White & Denim

It's finally Friday! School isn't that crazy yet but I'm still thankful for the feel-good weekends. Yet another weekend. Time seems so pass so quickly here. I remember counting down the days to being back at home while I was on exchange. It felt like forever.

While reading my textbook today, I realised that people really like to define and categorise things/people around them. Maybe this need for structure reflects an intolerance for uncertainty and a strong attachment to identity... Just a random thought.

Goodnight.

Leopard Flower

Florals and leopard prints to hype up a long Wednesday woohoo

Polka dotted

Wearing my doc marts out whenever because I let myself buy them on the condition that I would wear them often enough when I return to Singapore. They quite heavy and the hot weather can be so boot-unfriendly at times though :/

I've been really packed these days because heaps of schoolwork are coming in, so I don't really get the time to post here. When I post I get the chance to reflect on my day, so no time to post means no time to reflect fully. Bummer but I guess busy is better than unproductive.

8 am class tomorrow boooooooo

Boy you make me feel

Fridays are gym days and I was too lazy to carry my shoebag around so I wore this with my neon pink running shoes hahaha! It made me feel like I was still on exchange in Seoul because Koreans wear sports shoes out pretty often and they dispelled all I-will-be-judged-for-being-a-fashion-disaster-is-I-wear-sports-shoes-out thoughts. The shoes should look decent though... I never thought I would say this, but I kinda miss exchange life. Everything is moving so quickly here.

Oh except the trains.

Second week of school

The second week of school is already coming to an end. I still feel stuck and have yet to fully adjust back to university life back in Singapore. I haven't done any readings at all except one chapter which I painfully took four hours to complete because I wasn't interested. There are tons of readings to complete so I'm getting a little worried. I also haven't gotten two textbooks. I can only think about how I should get my roots done hahaha...

Time flies but it goes by the fastest when I'm with Javin. He has started work so after that plus school, there isn't much time left for both of us. I see him almost everyday, albeit for just little pockets of time, so I guess I am grateful for that. It's strange, though, because I used to see him for hours back when we were on exchange, but now one moment he's here and the next he's gone. I really miss spending good time with him, but I understand that everything has its time and place.

Weekend is coming (:

Black Velvet

I was really happy after getting this crop top from H&M in Harajuku (where the sale items are always awesome) during my Tokyo trip earlier this July for just 9 SGD, but now I'm thinking that the letters don't look that great... Haha. Wearing Aritaum's Wannabe Cushion Tint again, this time in No. 7 Nikita.

Saturday brunch at PS.Cafe

I had a brunch date with Shawn, Del, Gab and Richard last Saturday at PS.Cafe's Ann Siang Hill branch. It was my first time at PS.Cafe and I had heard so much about their truffle fries so I was pretty excited! On the table we had Smoked Salmon and Avocado Benedict, PS. Caesar, Croque Madame, Truffle Shoestring fries, PS. Fish & Chips, Big Bacon & Eggs on Toast and, of course, Shoestring Truffle Fries, the star we were all anticipating. There was another dish but I forgot what it was and I didn't capture it.

When I first stepped into the place I was impressed by the decor. It felt so cozy. I paid 40 dollars for brunch (my egg benedict and sharing of the fries). Heartpain max. I could have 10 meals at the hawker centre or coffeeshop with that money. The food was good but not mind-blowing, so I suppose that I was paying for ambience. It's a beautiful place with decent food, but I still like Wild Honey better, in terms of lower prices and taste.

Times like this I miss Korea because the brunch there is so good and much more affordable than Singapore's.

Saturdate

Beaded collar patterned top from KSL City, maroon peplum skirt from Zipia

I earned some money and motivation today!

I love working with MGP. My bosses are amazing (so are the quality of the clothes)! They treat their staff really well. I take my job there seriously and I always take their feedback/comments into consideration so I can improve to play my role better. I may not their best choice, but they've always kept me so I think working towards my best for them is the least I can do. They're like my older siblings! I'm not even offended when my boss teases me about being meaty or asks me to go exercise. I always take it as positive motivation.

Speaking of exercise, I know I haven't been taking my fitness seriously in the past two weeks... But I don't regret it. The past two weeks were extremely well spent over good food and good company. I know times like these will be rare now that school is starting. I also took a rest week because my ankle was hurting. There is a time for everything. So this week I will resume my regime and I am excited to challenge myself all over again. Typing this here makes me more determined to stay as disciplined as I can.

You know they always say we should enjoy the process instead of just focusing on the results. It's true. Exercising can be such a drag if you don't enjoy it. I didn't start out loving every single waking moment in the gym when I first started going to the gym last year, but the enjoyment was acquired during my lonely gym sessions for four months during exchange. Listening to music during workouts can really make me enjoy them a lot. My body prefers moving when there's music hahaha, probably because I used to dance a lot. So I guess to each her own!

One goal, many ways to get there. (Find yours)

A reminder

There is always room for improvement.
Pay a little bit more attention to others.
Go the extra mile.
Take the initiative.
Give even without being asked to.
Be kind.

Love more.

Many times selfish acts are attributed to survival or defense instincts, but I really think that we can look beyond the wired perception of our individual existence. We can understand that there is a bigger picture out there and that we are all just small parts of it. There can be such strong notion of the self and attachment to possession that people forget about what differentiates us from most other species and makes us truly human - the ability to go beyond our instincts. Having said that, I feel sad because sometimes I find that animals display greater acts of love and selflessness than humans do, even though they are fueled by strong instincts. Humans are the most intelligent species I know of, but sometimes I really think we do and say the stupidest things that make us so inhuman. To be inhuman is to be, I quote, lacking human qualities of compassion and mercy, and so from this, to be human is to be...

Times like this I really reproach myself.

Black

Blazer from Zipia

First day of school

It felt so surreal to be back in school again after six months. Although there were many more unfamiliar faces now that I'm in my third year, it did feel like a breath of fresh air to be surrounded by familiar faces once again.

The thought of studying makes me cringe, but I look forward to more learning. I am also so excited to spend this semester with Shawn, my best friend in school, after being separated from him for a whole year! I still remember how sad I felt when he told me he was going to take the semester before I left for exchange off to do his internship. I'm so thrilled that I don't even mind taking that 8 am class (which I tried so hard to drop but failed) because we're in the same class. My life is a joke. Since my first semester in university, I told myself never to take 9 am classes in future but I've had at least one 9 am class every single semester since, even during exchange. Now I'm taking an 8 am class...

This semester will present to me a whole new set of challenges (including that 8 am class haha). I have a few resolutions for this semester with regards to non-academic matters and I really hope I will be able to balance everything well.

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I see a metallic bug on the curtain but I don't dare to do anything. I hate insects. Times like this I really wish Javin was around because he catches them for me. He releases them outside instead of killing them because he's against inflicting pain on other beings, so I'm thinking that he's gonna be pretty sad because my mom just pulled out the Baygon. Haha okay end of this random paragraph.

Glow

Looking at the second photo for too long makes me feel like my hands look awkward. Neon and white combi again. This is actually two separate pieces, but of the same colour. I bought these earrings from Lovisa last year but I rarely wear them out because they weigh 88.8 kilos on my ears. Nothing like neon to brighten up my day.

It's the first day of school tomorrow!

On white

Gwenyth Bustier Top from MGP and the rest are from Korea.

It's Wednesday already?

Today I woke up not just before noon but at EIGHT in the morning to meet Anne, Becky and Sam for dim sum breakfast at Tim Ho Wan. I've only tried Tim Ho Wan once in Hong Kong and I must say that the quality of food is the same here, if not better. My favourite from Tim Ho Wan is still the steamed egg cake. It's so darn good. Wish I could have some now.

After dim sum we walked around for a bit and settled in Hoshino Coffee for some souffle-style pancake, which sounds better than it tasted. I gave them a brief overview on how to use Gmarket Korea but Sam looked pretty uninterested during this part so we changed topic. Many other topics floated into our conversation and I had a really good time laughing with them about anything and everything. We also discussed stylish people on instagram and seeing all their outfits made me want to shop so badly, but I am trying hard to be frugal after spending all that money during exchange.

I am always thinking about things that I should not be thinking about - like buying clothes when there is a backlog of clothes I have not worn since a year ago (I don't understand why I even bought some in the first place) and cutting my hair when I just permed it before I came back to Singapore. I should be thinking about doing more meaningful things, like going for a dental check-up and teaching my dog to read and maybe write.

I still can't believe I woke up at 8 am.

Leaving things behind

On Sunday, Javin and I returned to school, along with some other friends, to watch our freshies perform for their own freshies as OGLs. A myriad of different emotions surfaced in me as I watched my own freshies carrying out the same responsibilities as I did a year ago as their OGL.

I was absolutely thrilled to see everyone again and to laugh with them even though it has been one year since we all were the closest thing on earth for those few days of camp. It was difficult for me to meet up with my freshies for the past year because of my busy schedule and also because I went for exchange for half a year, but they still welcomed me wholeheartedly when I returned on Sunday. It was such a warm feeling to be remembered and still be included by them.

Javin and I felt really proud that our freshies were all so involved in school activities and giving it their all. I could really feel their effort, and most importantly, their spirit. It was then that I realised that we played a big role as part of their first major experience in our school. Hearing them say how much they miss their freshmen orientation and us... I felt touched, because in all our hard work, we were able to leave something good behind for them.

That day, I really wished we could return to orientation days. However, I also knew that our time has passed. All good things come to an end, but to grieve the end is an experience well made; every end is the beginning of yet another amazing experience.

Friday and Saturday

I had a lovely weekend. On Friday night I met up with my friends whom I went for exchange with for supper. We had prata and tau huey. I was not intending to have much for supper because of a shoot on Sunday, but in the happy company of my friends and all that delicious food in front of me, it's difficult to reject. I didn't regret it anyway, especially not the kaya prata. Thinking about it makes me wish I had one in front of me right now.

Saturday was pretty simple. I feel like I suffer from short-term memory loss because right now I can't remember what I did before I went to the gym and having Blackball for dessert.

Going to the gym is always so therapeutic. I used to dance a lot in my younger years as a teenager, then I did yoga for a period of time, then fitness classes... Right now I exercise mainly in the gym. When I was about fourteen, there was a short period of time when I went to the gym and swam pretty regularly, for vanity reasons probably, but I stopped because I thought weights were making me look big. I started going back to the gym last June, mainly due to the influence of Javin, feeling sluggish from not exercising as regularly as I used to and wanting to challenge myself. Javin also promised that weights will not make me look big haha.

While I was still in Singapore, going to the gym was a way to spend time with Javin amidst studying, projects and school, but it became a little different ever since I went to Korea for exchange. Javin didn't study in the same school as me, so I was always in the gym alone. Since then, gym became a quiet time for me to just relax and reflect. I always feel it's easier to connect to my inner self when I exercise. Physically, I am still experimenting a lot and finding out more about my body and how it responds to exercise, but I am learning slowly! (:

Off to meet Javin and my friends.

Seoul: First impressions

Some of the first few significant moments we had in Seoul - One of our first (and also the last and most common) meals, moving into our new home and making our first Korean friend.

I still remember how excited we both were to leave Singapore and start a new chapter of our lives away from home together. Before leaving, I had my doubts about living together with Javin because it was a big step for our relationship, but in retrospect, everything turned out well. Initially, I wasn't used to all the unfamiliarity and I got really homesick on the second night (I actually cried lol), but it was the start of an unforgettable experience.

Monochrome rose

Pink lips courtesy of Aritaum's Wannabe Cushion Lip Tint in No. 3 Blondie. It was the first lipstick I bought in Seoul after seeing Korean girls with bright pink lips everywhere. Some may find it too loud but I really love it.

I can't wait for the weekend. This week felt pretty lonely for me though I go out with a lot of friends because Javin has been undergoing training from 9 am to 6 pm everyday. We haven't gotten the chance to spend proper time together because there are just so many things to do. It really makes me think about how things will be like when we start working, not just for us as a couple, but for life in general too. I used to hate thinking about working but now, even though I dislike the idea of losing my freedom, I look forward to taking up responsibility and giving back. The only thing is that I haven't discovered what I truly want to do, but I know I will find out along the way.

My favourite tee

My favourite tee ♡ It's overworn but it's so comfy and the best thing is that I got it for just seven bucks.

I had zi char for dinner with schoolmates today. Everyone was the same way they were half a year ago and it felt almost as if like we never left for exchange. It was nice because familiarity is always comforting. (: