Earl Grey

when i first heard this song i kind of dismissed basement as just another washed-up pop punk band but after i listened to the whole album 'i wish i could stay here' i realised the beauty of it.... i read a chapter of a book without understanding the whole story

updates on life!

it's been a wonderful week, i've been preparing for exchange and meeting up with frenss and today i finally held my passport with my visa in it in my hands! it's been a long painful process of admin preparation and paying huge painful admin fees all in order to get this visa, and i finally have it!! today is such a happy day. i thank God for the successful process. there were days when i couldn't sleep properly because i was having bank account application problems and worrying that i wasn't going to get my visa in time, but thank heavens.

last wednesday i was desperate so i prayed to God to please let me get my visa on thursday, and... the approval e-mail really came on thursday. hmmm.

i realised i haven't talked about the gig i had on 26 jan. it was really fun, definitely my favourite set out of all sets i've played, cos pop punk and heavy stuff hehe. plus it's always fun to play with friends instead of people you've just met. sadly turnout wasn't substantial, definitely cos of bad timing (it was the day before lunar new year eve) and poorly planned publicity, but oh wells. 自己爽

on sunday i also went back to school so we could re-record our set for fun, and it was gr8, we had supper like we always do after gigs and jams and i felt a little sad cos it's my last supper with them till august at least. but yknow, i bet time is gonna fly by and tomorrow i'll be like omg it's august and i'm back from exchange

also had dinner yesterday with melons (bak kut teh!! i'm gonna miss bak kut teh like crazy, it's one of my favourite sg foods) and had a mini celebration for wumsy who turns 22 today. happy birthday jiams!!!! love you ❤️

i've been doing some planning for europe travels and it's so stressful tho i haven't really done much. but i'm sure it's gonna be all worth it.

meeting the fellow nus to konstanz kids tomorrow for lunch. hope we mesh well so we can be future travel buddies hehe.

i still can't believe it's the last few days leading up to my exchange in germany. literally spent years planning from this, since i applied for LPP in like... june or july 2014? it's crazy. i feel like this is gonna be the highlight of my life since after this i'll just come back and start mugging to pull cap in year 4, and then it'll be time to hit the workforce... then working life... much dread.

speaking of working life, internship officially ends in 2 days! really.... damn fast... "i can't believe it" is probably the catchphrase on my blog now

but i still need to go back to return the access card, shag.

okay time to sleep good night!

But you still come up

something about this song just keeps me coming back to it

point form cos i'm too lazy to organise

1. feels like it's been forever since i last blogged but it's only been less than 3 weeks? waow. this is prolly evidence of how anxious i've been waiting for news about my visa. i've been putting off thinking about packing cos of this, and also cos i'm just nervous about going on exchange hahaha plus laziness

this is gonna be my first time in europe, and it's also definitely the furthest i've -
okay wait i just checked, morocco is further from singapore than germany, so. second furthest country i'll be flying to.

and i went to morocco on a holiday tour, while in germany it's gonna be free and easy AF.

2. i wonder what the neighbours think cos every time i bump into them i'm in my pjs heh am i bumming around?? mysteries of the world

3. internship is coming to an end in less than 2 weeks! oh my. i remember heading to the office on my first day, thinking bout how this was gonna be my life for the next 3 months. and in a flash, it's coming to an end.

i'll always be eternally grateful for having found this internship- it was so free & easy and allowed me to spend time with my fam and catch up with friends before i leave for germany. i've had the time to do all the things i want (like spend an hour drinking teh downstairs) without being confined to a cubicle. thank God for SMCs and cool bosses.

4. i've been watching The Office US lately. it's a gr8 show. i love Stanley... i'm halfway through season 3 now and pretzel day was one of the funniest scenes i've seen.

okay bye back to watching

Animal nitrate

Hello!

I've been procrastinating on blogging, but I guess I have to cos idw to look back and be like what the heck happened in January 2017

So hi, future me! Life has been... quite the same since December. One highlight is that I currently don't have much to do at all for my internship. That's aside from working from home. I love my internship.

