Category: Friends

GRADUATED!

Four years passed so fast. Am I really a graduate now?! The end of poster day (a day when we put up posters on our Final Year Projects and present them to examiners and guests) marks the end of my University life.

We were all complaining this year cuz we had to present on two days instead of the usual one day for past years. The first day, I was all jittery. It’s madness to just stand around your poster, and wait hours for a professor to approach. We have no idea who and what time they were gonna come and just have to be prepared at all times.

This is my poster! Looks a little un-scientific because I did a project that developed video protocols to aid in undergraduate lab classes. What I’m really proud of is that these videos will be used in subsequent semesters as part of juniors’ practicals. So I actually did something to help the current system :)

The second day was more relaxed, and everyone was just going around socializing. It was after all the last day of school! Sobs. :’( We visited each other at their booths, took pictures, and chitchat. It was kind of more of a socializing event than a presentation!!

My team mates Calvin and Zah with whom I completed the project. Had a really fun time  during the whole time. Everything is better when you have company, so you don’t face things alone. Teamwork was really important as the three of us were in charge of different aspects of the project and we really work quite well to glue everything together. Thanks guys!

Here’s my clique in school. I wouldn’t be able to survive college if not for them. Their crazy antics and jokes really make life more interesting and fun. There were some ups and downs but I’m thankful I’m still part of them.

One last person to thank is Hammy. He’s always there to help me through this period. Without his help, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly. Thank you dear.

Alright! I’m officially graduated. Now it’s time to look forward and move on to more challenges in life! Wish me luck. But no matter what, I’m glad to have Mypeaceofheaven as an outlet and my pride.

Omg I’m getting emotional! :”)

Mei Hung’s Graduation Show!!

FINALLY. AFTER 4 YEARS. I attended Mei Hung’s graduation show held at Sinema Old School. The previous times when she had a show I couldn’t turn up because of various reasons.. Sigh they sounded like excuses but are not! Lucky Mei Hung understands, well, she was mad for awhile… =X

So this time, I was really glad to be able to attend her grad show, even if it meant skipping an estranged cousin’s wedding dinner AND Maybelline’s New (York) Me party at Zouk. I 放下 everything else!! Haha but it was worth it, getting into a brawl with my parents for not attending the wedding dinner, to see Mei Hung showcase her work. She was the cinematographer for 4 films, and director of the movie trailers. I’m so proud of her!! Haven’t watched the films yet, as they are only going to have a public screening at Filmgarde Iluma Bugis in July. I’m so excited!

Props for a film “My Parents are Animals” that Mei Hung was involved in.

We are studying ‘semen’ that Mei Hung made. Erm okay that doesn’t sound right. No idea why it is green, but I might know after watching the film. Haha

These are for the film, “Last One Standing”. Gonna sound really explicit here, but the film’s about a masturbat-athon. I can’t believe that’s a freaking real competition. I’m not going to explain what it is, go google! I kept thinking that it was something that they made up. CHeck out my epic reaction when I heard it was real. Gaggggg.

??!!!??????

A booth that got me interested.

We went round to view the works of Photography/Visual Comm/Digital Animation graduating students. Some pretty impressive stuff! The show is still on from now till 6th May at 12 pm.  Check out the event’s facebook page and head over to Old School!

All I need is a friend like you.

The other night I was just having a late-night deep conversation with my bestie, Mei Hung. It’s amazing how much she inspires me now. Gone were the days that she was like the ‘little sister’ of mine, now she’s even spent 6 months abroad for exchange and came back with so much life experiences.

That night, we were just catching up with each others’ Final Year Projects. She’s doing film studies and shooting/filming/directing like mad for her final semester, with hardly any time to rest. Haha I’m doing filming of my own too, cuz I’m developing scientific video protocols for Undergraduate practical classes with 2 other friends. But mine obviously lack all that drama and acting, so is relatively easier to plan.

So we came to the topic of looking for a job, and she suddenly dropped a bomb on me that she’s most probably going overseas to carve out something. On one hand, I understand that in her field, she has to go overseas to get really good prospects, but on the other, I was sad that I could never have that chance. No, to be more truthful, I’d never have the guts.

I told her.. Then she said something really awe-inspiring like, “You just have to tell yourself that home might be comfortable, but if you don’t go out into the world now, you won’t experience life.”

“Adaptability is better when you’re young. I heard of someone who just bought a one-way ticket to New York, without any plans. Had to survive on her own just like that.. Slept on the streets, wherever. Then now a fashion designer in New York.”

Sure we’ve heard stories like this, people living the American Dream and making it big with nothing to start with. Don’t you envy these people? They just have the guts, or so I thought. I do dream, it’s not that I don’t. Sometimes I lay in bed till the wee hours of the morning, simply not able to sleep because my dreams occupy my mind so much that my brain is too excited to sleep. Ideas spring up here and there; ideas that seem crazy too. So why am I still where I am? People younger than me are already managing their own businesses and stuff! But then Mei explained it so simply, “I guess if anyone set their minds to it, that’s the best survival skill, everything stems from there.” That was the most inspiring thing I heard in a long while, and I told her that straight.

