at uni- three econs and one soci. The workload is nowhere as crazy as NUS' and I love the pass/fail grading basis cos it really takes the pressure off of studying and I feel a lot more genuinely interested in my courses.

Lastly, one of my favourite parts of konstanz (if you haven't already seen my snaps) is the field that lies between my apartment complex and Jungerhalde. Omg it's so pretty in the day? It looks exactly like a movie setting. The flowers are starting to bloom there, and it's just so amazing when you look around and all you see are trees and grass, the blue sky and tiny little flowers everywhere. Tried so many times to take pics and snaps but nothing does it justice.

Walking through this field at night however is a totally different experience. It was so dark my vision was blurry- felt like I'd never known darkness until I walked through that field. The other downside is the mud!! Rain or shine, day or night, somehow I always make a huge mess of my shoes just walking there. I now have a rag dedicated to cleaning my shoes every time I come back from Jungerhalde.

Now, back to my reading

BYE


Edit: While Germany is a nice place with a relatively low cost of living compared to other european nations, please don't come for exchange. There's simply too much red tape and bureaucracy, and it's honestly quite disgusting, for lack of a better word. Let me give just a few examples
Compulsory opening of bank account: EUR 150 admin fee (not to mention the numerous times you will have to re-send your account application forms to germany because you will fail at least one time thanks to morbidly incompetent staff at the local German Embassy (actually just one lady in particular))
Compulsory visa: EUR 90 admin fee
Compulsory insurance: At least EUR 30 per month, the ones the Uni highly recommends are about EUR 100 and they don't tell you about the budget ones unless you ask
Plus, idk if it's the same everywhere or I'm just too sheltered as a singaporean, but coming here has me realize how if you are a poor powerless student nobody cares about you; even if something happens to you that is some random admin person's mistake, you will be forced to pay for it... quite literally pay for it. Whatever the amount.
Between less than five of my friends and I, the german system has failed us too many times. One of my friends is in a terrible predicament rn thanks to the wonder that is German efficiency, but that's a story for another time.

I know it's been a while

Hi

If you are reading this fresh post... you must be my biggest fan

Hi jiams

Sooo it's been another month since I last updated, and so many things have happened I don't even know where to start

Trip to Scottish Highlands > Edinburgh > Aberdeen > Glasgow > Amsterdam > Brussels > Prague > Bratislava > Budapest was

A M A Z I N G

Thoroughly enjoyed myself those 3 weeks. Felt like the best time of my life. Only regrets: Didn't spend enough time in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Edinburgh was so beautiful! Glasgow was also beautiful but in its own way, idk how to explain it but the city just has this run-down charm. I think I just love Scotland. Would totally go back. And the Scot Highlands tour was bomb, so was Aberdeen which for some reason has the same grey buildings everywhere, and also their beach which was really quiet yet nice. Seagulls and strong winds were everywhere though. But loved Aberdeen for its quietness.

Amsterdam was very touristy and 'youngin' as Jess (my travel buddy up till Brussels) puts it, also very shady. Technically we also visited Den Hague because our airbnb was there (Ams airbnbs and hostels were way too expensive), which looked like a great place to live.

Also went to Keukenhof tulip gardens- very beautiful but not sure if worth my 24 euros since I'm not the type to take lots of pretty pictures, went there mostly just to see see. It was too crowded too, and that kinda marred the experience for me. Beautiful tulips nonetheless

Van Gogh museum was pretty rad but we got in late and I didn't have time to leisurely finish going around :(

Didn't have much to do in Brussels. Ate belgium waffles which I think are overrated, went to 3 museums (I fell in love with Magritte museum), found a place that served great value Chinese food.

Flew alone from Brussels to Prague which was pretty scary. Made it to my hostel in Prague in one piece, where I met up with Lianne and Clarissa. Prague was also really touristy albeit beautiful (LOL this must be most used word in this post), preferred Cesky Krumlov which was quieter and food was pretty dang cheap especially compared to Prague. Also it snowed while we were there and while it looked amazing, it was really freezing

Bratislava was great, especially the food which was cheap and good. Budapest was a great way to end the trip, it would have been one of my favourite cities ever if not for the locals who were pretty unfriendly and occasionally rude. The food was the cheapest out of all the cities. Found a Chinese place with amazing noodles (we went there twice hahaha) and I had probably the best pasta I've ever had there, which only cost SGD6.

Okay time to clean my room and cook dinner bye

I always restate it

I hope you feel that heavy gloom when you're all done up in a crowded room
And your life trips up over those shoes that you paid too much for but not in dues
And I'll be watching from a distance
Wouldn't wanna miss this
Was it fake the whole time
Was it just instance
Man it's so personal yet it's business
I want it to hit so close to home

Been listening to this song so much! can totally feel the feels from Parker

Anyway... I'm finally back! Been meaning to blog but rly no time I don't even know how

So much has happened in the past one month. Went from super homesick and oh lawd why did I come to germany to omg I never want to leave. Learned a LOT about culture and whatnot, and improved a bit at small talk... I think. Maybe not.

Konstanz has been thoroughly beautiful and I'm so glad the school allocated me to this uni and not my first choice, Mannheim, which I've heard is super boring/depressing. Staff at the uni are super helpful, the teachers are great, the lake of course is gorgeous, and I barely knew the NUS people that I flew here with, but now we hang out like every day and I'm not sick of their faces yet, so. Really thankful for everything that has gone so smoothly with exchange (excluding the visa cockups and other admin problems my friends have experienced. So much for german efficiency, seriously. It's a myth.)

Also, all the travel and insurance fees is no joke. Still not entirely sure if all the trouble, time, effort and money was worth it, but at least I really like it here.

Summer's round the corner and the lake will be even more beautiful then (but apparently hordes of tourists flock here in the summer too)

Still can't believe it's been a month and GO-Konstanz is over. But omg 3 weeks break!!

I'm so excited for the next few weeks, cos I'll be travelling starting tmr, all the way till the day before my first day of school. But it's also kinda scary cos I'll be embarking on my first flight alone tmr, to London. !!

Places I'm going: 3 cities in Scotland > Amsterdam > Brussels > Prague > Bratislava > Budapest

This is gonna be the holiday of my life :') wish me luck.