In pictures:

  <- Homecooked food by K. and her lovely family(except the pork porridge; that's what i made XD)! For no occasion at all, just simply for dinner. I got touched by this. Such warm, genuine hospitality! Both heart-and-tummy-warming. <3






Brunch/lunch with Joey and Sarah! I had a 'basic' meal that day at Food for Thought with these lovely ladies, so can't really comment on the quality there...the bacon was good though! ^_^
And then a shoot afterward to help Joey with her project. Will post more pics once i get them!





Then Jurong Point with K. afterwards! ^_^ Originally intended to swim, but the sucky weather ruined it all...so our wallets lost weight instead of our bellies, and our bellies and bags swelled with good food and purchases. And possibly strained our cheek muscles from laughing too much too, while at it. Haha! :)
'Crispy rice cakes' at Seoul Express were super good!! It's like fried mua chee with cheese sauce on it; we had an additional serving of bbq sauce because the cooks got our order wrong. But the resulting mixture is sooooo damn good. Their chicken ramen was good too, but having it on a totally empty stomach would be better-the soup got thicker and more flavourful at the end, so it was a good end to the meal.



Belated bday gift from her. Twas such a thoughtful gift! And such a sweet gesture really; i never thought K. would have remembered it, but she did! I'm touched. :)))
And honestly, i think i'll learn to treat my cups more gently in the long run thanks to this fragile gift; i usually just clunk my (thick porcelain/plastic)cups down and get on with my life but now...nope! ^_^


Annnnnd that was all that went on these past few weeks. Apart from work, that is.
Been trying to kickstart my goals for these few months, so i'm gonna sign up for driving lessons('finally! My God', said my mum when i told her) on Thurs! Can't wait to drive and blast my music loud on long stretches of road on late, listless nights.
All this spare time has led to quite a few thoughts populating in my mind.
Like how ironic it is, that at a certain point in my life, my mum was dead set against me going to Laselle to take up fashion design. Now she nags me daily, fearing i won't want to further my education and stick to plain ole' working instead...but, like i ever will! I certainly don't see myself doing retail for long after i graduate anyway. :)
And on a more trivial note, how i once thought having this much spare time would be like heaven. No nagging to study from my mother, no stress from academics or petty schoolyard politics; more time to work out and everything. Now, faced with so much time, i just whittle it away by sleeping early and rising late(4am-12 smth pm), going out, doing chores-my parents firmly believe in making me earn my own keep, and i abide by that-; generally wasting time.

Having a sense of duty and purpose in one's life is so important, now i realise.

Anyway, Joey has told me to take up sewing lessons to further my chance of getting into Laselle, so i'm going to do that once i get back from Hong Kong!

Thus will end this rambling blog entry.
Ta! :)

Transitions

In the transition between graduation and Laselle, i must admit; i find myself more than a bit lost.
It seemed pretty straightforward at first; work full time during this period of waiting, then Laselle.
But working full-time in retail..isn't going to cut it for me, it appears. Instead, working in a job which has lost its appeal's now starting to feel like Limbo..

Anyway, in brighter news...what i've been up to so far! All pics taken with my iPhone. Regretted not bringing my cam!

Uss Overnight Stay(2d1n in Festive Hotel)...for Halloween, with Qri!
 'Elephant in Space' sculpture by Salvador Dali. Love his surreal works!
 Breakfast at SpaceCafe! We went there so early we managed to get into USS for free~ I miss the smoked salmon, leafy greens and omelette!
 <- They managed to turn this building into a seemingly, living, bulging thing with night horrors in it(with use of cunningly concealed projectors) at night for Halloween!! Impressive and spooky!
 Hope i'm not grousing too much, but i think i was hoping a bit too much for more Halloween festivities...after experiencing Halloween in Japan, Halloween anywhere else just doesn't seem up-to-par anymore for me >.< Japanese are really enthu about this festival and it really reflects in the tons of merchandise sold and the atmosphere over there!! Missing it now. X)
 <- A musical. Man can she dance!!
Hotel:
 Up in the bunk, with my new Skipper plushie! <3 Also, nothing tastes better than instant mee(Nissin's Cream of Chicken & Chicken) and caramel corn after a long day of walking about.
 <- New mist :)


Then lunch with my mum at this ramen shop a few...days(?) later. They had this really cool handheld garlic shredder thing!


Domino's with my 'daughter', K.~


...and the collage she did! So sweet of her lor! A pleasant surprise ^_^
On a side note, the desserts there are really delicious. Chocolate lava cake and caramel cake!
Then Malaysia Boleh, high-tea session at her home and a round of swimming the next day:
 The oyster omelette is mad good!!
 Allow me to be unabashed(aka buay paiseh) and say that my chocolate bread pudding is super good. :P Gonna try strawberry, then banana next! Or maybe i'll progress to pies first~

Then, caught Thor: The Dark World with Mira. Twas nice catching up with her, after all these months! :) The movie wasn't bad either.


Meanwhile at this stage in life, i shall do what's been bugging me the most...
1) Lose all this fat!
2) Work for a toned body
3) Prepare for Laselle
and finally,
4) Enjoy life as it is now. :)

That being said, i hope the next months and days ahead will be kinder to me, and that i may regain my sense of direction.

In the meantime-trips to Hongkong, Bangkok(two trips to be made, i think), Taiwan and Korea are to be made! :)))
Can't wait!

Oh, and cute pic of the day:

#overlyattachedcat much? :))

These days, i've been thinking of getting a pet to occupy my spare time with. Cute, furry little companions; who wouldn't want them right? :)
Yet this freedom is temporary-once Laselle starts, i'll have no time to take as much care of them as i can-and i don't want to be an irresponsible pet owner; foisting care of my pets on my parents, neglecting them in lieu of studies and all... i guess books are still the best after all.
#randomselfthoughts

Nights y'all. :)

Well-

-tomorrow will be the first ever day of my new job.
I can't say i'm terribly excited or nervous even, actually, but...at least the job's close to home, has a higher pay and shorter working hours.
Oh, that and the fact that i may have a chance to get to design some clothes and actually have them manufactured and sold in the shop itself! That in itself is a pretty exciting prospect. :)

Apart from the usual outings, fun and such, there hasn't been much of note lately.

I just thought of typing my thoughts out here, on this little blogspace of mine.
Perhaps this is temporary; another phase i'm going through but lately, the world seems a grimmer place than before.
What i once took for genuine concern, warmth and care has been revealed to be disdain; deceit and treachery; what i once saw as 'moral right'; 'moral value' and 'the right thing to do' has been debased.
Maybe it's that i've been exposed to the wrong kind of people for these two months; most likely it's because i've spent too much time in their cancerous company for far too long, but i think i now realise why most people usually abide by this adage: 'If it's too good to be true, it most probably isn't'.

Pessimistic and misanthropic? Yes. But it's to protect ourselves from harm, both emotional and psychological and now that i think i see how things lie true for others, i can't say i would really fault them.
Though i do keep in mind that not all are the same.

Long story short, my rose-tinted glasses have broken.
Most likely.

I need to find that inner peace again; need to stop relying on insubstantial, fleeting moments and physical goods to give me happiness.

That being said, i do look forward to the upcoming trips i have ahead of me for the rest of this year, and the next. Switzerland in November; Malaysia in December, (perhaps) Bangkok in February and then Shanghai & Taiwan with Qri...and perhaps, Cambodia with Odie! Or Bangkok with Kimmee.
Either way, i can't wait to get started. Maybe i'll feel as drained as ever when i return from these trips, but on a brighter note, i bet these will give me a new perspective on life, and give me the inclination to move on from this temporary, metaphorical rut i am lodged in at this moment.

And on another random note...

..it was about time i've started reading again.
Stayed up all night to finish The Red Chamber, and it was good! The moral of the story for me was that 'karma does come full circle' and things do get better in the end.
Have yet to start on Kafka, but am pretty stoked to get to it(amusing surrealism has always been my thing), right after i finish Heart Of Darkness. Finally got my hands on it! Yay. :)

I've been rambling on long enough for now.
Ta. :)

Back again

It's been a month or so since i've last blogged and honestly, i feel almost a little awkward typing down my feelings in this little online space of mine! You could say that this is a diary of sorts, frankly speaking. Haha!

Anyway a lot has passed since i last blogged...according to the pages i left opened a month ago(i never shut off my computer, only switch it to Hibernation mode so i can access everything immediately once i get on again; that's how impatient i am when it comes to gratification of this sort lol!), i was looking for other jobs, waiting for this rad zombie-survival-horror manga-'I Am A Hero'-to finally be updated, reading F.YeahNightmares...

Now i have a new job, a full time one and while i'm working for the company i've been wishing to work for since 2011, my social life has been slowly but surely slipping away ): Gone are those times when i could simply say 'yes' to every engagement and have fun every week!
Instead now i stay at home on some off days and do my weekly facial mask and stare at my growing varicose veins.
Okay i exaggerate. I actually just work out a bit then lie on soft surfaces watching Pewdiepie/Markiplier/CinnamonToastKen scream their lungs out at fantastic horror game walkthroughs and roll around like a beached whale. Hur hur..

There've been things i'm grateful for though, and they've also been the highlights for this period of time i've been going through now!
Like..



-a catchup over really nice Chinese food at this restaurant in FEP! Honestly though, i am and still am glad that we three still keep in contact with each other, even 4 years after our graduation. I may not have thought friends were important in Pri and Sec school(i was pretty introverted and kept to my own little bubble back then haha) but now, in this age of shallow friendships and easily-broken ones, do i realize how important they really are.
Sarah introduced me to the famous milk pudding at Paris Baguette and damn was it good! I kept the cute little jar, intending to fill it with a bit of soil and a flower seed or two but my mum beat me to it and filled it with some Taiwanese beer i bought(but didn't drink)for my trip to USS with my other friends from my previous workplace.
-.-
It reminded me of the heavenly, scrumptious milk pudding i had at this cheese factory in Hokkaido some years ago(i lost those photos due to technical errors in my old camera dammit) though, and up to now i still haven't found anything that can compare to that milk pudding in Hokkaido. It was simply the best!! May or may not have mentioned it but in the seven days i was there i had 10 ice creams in Hokkaido; their milk(used in making ice cream) is That good!

Little digression aside, i really hope we can meet up soon again! I love how comfortable i feel with these girls even though we may not have met up or talked for ages. :) Old friends are the best. <3


And then i had brunch with K. in Paris Baguette on one of my off days!


Full-sized for you to see it in all it's glory.
We both had bacon croissants and shared a slice of cake, a cheese fritter and cheese tart and while i wasn't really satisfied with the tart-i expected something more cheesy-, the brunch was delicious!! Pricey at $17-hope they'll reduce it to $15 one day-but damn it was the best brunch i've ever had.
Now, i'm no food critic-i simply like to exercise my vocabulary and descriptors lol-but do allow me to share my opinion on this~
The wedges were salted just right and was warm-not hot enough to scald your tongue in a burst of starchy goodness, but warm enough to be really palatable; the croissant was crisp and bacon was..well, up to standard, but what really stood out for me were the creamy mushrooms!! Savory, creamy and totally delectable; i don't know how to fully describe it's taste but it had me craving it a week later(i'm craving it now as i type!)! Damn nice with coke.
K. was also overjoyed that she could finally taste food after two arduous weeks and she merrily ate everything after taking multiple pictures of her food after a longggg time. Haha!

Then, a trip to USS with work buds!
  The pics are all jumbled up, but man was it fun!! Can't wait for this Oct, cause Q. and i are planning to return to USS, rent the same hotel room and have a short but sweet staycation there...on a side note, i must admit i am thinking a lot about converting to part-time instead. Too many overseas trips-this year, a 9 day trip to Switzerland and then a short getaway to Msia with extended family, then next year: a trip to BKK with family, Cambodia with Q. and then a visit to Aussie for dear Odie!

But i guess i'll save all that for another post some other day.
I do miss blogging and i wish i had time to frequently update this personal space of mine, but i really should be sleeping soon because i'll be working again tmr.
):

Oh and did i mention i cut my hair?
 Taken at JEM after K. and i had our delicious brunch!
Am loving how the stylist cut it(strategically cut my hair to make it seem like my previously-dyed hair were lowlights!) so i'm planning to have it trimmed again soon and properly low-lighted this time!

Working-and certain matters at work(what's new lol)-is a bitch but man is the payoff good.
A new pair of heels, clutch, makeup and massages are in order!!

See you soon y'all :))

Ps: I have Instagram now so follow if you're interested ^^
'GrraceyT'~