So technically I have a lot of free time. I feel like I should be doing something productive like brushing up on my bass or picking up a new skill, but the other part of me is like, you'll never get to enjoy such a nice long break once you start working!

Highlights of the month include buying a new bass bag and selling my old fender one. I also got my bass set up with this guitar tech guy that is so low profile he doesn't have a Facebook page but someone set one up with details on how to contact him. LOL. He's rated 5 stars on the page, and reviews say he's the best guitar tech in Singapore.

Went down to his shop in penin, and it's like a super tiny workspace about half of the usual shop unit area. But he was super friendly and got my bass done in 40 mins for less than the market rate. Totally 5 stars material.

Another highlight is me buying an mp3 player to use in Germany, for all the long hours of travelling. It's a sansa clip sport!! They don't sell it in Singapore anymore but I found someone on carousell who imports them from the US hehe.

Chinese new year is this weekend! It's super early this year. I rmb as a teenager I used to hate chinese new year. It's definitely evidenced in my 2008-2010 February posts.

I'm just looking forward to all the good food. Hehe.

Oh and the video above is a song I really like from Basement. I don't think it's my favourite, but I LOVE the vibe. Need more songs like that in my life. Also googled gigs in europe 2017 and Basement is playing in the UK but on like 1 March omg whyyyy. I really wanna see them live ugh

Okay back to surfing youtube

Without feeling indigo

hello finally back

can't believe it's dec 30 alr!!

i usually do a recap thingy at the end of the year, but i'm feeling so lazy to do so. in short, i think 2016 overall has been one of the more ups-and-downs years of my life?

^
this is when i tried to blog and i got lazy and started watching youtube instead HAHA

it's in fact 7 jan 2017 already.... omg

december was mostly just a pretty awesome month. spent most of it jamming pop punk with ampd friends for the next gig, fretting over my visa application stuff, watching tv with my parents, rediscovering good music and drinking lots of tea.

i've been super into Basement's album I Wish I Could Stay Here, and random songs from Neck Deep, and my current favourite song is Nerve by The Story So Far. it's.... FEELS.

soooo my first post of the new year!

like i mentioned, 2016 was a super happz year. school, gigs, preparation for sep, my first internship... as you can probably already tell, i'm very lazy to go into details. please refer to posts of 2016 for more info.

but speaking of sep, i still can't believe that i'm leaving for germany in 7 weeks. all the endless preparing for this moment, and it's finally almost here.

i remember the day i received my NUS acceptance package, and looking through the brochures and stuff, and seeing the LPP one. then i applied for LPP, took four sems of german, and spent a good amount of time applying for SEP. and then i received the email that i was accepted for SEP, but it still wasn't over yet... i had to apply to konstanz, get the acceptance letter and apply for my schengen visa, amongst a bunch of other things.

had so many admin things to do that i was stressed and couldn't sleep for some nights cos i was worried that i wouldn't get my visa in time for my flight. but fortunately it's almost all over and soon i'll be flying off.

i have so many mixed feelings about SEP. i've always been super homely, totally not the adventurous type, so this is definitely gonna be a huge leap out of my comfort zone. on one hand i actually feel kinda sian that i won't be going back to school next week with all my friends. it feels super weird. i also feel quite guilty about my parents funding my trip... it's expensive to exchange in europe and i'm scared i won't make the trip 'worth it.'

but on the other hand this is really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and i've worked too hard since the start of uni to pass this up. so... here's to a great five months of exchange!! i hope. i'm so NERVOUS. and super excited at the same time.

pictures beloww

LOL accurate

Can't remember if I mentioned it,
but I got 2 free tickets from youth.sg to catch Cirque Adrenaline
and write a short review for them afterwards. Lianne came with me!
It was super worth it?? The tickets were second row seats
and we googled; they were worth $135 each omg.
And the circus was awesome! 

Had dinner at the marina bay mall food court and bought my favourite tea!!
But Lianne didn't like it cos hers was too sweet/milky :(

When will my lover return from the war?

She looks so disgusted HAHA damn funny

The theatre looked atas

While waiting for show to start

Show started!!

I must say that I was personally ogling the circus performers' bodies the whole time...
Their physique is incredible omg.
Also developed a newfound respect for circus performers.
It's such a hectic and demanding lifestyle.
And they have to be dancers, actors, comedians, gymnasts and acrobats all at the same time.
Respekt

Sphere of Death: the most heart-pounding act for me.
I feel like this was dangerous on a whole new level compared to the other acts,
cos if one guy drives just a tinge out of beat (they were going at insane speeds around the wheel),
then everybody is doomed.
I would upload the video I took but idk why Blogger doesn't let me.

Block 85 dinner with shijia & weiqiang one random night.
Feel like eating oyster omelette now

We also walked all the way to Fat Cat for dessert after that.
I rmb it just rained so the weather was nice and cool.
This is really my favourite kind of hanging out-
eating good food with good friends and then walking, talking and laughing about lame stuff

tl;dr Chilling is my favourite hobby

Christmas cookie from a family friend. So cute!!
Tasted equally cute

Okay bye HAHA

Nerve

hi hey ho i'm finally back

it's the holidays again, and the same time of the year when i lose my motivation to blog cos i'm not a bored student anymore

it's been a fun and happz week! holidays in december are always the best cos the weather on this burning island is finally awesome for once. hello to daily cool breeze and clear afternoon skies!

everything in point form cos i'm too lazy to link them up

1. went for a run last week with wums. ran at least 2km, and the next day my stomach, arms and legs ached... omg unfit ttm

2. finally gonna play a gig again! we're gonna play pop punk/emo yayyy so eggcites. had our first jam last week and it was fun. i'm using my stagg for practices, and the tone is bomb. seriously considering using it for the gig. it's funny cos i got this bass for 150 (but i think i've spent another 150-200 on maintenance and upgrades) while my fender was 1400 what the heck.

3. mum and brother went on holiday, and they're the noisy ones in the family so i'm currently enjoying the peace and quiet at home 😌 in the afternoons my dad's at work so the house is extra quiet and the sunlight streams in while i'm doing chores and working and it makes me feel like a cool young person, living in my own apartment or smth. LOL

4. oh, the reason why i'm home in the afternoons is cos my boss said i could work from home if i wanted to 😱 which is seriously awesome. having to reach the office at 8am is no joke, and the office environment makes me feel stressed (but i have my own cubicle which is really nice). so thank God for this internship 🙏🏻

5. went back to cups n canvas for the first time in a few years to do work, and almost didn't recognise the place until i saw the signboard. the pasta was a lot less nicer than i remembered... had a hard time finishing it, and i usually have quite low standards when it comes to food. and it was 17 bucks omg. much regret. but the coffee was good. might go back to try the sweet potato latte again.

6. even though SEP is more or less confirmed, according to nus i still gotta indicate what modules i wanna take next sem, just in case. and i really wanna take global economic history under my favourite econs prof, dr sng tuan hwee. but i won't be able to, cos exchange + honours year :( sometimes i feel sad that i'll be graduating so soon, knowing there's so many interesting elective mods that i wanna take but i'll never get to, once i graduate.

7. i don't have many pictures to upload, sadly.

24 nov, finished my two heavy exams and had planned to study with Lianne
but I pangseh-ed her to go home and sleep, so I bought her an iced mocha to say sorry LOL
that's me buying the mocha

Last day of examsss

oops forgot to rotate

dinner and dessert with bae

^ Always be friendly to your local hawkers...
#can't even see the rice

car selfie
#dat forehead

went to Ken's birthday party... he didn't even know we were coming cos he didn't read the chat properly omg
we knew about 2% of the other people at the party hahaha it was weird

me seconds before: "Do I need to bend down?" 

okay that's all folks

Seven years

hellooo

actually feeling super lazy to blog

but FINALS ARE FINALLY OVERRRR

i always get this bittersweet feeling the few days after finals end. i feel kinda displaced, like suddenly i don't really have a purpose anymore. LOL. is it just me 🌝

and it's only been 2 days since finals ended. 

so anyways

did i mention the lsm paper was actually quite fun to me? went for the exam without studying at all, mostly cos it's open book. so during the exam i was searching up answers on my notes, and learning new stuff in the process... it was kind of interesting. LOL

sunday was my last day of the sem studying in school. i know that i have zero productivity at home, so even though i live more than an hour from school, i travelled there every day from the start of reading week till finals week to study. and studying with friends always makes life a little less depressing. 

then came the long-awaited day, monday. met lianne early at starbucks to study + have lunch, then went for dsc final at 1pm, which was easier than i expected. but still gonna s/u cos my CA components cmi. hahaha sian

and finally..... last paper, behavioural econs. waiting to take the last paper was torturous, for some reason time seemed to crawl by. 

the paper was also do-able. the bell curve is gonna be crazy. was also very annoyed by the girl next to me who kept loudly throwing down her correction tape every time after she was done using it 🙄

went to holland v after the paper with lianne and we had burgers at fat boys'. it tasted quite salty and processed. hahaha if that makes sense

contemplated whether to get beer/dessert/coffee after we had dinner, but i think we were both shagged from the 2 papers, so we decided to go home hahaha

woke up early yesterday morning and couldn't get back to sleep cos i was excited that i had nothing to do for the day. LOL

it was soooo nice to laze around guilt-free :') 

had lunch and my favourite teh si at the basement, then went home and watched a movie on my laptop called 'bridesmaids.' it's quite an old movie and halfway through i realised i've watched it before but i forgot where. but it's still awesome. kristen wiig's acting is A+++, some scenes were seriously comedic gold, laughed so hard

went to farrer park to meet jiams for curry rice. realised my internship is 5 stops from the hospital she's currently attached to, yasssss more dinners with the bff :')

and then we had beancurd. i LOVE traditional beancurd

went back home and finished watching the movie. i have such a huge crush on chris o'dowd. it's weird cos he's not even conventionally handsome. but he was sooo charming and cute in the movie ☺️

had to wake up at an unearthly hour today to go down to the german embassy, and also cos i wanted to avoid waiting long. 

came back and napped, then woke up at 12pm and had lunch with my mum at eastpoint. what a chill dayyyyyy

came home and watched another movie, 'there's something about mary.' great movie! but the ending was weird, and rushed. meh. 

my internship starts tmr and i'm quite bummed about it tbh. wish i could have a longer break :(( but oh wells. hope i like the job!!!

The day I discovered highlander

Totally random post, but as we all do when we get bored of studying for finals, I was searching up on random things like the best coffee in singapore, and one of the first few results that popped up was Highlander coffee. 

And that reminded me of the first time I accidentally stumbled upon Highlander. 

It was back in 2014. I was at the outram park area for a band jam, and I was 45min early. The studio was on the second floor of one of the units along a row of shops, so there wasn't really anywhere I could stand around or sit without looking awkward af. So I just sort of window shopped, walking around looking in at the shops along that row, and I saw this unassuming coffee place that didn't have a signboard. 

The place was tiny but only about half-full because it was 4pm, and the barista standing next to the large window made me feel awkward as he kept looking at me trying to decide if I should walk in. 

So eventually I went in, hemmed and hawwed at the menu, and after much deliberation, ordered the same thing I always do- a cafe latte.

And it was.... awesome. 

I'm no coffee critic, i just drink a lot of coffee, so idk the words one would use to describe the blend, but if I had to imagine the most perfect cup of coffee I could think of... That would be it. 

I was so excited for a while after that, thought I'd discovered a hidden treasure of a cafe, but some time later I realised it's already quite a famous spot amongst people who drink coffee... LOL

But i still think it's pretty cool how I chanced upon such a chill lowkey place like that. 

And thanks for reading my somewhat pointless post. HAHA. Just wanted to write down this feel-good memory of mine, lest I forget. 

Gonna sleep now good night