Suddenly I see.. Everything stems from determination and perseverance. Without those two, ideas or dreams would just be dust. Nothing comes without hard work, and it’s really up to us to work towards being where we want to be ultimately, and what we want to have. Therefore, I want to work. I want to make my dreams come true.

With me being so happy suddenly realizing this revelation, she didn’t stop, and dropped one more pointer.

“Set impossible goals, and make them come true anyways…”

She says her inspirations come from making too many films. Haha cannot stand her.

Cheers to 10 years (and counting..) of friendship

Fancy a group-date?

I finally met up with my secondary school girlfriends from CHIJ, and this time, it was dubbed ‘The Boyfriend’s gathering’. Wonder why? That’s because all of us are happily attached and decided to bring our other halves along! How do you feel when attending your other half’s gatherings? Is it always awkward?

For me, the first time’s always gonna be weird, the way new people are thrust into existing circle of friends. But with more exposure, things will get more natural. And it’s always nice to bond over good food, or board games for the non-athletic ones, and physical sport for the athletic ones.

With jacynth and laura

with theresa

This jacynth wanted to hide behind me cuz she thinks she's fatter than me. Come on!

Wait, you haven’t seen the whole group yet!

Our gatherings have doubled in capacity, somehow! Isn't this cute?

The photos above were taken using laura’s digital camera. I like how it has wide-angle properties and can fit everyone in the photo and it doesn’t look cramped. Nowadays even point-and-shoot cameras are so good!

We had dinner at The Delicious Group in Scotts Square. The food was not as fantastic as we had anticipated, and the dish that the boys ordered (3 of them ordered the same chicken) turned out to be a camouflage of mushy moss over tasteless chicken drumstick. It is as unappetizing as it looks, trust me.

Mascarpone Pesto Chicken ($15)

The boys who ordered this got their girlfriends implicated as well, because it was so tasteless that the girls volunteered to share their own pastas with them, so the couples took turns to alternate eating this erm-looking thing. See! Where can you find such nice girls to share thick and thin with you guys?? Haha. By the way, pesto tastes like grass.

Hammy and I were lucky as we ordered pastas, so they weren’t so bad, although nothing to rave about. I’d expected the Crabmeat Linguine to taste better, but the dish didn’t bring out the flavour of crab meat. It could have easily been substituted with chicken and it would taste the same. Hammy’s aglio olio was nothing worth mentioning. We’ve had better Aglio olio from Pasta Manna at Old Airport’s hawker centre, way cheaper too.

Crabmeat Linguine w pine nuts ($15)

Aglio olio spaghetti + Shitake mushroom and sundried tomatoes ($12)

Well anyway, gatherings aren’t so much about the food right? It’s catching up and sharing gossips that makes the deal. I wish I could have joined them for coffee at TCC afterwards but we had to go off. Another time then! Next up, steamboat in mid-Jan 2012! :)

Theresa and laura were so generous to gift a unique polaroid to every girl in the picture :) Thanks for the memories!

Thank you theresa for organizing this gathering!

Shopping and dinner in christmas-y Orchard.

Pictures from Orchard Central. I wonder why Orchard Central is missing out on all the crowd that it deserves. It’s not very far away from Somerset 313, yet everyone’s there, and not walking to OC to shop. Mei and I explored the entire building, there’s A LOT of retail space unused, especially on the higher floors. Empty shop spaces along long stretches of corridors, hidden shops in some corner, not getting any customers at all, on a Saturday night. How do they even survive when pitted against the brand names like Forever 21, Mango, Zara right next to them in Somerset 313? Some famous blogshops could fill those retail spaces up and bring crowd to that god-forsaken place. I reckon the rental is cheaper too.

They set up these temporary shops on level 1, which are still getting some crowd. But I feel that they are treated like tourist attractions more than actual shops. People just stand around and ogle, pose and take photographs of the beautiful ‘cottages’. They don’t actually go into them.

 

Singing in the rain. This choir was belting out Christmas songs right outside OC.

Then we headed to 313 Somerset and it was a total different story. So many people were dining and shopping, it was so crowded! Especially the stretch of al fresco pubs and restaurants, the whole atmosphere was screaming, “Night-life”!

We settled for Thai food at Absolute Thai as it was so prominent (just right in front of Somerset MRT exit), and we could people watch. Also, the food looked so good!

Clear Tom Yum soup. Super spicy, but very appetitizing.

Fried beancurd and basil leaves. A very large portion, fit for a family of 4. We didn’t know, but it was so delicious that we finished everything we ordered. Not bad for two girls, especially for Mei, who eats very little.

OH their Pad Thai is heavenly. We were already very full with rice and the 2 dishes above, but when we tried this, we simply didn’t want to stop. You all have got to try it. Definitely a place to return to try other dishes. The portions are large, and price reasonable. We ate till we were bloated, but very satisfied.

Although it was raining the entire time and we were trapped in Far East Plaza and then couldn’t proceed to Cineleisure for our intended dinner at Shokudo, I had a lovely time. I wish I could bring Hammy to try the Thai food, but he’s just so ‘town-phobic’. Maybe one day…