i am a graduate!

just testing out the macro conversion lens that i got the other day at funan mall; a single rose for mother's day, with close to no post-processing.
mother's day and a single rose don't quite go, i know, but it'll have to do for now till i get a better gift tmr. baad planning.

so anyway, i'm now writing this post as a college graduate (well, sort of), and it is really the most awesome feeling EVER.
i know how the saying goes, about how the pasture's always greener on the other side, but as of now, i'm just so excited about completing my studies, which opens a huge new phase of life for me, with so many changes, things to look forward to, and things to work for, and most importantly, NO EXAMS!
i woke up the other day to my alarm (and a billion of other incessant noises), and then began running thru in my head the things i needed to study for the day, before i realized that doing that was a thing of the past, at least for the near future.
and then i couldn't stop grinning for the longest time ((:

my mind's been also put at ease with my recent signing of contract, that marks the official beginning of my career as a civil servant - something that i never thought i would be, but nonetheless something that i look forward to very muchly. i'll be starting work in august though, leaving me plenty of time for much needed R&R, grad trips, and the luxury of time and nothing to worry about at all for a while. totally works for me (:

i'm going to turkey next monday! never been to the middle east before, so it's gonna be an experience. we've got white water rafting, hanggliding, horseriding tours, and hopefully hotair balloons for the trip. i cant wait already!

sore

Natalie sent me this email today:

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, 'Who would like this $20 bill?' Hands started going up. He said, 'I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this.

He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill. He then asked, 'Who still wants it?' Still the hands were up in the air. Well, he replied, 'What if I do this?' And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. 'Now, who still wants it?' Still the hands went into the air. My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who do love you. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE and WHOSE WE ARE. You are special- Don't ever forget it.'

Count your blessings, not your problems. And remember: 'amateurs built the Ark; professionals built the Titanic'.

"If God brings you to it - He will bring you through it."

sigh just have to remember that.

body combat

i swear i haven't been this utterly exhausted and totally wiped out in a long time.
in this case, that's a good thing cuz it's from the body combat class i had this aftn at vivocity gym. it's somewhat like the ones we did in AC, except a lot less cheesy, and way more intensive. halfway through the class we were perspiring buckets, and really sore in the arms and abs
by the end i was like jelly.

it all came about when i got a call a few weeks back to go for a free gym-trial with TrueFitness
i knew they were gonna pile on the sales talk and all, but still fell prey to it because i had decided to embark on a fitness pick-me-up recently, and it just felt right. so mac and i signed a corporate package with TrueFitness gym for 3 months, and we'll see how that'll go before deciding on a longer commitment period. i wonder how long this exercisemania will last before it dies out; but while it lasts, i'm really glad i'm actually exercising again.
it's almost an alien concept since i stopped my pilates classes, and moved out of my condo that had a badminton court to play badminton with.

in other (exciting) news, i booked tickets to vietnam with my girlfriends and their plus-ones!
it's all very exciting cuz i've been wanting to go for a very long time, maybe to discover some of my roots. plus we got 1 CENT TICKETS with tigerairways, smth i thot was never possible.
of course, with taxes and seat choices it all added up to slightly more than a hundred, but it's still really cheap. it's going to be my first on a budget airline, and i'm psyched about giving it a try.
i'm also thinking of going to australia or new zealand during grad-trip period.
we'll see how that turns out!

1 down, 3 to go

i think i slept about 3 hours last night in total. laid in bed for the other 5 tossing and turning

insomnia is one of the most annoying and irritating things to have - esp when you have an interview early next morning

by God's grace and mercy i made it through the interview today. or at least i think i did, judging from the nods from most of the directors who came down today.

but then, i have one more with the same org, same place tmr, just with a separate group of directors. the HR personnel called me just now to tell me tehre might be yet another interview with yet another director.

3 separate interviews from one organization. i hope that's a good thing.

anyway, ms clarity cafe lunch with the churchies ytd after acappella prac is making me craving for that cream linguine thing that sophia had. and the mumbo jumbo cheese fries.

i've had such a bad impression of ms clarity before ytd, from the two times i've gone, both were noisy, had lousy quality food that was not worth its price, and unsatisfactory overall.

maybe the thomson branch is alot better. or maybe i was just hungry.

ok going to pick mac up frm the airport now. brunei-no-more! (:

nostalgia

recently i've been feeling pangs of nostalgia; not really those that make me want to return to the past, but those that make me want to look back and smile upon the fond memories that i've had.
i dug out my memory box the other day (okay there wasnt much digging; it's just right there) and went through many of the pictures, diary entries, movie ticket stubs, old organizers etc, and i realized that i've had a plentiful, fulfilling and blessed life.
it's not that i dont know it already; but time and time again, a fresh reminder makes life seem all so colorful and bright once again.
i recently met up my nygirls of the west when yingtong came back from japan, as well as josh&sab recently for shisha - and it's good to know that, what was colorful& bright, has remained colorful & bright.

another slightly nostalgic moment was about sending mac off at the airport today.
admittedly i havent done that in a lonnnggg while; i don't even remember the last time i sent him off to go to somewhere =p
picked him up at his place because his mom, grandma and sister packed so much stuff to bring they couldn't fit in one cab lol! and it's only for 5 days!
anyway ytd night, on the pretext (read: excuse) that mac was flying today, we finally found ourselves at the new spa/massage place near my place, hidden in the centre of all the houses

it's like a complete different world once you step into the place - soothing music, aromatic lemongrass oil, ginger tea served while getting a foot pre-massage, and extremely friendly staff with soothing voices. so un-urban!
we were led to a couples room for the massage, and even the interior design was very chillax and not-urban, altho the picture below doesnt quite do it justice (but it was dark OKAY)

the massage itself was pretty heavenly, partly cuz we were both tired, and also beacuse the whole experience was just such an escape from urban hecticism that it was so enjoyable.
after that was chilli crab and some old-people-style walking around the neighborhood

the perfect excuse to neglect the beckoning workload on my study table (:

back to nature

bubble always has that 'dude where's my car' look. like DAWGGG.
but anyhow the trip to botanical gardens with the dogs on saturday morning was fun and way overdued. been a while since we've been there, or brought the dogs out for fun since we've moved.


short of a picnic basket, we had a nice day of tanning, chasing the dogs (tt were chasing the birds tt were chasing for stray pieces of bread on the lawn), and then some picture-moments with flowers, trees, and anything that was bright and colorful on that day.

in the evening we dated victor&sooyein for "alice in the wonderland", which i thought was just alright and not spectacular given its buzz, marginally saved by a superb performance of Mad Hatter by johnny depp, who managed to make him brilliantly insane and eccentric and funny all at the same time. it practically overshadowed Mia Wasikowska's portrayal of Alice, imho. but other than that, it was a generally okay movie, visually enticing with interesting creatures from the underland, peppered with comic relief and cutesy characters that prevented the movie from becoming too dark.

pokerface

5 hours of poker with econs hons students - the new definition of TGIF

arty farty?

art is so subjective. some may love it to bits, and some may hate (and curse) at it so badly
to me, art is a universal language - something that speaks to more than your mind, but your emotions and your soul as well.
i dont have anything against the arty-fartys, but if you don't understand what is being portrayed or the message that is being brought across, how are you to be touched emotionally and spiritually?
i went to a school dance production last weekend to support a friend. not knowing what sorta dance production i was attending, i had expectations and visualizations of flowy and vibrant costumes; energetic and punctuated choreography; synchronized movements to catchy music.
but i was deeply mistaken.
the bunch of us literally sat through 2 hours in victoria theatre, racking our brains to whatever interpretations we could come up with of each dance; and of the meaning it could entail, and come up with.. nothing.
it's not that it was boring. it really wasn't. i just didn't get any of it.

clarke quay, after that, on the other hand, was art to me. and a fantastic one at that.
from the people it attracted, to its architecture, to the vast varieties of music and clubs - it was every beat an art scene that the singapore government has painstakenly developed, and succeeded in doing so; possibly one of its rare times i would suppose.
we went to pump room, to celebrate jianwen's birthday, and gained entry upon the strike of 12, and then met a drag queen who reminded me of the one in shrek, except that she sang superbly well, with a band that played covers so close to the original songs you really couldn't tell the difference

anyhow, i was discussing with lide about the perceptions of art, and he said he was going to stick to making hollywood films instead of arthouse films, although his decision garnered pretty negative criticisms from 'artists'
and it just somehow bugged me really bad, bout how many 'artists' these days look down on 'underlings' like us who don't appreciate or do not get their silent/shoot-and-cut/no-story-line kinda films, that seemingly get more awards the more normal people don't understand their stories
so seriously, what's the point of a language when nobody understands it but you?
art is for communication and expression; but if your audience doesn't receive the messages that you're trying to send, then you are the one who's failed, not your audience.

this isn't directed at anyone in particular (or maybe it is)
all i'm trying to say is, the appreciation of art is definitely subjective
and the purpose of art isn't to judge. so will the artists please stop judging?

change

i think life holds the most surprises and fun when it's at the transitional points - like birthdays are the transitional points from an age to another; like from high sch to JC, etc
right now, searching for a job, going for interviews and finishing my last semester of school, i realized i'm enjoying school a lot more than i did, because i have something to look forward to at the end of it. it's like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as i go for interviews and written assessments with a couple of govt agencies whose names i shall not reveal.
it might have something to do with the moral hazard problem that all my graduating kakis are rambling on about - there isn't much we can or cannot do to modify our GPA/CAP and hence there's not much motivation or urgency to study, beacuse no matter how we do, our grades and future are more or less sealed by now.

anyhow, school in the last semester is something like this:
classes --> meals @ the deck --> hang out at the econs honours room (which has become some sort of lounge or something altho its construction intention was prolly originally for 'academic purposes')
we eat, we sleep, we play, we work in that room, which, sometimes, above and beyond the companionship and friendship that can blossom inside there, has one important thing that everywhere else doesn't have - AIRCON!
today, the honours room came handy again for our game of poker with the usual econs people + mac. it must be chinese new year luck or something because alotta people got good hands today. and just like the evil of bell curve, average to decent hands got pushed out, again and again. makes things a lot more exciting, for sure, and certainly also a little more heart-breaking at times lol.

timbre @ old school after poker. ♥ to a millionth times.
i'm growing realllyyy fond of that place; it's so hidden and chill, and slightly up on a hill so it's alot more cooling than the other timbres. love the pizzas. love the music.
it's so going down in my to-go places. #1!

ok end post abruptly here. i think i just created a post out of entirely disjointed sentences with no link whatsoever to each other. well done.

.

i feel almost guilty that i'm not in school today, nor will be in school tmr.
after last sem's mad rush for time and crazy every-min-counts kind of studying, the first 2 weeks of my last sem in NUS seems relatively mild in comparison.
which is good, really, because i'm down with another bout of flu/cough/sorethroat (again), and so will need all sorts of rest that i can find.

i havent been getting much sleep, but that's probably self-inflicted
been taking the start of jan to meet up and make new friends, rebuilding relationships and reconnect with those i've lost touch with
from dinner with ac friends at holland v, to chilling at my place with ny girls; from cell grp dinners, poker with churchies to timbre/winebar with mac's polo boys (HAH)
it's really heartening to be with people you don't really meet up, but yet feel so comfortable and at home with once you start talking
and thats just. nice.

tis a great start to a new year (: